Adam Peterson, Lou Fusz SC

Just in time for the Missouri State Cup, I am proud to introduce my newest contributor. Adam Peterson, Kickapoo High School 2007 and Lou Fusz SC U17, has been kind enough to contribute an article for my Recruiting Wednesday series. The series explores the varying routes available to Springfield Soccer players as they pursue their soccer dreams. In Adams case, he made the difficult decision last year to leave his local team and make the investment in time and money to pursue an opportunity to play for a St. Louis-based squad. Here in his words is the background behind his decision and the challenges he and his family have faced.

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I started playing competitive soccer in 5th grade and for me soccer has always been an important factor in my life. I have always loved the sport and enjoy playing at all levels. Several people have asked why I would choose to go outside of Springfield to play soccer. For me the decision was a tough one that was not made quickly.

The first time that I was approached about playing outside of Springfield I was getting ready to enter my freshman year of high school. The contact came through ODP camp. During my camp evaluations I was told that I needed to be playing at the highest level in every game that I played in, in order to be able to compete at the regional ODP level. The feedback I received is that I was not getting the consistent play that they were recommending to me. It was not recruiting but advice telling me every game needs to be a tough battle where you push yourself to the limit. The question that was posed was “If you are beating all the competitors by several points are you playing to the highest level that you can.” It is not about wins and losses but the consistency of playing against hard teams all the time. I was encouraged to play for a team that would allow me to play at this level all the time.

I thought about the advice I was receiving and decided that I was not ready to make a change. I liked my team and we were making it to the quarterfinals at State Cup pretty much every year. I felt that we were a great team with a lot of potential. It didn’t seem long before we would break past that level and upset a big team at State Cup. I enjoyed my teammates and was lucky enough to play with some talented local individuals. The coaching was also good. So I made the decision to stay.

During the next year I continued to participate in ODP, High School and Club soccer. The next time the opportunity came up again was my sophomore year. My roommates at ODP camp played on a club team in St. Louis and we had become friends. The father of one of the players was a coach for a St. Louis team. The friendship with this player has developed as I played with them every year at ODP. In the past it was not common to see a player from outside of St. Louis or Kansas City on ODP. I am happy to say that things have changed and Springfield is now represented by several up and coming players who will have very successful careers.

It was during the ODP tryouts that year that I became more interested. Several of my ODP teammates were having a very successful year on their Club team and asked me if I would be interested in guesting with them for a new league called the Midwest Regional League (MRL). Although the opportunity did not work out we did talk again after the club season ended. The team had finished in 2nd place in the MRL League that year and they had great stories about what it was like to play regional and national teams on a consistent basis. This was something that I had always wanted, a chance to see what I could do against some very notable players. I have to admit it sounded exciting – to be able to play those types of team was not something that I had experienced at this point. At the end of the school year I was invited to come up and try out. After tryouts they offered me a spot and told me that I would have to earn my playing time. I would not be a starter in the beginning but the coach felt that I was the kind of player that would fit in well. It took me two weeks to decide if this was a move that I wanted to make.

It is always difficult to make a change and this would be a huge sacrifice of time for both me and my parents. I had to be able to balance grades and soccer. I also did not want to burn out on my love of the game. I would have to learn to manage my time and do homework and eat in the car. I talked to several past players that have done well in Springfield and talked to several local coaches. I also talked to players on my team that I had played with for the last few years. Everyone had their own take on this. Finally I created a list of what I thought were the positives and negatives of making the change. In the end I felt that the move was worth taking a chance on. The tournaments and league play that the new team would be participating in were at a very high level and I felt that no matter the result, whether we were winning or losing, we would be playing at a very competitive level. The other benefit would be the chance of being seen by the types of colleges that I am interested in, which would be great.

