Playmaking prowess
Thorold native, Saint Paul grad Claudia Di Giovanni going to Daemen College`
Claudia DiGiovanni has come a long way on the soccer pitch since she first began “playing” the sport at age three.
Actually, to call what DiGiovanni did “playing ” would be to broaden the definition until it was unrecognizable, far, far outside of the box.
“I wasn’t really `playing,’” the Thorold native, now 19, recalled with a laugh. “I would pick dandelions, I would be waving to my parents, I would be waiting to get snacks, but I was not playing.”
“I would watch, and I would love it. It was more of a social thing for me.”
DiGiovanni’s approach to the game became more serious after her father Tony had coached her for a couple of seasons.
Instead of dandelions, she began picking teammates to pass the ball to, in the process developing a style of play that continues to be her strong suit today.
“I’m not the scoring type,” she said. “I like playmaking, taking care of the ball and doing what’s best for the team.”
DiGiovanni switched to centreback sweeper after six seasons as a midfielder.
“It gets me more interactive with the ball.”
Over the years DiGiovanni had played club and travel soccer throughout Niagara. After getting her start with the Thorold Minor Soccer Association she graduated to the St. Catharines Jets before moving on to play in a women’s league with the Niagara Regional Soccer Program out of Welland.
She played one season at Saint Francis in St. Catharines and then transferred to Saint Paul in Niagara Falls for her final three years of high school.
“Most of my teammates from travel were going to Saint Paul, it was just a better fit for me,” DiGiovanni said of switching schools.
She also switched schools when the time came to commit to which U.S. post-secondary program she would attend on an athletic scholarship.
After graduating high school in June 2015 DiGiovanni couldn’t wait to go to the University of Vermont. Indeed, she was getting ready to head east to begin the 2015-16 school year when she found out at the last minute she still needed to pass the SATs.
Vermont had assured her passing the SATs wasn’t mandatory acrossthe-board for scholarship students, but it was in DiGiovanni’s case.
“At first I was really upset to take a year off,” she said. “But, looking back, I’m glad I took that year off. I don’t think I was prepared.”
During the year off DiGiovanni kept herself busy by making soaps at Da Bomb Bath Co., creating websites for Cloy Communications Inc. and assisting a house league hockey team behind the bench.
“By the third day I was literally going crazy. I’m like a `go, go, go’ person,” she said of the break from school.
DiGiovanni also used to time to weigh her options, academic as well as athletic. The more she thought about Vermont, the more the Division 3 program lost its lustre.
“I was so set on going to Vermont, but then I realized I didn’t want my parents to drive nine hours to see me play.”
Boston College, Penn State, Southern California and West Virginia also expressed interest in adding DiGiovanni to their lineups, but in the end she settled on Daemen College in nearby Buffalo.
“I’m such a homebody, I’ve been here all my life,” she said of Niagara. “My mom (Maria) has been my manager and my dad coached me.” “I’m 100-per-cent family.” A lot more than geography went into the decision. What tipped the scales in Daemen’s favour was the quality of its academic.
“My main priority was education, soccer was just a bonus,” said DiGiovanni, who intends to major in education and minor in French at Daemen.
“I would love to be a teacher, either a teacher in the classroom or in sports.”
A multi-sport threat, DiGiovanni also played travel and high school hockey, but Canada’s national winter sport never had the appeal of soccer.
“I just wasn’t loving it,” she said. “I personally couldn’t see myself being on a scholarship for hockey.”