Colby Wren has been playing soccer for as long as he can remember. He started at the age of four and hasn’t stopped since. This is Colby’s first year on varsity soccer and his first year at Western Albemarle. He is one of the three freshman on the varsity team.

“I’ve played with SOCA for a while now, but this is my first year on a school team. It’s different but really fun,” said Wren. He has played on the elite team for SOCA, which is the highest level team. Wren even went to Italy with the rest of his team to play in tournaments and games.

Before attending Western, Wren went to middle school at STAB. Wren is now part of the ESA program at Western. Soccer has made the transition to Western a lot easier, according to Wren.

The Western boys’ team has played seven games so far this year. They have won every game except for a 3-1 loss to Mills Godwin High School, a larger school outside the district, and a 1-0 defeat against Charlottesville High School. The boys’ team last game was a 1-0 loss against Charlottesville and the next game they play is against Orange County High School on Thursday.

“Practices are pretty hard, there’s a lot of running and conditioning, but it’s all fun,” said Wren when asked about practices. Since Wren is a freshman on the team, he is practicing with lots of upperclassmen. He enjoys the challenge though.

Practice is also paying off for Wren. He has become a much stronger player and has been able to get some playing time. Overall, Wren is happy with how his freshman season has started.