2,217 Miles

Empty Apartment

2010-04-24T12:15:00.000-07:00

From last Thursday-Tuesday, I drove approximately 1, 378 miles, all in the state of Washington.

By the way, photos from the conference tennis championships can be found here, here, and here.

The move went okay. Stressful. Here's the timeline:

Monday
12:00 PM - rent a van from downtown Seattle enterprise (closest one with a cargo van for rent). They did NOT pick me up.
12:45 - Start packing the van with help from Matt, a Whitman friend who graduated with me.
1:45 - Leave for Walla Walla
6:30 - arrive in Walla Walla and get my apartment keys
7:15 - unpack the van with Ryan, a friend from town that I know through a Whitman friend
8:15 - finish unpacking the van.
8:30 - Leave for Seattle
1:30am - Arrive back at the enterprise in Seattle (stopped for a healthy Taco Bell dinner along the way in Prosser)
2:00am - Finally find a cab since parts of downtown Seattle are a ghost town at night
2:15am - Get home
2:30am - Sleep on our living room couch, since my bed is now in Walla Walla.

Tuesday
7:00 - Wake up and start packing the rest of my stuff to bring out to my car
11:00 - Finally start to bring stuff out to my car
1:00 - Finish packing my car to the absolute seems (not everything fit, had to leave a few awkward pieces of furniture)
2:00 - Leave for Walla Walla
6:30 - Arrive in Walla Walla and start unpacking
8:30 - Finish unpacking
9:30 - Finish building my bed after fighting with it out of frustration
10:00 - Sleep forever

It was a fun 2 days (not). Today is Saturday and I finally am somewhat settled down. I have a decent amount of food in my fridge and cabinets, the appliances I'll need in the kitchen, internet and cable finally installed. As far as furniture goes: 1 large TV and one large desk. I had bought a small portable table to eat on, but that got used to put the cable box, modem and wireless router on, so now I'm back to eating on my desk, or if I want to watch TV, on the carpet. One of these days I'll get a table/chairs and a couch. Even still the place will be pretty empty. Its not a huge place, but it is a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment, and I'm only 1 person.

Off now to the Walla Walla HS boys soccer game, where Mike (Whitman's head coach) is the head coach and I get to BS with the guys on the bench (talk strategy throughout the game). I'll take some pictures of my new place and post them later on.

Crazy weekend

2010-04-18T19:33:00.000-07:00

Let's start at the beginning. My friend Trygve came back to Seattle after living in Utah being a ski bum for a while and to celebrate we went to a Mariners game along with Phil (another fellow Yankees fan from Whitman), Matt and Mike Shull (both Whitman kids). Let me run down the list of expenses:
Bleacher seats (view below): $8
1 beer at the Pyramid Brewery beer garden: $5.50
1 Dozen amazing, breathtaking, insanely delicious donuts from Krispy Kreme (my first experience): $5.69
Pitcher at a bar afterwards because I won a bet with Matt: free

Overall, not a bad night.

So, then I went out to Yakima, WA to shoot the Northwest Conference tennis championships, which our men won (again) and our women lost in the finals (oh so close). I took...about 1,000 shots over the 2 days, but my hands down favorite and only one that I'm going to post was this one: Our mens #1 Doubles team demolishing their opponents and getting pumped up...because that is what they do.

Maybe I like it so much because because Matt (a different Matt), on the left, never gets pumped like that, but ET (on the right..full name Etienne) always does...so it is rare to see them both so pumped.

In other news, hopefully tomorrow is the big day, moving back to Walla Walla. I will post again when that is complete and everything (internet) is set up...

Okay, I'm serious this time.

2010-04-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, no more 2-month delays. No more 'only-posting-to-the-blog-when-watching-Wedding-Crashers-at-10PM-on-a-Sunday-with-a-screwed-up-leg' sessions...kind of like this one. A few things I wanted to share, first about my life: I'm moving back to Walla Walla soon, sooner than expected. I'm just tired of being in Seattle when I really just want to be in WW and (most) of my work is there anyway. Hopefully I'll housesit for a prof. going on sabbatical, but if not I have an apartment lined up. Now, to important things:

This is a video of Stephen assisting Todd's first Puma's goal. Atta boy Toddy. Its kind of a crappy video. The goal is at the end, feel free to skip to it.

This is an article on how NOT set your password.

And finally...this was the highlight of my week..Thank you Kev.

Until next time...

