ESPN RISE

Jason Spodnik remembers the call all too well. It was the middle of the night, and the person on the other end of the phone was hysterical -- so much so that Spodnik didn't recognize the voice right away.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Five times the caller apologized.

"It was just terrible," says Spodnik, boys' soccer coach at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. "That's one of those conversations that still resonates in my heart."

The caller was Ben Speas, CVCA's star midfielder and one of the top recruits in the nation. Playing for the Columbus Crew Juniors in a California tournament last summer, Speas had fractured his fibula and dislocated his tibia -- essentially suffering a broken lower leg and a displaced shin bone -- on a freak play less than 20 minutes into the final.

The injury itself isn't what had Speas so upset; rather it was the key ramification: he would miss his senior season at CVCA in the fall.

"It actually wasn't painful, it was more the shock," Speas says. "I just really didn't want to be hurt."

A season-ending injury is devastating under any circumstances, but this was an especially bitter pill to swallow. Speas, rated the nation's No. 8 senior in the ESPNU player rankings, had already missed the previous high school season while attending the U.S. Soccer Under-17 Residency Program at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

In his absence, CVCA had captured a Division II state title. Though he was thrilled for his teammates and appreciative of his opportunity to attend the exclusive Residency Program, part of Speas wished he could have been there when the Royals captured the championship.

Speas had grown up around CVCA soccer, after all. His brother, Jason, had played for the team, and Ben was the ball boy when CVCA won its first state championship. His parents both worked at the school, and by the time Speas left for Bradenton, he had become the face of the team.

"He's been around the program for so long, he's not just a player but a historian of the program," Spodnik says.

When Speas was a freshman, he didn't initially make the top varsity team (CVCA has enough depth to field two varsity squads). He was still recovering from a series of broken metatarsal bones suffered over the course of the previous year, and his feet were not at full strength when the season began. By the end of the year, however, he was starting for the Royals' top squad, and he finished with six goals and eight assists as CVCA lost in the state semifinals.

As a sophomore, Speas notched 14 goals and 10 assists in a dominant campaign, controlling the ball and the tempo of games from the midfield.

CVCA fell to eventual state champion Walsh Jesuit in the district finals, but the season was a coming-out party for Speas. In less than a year's time, he would go from a solid but relatively obscure high school player to one of the nation's elite.

As quick as it was, the ascent was no accident. Once his sophomore season ended, Speas began working with Spodnik every morning before school, and each opportunity that followed only served to motivate him that much more. He made the regional Olympic Development Program team, traveling with the squad to play a tournament in Latin America. There, he caught the eye of a youth national team coach, who was impressed enough to invite Speas to a national team tournament.

All the while, Speas was increasing his morning workload.

"Every accolade or any recognition that he got, it was just another log on the fire," Spodnik says. "He plays to a standard, and that's what makes him special. He knows the melody in his head, and that's what he measures himself against."

After playing in a handful of tournaments with the Under-20 National Team, including trips to Ireland and France, the 5-foot-8, 155-pound Speas earned an invite to spend the fall of his junior year in the Residency Program. By that winter, he was considered one of the top prospects in the Class of 2009.

When Speas returned to Ohio, he immediately began sharing tips he learned at IMG with his CVCA teammates as the Royals prepared to defend their crown.

Speas also began playing with the Columbus Crew Juniors in the United States Soccer Federation Development Academy, a network of 74 elite club teams designed to accelerate the progress of the nation's best players by elevating the level of competition. Speas was a no-brainer pick, according to Crew Juniors Executive Director Andrew Arthurs.

"It's clear to see that he's one of the most creative and dangerous players on the ball in the country," Arthurs says. Akron soccer coach Caleb Porter concurred with that assessment, and last June, Speas and CVCA star forward Matt Mason both committed to the Zips. For Speas, it was an opportunity to play for one of the nation's top up-and-coming college programs -- and travel only 10 minutes from home to do so.

After a whirlwind two years came the Development Academy finals and the devastating injury. Speas could have been forgiven if he'd withdrawn from the CVCA soccer scene, but he went the other route, instructing his teammates and serving as a liaison between the coaches and his peers.

"Once I broke my leg, I didn't really know what I was going to do," Speas says. "Obviously it was bad because I wanted to play so bad, but it was a good experience and I'm glad I got to be on that side of it."

Speas was able to accept the transition because he sees his talent not as an entitlement but as a responsibility.

"He understands that leadership isn't just about being the best player or talking the most but being out in front and leading by example," Spodnik says. "That means being able to handle problems, being someone that doesn't just rest on his past accomplishments.

"People ask what's so special about Ben, and that's really it."

Lucas O'Neill covers high school sports for ESPN RISE magazine.