That's Me: "A Soccer Pioneer!"

Whadda ya know!  I found this (mostly by accident) on the Athletics webpage of my Alma Mater - Valparaiso University...

Click on the link below - it will take you to the "VU All-Time Soccer Roster" - scroll to the second page - go to the "O's" - and there I am!!  I am a first year/charter member of our Valparaiso Varsity Soccer Program.  The year was 1983!  (Sorry - no pictures - hahaha!)

Valpo / All-Time Men's Soccer Roster

BUT - that was the SECOND year I played soccer at Valpo...

The FIRST year I played for VU was 1982 - was when all we had was a "Soccer Club".  As I look back, I am FAR more fond of and proud of THAT year...

1982 - my freshman year - was a WONDERFUL year of soccer (among other things)!  As a "Soccer Club" all we really were was a rag-tag group of guys that loved to play a sport that was just beginning to catch on in the USA.

We were not that skilled or that good - we were fair to partly sunny -- but we certainly had PURE passion to play!  We did have a strong desire to make it work - against a good handful of odds!!  We coached ourselves, organized ourselves, ran our practices ourselves - and even though we had a little support from the Athletic Dept. - we were able to piece together a season/schedule of games playing against other schools in the immediate area.  Individually and collectively, I remember everyone working and trying HARD - and having FUN!  LOTS of "extra miles" were given by just about everyone on our team that year...

There was a special camaraderie with that group of guys - there was a real sense of TEAM!!  I still really cherish those memories today...

Over the winter, a few of us successfully met with and lobbied the University AD - and lo and behold - they honored our request to become a Varsity Sport!!  Wahoo!!  What a thrill!!  Soccer was "legit" now at VU!!  We would now have some budget for gas and for small meals on our road games.  We would also have $$ for new nets and field paint and uniforms...!!  AND - we would have a real paid COACH!!  Boy, were we pumped for next season!!  I remember feeling like we were ready to qualify for the World Cup...!!

BUT- I wish I could say that 1983 was an outstanding first "Varsity" year...  It was, well -- a rough transition...  As I look back - I think it was really more of a loss of innocence...

I don't want to blame the Coach that year - but he did usher in an era that was radically different than what we had experienced before.  When our first "official" season started that fall, we seemed to be playing and practicing and working in a vastly different culture.  For lack of a better term - we started to suffer from what I will crudely call "Jock Syndrome".  Not sure how do exactly define that - but it felt like the Individual started to mean more than the Team...

All of a sudden, everyone was worrying about who would be a "starter" and who would be a "sub"- that was something we had never really worried about before.  The simple passion and joy for playing soccer began to vanish somewhat - it was more "business-like" now.  We now had more tough-minded competition amongst ourselves - "thumbs up" encouragement was a bit more scarce.

In '82, those that practiced hard and made it to most of the practices usually had an inside track to play a few more minutes during a game.  But now, there was some budding resentment: There were guys that skipped several practices - yet ended up being starters and playing the full 90 minutes.  I remember the coach explaining - in his rough Romanian accent - something to the effect that, "the best players will play".  The translation seemed to be:  It won't matter how hard you work - or how much you selflessly pour into the game and the team:  "If you are good, you will play."

I am not naive: I "get" this line of thinking in sports.  Especially if you want to "win".  However - as I look back, I do feel a twinge of disappointment.  Yes, we WERE happy to have our sport make it to the "College Big Time" in '83.  But we found out - there was a cost that we didn't expect.  It felt at the time like a less-than-fair trade.  I understood it.  Those on the '82 squad did too.  But we weren't exactly all that trilled at what we traded away for...

Yes - I got to be a starter in '83.  It actually came about because someone got injured.  I remember I felt very badly for a few of our loyal "Club Guys" - particularly 2-3 that were VERY instrumental in helping soccer make the "Varisty Leap" at VU.  They hardly played the minutes that most of us felt they deserved.  I got asked to come back in '84.  I said no.  Two years were enough.  It wasn't the same.  It didn't feel right.  Time to move on...

Yes - I am STILL VERY PROUD to be a charter member in the history of Valpo Soccer - but it was my first real taste of what happens when something "organic and passionate" becomes "institutional and professional"...

I am a Church Worker.  A Professional one.  There are insights here that are very, VERY relevant - but that will be a discussion for another day...

Today - I am coaching my 11th year of children's soccer - in our local "Recreational League" - NOT our "Competive League".

Hmmmm...  I wonder why that is??