Tanner Osborn will never be the biggest player on any soccer pitch where he finds himself.
You’ll never be able to tell that by the way he plays.
Osborn is a physical team leader for Polk County soccer, quietly going about his business off the field, but a force when he’s between the lines.
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After a recent 9-0 win over R-S Central, Polk County coach George Alley reflected on Osborn’s night. He had two goals, including rebounding his own deflection in the box. He harassed R-S Central’s offensive threats all over the field. He helped spark key Polk runs.
“He’s 130 pounds soaking wet, and he’s playing like a 200-pound linebacker,” Alley said.
Osborn said his success is understanding what he can do well, and playing within that.
“Being smaller and shorter, I have a lower center of gravity,” he explained. “You just have to stay lower and get under them and use the leverage.”
A soccer player since the age of four, Osborn has developed quite the skill set over the years.
“He gets into tackles, and he might have the best touch on the team, just a really soft touch,” Alley said. “He has good field vision and he’s very competitive defensively. And, despite his size, he just plays very physically. He’s been easy to coach, and he’s a great kid.”
Osborn, by all accounts, is mild-mannered off the field. That’s not so when he steps onto it. But the aggression he shows on the field doesn’t come from some mystery switch that he knows how to flip, and he doesn’t really pay attention to the differences between on the field and off.
“I don’t even really hear it that often,” he said. “It’s just how I play. It just comes out naturally, really.”
And when it comes out, it’s a side of Osborn that Alley enjoys seeing.
“When you’re going to play the way he does at the size he is, you’ve got to have the heart of a lion,” Alley said. “And he’s got it.”
He’s showing it a little bit more this year as Polk transitions from a ball-control offense to more of a quick-strike attack. That’s definitely something Osborn enjoys.
“I think it’s better,” he said. “Instead of playing slower and having more control in the midfield, we play more quickly. It catches the other team off guard really. I like it a lot better.”
And sometimes, it escalates into lopsided scores in which the Wolverines spread it around and try to get everyone involved.
“That’s the fun part,” Osborn said. “We don’t get chances like that often.”
While they’ll take those chances when they come, Osborn said he and the Wolverines are focused on just a couple of things.
“The main one is to win conference and go past the third round of the playoffs, for sure,” he said.
