Athlete Spotlight: James Wood boys' soccer player Zach Stautzenbach

James Wood High School 17-year-old senior

Sport: Soccer. Position: Defender

Parents: Kim and John Stautzenbach

Hometown: Dover, Del. (moved to Winchester at age 4)

What do you love about soccer: I just love how it’s a team sport. We all work together and play as a team. Playing with your friends makes it fun.

Most memorable moment in soccer: That’s probably my sophomore year. I was on JV for the whole year, but when playoffs came I got moved up to play varsity and we faced Millbrook at Millbrook. We ended up winning that game. (Sixth-seeded James Wood beat No. 3 Millbrook 1-0 in the first round of the Conference 21 West tournament.) It was just an amazing feeling for my first varsity game to win a playoff game and to move on.

Most embarrassing moment in soccer: It was my first year doing travel soccer with Winchester United, which was my junior year of high school, and in a tournament I hurt my ankle. I went down on the ground, and at that moment I didn’t feel like I could get up and walk. So my teammate Paul [Ebersole] wound up carrying me off the field, and he handed my to my coach, Coach [Brian] Sullivan. He carried me to the bench. I should have tried to walk. My mom has pictures of it.

Three people you can have dinner with, dead or alive: My grandma Barbara who passed away before I was born. I’ve always heard good things about her, and it would be cool to just sit down and talk to her. My favorite NFL team is the New Orleans Saints, and it’d be cool to have dinner with their two starting running backs for the last couple seasons, Mark Ingram [who signed with the Baltimore Ravens on Wednesday] and Alvin Kamara. They’re two great and amazing players. They get along so well.

What’s the best athletic advice you’ve ever received: Hard works pays off. If you give all that you have, it’s going to pay off in the end. If you keep working hard, keep working hard, you’ll make it far and you’re going to keep getting better each day. No one specific told me that. It’s just something I hear a lot.

If you could go on a trip anywhere in the world, where would you go: It’d be really cool to visit Egypt and see all the pyramids. Even though it’s super-hot, the desert would be cool to be in, too, and see all the animals that are over there that aren’t here.

Favorite teacher: My fifth-grade teacher [at Apple Pie Ridge Elementary School], Mr. [Michael] Mowchan. I just liked him because he made learning really fun. The way that we learned was through games. He was just a very fun teacher to have. Turning learning into playing games made me remember what we were learning.

Favorite athlete: [The Saints’] Michael Thomas

Favorite sports team: New Orleans Saints

Favorite movie: “Infinity War”

Favorite TV show: “The Office”

Favorite song: “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver

Favorite food: Steak

Plans after high school: I plan to attend either West Virginia University or Virginia Tech. I plan to major in business management and I hope to get a minor in Spanish. My family has a background in business and I think it would be cool to follow their steps. Everyone on my dad’s side of the family — my dad, my uncle, my aunt, my grandpa — have all gone into the business field and been very successful. I kind of know a lot about business through them, and it just seems like a good path to take. A minor in Spanish would really help for communication in that field.

— Compiled by Robert Niedzwiecki