Rok Taneski

Classroom

Rok Taneski has been a standout student-athlete in his time at Dayton, especially in the classroom. The Slovenia native earned a spot on the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-America Third Team last season, as well as first-team Scholar All-Region and Academic All-Ohio honors. He was named to the Academic All-Conference Team after posting a cumulative GPA of 3.74 while majoring in international business management with a focus on global markets. He has accomplished all of this with English being a second language.

Character

Taneski has been the epitome of Dayton men’s soccer and served as a great representative of the program. He approaches each practice, team function and game with a team-first attitude. He takes the lead on community service activities and goes above and beyond in building this relationship with the honorary Flyer the team adopted. He is a leader on and off the field, setting the example for younger teammates. He’s friendly to fans, media and peers and always has a smile on his face. His contributions to the athletic department resonate outside his team through the interactions he has with fellow student-athletes. As common for international students, sometimes it takes time for them to not only adjust to the rigors of academics and college life, but also to living in a foreign country. Taneski, on the other hand, adjusted immediately and has contributed from the first day he stepped on campus. His positive attitude and enthusiasm is contagious, and he has made the program, his teammates and those around him better.

Community

As a team leader, Taneski is on the front lines of numerous community service projects, the foremost venture being the Team Impact adoption of a young boy named Tyler, who is battling cystic fibrosis. The Dayton men’s soccer program had an honorary signing of Tyler to join the team. Over the past few years, the program has had him in the locker room, on the bench and at practices, interacting with the student-athletes. Taneski will be the first to greet Tyler each time and put his arm around his shoulder, making him feel like he’s one of the players. His impact is tremendous with just a simple gesture and a smile.

On top of the Team Impact involvement, Taneski has represented the program at community service events and initiatives such as the Breast Cancer Walk, the Buddy Walk for Down Syndrome Awareness, Trotwood Soccer Academy, Christmas on Campus, Dayton’s Children’s Hospital, the Boys and Girls Club and more.

Competition

Over the past three seasons, Taneski has put together one of the best careers in Dayton program history. On top of his academic accolades, he has been received all-conference honors each season. As a freshman, Taneski was named to the conference’s All-Rookie Team and won the RUDY Award for Male Rookie Student-Athlete of the Year at Dayton for all sports. The following season, he earned Atlantic 10 Midfielder of the Year honors, first-team A-10 All-Conference honors and A-10 Offensive Player of the Year after leading the team with 10 goals and seven assists. He also finished in the top three in the conference in goals, assists, and points as a sophomore. Last season, Taneski received preseason all-conference, second-team all-conference, first-team All-Ohio and third-team all-region honors. He led the conference in shots and led the team in assists.

As of nomination time, he had made 59 starts so far in his career, totaling 16 goals and 16 assists. Going into his senior season, Taneski is the focal point of the Dayton attack as the Flyers look to get back to the postseason for the fourth straight year.