Work pays off for Russian-born Mosinee teen

MOSINEE — Kirill Romashov was an honorable mention selection on the all-Great Northern Conference boys soccer team last year.

He entered this week tied for first place in the conference with 14 goals.

While it's an impressive performance in a span of a season, the more remarkable story is Romashov's path to this point.

He was born in Niznhy Novgorod, Russia, the son of a former professional soccer player and boxer. He and his mother moved to the United States when he was 6 years old and to Mosinee when he was in the fourth grade. Three years ago he underwent heart surgery to control a rapid heartbeat, and was back on the soccer field again within two weeks.

Mosinee coach Joe Carlson said Romashov's success is based on more than just natural talent.

"He has got a lot of drive," Carlson said. "When your best player has the strongest work ethic and wants the most to win, that makes a huge difference in the team. What (other players) realize is that if he is going to do that, (they) have to give that same type of effort as well.

"The reason why good things are coming to Kirill right now is because he has worked at it. Yeah he's talented and, yeah, he's gifted, but no one on our team works harder at his game than Kirill. His house is about two blocks away (from the Mosinee practice field) and he is down here all the time, taking his shots and working on his craft."

This team has pretty much the same group over the past couple seasons. Talk about the team maturing together: We started out as this group and it wasn't a very developed one — we lost nearly all of our  games that first season. But we were mostly all freshmen then. Now that we are becoming older, we are gaining in that skill level. The thing that gets me is that we are all friends off the soccer field. We have all come together in just our regular lifestyle, it's not just soccer. But that has helped us a lot on the soccer field too.

You are tearing it up in the GNC this season. What have been the biggest keys? The thing is that it's not about getting the goals as it is about getting the games level, which is a new thing for us.Going 2-2 against Merrill and going 2-1 with Lakeland had just been a great feeling. Being the person that is putting the point up there  is just amazing. Everyone (on the team) is just exhilarated with you.

The DeBroux Classic against Newman Catholic is this week. It's a meaningful game for both teams. Talk about that: Jim DeBroux was both of our (schools' former) principal, and it's a game where both teams come together. It's a settled-down game usually. We're friends the whole way. There's not really a rivalry there as some people would think there would be as we are playing for this trophy. It's just great playing in that environment.

Your father (Vova Romashov) was a former professional soccer player. Talk about his career: He played for Rubin Kazan (of the Russia Premier League). He played for the youth version of them, and somewhere along there he decided that he really didn't want to continue with that and got into boxing. That is a whole new story.

Your father still lives in Russia. How does he continue to develop you as a soccer player? My mom comes to every game and videotapes it, and then I send the games to him over YouTube or something and he watches them and reviews them and we go over what I was doing right and what I was  doing wrong. He also sends me video links for exercises or tips on how to improve. When I was  over (in Russia) visiting, he wanted to register me with a professional soccer club, but I wasn't up for it. I was kind of scared. That is a big commitment.

Talk a little about the health issues you went through: It was Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. I've had it since I was born. I'm not sure all there is with it but it is something to do with a (heart) chamber, and they ended up putting a catheter in. Before I had the surgery I could only run five or 10 minutes  before I was out of breath and my heart was racing. The night I went into the hospital and (the doctors) decided to do the surgery, my heart was at some insane amount of beats per minute.

How much time  away from soccer did you miss from the surgery? I was playing for Wausau United at the time and I had  to sit out a week after  that, but I actually played a full game the week after that.

Tim Johnson can be reached at 715-845-0731 or at timothy.johnson@gannettwisconsin.com. Find him on Twitter @timmyjo11.

KIRILL ROMASHOV

School: Mosinee

Year: Junior

Sport: Soccer

Family: Father, Vova Romashov; stepfather, Derek Kwiesielewicz; mother, Tanya; stepsisters Hannah and Megan Kwiesielewicz.

Favorite subject: Before it got really complicated it was math. I really liked basic algebra.

Favorite club soccer team: Bayern Munich

Favorite movie: "World War Z"

Activities outside of soccer: Just hanging out with friends and video games. 

Guilty pleasure TV show: I did go through four seasons in a night of "Supernatural." I felt guilty after that.