THE VILLAGES — Warner Southern soccer coach Kurt Bienias wanted to leave The Villages High School with a signed commitment letter from both Danielle and Michael Chapuseaux.
He left with just one.
Michael, a forward on the Buffalo soccer team and kicker on the school’s football team, turned down a full soccer scholarship from Warner Southern to pursue a football career. The best player on The Villages soccer squad originally hoped he and Danielle could both attend the same school to play soccer.
The notion started to change in late March when Chapuseaux was first introduced to Dan Lundy from One-on-One Kicking.
During two years as the Buffalo kicker, Chapuseaux showed tremendous leg strength. He kicked a 47-yard field goal and had only one of his kickoffs returned in two years.
His talent was raw and there were no football scholarships offered to him. After a session with Lundy and another with Mike McCabe, the program’s organizer, Chapuseaux knew soccer was not going to give him the best opportunity to succeed.
“I can get more of a (football) offer since there aren’t that many soccer schools in Florida,” said Chapuseaux.
Both Lundy and McCabe were impressed with Chapuseaux’s skill despite the limited amount of instruction he received.
“He’s a D-1, Division 1-AA talent at the moment, but our ultimate goal is to get him to a big-time program,” Lundy said.
It will be a sacrifice for Chapuseaux. He’ll sit out a year and take some classes at a community college while working with Lundy and McCabe.
“I saw how much I improved after just a couple of sessions,” Chapuseaux said. “In the long run it will definitely be worth it.”
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