OT: Vermont wins men’s soccer natty

[Fat Koko]

Won despite huge weather challenges on campus forcing lots of indoor training and outdoor artificial turf field which soccer players hate. Tiny state with little in state talent.

Players from Germany and Hungary scored the goals in the final. Two players selected in first round of MLS draft a few hours ago. How did these guys end up in Vermont?

Shows anything is possible in college sports.

 

[colbert17]

Wow!!! The Catamounts are about the last school I would have picked as being a soccer power.

 

[WhichReligionIsRight]

Good interview on the Russillo pod with the coach.

 

[vkj91]

Won despite huge weather challenges on campus forcing lots of indoor training and outdoor artificial turf field which soccer players hate. Tiny state with little in state talent.

Players from Germany and Hungary scored the goals in the final. Two players selected in first round of MLS draft a few hours ago. How did these guys end up in Vermont?

Shows anything is possible in college sports.

There are like 200 D1 men’s soccer programs compared to almost 350 women’s.
Men’s programs live on international talent. Many of the better men’s programs are small schools that you don’t equate to sports. Marshall who lost has been in championship game think 2x in 4 years.

 

[MrsScrew]

"DON'T CALL THEM CINDERELLA YOU CAN CALL THEM NATIONAL CHAMPS!!!!"

 

[jaydogsmooth1]

Cousins live in Burlington and I go up there a few times a year for work
Would have never guessed they'd be good in soccer
They're also pretty good in lacrosse in America East

Figured they'd excel in bball and hockey b/c indoor sports
Campus is decent, and the town is great (albeit, could be a lot better if they cleaned it up), especially in the summer

There's a Marriott on Cherry Street I stay at that overlooks the lake, and a nice restaurant right on the lake
The hotel has these maple syrup candies that are seriously addictive

 

[RU to the Core]

Soccer is an interesting one. There are no SEC schools and a bunch of odd schools like High Point in North Carolina. Reason is title 9.

And yes 1/3 or more of the team are foreign born players so it’s a really tough sport to become a D1 athlete in. Not many teams and they recruit the world.

It’s a great sport if you want to go to a really good academic school but can’t get in normally with just academics. For example I could have gone to Carnegie Mellon to play soccer but I chose Rutgers instead. Carnegie Mellon is impossible to get into.

 

[Knight Shift]

There are like 200 D1 men’s soccer programs compared to almost 350 women’s.
Men’s programs live on international talent. Many of the better men’s programs are small schools that you don’t equate to sports. Marshall who lost has been in championship game think 2x in 4 years.

Don't know how many D1 hockey programs there are, but Quinnipiac has competed well, and won the Frozen Four a couple of years ago.

 

[RU to the Core]

D1 hockey is probably the hardest to go D1 in. My cousins kid is trying and I was shocked at the process. Apparently you can’t go from High school to college like most sports unless you are like Sidney Crosby level. You go to like a special high school which he is in now. Like left his school and is in this special boarding anchool for hockey and then you go play semi pro or something and then go to college so most college freshman are like 20 and not 18. So your odds of getting to the NHL are pretty good of you cal get to college hockey but it’s impossible to get to college hockey and expensive. Doesn’t seem worth it. Plus how many school have a hockey team. Maybe 50?

 

[vkj91]

Don't know how many D1 hockey programs there are, but Quinnipiac has competed well, and won the Frozen Four a couple of years ago.

Hockey’s a whole other animal that I know nothing about. Quinnipiac is Interesting school. When I was a kid I went to Joe Namath football camps there. It was a small commuter school. Now it has nationally ranked hockey and gymnastics teams. As well as well respected PT OT etc programs

 

[e5fdny]

Wow!!! The Catamounts are about the last school I would have picked as being a soccer power.

Undefeated in Football since 1974.

 

[e5fdny]

D1 hockey is probably the hardest to go D1 in. My cousin's kid is trying, and I was shocked at the process. Apparently, you can’t go from High school to college like most sports unless you are like Sidney Crosby level. You go to like a special high school which he is in now. Like left his school and is in this special boarding school for hockey and then you go play semi pro or something and then go to college so most college freshman are like 20 and not 18. So, your odds of getting to the NHL are pretty good of you can get to college hockey but it’s impossible to get to college hockey and expensive. Doesn’t seem worth it. Plus how many schools have a hockey team. Maybe 50?

If you're that good, that's what happens.

You "billet" (live) with a family while maybe going to a community college or even high school if you're that young. Then if you progress talent-wise it's onto Juniors which is the next level. During this time if the talent is there the college scholarship is offered.

