Oct. 6, 2016
As told to Nick Beals (’18)
University of Notre Dame senior defender Brandon Aubrey came to Notre Dame from Plano, Texas. He is enrolled in the College of Engineering as a computer science major.
Aubrey was named to the 2015 ACC Championship All-Tournament Team as a junior, and he was also named to last season’s ACC Academic Honor Roll. Aubrey earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the week of Sept. 13 earlier this season after tallying his first career hat trick in a 4-1 win over No. 15 Virginia Tech.
Aubrey is currently the second leading Irish goal scorer, tallying seven goals and 15 points in 10 games, and has helped guide the Notre Dame defense to six shutouts thus far in 2016.
Q: What is your dream vacation?
A: Going skiing in Vail, Colorado.
Q: What is your favorite food?
A: Blue Bell Milk Chocolate Ice Cream.
Q: When did you begin playing soccer and why?
A: I started playing when I was three in my upstairs game room against my brother, and that is because I wanted to be just like him. He started playing when he was five.
Q: Do you have a pregame ritual/tradition?
A: I’m not superstitious on anything, but I do like listening to a couple of the same songs with Gormley (Mark Gormley) on the drive to wherever we go for our pregame meal.
Q: What is the best advice that you have received from Coach Clark?
A: It’s very simple. Stay on your feet.
Q: How did it feel to be the ACC Offensive Player of the Week for the first time?
A: I was surprised to be honest. It felt great to be honored along with all of the ACC players. There are obviously so many great guys. It was humbling at the same time as being a pretty cool feeling.
Q: What is your greatest soccer accomplishment?
A: Being here (at Notre Dame) with all of the great players we have. Just being able to be scouted by Boss (Coach Clark) and getting up to Notre Dame the year they won the national championship in 2013 was big for me.
Q: Who is your favorite professional athlete?
A: Thierry Henry. I used to love watching him for Arsenal back in the day.
Q: What is your favorite professional team?
A: Arsenal would also be my favorite team because of Thierry Henry.
Q: If you could play any sport other than soccer, what would it be?
A: Football. I used to be a wide receiver in high school.
Q: As a computer science major, describe the balance that you need to have between soccer and school?
A: It puts a lot of stress on you having a course load like engineering would, but everyone has a big course load on our team. Being an engineer just means you have to get up for 8:20 classes. You have to stay up a little late, but you have to stay on top of your work. You have to see what you have going on for this week and next week and plan ahead of time to know what you are going to do. If you let one night slip you will be behind and then you will have to stay awake late, and that will affect your game. It’s just about being proactive.
Q: Why did you decide to become a computer science major?
A: I took a computer science class in high school, and I really did not know what I wanted to do. I loved video games, so I figured something in computers would be fun. When I took that computer science class, I really had a blast doing it and enjoyed the homework.
Q: What is your favorite class?
A: Fundamentals of Computing II. We had to build a game. I went back and recreated one of the original Pokémon games with a couple of my classmates. That was a blast. There was so much nostalgia. It didn’t turn out too great, but it was fun working on it.
Q: What is your favorite thing about Notre Dame?
A: The soccer team. Everyone here is incredible. We have great relationships, and I’m looking forward to having these guys as friends for the rest of my life.
Q: Why did you choose to attend Notre Dame?
A: I wanted to challenge myself on the field. I knew that I probably wouldn’t play much freshman year, and I didn’t want to go somewhere where there wouldn’t be much of a challenge. I knew that challenging myself would make me better. At the same time, I wanted to do that in the classroom as well. I felt like Notre Dame would be best suited to test both. Bobby Clark is the best coach in college soccer. That was a big drawing point, too.