His Development Keeps Accelerating

It’s not only speed that separates Ryan Thomas on a soccer field. It’s the way he maintains acceleration while kicking a ball that astonishes some.

“He runs by people like they’re nailed to the ground,” Claremont Coach Fred Bruce-Oliver said. “He can do it with or without the ball.”

Speed disrupts, discourages and disorganizes an opponent, making Thomas a dangerous weapon in soccer.

He does his damage not by scoring goals for Claremont but by making assists as a left midfielder and forcing defenders to focus on him, leaving the goal-scorers open.

In six games this season, he has seven assists and three goals.

For those who have never played against Thomas, beware of being lulled into complacency.

“It’s kind of tricky, to be able to slow down and run by them without [their] noticing,” Thomas said. “I’m making them think I’m going one way, stopping and going backward, then forward.”

Thomas’ value in soccer keeps rising. He plays club soccer for Arsenal FC, which won the U.S. Youth Soccer national championships for under-15 and under-16 the last two years. He’s a member of the state and regional Olympic Development Program teams.

And he has traveled so often for soccer that he qualifies for frequent-flier mileage. Last month, he was in Florida and Texas. This week, he heads for Las Vegas for a regional ODP competition. Next week, he’ll train with the under-18 U.S. national team at the Home Depot Center.

As for his quickness, Thomas said, “I don’t think I’ve met anyone as fast as me.”

Even the Claremont track coaches have taken notice.

“Last year, I was playing in a game and the ball went out of bounds,” Thomas said. “The track coach picked it up and said he’d give it back if I went out for track.”

Teammate Daniel Frazer, a defender, said of Thomas: “He’s something else to watch. In soccer, on the offensive attack, speed kills. Speed creates more scoring opportunities. On the left side, he’s hard to stop.”

Thomas, 5 feet 8 and 145 pounds, has a 4.0 grade-point average and has been playing soccer since he was 5.

“It’s something I love,” he said.

When he made the Claremont varsity as a freshman, he was nicknamed “Mute” because he hardly spoke around the veteran players. As a junior, he’s more vocal.

His speed comes into play not because he’s ready to challenge state 100-meter track champion Jamere Holland of Woodland Hills Taft. That’s not going to happen. But in terms of soccer speed, Thomas has perfected what is needed.

“It’s not so much your speed as when you use your speed,” Bruce-Oliver said. “When somebody doesn’t expect you to sprint, you sprint. Or you lull them and burst by them. He’s very explosive.”

Thomas figures to be a top recruiting target for the elite college programs, and he knows he’ll end up running into someone as fast as he is.

“As you keep getting older, people get bigger, stronger and faster, and you have to keep up,” he said.

For now, though, he’s a soccer player capable of leaving opponents with a helpless feeling of not realizing what just happened as he turns on the speed and races past them.

“I’m unpredictable,” he said.