North Idaho College sophomore goalkeeper Tanner Jones doesn’t just stand out on NIC’s Eisenwinter Field on game day because he’s wearing a different color jersey than everyone else. His diving saves, booming kicks and words of advice and encouragement to his teammates, can also be distinctly seen and heard by the crowd.
Jones, who played at Moscow High School, has helped lead his men’s soccer team to an 8-5-2 record so far this season, the best start Ken Thompson has seen as a head coach at NIC.
Jones said he has been playing soccer since the eighth or ninth grade.
“I played a little bit on varsity my freshman year,” Jones said. “And then sophomore through senior year I played varsity.”
Jones also played on a club team during his high school days called Moscow United.
Despite his four years of varsity experience at Moscow High School and the fact that he played club soccer for Moscow United, NIC was the only college that showed interest in him. “On breakaways, he was very tough to get by,” Thompson said. “He’d come off his line early. He was very aggressive coming off his line and then he also had the instincts and the reaction ability to shut people down before they even got a shot off.”
Jones played some his freshman season at NIC, but Justin Johnson played the majority of the season as the team’s goalkeeper.
Jones learned his freshman season “to put in the extra work” and “don’t get down on yourself if you don’t play.”
Since Jones played all the time in high school, not playing in his first year at NIC was a change. “But I learned to take it positively, and then use it as incentive to work harder, and I’ve kind of kept that going through this year.”
Not only has Thompson helped Jones the last two years, but his teammate John Ray has also helped him.
“My roommate last year (and this year) John Ray helps me a lot with just keeping my head up and keep working hard,” Jones said. “He’s a good, moral guy. He just keeps me balanced. So I’d say he’s one of the bigger influences.”
Jones said he has improved the most in snatching balls out of the air to prevent potential goal opportunities.
“When the ball is crossed, I’m winning more balls out of the air,” Jones said. “I’m challenging them more which is something that I should have been better at last year just because of my size, but position-wise, it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
As with most athletes, Jones prepares himself mentally before every game.
“For goalies it’s hard to realize that (it’s OK to make an error) because you’re the one player that you kind of strive to be perfect because if you make one mistake it’s a goal,” Jones said. “So I kind of go into it thinking it’s alright. I’m going to make mistakes, work past that and that’s how I have my best games is playing with some confidence.”
