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Goal oriented: Parkersburg South junior finds joy in soccer, classic cars

Parkersburg South junior finds joy in soccer, classic cars

By Brett Dunlap 7 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Keigan Mattern likes working with his hands whether he is working on cars or being the goalie on the soccer field.

The 16-year-old junior at Parkersburg South High School has been playing soccer and been around cars since he was 4 years old.

"I'm going to be playing soccer this year and I'm going to play it next year," Mattern said. "I have fallen in love with playing soccer and I love doing it.

"I found the position I wanted to play and I am working on keeping that position."

He likes to play goalie, because he "doesn't have to run as much," Mattern said with a little chuckle.

"However, goalie is one of the hardest jobs on the field," he said. "People think it is easy, but it really is not. You have to make sure no balls go into the goal."

He also has a wide view of the soccer field and can see a lot of things. He is regularly warning teammates about things he sees the other team doing as well as other things.

"It is not as black and white as people think," Mattern said. "It fits me.

"I have been trained to play that position and it is the position I like to play."

He would probably like being out on the field trying to score goals, but he prefers defending the goal.

"I would rather be in the back and keeping us from being scored on," Mattern said.

Over the years he has been involved in other sports including swimming, basketball, track and wrestling, but soccer has been the one he has loved playing. He said if he ever returned to another sport, it would be swimming because he likes being in the water.

Around the time he was starting to play soccer, his stepfather at the time, Dustin, got him interested in cars and auto mechanics, giving him his 2001 Silverado 1500 truck that he is currently driving.

"He raised me since I was 3," Mattern said. "If I wasn't in school, I was with him.

"He gave me his old truck."

His mother Stephanie worked as a nurse and his stepfather at the time worked from home as he was working to establish his business.

"I have always been around cars and that has made me want to work on them," Mattern said.

This year at South, he is taking the Auto Body Class and next year he hopes to take the Auto Tech Class.

"I prefer doing more of the mechanical, but I would like to learn to do more of the appealing stuff with what you see on the outside," he said.

Mattern likes working on cars as a way of taking a break from the other things going on.

"It is a stress reliever," he said, adding there are times the work itself can be stressful with some screaming taking place.

He has gone to a number of car shows where he could see a number of classic cars.

His truck is not the only vehicle he has. He also owns a 1984 Chevy Camaro.

"That is a very big project car for me," he said. "I recently pulled the engine out of it with a buddy.

"I like doing more of the mechanical work on them."

His truck sat around for nine years before he got it.

"There are a number of things wrong with it," Mattern said. "I still drive it and have been working on fixing it.

"A few days ago I put an idler bracket in the steering."

He believes auto mechanics is what he wants to do as a career.

"I am almost positive that is what I want to do," he said. "I don't really have any other ambitions for work."

He is looking at trade schools, but he doesn't know where he wants to go yet. He is looking for a place with an athletics program where he can still be able to play soccer.

"That is going to be hard to find and it may not be in the state of West Virginia," he said. "I can't sit in an office and just do that. I am just not able to.

"I need to do something with my hands. I'm a hands-on type of person. I would rather be outside doing something."

Mattern said he doesn't fit the profile of what many people would give to someone interested in auto mechanics.

"I'm a straight A student and was recently inducted into the National Honor Society," he said. "A lot of people tend to view mechanics as being either high school dropouts or just having a high school diploma.

"I plan to go to college and get a four-year degree in business. Eventually, I would like to start my own business."

He doesn't know yet where he might go to school. He has looked at a trade school in Massachusetts with an athletics program. One option is to find a two-year school locally that offers a two-year business degree and a two year auto mechanics program that he can work on at the same time that he can then transfer to somewhere like West Virginia University at Parkersburg to finish out his four-year degree. He has also considered finding a traditional four-year institution he could go to.

"I haven't made up my mind yet," he said. "I am going to keep looking."

He wants to continue playing sports past high school.

"I want to play soccer in college," he said.

Even if he doesn't play for a school team, he wants to be involved in a rec team.

"I am not going to stop playing soccer," he said. "I have played too much soccer just to give it up."

Mattern has attended a number of classic car shows. He also likes building model cars. He has five or six model replicas of old Camaros and Ford Mustangs, cars that he would actually like to own one day.

He just returned from a trip where he got models of a Pontiac GTO and a Buick GNX.

"Anything that deals with cars, I like," Mattern said. "I like older cars. I am not a fan of newer cars."

Even his truck "is a little too new" for him, he said with a chuckle.

He also doesn't care for some of the things people do to vehicles, like the Carolina Squat where the back end of a vehicle is squatted down and the front end is lifted up.

"You can't see the road anymore," Mattern said. "It is dangerous.

"It has been outlawed in both North and South Carolina."

His truck does have a six-inch lift, but it is perfect as it is.

"This truck has been in my life since I was 4-5 years old," he said.

Otherwise, he wants classic cars to be presented as they were meant to be.

Working on cars has taught him about following through on projects. Playing soccer has taught him how to be part of a team and how every player has a part to play.

Many times being a mechanic is very self-contained where someone can do their own thing. However, there are times when someone has to work with others to get a job done.

"If you are going to be on a team, you are on the team," he said. "There is no 'I' in 'team.'"

He also likes being around and interacting with others will help him be able to start his own business one day.

"I am very extroverted," Mattern said. "I really like talking to people.

"That is who I am."

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com

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