The Return

2010-02-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted on this for a while. In fact I debated over deleting it. Obviously, I decided not to. Here is the short of what has been going on and what will be happening:

I'm living in Seattle doing photography for a few volleyball clubs as the company, The Northwest Sports Photographers. I'm living in a house with 3 people who graduated form college with me and one that went to BU and studied abroad with another of my housemates. I ended up going out to Walla Walla once a week for a few days during the fall and keeper coaching, and I'm going to be moving back to Walla Walla to continue with that, on a volunteer basis. The nice thing is Whitman will cover all of my coaching license costs, and those are expensive.

One day while I was out there the athletic director, Dean Snider, came down to the AV room that I was in watching film with Mike Washington and in a really excited manner told me that he had "something for me", knowing that I was looking for any kind of work. Fast forward a few months and I'm well into developing the website for the Walla Walla Sweets, a new, amateur, wood-bat summer league baseball team that plays at the historic stadium that Whitman's baseball team plays at. Their ownership group is some Whitman alums and a few others, all of which have done well for themselves and are looking to invest in something they love but also give back to Whitman and Walla Walla. They're doing this by renovating Borleske Stadium, which was...pathetic. It was embarrassing to keep something like that named after someone of such historic and athletic importance in Walla Walla. Anyway, I'm also going to try and do some work with Whitman in the same capacity, with their athletics website. But that is for the future and hasn't happened yet. I'm going to talk with Dean the next time I'm back in town. Also, I'm moving back to Walla Walla, probably in May, to be there for the baseball season and over the summer for summer soccer camps.

That is what has been happening, and I'll try to keep this updated more often...

2009-08-21T13:45:00.000-07:00

Well, the season ended and I've been a lot happier I guess. On one hand, I don;t have to go out to Bremerton 4-5 days a week. On the other, I'm still jobless. I've been working out a lot playing some pickup, but mostly on my own doing a lot of plyos and kicking. I seemed to have solved my kicking woes, practicing a new long kick technique that when done right puts the ball (from my 18) a few yards short of the other 18 without putting a whole lot of strength into it. So that's how they do it in the pros. Not that it will come in handy any time soon.

I was talking to my friend Michelle (yeah, you Krall) the other day and said something that seemed to chock her and myself later on. I was explaining trying to find a job in Seattle and how its not going well and I told her that if I was able to find a job, that might be it for soccer. Considering its not like specialized jobs are everywhere, so if I would be able to find something that I liked that payed well, that would have to take precedence over soccer (if I was unable to be flexible with my schedule) in what would ultimately add up to being taking a chance on being picked up by a USL 1 or 2 team, having to move cities, and playing for part-time pay in a full-time position. Hmm. I mean, I don;t really want to be broke with only a Bachelor's degree (yes, only a Bachelor's degree) when I'm 25. That would suck. I mean, I'd still love to have a shot at playing real pro, not PDL pro, but its becoming increasingly difficult when I don't have access to consistent, high-level training (hey thanks a lot Richmond Kickers).

On a positive note, I signed a lease for a house in the U-District with a crew of four others, three from Whitman and one that my Whitman friend met while studying abroad. At least I'll have a place to settle into come September. Now, about that job...

That was Fast, Part II

2009-07-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

The first part of ‘That Was Fast’ was about how quickly I went back out to Seattle to play for the Pumas. This edition focuses on how quickly they’ve made my time out here playing soccer miserable and have all but ensured that I won’t be back for them next year. A large combination of exclusions, half-truths, and circumlocutions have made it so only specific circumstances next year would bring me back to Bremerton, most I haven’t even decided upon. I just know that it would take some extremes. Anyway, this is the list of how they’ve treated me poorly in the three weeks since I arrived. Most aren’t a huge deal individually, but when you add them all up…

I was asked to come out here with the understanding that there would be two keepers: the starter and me. When I got out here, my first two practices there were 5, and ever since then there have been 4. It’s their decision to have this many keepers out there. I don’t care. But don’t lead me to believe that there will be 2 and my training will be much more individualized than it would be.

Pissed off scale (1-10): 6

I had multiple conversations with the head coach about wages before I came out here. I told me – and he concurred – that I didn’t need a whole contract, but at least a partial one of what every other player had. I knew I was coming out mid way through the season and wasn’t going to get much playing time, but still, I was moving across the country to play for them because they asked me to, so some compensation would be nice. When I was offered my contract, the amount I was offered was 0$/month. Really? I had to go to Bremerton one day and have a meeting with the owner and chief exec and convince them to pay me something. Again, if you want to offer me nothing, fine. But don’t lead me to believe that I’d be offered something and then give me nothing.

