That is the parental assessment of former Inverurie Academy Head Boy Bruce Cutler who left the North east last summer for a scholarship at an American university.

Bruce, a recent Scottish Scholboy internationalist, is well into his first year at Saint Leo University, located in Saint Leo, Florida, near San Antonio. He has been successfully combining his studies in Mathematics with his ongoing football education at an establishment where the total enrolment is more than 12,500.

The recent accolade of note for the teenager has been his inclusion as one of 352 Student athletes named in the Commissioner's Honor Roll. To be eligible a student athlete must post a minimum grade average of 3.20 out of 4.00. 50 students carried the maximum mark, with Bruce unlucky not to be marginally off perfection with a score of 3.93.

Mum Fiona and dad Jerry went over to visit Bruce in October and Fiona was struck by the many changes to what her expectations were.

"We were well warned Bruce was going to a part of the country where it's very warm, In one of the games he played, it was 85 degrees with 80 per cent humidity. That's why they tend to play a lot of their games in the evenings under what seem to be even brighter floodlights than we have over here.

"He's playing in the Sunshine State Conference Southern Division which is in two leagues. The top teams can get into play-offs but his team didn't make it this time.

"It's a totally different set up playing wise from what the likes of Keith footballer Cammy Keith is enjoying at Binghampton University, they play on a lot of artificial surfaces. In that part of the country, they're swarming to see Cammy because he's a goalscorer and that's the type of player they idolise.

"Bruce on the other hand is a playmaker and you notice the adulation is not the same. They simply adore players who score goals."

Fiona's words are borne out by Saint Leo former player Asnir Pervan, now playing professionally in Iceland. He averaged 17 goals per season and was SSC Player of the Year in both 2005 and 2006.

She added the playing styles and difference in physical attributes were also quite noticeable: "It's a very fast pace of play over there, the concentration is on speed and fitness and his team is well suited to that. His team is made up of students from Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Sweden and the Cayman Islands and they all mix well as a team.

"It did come as a shock to them though when they came up against a team made up of mostly English students who'd played football in the Vauxhall Conference. That was certainly one team who were used to playing with more concentration on the physical side."

However, despite David Becham's presence in the country, soccer as they call it in the USA is not catching on as expected, as she added: "It's all about spreading the word about what Becham is trying to achieve but I don't think he's made that much of a difference so far.

"There is a lot of enthusiasm for the sport but you don't get the whole feel for it because they don't play each other country-wide."

While his football skills are developing, Bruce is also enjoying his studies and getting good ratings on the educational front.

"Bruce has never shown any signs of homesickness, he fitted in well from the start to his course as well as his football. He's not missed a game," said Fiona. "We're delighted he's settled in so well and enjoying it so much. Although it's a four year course, he's even talking at this stage of staying on a further two years that's how much he's enjoying life.

"There's so much to look forward to, he's looking to move on to play PDL (Player Development League) and I was telling his old Formartine boss Ian Thain he has had to learn how to do assessments of his coach Joel Harrison.

"They all have to do it, and what a shock that was because in the UK you're used to players being assessed by managers and coaches, not the other way round."

While over in Inverurie over the festive season, Bruce - who was part of the Inverurie Locos youth development set up as well as playing a number of first team games - was involved with SuperLeague side Turriff Utd managed by his former coaches Ian MacKinnon and Graham Coutts. But such was the winter weather he only managed to play in one game against Dyce Juniors.