The traditional way (what we think of) still exists, not for many, but it does.

Hockey’s a whole other animal that I know nothing about. Quinnipiac is interesting school. When I was a kid, I went to Joe Namath football camps there. It was a small commuter school. Now it has nationally ranked hockey and gymnastics teams. As well as well-respected PT OT etc. programs

It's a pretty campus with a separate upper and main one, which as you mentioned, some decent programs. Their PA an Engineering programs are doing well too.

They have a nice (for their size) combo ice/basketball facility. Hockey on one side and basketball on the other with the main lobby down the middle.

 

[JRZEER]

Undefeated in Football since 1974.

Them and Ryder

 

[Knight Shift]

Hockey’s a whole other animal that I know nothing about. Quinnipiac is Interesting school. When I was a kid I went to Joe Namath football camps there. It was a small commuter school. Now it has nationally ranked hockey and gymnastics teams. As well as well respected PT OT etc programs

And PA program. Lovely campus.

 

[Plum Street]

Won despite huge weather challenges on campus forcing lots of indoor training and outdoor artificial turf field which soccer players hate. Tiny state with little in state talent.

Players from Germany and Hungary scored the goals in the final. Two players selected in first round of MLS draft a few hours ago. How did these guys end up in Vermont?

Shows anything is possible in college sports.

Guys from Hungary and Germany winding up to play school sports in Vermont ? Yeah college! Sounds like professional sports to me

 

[rucoe89]

Guys from Hungary and Germany winding up to play school sports in Vermont ? Yeah college! Sounds like professional sports to me

We have international players too.

 

[RUTGERS95]

We have international players too.

Not a fan of it. Scholarships should be for Americans only

 

[Knight Shift]

Guys from Hungary and Germany winding up to play school sports in Vermont ? Yeah college! Sounds like professional sports to me

You do know that lots of students come from legions of foreign countries to go to college in the US?

 

[mdk01]

You do know that lots of students come from legions of foreign countries to go to college in the US?

And college athletics in Europe, even soccer, are not as big as the US. So why not go to college in the US and play a higher level of the sport. BTW, Vermont has had Norwegian ski jumpers on their ski team for decades

 

[Fat Koko]

Rutgers has 5 international players and 18 players from New Jersey. Vermont has 12 international players and 2 players from Vermont.

Vermont knows how to construct a roster despite having little in state talent. From what I could find, the most accomplished soccer player to live in Vermont grew up in an Ireland orphanage, moved to the US at 21, fought in Korean War, earned 4 caps for the US national team and scored a goal against Haiti. He retired in Vermont then died there.

Vermont soccer has a player from Gibraltar who has plays for the national team and has appeared against France and Netherlands in European qualifiers.

Yet Rutgers struggles despite having piles of state soccer talent.

My point is anything is possible in college sports even teams take a smart approach.

 

[Fat Koko]

As far as college sports in Europe, I know something about this at least in the UK because I played on the soccer team at University College London for a year. UCL is a top 10 global university located in central London. Similar enrollment as Rutgers, but far more international students.

Of course college sports is bigger in the US than other countries, at least as measured by money and fan interest. On student participation, I'd say UCL beats out Rutgers. Approximately 70 sports are offered, including American football, baseball, and pole dancing.

The standard of competition is far below US division 1, with the exception of rowing and maybe field hockey. As for soccer, UCL currently fields 6 teams and had 7 when I was there. I played a few times for the first team and would judge the competition quality as in line with US division 1 soccer. Team was dominated by international students. English youngsters playing at that standard join pro clubs in their teens.

The only team sport with a pathway to a professional career was rugby. Not sure that is the case anymore because rugby had just gone professional then and today the rugby academy system is more sophisticated. Most professional rugby players, at least in Britain and Ireland, are college grads and today tend to balance college with rugby at a nearby pro team's academy.

Keep in mind far fewer resources are involved outside the US. At UCL, the sports are run by a student taking a yearlong sabbatical and earning GBP 30,000, approximately USD 38,000. When I was playing soccer there, the team would bring 11 players and no coach, travel by public transit, and pay the referee a 2 pound coin each. That equated to about $70 then, or around $110 today. The assistant referees seemed by the referee's kids most of the time. Paid attendance was zero, maybe 5 or 10 spectators showed up.

The best part was UCL home field was at Arsenal's training ground at the time, Shenley.

No surprise coming to the US to be a student-athlete has great appeal to young international sportspeople, relative to the college sports opportunities outside the US.