Pissed off scale: 8

The email list. Despite signing 4 weeks ago and asking to be put on it as well, I’m still not on the team email list. I have to continuously call people on the team to find out about meetings/practices and don’t get any messages from the head coach, assistant, keeper coach, secretary, owner, chief exec, or anyone else that might have something important to say to the team.

Pissed off scale: 3

General exclusions. Whenever it gets brought up about people coming from Seattle or havng to travel distance to practice, I’m not included. It’s a 90 minute drive each way if I drive, including gas money and the toll for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. If I take the ferry it takes even longer since I can’t make the ferry leave whenever I want to go. I’ve got to get there on time, wait for it to leave, wait for practice once I’m there, wait for the ferry after practice, and then get home (including practice, generally a 6 hour commitment). Also, this costs 7 dollars for the ferry and a total of 5 for the light rail train. For someone who doesn’t really have an income, these costs add up. I’ve also been excluded when “team fine” talks and am excluded from receiving the same sponsor perks as the rest of the team.

Pissed off scale: 2

Apparel. I don’t have the same uniforms as the other the other keepers. My uniform really makes me look like an absolute muppet. I actually only have one jersey, whereas the others have two (different colors): one to warm up in and one to play in. In addition, I don’t have any of the practice gear, warm-ups, rain coat, or team bag. I look like a fool most times when the team is together. What’s more, these things have never even been discussed with me.

Pissed off scale: 5

The final straw. So I haven’t been playing. Fine, I haven’t been rostered (they can only roster 2 keepers per game) but I’m getting paid. The team (they? We?) won their 2^nd round national playoff game the other day, so they go to Texas to play the quarters/semis. I knew that I probably wasn’t going to go, however, just when the assistant coach has everyone gathered around to tell everyone logistics, the head coach and keeper coach interrupts him “Andrew, hold on a sec. Brett? Can we have a word over here please…” Wow. Really? Cool, thanks for the world-class humiliation. Everyone in the complex knew what they were going to say to me, you could have been deaf and knew what they were saying to me. They couldn’t have told me before or after the team meeting about logistics? They had to call me out in front of the entire team and get all of the attention on me so everyone was focused on me getting told like a child that I wasn’t going to go on the trip. Sweet guys.

Pissed off scale: 10

So, it would probably take something along the lines of this bring me back (however form the treatment I’ve received, it doesn’t seem like they want me back, oddly enough.): a much higher pay, paid for gear (including gloves and cleats), paid for transportation, and normal treatment for a player on the team. I’d rather not get paid and enjoy myself than get paid and have a shitty time doing it.

Other than that, everyone’s been great. The house hunt is…continuing for some friends from college. We’re looking for a place up near Green Lake, kind of the Central Park of Seattle. Job search continues as well. So really, nothing is new, just a long rant for today.

2009-07-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on what's going on: The Pumas clinched the NW division and a first round playoff bye last Saturday. Then we got killed by the Sounders' reserves and I ot my first playing time, completely embarrassing myself having trouble making kicks that a 12 year old could have made, with ease. Practice yesterday and the awful field (actually, Fredericksburg's field is a bit more manageable) and today on a turf field. I guess their game this Friday is on turf. Friday night in Victoria, BC and Sunday in Tacoma are the last two regular season games, then the playoffs start.

Also, I jut wanted to post this photo that I took last night. Obviously, a view of downtown Seattle from near the top of the Beacon Hill neighborhood. I live lower down in the Beacon Hill neighborhood right now.

First Pro Contact (woot)

2009-07-09T18:07:00.000-07:00

I signed my first pro contract today with the Kitsap Pumas S.C. Woot. There are only a few games left in the season, but oh well. I won't go into details about it, but it is there and signed. I went over to their office today and met with the owner and his direct subordinate, basically the two hot shots in the club, to talk about it face to face. I also got the general jist of everything explained to me. Kitsap is one of about four clubs in the PDL that are technically "professional". They would eventually like to move up to USL-2 or 1, but the immediate future probably holds something more along the lines of the PDL splitting onto the USL-3 and PDL and they will be in the USL-3 (comprised of Pro-PDL teams, which they're hoping will grow next year). It cost $75,000 to establish a USL-2 franchise and $750,000 a USL-1, or something along those lines. So, its not just results that can push you up or down, more to do with money. Also I had explained that they have a stadium of their own in the works for the future, maybe a 8,000 seater, but that is several years away. Kitsap has a 3 year contract with Bremerton Memorial Stadium, which isn't a bad place. you can do much worse than that field.

