Cayman national football star Mason Duval is pursuing career goals in the classroom and scoring plenty of real ones on the pitch.
On the verge of graduating with his bachelor’s degree and recently winning the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season conference title for his school, it’s fair to say that Duval is on the right path to success.
The 21-year-old Caymanian, who attends Elon University in North Carolina, is currently finishing his BA in project management and finance, maintaining a 3.6 GPA.
While Duval sits with the top students in the classroom, he also kicks with the top players on the football field. In fact, in the CAA Conference, Duval is his team’s leading striker, and he is tied for second in the league with the most goals scored.
“It’s a privilege to be that person that must step up when the pressure is on, but I still think it’s a team effort,” Duval told the Cayman Compass.
“It’s nice to be that person your team relies on to score goals, but ultimately I want my teammates to build memories that we can look back on.”
A memory Duval won’t soon forget is earning CAA offensive player of the week and then making the College Soccer News Team of the week, after a performance that also earned him All-CAA recognition on 2 Nov.
“The awards are nice,” he said. “Being from a small island, I do have a lot of support. There are a lot of people believing in me and I know a lot of people are not in my shoes. There are young people looking up to me and I want to pave the path and show them that they can do it. You don’t have to go down one road, there are different paths to success.”
International experience
Duval, who is a member of the Cayman Islands national team, represented Cayman in most recent World Cup qualifiers and CONCACAF Nations League qualifiers.
The born-and-raised George Towner attributes some of his success at his school in the US to his time spent with his fellow Caymanians.
“My time in Cayman with the national team, you see a different style and it has really helped me because I’m able to bring that back [to] my university and implement it into my games here.”
Despite all his success already, Duval is looking to climb even higher, with goals to achieve a professional career in football or otherwise.
“If I have the opportunity to do something like that, I will,” he said. “I don’t want to look back and say I had the opportunity, and I didn’t do it, even if it’s the MLS (Major League Soccer). It’s definitely the end goal but having a degree is something I can fall back on.”
Duval told the Compass he will be returning home for the holidays in December and hopes to begin studies for his master’s degree next year.
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