Feature Story - Matisse Baumann

Feature Story - Matisse Baumann

Matisse Baumann is a virtual melting pot. He is half caucasian, half Haitian, Jewish, a French citizen, and lives in the United States. There are many things that make up who Matisse is but all these components have led him to fall in love with one thing. Soccer.

"I've played it everyday since I was 4 or  5, I make a point to play or watch it everyday" said Matisse as we played FIFA 13 on his Xbox. I looked around the room and saw that he wasn't lying. His walls were covered in posters and jerseys dating back to World Cup 1998. "I've never been in a mood where I didn't wanna play, when we got knocked out last year all I wanted to do was play".

Matisse grew up in Cambridge, MA where he played soccer for the local club team. From there he went to Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, NH. It was there that he really began to discover his love for the game. "Coach Cheney was the one who really got me going, he knew how to motivate you".

After two years in the lower rankings of the Kimball Union soccer program, Matisse broke into the first team under coach Chris Cheney. There he played left back for three years, growing as a player and a person. "Coach made me who I am, he taught me more than I could've learned in a classroom."

From Kimball Union, Matisse went on to attend Ohio Wesleyan to play soccer and pursue his dream of playing at a high level. "Things didn't really work out there for me, not my scene" said Baumann who faced problems with communicating with the coach. "I recommend really looking into a program before getting invested in it". That's all he had to say on the matter.

Matisse is currently at Wheaton College in Massachusetts where he again is living his dream of playing college soccer. "Wheaton's a good fit for me" said Matisse as we finished up our last game on his Xbox. "I love college but a part of me will always miss KUA".