Also, I met Thomas the last time I was at Franklin (I'll try and get some pictures of these places up soon). He is friends with Gabriel and Eban. He's 28 and runs what sounded like youth sports clinics and day camps for community youths.

In other news, I went on my frist bike tour of Seattle the other day and promptly got lost. Not really lost, I knew the general direction I was trying to go in, but I kept running into dead ends. Problem is in Seattle, when you run into a dead end, there's a good chance you have to bike up a really steep hill in order to get back to where you just came from. Finally I got to Lake Washington Blvd, my original destination, and road on that for a while until I got to Seward Park and rose around the bike trail the goes along the outskirts of that twice before heading back up Lk Wash Blvd way too far into Madrona and Capital Hill. About a mile or so and several large, large hills too far north of where I live on Beacon Hill. All in all, I have no idea how far I went. Then I made the horrible mistake of doing what my plan was all along. On Wednesday I biked to the ferry, took the ferry across to Bremerton, biked to Steve's house. In all, about 5 miles and several large, long hills later I was there. Unfortunately it used up about half my gas tank and I spent most of the practice going through the motions and humiliating myself in front of the keeper coach, the assistant coach, and the four other keepers (yes, four) because my body was just physically spent. Eventually, they ended up playing 4v4 with keepers. The last game went into overtime because apparently it was the "championship game". I didn't know. The way these things work is that the keepers stay in their places and the teams switch around. So, practice ends and I go over and look at my watch. 5:15. The ferry was at 5:30. According to google maps, the distance form the field to the ferry: 2 miles. But about half of those 2 miles is a 2 lane bridge that you can walk your bike across on a narrow walk way, or ride. Having 0% energy left at this time, I chose to ride...and hold up traffic for a quarter mile in a small town. Unheard of. Yes, I got to the ferry on time. Oh wait, not done yet, now I have to bike home. I didn't even try. I walked my bike up the MASSIVE hills near the waterfront, which alone are about a mile long with I swear to god, a 15% incline (Today I was stopped going up the hill at a red light and I burned rubber because you have to accelerate so fast from a dead stop so you don't go back into the car behind you). Long story short (too late), I got to the top of the hill and road the mostly downhill bike ride back to my house, another couple of miles.

Today my body felt awful, but it was okay because I also signed my first professional contract.

My new soccer friends...oh yeah and the game as well

2009-07-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

I went to Safeway yesterday morning and came across Franklin HS, which just so happens to have a turf football field with soccer goals on it right now. Today, I went to work out there and met these two guys who were working out on the other goal. Gabriel is a 31 year old librarian at the local library who is trying to get back into soccer. It used to be his number one sport when he was in high school but he got a basketball scholarship to college, I didn't ask where. People like Gabriel are the athletes that soccer missed out on by not becoming larger in America until now. He's about 6'3-6'4, pretty built, but still trim and quick at the same time. And he's a keeper. And he still loves soccer, just hasn't played in 8 years. Then there was Eban, who was 35 and grew up in Paraguay. Eban is in music and also is a medical translator. He's 35 and has football in his blood. He's one of those guys who just goes outside and jiggles for half an hour without dropping it because he wants to. Anyway, we exchanged numbers since they love to knock it around, shoot, whatever. They're playing in a local indoor league and were trying to get Gabriel back into keeper mode. God he was a big boy.

Oh, as for the game yesterday. I went down, but did not dress, which annoyed me. I guess it annoyed me that they asked me to come down, but didn't have me dress, or even talk to me about it, didn't pay for my meals, and just kind of...had me around. What a wonderful way to spend July 4. I didn't really know what to do with myself. It would have been super awkward had they won (they toed 1-1 by giving up a 90th minute goal) because it would have clinched 1st place for them. While they were all celebrating, I would have been standing there, awkwardly. I have nothing invested emotionally with this team yet, and even when I do, it won't nearly be to the level that they do. At least not this year. They're next practice isn't until Wednesday, so I guess I'll be on my own to work out until then. I've gotta join a gym and get my swell on.

Whoa, that was fast.

2009-07-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

I’m currently in Seattle. Who would have guessed that one a month, or even a10 days ago? I’ll give a rundown of how things went down:

Last Thursday: Steve told me that his coach wanted to talk to me about coming out to Seattle to play with Kitsap. Apparently their backup keeper left. Oh, and earlier in the day I bought a road bike. Cool.

