Roy's Homecoming Success Continues for Division 1 Contender Clarkston
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
September 28, 2023
For Sebi Roy, there’s definitely been no place like home.
Just as last season started, Roy moved back to his hometown of Clarkston to play high school soccer after spending roughly 1½ years training with Major League Soccer’s Cincinnati FC as part of the MLS Next program.
Going from training with a professional organization to high school soccer might seem like a major downgrade to the average soccer follower, but it hasn’t been the case at all for Roy.
“It’s great to go from a super high skill ceiling where every touch matters, to something a little bit more free,” he said. “I know a lot more people and it’s a great way to get confidence. I didn’t get a whole lot of training in Cincy, and back here I get so much more individual training in general. Getting the touches and getting development was crucial.”
Ever since Roy came back to Clarkston last year, opponents have certainly wished he stayed in Cincinnati.
It’s especially been the case this year, as Roy, a center forward, has been just about unstoppable.
The 6-foot-3 Roy entered Thursday with 15 goals and five assists over 11 games despite being the constant focal point of opposing defenses and playing in arguably the state’s toughest league, the Oakland Activities Association Red.
Against 2022 Division 1 champion Rochester Adams, Roy scored five goals in a 7-3 win.
Clarkston head coach Ian Jones said he hadn’t even met Roy before last year, then heard rumors from others on that team he was coming back in town.
Still, Roy showed up after tryouts had ended, so Jones had Roy go through a personal two-day tryout.
It obviously didn’t take long for Jones to realize Roy was too good to not have on the team, and that was reinforced during the first game last year when he scored a goal on his first touch of the game. Roy went on to make the Division 1 all-state first team as Clarkston finished 16-5-2 and reached the Regional Finals.
Jones, who has professional experience playing in England and has coached for more than 20 years in the United States, said Roy definitely has the tools to be a professional player.
“I’ve never seen anything like him,” he said. “He’s got unbelievable touch. He’s left-footed and right-footed. He’s got vision and strength. It’s fun to watch him, forget coaching him. You find yourself watching him in games because he’s so good.”
Roy’s father is Travis Roy, who in 1991 won the state's Mr. Soccer Award playing for Livonia Stevenson before going on to play in college at Wisconsin.
Also on the Clarkston team this year is Roy’s brother, Fagan, who is a freshman.
Sebi Roy said his dad started him in soccer “as soon as he could walk,” and he has loved it so much that he hasn’t dabbled in any other sport.
Despite already getting a small taste of what professional soccer would be like, Roy said he prefers to play in college and is still in the process of determining the best spot.
Asked if there’s any top professional player he likes to emulate, the answer was a hard no.
“I want to be my own person,” he said.
Thanks to Roy’s production and a core of other talented players who could be playing at the next level, Clarkston earlier this month achieved a program first – the No. 1 ranking in Division 1.
Clarkston (9-1-1) is down to No. 4 this week after losing its first game last Thursday, a 2-1 decision at now-No. 2 Oxford.
There could soon be a rematch, as Clarkston and Oxford are in the same District in the upcoming Division 1 tournament.
If the teams meet again, Oxford will know the main player to stop – and Clarkston will know the main player to ride as it pursues what would be a first state title in boys soccer. (The Wolves were Division 1 runners-up in 2007).
“He’s the most dangerous player we’ve seen by far,” Oxford coach Adam Bican said. “His size, his athleticism, and his IQ is off the chart. He’s so dangerous, and he has one of the better shots I’ve seen. He’s a pure finisher.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
(Photos by Keith Dunlap.)
Star Seniors Emerge Amid Tragic Losses to Lead Manistee on Historic Playoff Run
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
November 7, 2025
This fall’s high school boys soccer season is in the books, and Manistee advanced to the Division 3 Regional Finals for the first time since 2008 with Max Scharp and James Jados leading the way.
Coach Brandon Prince is prepared to never have players like Scharp and Jados again. The senior duo was a once-in-a-lifetime combination.
But there was so much more to their stories.
“I think it says a lot about the characters of Max and James to keep doing what they did and also says a lot about the support groups they have behind them,” said Prince, who completed his 14th season at Manistee. “They never showed hardship from what they were experiencing outside. They just kept the focus on the team and what the team goals were.”
Scharp scored the District championship game’s only goal as the day marked the four-year anniversary of the death of his mother, Jessica. She lost a seven-year battle with breast cancer when Scharp was an eighth grader and older brother Jacob a freshman in the midst of helping Manistee make a run to the Regional Semifinals.
“I wanted to keep going in all kinds of ways — it was pretty emotional, and it kind of inspired me,” said Max Scharp, who suffered an ankle sprain in two spots as the Mariners earned a 4-3 shootout win over Standish-Sterling in the Regional Semifinal on Oct. 21. “She always liked to watch me play soccer.”
Scharp had 23 goals and 17 assists this season and was named to the all-West Michigan Conference first team and third-team all-state by the state coaches association.
He pointed to the sky after he scored the winning goal in the District Final win over Montague. Scharp then scored two goals in the Regional Semifinal as Jados, an all-conference center back, scored the deciding shootout goal advancing the Mariners to the Regional Final in Clare – where their season ended with a 4-1 loss to then-undefeated Fremont.
Jados almost didn’t have a high school soccer career. He played as a youth but had no intention of joining the Mariners until he was encouraged to play by assistant coach Wendy Adamski.
This season, as the Mariners were about to host rival Ludington on Sept. 10, Jados lost his home, two dogs and cat in a fire. He vividly recalls watching the house burn with Prince alongside him.
“We were sitting up in front of the house and it was still burning, but Coach showed up for me and I knew I had to show up for the guys,” Jados said. “I told him I'd be there and got a ride over there. I told Coach I had to take care of business at home."
The Mariners took a 1-0 lead on Ludington but eventually fell 3-1. The team wasn’t told about the fire until after the game was over.
“I ran down to see him and his family before the game, and I was talking to James and his dad and I said, ‘Don't worry about us, we'll take it from here, but if you need something, you let us know,” Prince recalled of the conversation at the disaster site. “I remember, and here's the emotion in that moment, he kind of pulled my arm and he says, ‘I'll see you in a minute. We've got something to do.’”
Jados played all 80 minutes that day.
“James was dealing with the circumstances that you know, a 17-year-old young man probably shouldn't have to, but he did, and he did it with such maturity and composure,” Prince said. “I think that says a lot about James.”
Jados and Scharp were two of five seniors on the Mariners squad that finished 12-9-1 and featured a sophomore goalkeeper. Lane Piper, who finished the year with 155 saves. The senior leadership was key to the Mariners’ success as they also saw 15 freshmen, one sophomore and a couple of juniors come out for soccer in August.
Prince said he knew from the beginning of the season that Manistee would find success. He noted he’s had great players and great squads in the past, but this year’s team was unique. The team’s goal was to go as far as possible – together.
“We put the team first and the program first, and they never stopped believing that they could be doing something special,” Prince said. “And, you know, being in this sport as long as I have, I can honestly tell you these kids were special in a way that I don't think I've seen on other teams.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Manistee’s James Jados (5) looks to his team’s bench after scoring the game-clinching goal in the Mariners’ Regional Semifinal win. At right, Max Scharp (10) celebrates his goal in the victory. (Middle) Manistee coach Brandon Prince, far right, talks to his team. Scharp is to his immediate right. (Photos courtesy of the Traverse City Record-Eagle.)