On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Freedom senior and all-state forward Andrew Strait signed his national letter of intent with the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Strait is the Freedom Boys Soccer record holder in career goals, single season assists and single season goals, and will look to continue his successful career at UAB in addition to his final high school soccer season this spring.

The UAB Blazers, whose program has had 11 MLS players, play Division 1 in Conference USA.

“UAB was always my dream school, and as soon as I got my offer, I knew that’s where I was going to commit,” Strait said.

Freedom High School’s signing ceremony took place in the library after school. Strait shared this signing day with Jacksonville University lacrosse commit Emily Maier, and both athletes had a great amount of support present.

“It felt really good to know that so many of my friends, teammates and family cared about my accomplishment to come out and support me,” Strait said. “It was a dream come true and they made it that much better.”

Loudoun Soccer also had a signing ceremony for their athletes. At this event, Strait was joined by Mary Washington commit Allie Spong and several other athletes committing to schools such as George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth University, Old Dominion University and Christopher Newport University.

After finishing their previous season as 2019 5A State Semi-Finalists, the Freedom Boys Soccer team hopes to do even better in the 2020 season. As one of the team’s biggest stars, Strait will have a huge impact on how far Freedom can go.

“Andrew’s leadership is something that is unmatched,” senior left back Matthew Kane said. “While not everyone sees what happens off the field, Andrew is always able to unite everyone to believe in ourselves, and that we can take on anyone with the right mindset.”