Last Friday: I talked with the Pumas coach, John Wedge who I’ve met before and who has seen me play.

Last Saturday: I thought about it and made a decision: I’m going. The Fredericksburg training wasn’t as good as I thought it would be. The Pumas have potential t move up into USL 2 or even USL 1. I personally have a lot more connections and know a lot more people out in Seattle than in Virginia. A lot of my friends are still in the Northwest.

Sunday: Prepped for leaving on Monday.

Monday-Wednesday: Drove XC to Boise.

Thursday: Drove the last segment, from Boise to Seattle. Met the new housemates, pretty cool dude named Teddy. He’s a master’s student in social work. A woman lives here too, a teacher, but Teddy said she is away for a lot of the summer.

Friday: First practice with the Pumas. Didn’t know they were going to practice on turf, so I brought my six studs. Whoops. Sliding around and luckily not tearing a knee in half, I played pretty well for not having faced good shooting in months. Afterwards Wedge asked me to come down to Portland with them tomorrow for their game against the Timbers U23s to dress as a backup. Yes, I’m going. The downside is that 4^th of July in Seattle is really cool, I’ve been here for it before. The upside is that playing not great I still made a big enough impression in one practice session to warrant suiting up for a game, even if it is as backup, which I’m fully expecting to be for the remainder of the season. Their #1 I a solid keeper. He’s not the most agile or tallest, but he makes smart choices and doesn’t screw up much. They haven’t lost a game with him in net this year, except to the Timbers in the Open Cup. He’s Excused.

So, I’m in Seattle living in Capital Hill, apparently near Garfield. Simon said it used to be a pretty seedy area but has gotten better in the last 10 years. It’s a lot further to the ferry, and a lot more hilly, than I thought. I’ve gotta work myself into biking shape before I can bike to the ferry. Its also farther to the field on Bremerton, and again a lot more hilly, than I thought. Good thing Steve and his buddy pick someone else up form the ferry every day for practice. I’ll probably end up doing that. Later on today I’m picking Steve up from Alisa’s place in Renton and meeting the team bus where they meet up with I-5. So, that was fast. Here we go.

Waiting Game

2009-06-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

I've been to a couple training sessions with the PDL team in Fredericksburg so far. It's okay, nothing special. I have to say, its surprising how laid back it is. For a team not doing so hot (I think they're 2-3-3 through 8 games so far), they're training sessions are pretty...normal. It seems like at this point int he season, something needs to happen for them to make a move and it was the same the last session I was at as it was the first session I was at. They've had a few games in between and not done too hot in those. It's a little frustrating to say the least.

On the foreign front, its just the waiting game now. Hopefully I'll get an email, call, letter back from someone. I've sent my resumé to teams in England, Scotland, Switzerland, and Malta. Probably 20 in total, half in England. I haven't heard anything yet, but most of these teams don't accept trial resumés via email, so I've had to physically mail it to them, which I'm sure takes a while. I might search out some more teams that take them by email, but I think I'm done with the mailing game. By now, by the time it would get to some of the clubs it would be way too late, as their preseasons will be starting in a few weeks.

Finally some training

2009-06-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

I got back from the XC trip about a week ago, For anyone interested, I went southeast from WW through Oregon and the souther part of Idaho into Utah down to Salt Lake. From there I started going almost straight west, through the souther part of Wyoming and across the Nebraska. In eastern Nebraska I went southeast to Kansas City and from there continues west through St. Louis, Louisville and West Virginia into Virginia and home to Charlottesville. Since then I've been sending my resumé out to a bunch of League 2 and Conference level teams, 8 in total so far. They only take trial enquiries through snail mail, which is annoying, but it is what it is. Tonight I'm finally starting training with the Fredericksburg PDL team. Richmond has stopped answering emails, obviously because they don't want some random keeper coming to their training sessions. I understand but still, come on, be a man and say it to me. Don't just stop answering the emails. Fredericksburg only practices 2 times a week, so hopefully I'll be able to find something else as well. Their coach said they have a bunch of UVa players, so maybe I'll talk to them about being in goal during their off season workouts, depending on what their keeper situation is over the summer. I've noticed that a lot of teams in England have their preseason schedules up. They generally are starting games in mid-July, so hopefully I'll get some replies and be able to get over there by early July. That would be ideal, but honestly I'm not so sure on the odds for that happening.

