Clymer clutch for FPC boys soccer team

When you’ve played defense for most of your varsity soccer career, it’s probably natural to wonder what it’s like to score the game-winning goal.

Flagler Palm Coast senior Myles Clymer got the chance to experience every soccer player’s dream in the season-opener against Nease on Nov. 8.

Clymer was playing in his first game since having ankle surgery in 2020. He scored two goals in the game. The first one tied the score at 1-1 in the first half. His clincher with about 1:30 left gave the Bulldogs a 4-3 win.

“Everyone swarmed me,” he said. “I was filled with emotions. I was tired and happy. I thought, ‘So this is how it feels like to score the winning goal.’”

It was the senior’s first game on FPC’s stadium field since his sophomore season. He played in four games last season before a lingering ankle injury became too much to endure, and he underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments.

“It was his first game back. We didn’t know how he was going to play,” said senior defender Shawn Brudy. “It was big for him.”

Seventeen games into the season, Clymer leads the Bulldogs in both goals (nine) and assists (eight).

Previously, he had played defense for the Bulldogs. He was the center back for the JV team as a freshman and an outside back as a sophomore on varsity. He also began his junior year on defense. But coach Ramtin Amiri needed forwards this season, and he already knew Clymer could play the position.

“I helped coach him at club,” Amiri said. “I was coaching the younger team, and I was helping the head coach of his team. I saw his coach kept moving him farther up the field. When he played up top, he was scoring. I thought, ‘If he can do that in club, he can probably do that in high school.’”

“I was filled with emotions. I was tired and happy. I thought, ‘So this is how it feels like to score the winning goal.’”

MYLES CLYMER

Clymer and senior Schmidt Joseph have alternated between center froward and wing positions. Clymer has excelled in both spots.

“He likes driving forward, which means he likes scoring,” Amiri said. “But he’s not selfish about it. He likes to create. That’s why he’s leading our team in both goals and assists. And he’s not scoring against teams we blow out; he’s scoring in close games.”

Brudey said Clymer is one of the hardest workers on the team.

Clymer’s younger brother, sophomore Cody, plays both soccer and baseball for the Bulldogs. His older brother, Riley, also played both sports. Myles, however, quit baseball as a freshman to concentrate full-time on soccer.

“If I was bad in soccer, they would have dragged me back to baseball,” he said. “I just like soccer. Baseball is more of the same thing over and over. With soccer, there’s more variety. You can improvise. It’s challenging.”