Joey Klama makes no secret of what soccer means to him.
“I feel like it’s my lifestyle,” the Bordentown High junior said. “I’ve always been a soccer player.”
He’s always been a good soccer player, in fact. This fall, Klama and Anthony Grilletto anchored the Scotties defense as center backs, a position Klama had never played before.
In fact, going into high school, he had mostly been a winger or midfielder in club soccer, with a propensity to constantly attack rather than sit tight in the back and defend.
“Over the summer going into his freshman year, we threw him in a lot at outside back,” Scotties coach Jason Zablow said. “After the second game, he said, ‘Hey Coach, if you think I’m gonna be playing defense this year, could you teach me how to play?’ He ended up starting every game as a freshman and sophomore as an outside back.”
Last year, Bordentown’s two center backs, Lucas Fryc and Adam Wieczkowski, both graduated. So Klama and Grilletto moved into their old positions this season.
Prior to that freshman year, Klama had wanted to try out as a winger. When Zablow said he needed a defender, Klama’s urge to start on varsity overcame his desire to score goals.
“He told me he needed an outside back; and I was honest, I said I have no idea how to play defense,” Klama said. “He worked with me. He taught me how to really play. I fell in love with the position. I made the switch and ended up playing varsity.”
But he did feel a twinge of regret at leaving the “glory” spot on the field.
“I was always hungry to score, and moving into the back, it was kind of sad; I was taken out of the spotlight a little bit,” Klama admitted. “But I feel like defense wins games. I felt like we had a very strong defense. I accepted it. I don’t need to be scoring a bunch of goals as long as I’m doing my job well.”
Klama feels he is a soccer player first and foremost, so he can adapt to any position. But there is a certain mindset that needs to be adopted when moving from front to back.
“The biggest thing was reversing his thoughts on everything,” Zablow said. “As an attacker, you want to go fast and make defenders uncomfortable, and as the defender, you preach being patient sometimes. If you just go flying in and spring at somebody, a good attacker’s gonna beat you. How do you find your moments when it’s your time to step?”
Klama knew how to figure it out.
“He’s an extremely smart kid, he’s in the NHS (National Honor Society), he’s mature, he’s able to listen and slow his brain down in those moments and know what to do,” Zablow said. “Two years later he’s turned into arguably our best defender in those situations. He’s who you want in those one on one spots.”
Klama admitted there was a learning curve, but he got the help he needed from teammates.
“It took a little while to get used to,” he said. “My first couple games my freshman year, I was still trying to get used to playing defense. Lucas Fryc was my mentor, he gave me a lot of constructive criticism on how to adjust. He and Adam made a similar switch in previous years, so they really helped me adjust.”
Klama cannot remember a time when there was not a soccer ball at his feet. He remembers going with his dad, also named Joseph, to Friendship Field when he was 3-years-old.
That led to playing Bordentown rec soccer, followed by a stint with the Bordentown United travel team. After that squad folded, he went to PDA, and now plays for Liverpool FC International Academy in Moorestown.
His dad has helped along the way. A former McCorristin High (now Trenton Catholic Preparatory Academy) player, Joseph once played semipro ball with the likes of U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Bobby Smith. When he speaks, Joey listens.
“My dad really loves soccer, and since I was born he always wanted me to be a soccer player,” Klama said. “He’s never been easy on me. Having the car rides to and from games, it’s alway what I can do better. He’s always sure to tell me what I did well and how I can improve on my game. I listened and I applied that and it’s really built me as a soccer player.”
It is that kind of upbringing that has made Klama the type of player he is. The fact he admitted to wanting help from Zablow in 9th grade was an early indication of his maturity.
“He understands the moment,” the coach said. “He’s a kid that will ask questions to make sure. You need your center back to be your leader and kind of think the same as the coach. If he’s trying to do something on the field and we’re trying to get them to do something different it’s not gonna work.
“So he’s the guy in practice asking questions, almost helping me get better because we’ll go through a drill and he’ll say ‘What happens if this happens?’ Or he’ll bring up a play that happened in the last game that will allow us to break it down so everybody understands. The next time we run into that situation we’ll know how to handle it.”
Klama’s attitude helps the team in more ways than just stopping the opposition’s forwards. It permeates throughout the players.
“He’s a unique kid,” Zablow continued. “He has that maturity about him. He understands what’s most important for the team and what role he can be best in. But he’s also one of our most outgoing kids. When your teams take on the personality of your leaders, it’s great to have a kid like that because it allows our kids to remain loose and have fun no matter what the game or what stretch of the season it is.”
While the move from offense to defense took some adjustment time, moving from outside back to center was fairly easy for Klama, who said “If you play defense, you play defense.”
“I feel comfortable wherever I’m playing,” he said. “I accept the challenge. It’s never easy, there’s always really good players that you’re facing. No position is easy. I just put out my best, no matter what position. I like to think if I’m the hardest working player on the field I’ll be as good as anybody else.”
Although his main function was to keep the ball away from goalie Evan Beauchemin, Klama still revisited his past this season. He actually tied five other players for third place on the team in goals with three, and was second in assists with four.
“He does create, but we have to weigh our pros and cons,” Zablow said. “We can be in every game if we’re not giving up goals, so we need him back there.”
Especially this season, when the outside backs featured first-year defenders in Preston Louis, Aidan Wall and Nick Carlini. The unit pulled together to allow just 22 goals in 19 games as the Scotties finished 10-7-2. They posted seven shutouts with a group that returns three regulars next season.
The defense will be built around Klama as he consistently gets better. Part of what makes him so good, is the fact he has played most other positions on the field; therefore he knows what to anticipate.
“I think to myself when I’m playing winger that ‘I hate when a defender does this or that,’” he said. “And when I’m playing offense, I think to myself ‘As a defender I hate when this happens.’ So I apply that and just use it to break down the other team.”
Joey feels the key physical attributes to defending are strength, agility, and quickness. A back needs to be solid in containing a player or taking him off the ball. But Klama also brings up an interesting mental aspect that is needed.
“You really have to want to defend the other person,” he said. “You gotta kind of be angry at him. A big thing with offense, they lose the ball all the time, they shake it off real quick. It’s like ‘Whatever, I’ll get the ball again.’ But defenders, you make one mistake and it’s a real big deal. Mentally you have to be strong and you have to be able to recover from your mistakes.”
When he’s not trying to shut down strikers, Klama still likes to keep busy. He’s a member of the Scotties bowling team and throws the discus and javelin for the track and field team.
“They’re just things I do to keep active,” he said. “I like to keep busy and get out of the house. I always want to be doing something.”
Mostly, he wants to play soccer. He has another year of high school to impress recruiters, and hopes versatility will help.
“I like to think that’s what college coaches like,” he said. “They may think they need a winger or a center back, and they’d like to pick a player that can play anywhere.”
Which is exactly what they would get in Klama, who hopes to enjoy his lifestyle as long as possible.
Once a winger, Joey Klama has been a part of Bordentown soccer’s defense over his four-year high school career, moving this season from fullback to center back. (Photo by Ryan Haje.),