Update

2009-05-04T19:19:00.001-07:00

It’s been a while, but after England I was real busy with senior stuff. My thesis was due two weeks after Stephen and I got back and that got done on time. Likewise, I passed my oral exams, an hour and a half long defense of my thesis. But, all of that and other academic work is done with the exception of one paper and one exam. I’ve been in contact with various PDL teams in Virginia about playing once I return home after graduation, basically the beginning of June. It looks like I’ll be training and playing with the Fredericksburg Gunners. The PDL is, if I haven’t mentioned it, a semi-pro league that could be argued as the 4^th level of American soccer. Its mainly rising college juniors and seniors and people up to 3 or 4 years out of college trying to stay sharp over the summer or work their way up to professional teams.

Its been hard to train as much as I would like 1) given the academics and 2) our returning team has two goalkeepers, so it would be a bit awkward if I trained in with them. ‘Hey I’m not on the team anymore, and you guys are, but I’m going to take time away from your practice anyway so I can get some time in a net.’ No. I’ve done some light things in a goal but not a whole lot, still trying to get my right index finger back to a normal size. Its still pretty fat and jammed from the first day of playing in England with Stoke City. A quick update on those teams: It looks like Stoke City will stay up in the Premier League but Crewe Alex will probably be relegated to League 2.

I haven’t started emailing teams abroad yet, but will start that real soon. I’ve been concentrating more on finishing up a few things at Whitman as well as worrying about getting something set up for over the summer. It’s not easy being in a different place than where I’ll be playing for several months. Most coaches want a look even before they let a player train/trial with their team.

So, that is where I am at this point. Graduation is the 24^th of May and I’ll probably head out of Walla Walla a few days after that to try and be home by the first few days in June. I’ll update again if anything develops before then…

England

2009-03-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

Stephen and I are off to England in the morning...I won't be updating this blog, but we're keeping one for the WC athletic department. You can get to it here. I'll continue on in 2 weeks...

Recap of the 2 days in Portland

2009-03-04T20:36:00.000-08:00

I'll try and write this in a way so it's not just a long rant. But no promises. For starters, training in Portland wasn't what I had hoped for or expected. I was under the impression that I and perhaps a few others would be training with the actual Timbers during their 1st week of preseason. Not really. turns out, it was kind of like a final tryout. There were 20-25 guys there trying out during the optional week of training for the Timbers, so a few of them were there as well. And since it was a tryout, everyone was playing like such. By that I mean the mids and forward were dribbling to no end and blasting shots at goal from close range like there was no tomorrow (we played small sided games). Hold on, let me back up.

Monday started with me showing up a half hour before everyone else. I was told 8:30 was the start time, got there at 8. It was really supposed to start at 9, but didn't start until 9:15. More than an hour of pretty much just sitting around in the locker room, waiting. That didn't make me too happy. We did a group jog and stretch led by one of the returning players. Then, it was like we were little kids again. Everyone was told to get in the square and dribble around, doing moves and changing pace. Fine. Then, we were told to juggle, and then to juggle with every touch being above our head. I played the part of typical high school keeper perfectly and couldn't do this for shit. In the last several weeks of trying to become a functioning keeper again, I failed to practice my juggling. How foolish of me. The suffering ended after 20 minutes when the head coach (Gavin) told the keeper to warm-up on their own, while the field players played a small-sided game on little goals. This lasted another 20 minutes. So, more than an hour of sitting around and more time doing pretty much nothing, doing things that could have been done while we were all sitting in the locker room waiting for Gavin or Amos (the assistant coach) or a returning player to say "Ok Let's go".

Finally, we started playing, 9v9 at first, but then for most of the time it was 6v6 with a 3rd 6-man team on the outside of the field as 1-touch neutral players. During this, I got lit up to no end. I can't count the number of goals that were scored on me by an opposing player passing to the man standing on the end line, him 1-timing it back into the middle, and an opposing player one timing it from 6 yards out. I really think the whole day I only got scored on once by a shot from distance that was well placed. The other 2 keepers weren't doing great either, but being paranoid, I felt like I looked awful on this day.

Sidenote: There were two other keepers there. I was far from full form but still being competitive. If I'm at full form, it's not even a competition (I have mentioned previously that I DO think very highly of myself, but I am also very critical of myself). One keeper was a 6'2 190 kid who had just been released after a 3 week training stint with New England. The other was a 5'11 190 kid who had previously been training with San Jose.