My first season on the road is coming to an end. During the course of the season I have played some of the best teams in Region 2 and several nationally ranked teams. If we measured success only by our wins and loses it would be hard to see this as a successful season. Yet I feel that it exactly what it has been. I have been pushed physically and mentally to become a better player. I have learned to do homework in the car, and to get up at 6am to work on projects to get them completed. I have given up time with my friends and missed school activities that I would have liked to participate in. As soon as the high school season ended I began traveling 3 days a week to St. Louis with my high school and club teammate, Alex Palmer, to play for Lou Fusz Soccer Club. We went up once during the week leaving Springfield at 3:15 pm and getting home at 12:30 am. Then we turned around and left again on Friday night or Saturday morning for practices on Saturday and Sunday before coming home late Sunday night.

My mom (Tammy Collier) and Toni Palmer (Alex’s mom) always made sure that we got where we needed to go. I want to thank them both as without them this would not have happened. I have estimated that we traveled over 10,000 miles in the seven months that we have been doing this and that is just the miles for practice. Stephen Conner has also traveled and guest played with us this season. Other players in town that are making the same sacrifices are Heath Melugin and Tyler Williams who are playing for Scott Gallagher SC.

The MRL games and tournaments regularly attracted some of the top college soccer coaches around to watch the games. Lou Fusz is not nationally ranked (yet). We are ranked 18th in Region and 2nd the state in our age group currently. We played in Midwest Regional League U-17 Premier division for league and participated in the following college showcase tournaments:

Germantown College Showcase in Memphis, TN.
Arsenal College Search in Omaha, NE
Presidents Day Tournament in Phoenix, AZ.
Blue Chip Showcase in Cincinnati, OH
Spring Best of the Midwest in Chicago IL.

The MRL teams that we got to play and compete against included:
Chicago Magic (Illinois) – 7th in the nation
Arsenal Blue jays (Nebraska) – 12th in the nation
Cleveland Soccer Academy (Ohio North) – 21st in the nation
CRSA (Iowa) – 32nd in the nation
Blast FC Red (Ohio South) – 44th in the nation
Ohio FC (Ohio South) – 48th in the nation
Michigan Wolves (Michigan) – 14th in Region 2
Wings National (Minnesota) – 22nd in Region 2
(rankings from www.nationalsoccerrankings.com)

Now our season has almost come to an end and State Cup is here. Writing this article has allowed me to look back at our progress and re-evaluate my decision. We finished 2nd in the Germantown invitational, losing to CRSA from Iowa, a nationally ranked Region 2 semifinalist. We also finished 2nd in the Best of the Midwest, losing to CRSA in two overtimes, 3-2. It has been difficult competition but hopefully all of these games have helped to prepare us for State Cup this week.

Did I make the right decision? Some will say yes and some will not agree. The season taught me a lot. I started from scratch with a new team and had to prove myself. I earned the opportunity to start over 80% of the games. I met and talked to coaches from Division 1 schools I might not have otherwise been exposed to, as well as some great D2 and D3 schools.

What do I hope to get from this? I get to play the sport that I love at the next level, while I continue my education. I feel like I am on the road to doing this. My plan for the summer is more of the same. I will be helping with the Kickapoo High School camps, continue my off-season workouts, attend the 1989 Region 2 ODP tournament in Rockford, IL. as part of the Missouri ODP team and attend two college soccer camps. I hope to squeeze in some unofficial visits to a few other colleges as well. All activities that I hope will help me achieve my personal and soccer goals.

Good luck to everyone at State Cup!

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I hope you enjoyed Adam’s story as much as I did. I bailed on covering the Girls Final Four last weekend because I thought I was burned out. I marvel at the sacrifices that players like Adam, Alex, Tyler, Heath, Chealsey & her brother Skyler, Anne, Christina, Kristen and the others are making to chase the grail. Thank you for carving out some time from that busy schedule Adam to share your experiences with us. I know it will help the players following behind you when they are faced with making the choice. I’m also looking forward to seeing the results you’ve achieved on the pitch, not just this week but in the Fall. If your effort in writing is any indication, it will be impressive.