Men’s soccer club building on tradition
At Utah State the men’s club soccer team provides students a unique opportunity to keep playing soccer at high level even though they may not be at a division-I or division-II school on scholarship.
Nathan Jarman, a junior majoring in finance and defender on the team, said he has been especially impressed by the quality of play at USU.
“I transferred from UC-Davis,” Jarman said. “I was playing D-I for two years. I was a little worried about the team when I came here. I heard it was a club team, so I wasn’t sure how good it was going to be. I was really surprised, because it was just as good as the team I was playing on before.”
Like Jarman, many of the players have either played previously at Division-I or Division-II schools, or have put off opportunities to play at those schools in order to achieve other goals at USU.
Jordan Butterfield, a midfielder and junior pre-med student, agreed with what Jarman said.
“I enjoy the chance I have to play with some really good players,” Butterfield said. “Traditionally there have been a lot of players that come to Utah State to play because they’re either done playing at a division-II or division-I NCAA school. Or they decided not to go play somewhere because of other choices. We play high-quality soccer; there’s never a dull moment.”
Last season the club team enjoyed one of its best seasons in recent history, managing to go through the entire regular season undefeated.
“We had a really fun year,” Jarman said. “Last year’s team was pretty amazing. I was really happy with how well we did. We just got really unlucky in our last game.”
The last game was against University of Utah, and although some people would say the Aggies outshot and arguably outplayed the Utes, they weren’t able to put anything in the net and went home just short of the championship game.
“We dominated the game,” Jarman said, “but (Utah) got one shot on goal and scored it. We lost 1-0.”
Since the USU men’s team offers no scholarships, students at USU have the opportunity to try out for the team in the fall.
“We have tryouts at the beginning of the school year,” Jarman said. “We actually have a lot of people come out every year. Last year we had to cut a lot of players, but this year we’re not going to have very many returners, so we’re probably going to be taking a lot of people on.”
The club team attracts several top-level soccer players, and it also competes in the Utah-Idaho region for a shot at a regional tournament title and a place in the national club tournament.
“We play (other) schools in Utah that have a club team, like the University of Utah (and) SLCC,” Butterfield said. “We also play Idaho State, from Pocatello. At the end of October there’s a regional tournament. If you win the regional tournament, you go to nationals, which are usually held in Arizona.”
The team is currently without a head coach, after previous head coach Morgan Carlson retired at the end of last season, but Jarman said players aren’t going to let that stop them from keeping the winning tradition of USU men’s soccer alive.
“We’re actually looking for a coach,” Jarman said. “Right now, though, we’re just going to have the players as the coaches. We hope to get a coach though. It’s a lot easier to do things.”
Tyson Kelly, a defender on the team and a junior majoring in business administration, emphasized what’s fun about club soccer.
“I’ve been playing for three years,” Kelly said. “My favorite parts about playing on this team are the trips. You get to hang out with a bunch of cool people and get to know them. We just hang out, play soccer and have fun.”
Even though the team will host several players from last season, Jarman said the team is still optimistic about the upcoming season.
“This year we hope to have a good team,” Jarman said.
– eliason.wright3@aggiemail.usu.edu