Day 2. Jim Brazeau was there on Tuesday, the Pacific U coach, so I felt a bit more comfortable at least having a familiar face around. A couple more of the returners for the Timber's showed up also. This day started with a different group warm-up, better than Monday's. A warm-up and stretch took about half an hour. No complaints here (how about that??) The field guys did some more small-sided and keep away over at the other end of the field while the keepers did some keeper work with Jim. We did a variety of drills where one keep was in goal and the others were shooting to score on him from various ranges and locations. I was doing well, holding my own in this, until the one drill. Everything we shot was supposed to be a moving ball. so this drill was to take a corner and square up for a direct shot. Well, I took a corner, and all four times, the guy shooting didn't roll the ball before hitting, and basically curved the ball into the upper corner of the goal. Thanks a lot, ass hole. After a good 45 minutes of this, we played some more small-sided. I ended up on the team of mostly returners, and don't take that as a sign of things to come. Didn't give up a goal this time, probably had something to do with the better team in front of me. Then we opened it up to a large field, and again I was in goal for the team of mostly returners. And, funny enough, during both of these games, I played absolutely fine. Played the ball quick when I had it, had 1-2 semi-difficult saves to make and made them clean, had one cross to come out on, took it cleanly. Great. Story time...

Midway through the large game, one of the returners went in hard on a tryout kid. He didn;t take to kindly to this and then next time the returner had the ball, straight took him out from behind. This, too, the returner didn't take kindly. They got in each others faces, exchanged shoves, AND THEN THE TRYOUT KID HEAD BUTTED THE RETURNED RIGHT IN THE FACE. I've never actually seen somebody do that in person before. Its a good thing there were 20 other kids trying out to keep the 6 standing Timber players from tearing the one kid to pieces. Needless to say, he was promptly dismissed for good. This was after a good minute of chaos that incuded a headlock and three kids needing to hold back one returning player because he was going so wild.

So, the day ended soon after. Gavin apparently didn't know that I had to go back to SCHOOL, because he was surprised when I thanked him for having me out for these couple of days. Apparently the one new signee from Oregon St. is missing 3 weeks of classes for training and such. HAHAHAHAH oh man I don't even know how to respond to that. Well, I do, but I'm sure it will offend some people somewhere (perhaps in Corvalis). I had to get back to Whitman, where I've got to prep for a big paper and a mid-term for next week, and continue work on my thesis, which will precede my orals. Maybe missing 3 weeks of classes would fly here? Maybe? Anyway, Gavin thanked me for coming and said they would be in touch. But, I already know that they'le be looking for another keeper who can be with them starting next week probably, and sure as hell is not going to be missing any of the season.

So, overall, it was a good two days of training in the sense that the level of play is just so much higher than I'm used to (sorry Whitman team), but on the other, I wish it was more of a practice atmosphere instead of a tryout atmosphere, for the reasons that I mentioned before.

I'd also like to say that the drive to and from Portland is so, so, so much nicer than the drive to and from Seattle. Until next time, Cheers from Walla Walla. (and PS, that was really long, I'm NOT going to go back and proof it)

Going to Portland

2009-02-25T23:34:00.000-08:00

You can't make this one up...I attended the Northwest Conference S-AAC conference at Whitman on Sunday, and Jim Brazeau was there. He's the head coach at Pacific U and also the Timber's goalkeeper coach. We got to talking about the Timbers of course and he invited me out to train with the 1st team during the second week of March. Go figure. He actually called me yesterday and said that next week would be better for them, so I'm going to go to Portland next Sunday, training with the team Monday and Tuesday, and driving back on Tuesday afternoon/evening.

As far as training is going, today was the first day in months that I felt like myself and not a complete idiot. I've just felt like I was a 12 year old playing against college kids for the last 2 weeks. Steve and I have been training outside 3 times a week and working on fitness and lifting a total of 4-5 times a week. So, finally this morning it finally felt like this work has been doing something. I could catch hard hit balls, dive with some kind of form, had better judgement and reactions also. Again, FINALLY. This Sunday is going to come real fast, but I'm real excited for it...

