Kellen Klosterman is described by his coach as the type of kid who will do everything asked of him, “super coachable.”

That shouldn’t surprise. Soccer, and coaching, is part of the DNA.

Klosterman, an Oswego East senior midfielder, is the son of Matt Klosterman, previously the head coach at North Central College among a number of collegiate coaching stops. He’s now coach of the Chicago Rush youth soccer club.

Kellen Klosterman recalls going to as many North Central home games as possible growing up, as well as away games on weekends, running on the field afterward with his two siblings as the players stretched.

“Being around it all the time, I never knew anything else,” Klosterman said. “I was always watching soccer at college games, playing soccer outside. It became second nature.”

Oswego East, likewise, has grown quite comfortable to having Klosterman around.

A four-year varsity starter and team MVP as a junior this past spring, Klosterman is the unassuming, quiet leader of an unusually large 17-man Oswego East senior class.

That group has Wolves’ coach Steve Szymanski thinking that the Wolves could follow a pattern of winning a conference title every five years, joining the 2011 and 2016 teams.

“Kellen is a silent leader, not super rah rah, the type of kid that all the players look up to,” Szymanski said. “He’s in charge of leading the warmups, and he kind of took the lead. It’s nice when you don’t have to coach that. Kids just naturally gravitate toward him.”

Klosterman, who talks to his dad frequently about how good the high school team can be, their style of play and his personal goals, is aware of the desire for him to be more of a vocal leader.

“I’ve tried to get better about speaking up a little. I’m not a super loud person,” he said. “I try to do my best to lead by example, to do what I know is right, and hopefully people gravitate toward me.”

Klosterman was one of seven or eight brought up as freshmen, with seven of them on varsity as sophomores. The Wolves started to jell by the end of the abridged 2021 spring season, when they posted a 6-4-4 record, good for fourth in conference.

“He’s kind of like a metronome. We play at the pace that Kellen plays at,” Szymanski said. “He dictates how slow or how quick we play. He’s good in the air, good on set pieces and corner kicks.”

Szymanski said that in the past Klosterman was more of a defensive-minded midfielder, winning the ball in the air and with his feet to distribute to wing players. Klosterman scored five goals and assisted on three more during the spring.

But during the summer while playing with the Chicago Rush, Klosterman’s dad asked him to take on a more attacking role. Klosterman said he scored quite a few goals at tournaments around the Midwest, from Michigan to Ohio to Wisconsin, playing with many of his school teammates.

“I really enjoyed it,” he said. “I want to continue that momentum. We’ve been playing together all summer and we want to continue our success into the fall season.”