Another Sweet Break

2009-02-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

Originally, Stephen and I had heard that we'd be training primarily with Newcastletown. Then, we head that we'd have 1, maybe more sessions with Crewe Alexandra. Then, it became 3-4 with Newcastle town and 3-4 with Crewe. The most recent and by far the most absurd development in our trip came today, when Mike informed us that Ray had somehow hooked us up with two training sessions with Stoke City. Yes, Stoke City in the EPL. I wonder what exactly he's saying to these guys to get us to be able to train with them because I'm sure they're not in the habit of having relatively unknown players come and train with them in mid-season. We also found out that the athletics department wants us to keep a blog on our 2 weeks in England, so most of my updates from England will probably come on that, but I'll link that to my blog when the time comes. As for the Timbers, well, haha. It would still be nice to have an option in the U.S. and I'd love to have them turn down my skipping their PDL trials and training with the 1st team when I tell them that I'm missing the PDL trials to train with an EPL team. But, I'll be nice about it and not rub it in, just so I can leave my options open.

England over Portland

2009-02-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

The game and tour at Stoke will be on the 28th while the 28th and 29th are the weekend of the Timber's PDL trials. I sent an email to the assistant coach asking him to give me a call so we can talk about the trials a bit further. I haven't heard from him and Stephen wanted to make plane reservations before going out of town this past weekend, so I made the choice to stay in England until the 29th and skip the Timber's PDL trials. Last year, the Yakima PDL tryouts were a waste of time, and I'm not going to spend the money to stay 2 nights in a hotel, be jetlagged, probably not be able to show my full game, and miss the weekend in England to come back to the U.S. early for the Timber's PDL trials. Sorry guys. I'll talk with them some more and hopefully they'll just let me train with the first team. Oh, and if you're wondering about the tickets, we're flying from Seattle on Sunday the 15th and arriving in Manchester the next morning via JFK. Same route coming back on Sunday the 29th. We won't get back to Walla Walla until early Monday morning after spring break. Long trip, but I'm super excited for it. Kinda wish it was March 13 right now...

Being sick

2009-02-03T19:53:00.000-08:00

So I came back out to Walla Walla on Jan 6 and on Jan 7 started feeling a bit sick. Almost a month later, I'm through the flu and pneumonia and just getting back on the inevitably slow road back to being in college soccer player's fitness. I had to miss the tryouts with the Timbers, but they offered me a chance to come out on March 28-29 for their PDL team trials, and if I "impress" then they'll have me train with the first team. However, this will be at the end of what will be 2 weeks in England training with Newcastle Town, Crewe Alexandra of League One, and perhaps Bath City. Mike's friend Ray Evans, who played for several top teams back in his playing days, set up up with most of the two weeks, including lodging, training, going to a game at Stoke City and a tour of the grounds, and travel when we need it. Unbelievable. He and Mike have been such a great help to us.

The FIRST POST...some background

2008-12-30T14:44:00.000-08:00

Ohhhhhh man. My own blog. I figured I would set this up because I'm vain enough to think that people might care about what kind of adventures I'm having in my attempt to play professional soccer after college life. In any event, if no one else cares, I'm sure my family will. Since this is my first post, I'll do a quick run down of my soccer history. Started playing soccer when I was too young and started travel soccer when I was 7. Played for Union SC until I was 13, where my majority of my team and coach moved to Parsippany SC and became a serious club team. I played with Parsippany until I was 17, traveling around the country to compete (Richmond, Orland, San Diego, you get the idea) . I went to Union High where I started 3 years for the Fightin' Farmers (I also ran track for four years at Union). After high school I came out to Walla Walla for Whitman College and started for four years here. Most recently, we finished 11-2-7, falling just short of winning the Northwest Conference and an NCAA tournament spot.

Whitman is the perfect place for soccer training. All within walking distance we have a track, training fields, a top notch game field, training room, brand new weight room and swimming pool. I'd like to stay in the U.S. and play professionally, at least at the beginning. Relatively close to my family and friends and not having to deal with visas and such. Eventually I'd like to go abroad and challenge myself in other countries, preferably English speaking. Australia wouldn't be a bad place to end up, although the up and coming A-league doesn't offer the highest pay ever. On the other hand, if you've ever watched A-league highlights you'd have seen how atrocious their goalkeeping is. So, for the time being, I'll try and start off with the Portland Timbers of the USL 1st Division. I've watched their highlights as well, and from what I've seen, there isn't a single reason why I couldn't play in the 1st Division. That is something you'll come to learn about me: I think very highly of my game, but I also have the highest expectations for myself. You have to know yourself in order to grow as a person and as a player which means being honest with yourself about your abilities and limitations.

The tryouts are in a few weekends into January 23-25 in Portland. I'm heading back to Walla Walla on the 6th for an intense 2 weeks period of training and work on my thesis. I'll have an update on how training and thesising are going in mid January...