SLU Coach Dan Donigan Leaves For Rutgers

SLU Coach Dan Donigan, patting Devon Newport

SLU Coach Dan Donigan, patting Devon Newport

The Trenton New Jersey native, pictured here during a game against Missouri State in August 2009 patting Springfield native Devon Newport on the back, heads home:

Dan Donigan was named the new Rutgers men’s soccer coach, Scarlet Knights athletics director Tim Pernetti said Friday morning. Pernetti offered the job to the ninth-year Saint Louis coach after the other finalist, Monmouth coach Rob McCourt, withdrew his name for consideration Thursday night.

Pernetti said that while he believed he couldn’t go wrong with either finalist, Donigan was the candidate he honed in on after his second round of interviews Wednesday.

In Donigan, Rutgers is getting a highly-accomplished coach with both New Jersey and Big East ties to replace Bob Reasso, who resigned in November after 29 mostly-successful seasons.

During his tenure at SLU, the 43-year old Donigan compiled a 118-42-23 record, including a 15-7 mark last fall. The Trenton native, who was an All-State player at Hamilton East in the 1980s, led the Billikens to four straight NCAA Tournaments, including a run to the second round last November.

Sport Business & Soccer

By BENJAMIN GOSS, Assistant Professor Sports Management, Missouri State University

L-R: McDermott (behind podium, emcee), Donigan, Santel, Hudson, Viverito, Flynn, and Cooper.

L-R: McDermott (behind podium, emcee), Donigan, Santel, Hudson, Viverito, Flynn, and Cooper.

Before a crowd of over 200 attendees, on last Thursday, the John Cook School of Business at Saint Louis University hosted a panel called Sport Business & Soccer.

The panel helped SLU mark 50 years since the inception of its powerhouse men’s collegiate soccer program, 60 years (in 2010) since the historic 1-0 U.S. win over England in the 1950 World Cup (a team that featured five St. Louis natives), and the launching of the school’s sport business certificate academic program in 2010.

Incidentally, the panel was convened the same week that the city’s new North American Soccer League was officially named AC St. Louis.

Tim Hayden, chief marketing officer of AC St. Louis, organized the panel. Hayden will also teach the first sport business course in the new curriculum during the Spring 2010 semester.

Panelists included:

• Jeff Cooper, Chair of AC St. Louis
• Dan Flynn, CEO/General Secretary of U.S. Soccer
• Bruce Hudson, former head of sport marketing for Anheuser-Busch
• Frank Viverito, president of the St. Louis Sports Commission
• Mark Santel, executive director of St. Louis Scott Gallagher Soccer Club
• Dan Donigan, head men’s soccer coach at Saint Louis University

ESPN soccer announcer Bill McDermott (also of St. Louis Athletica and the Columbus Crew) emceed the panel, spreading and guiding the discussion across several major topics, which are encapsulated below.

Sport of Soccer

Culture was an early common theme among panelists’ answers.

Cooper fired a strong early statement almost from the beginning as he called soccer a tribal sport that was unquestionably the biggest element for social change, including religion.

Donigan echoed this sentiment, calling soccer “a cultural enterprise,” as did McDermott, who noted, “Americans are big event people.”

Soccer in the U.S.

Much of the panel discussion was woven around discussion of the state of the sport of soccer within the United States, often soliciting or necessitating answers from Flynn, who noted that the sport of soccer currently lacks relevance in the U.S. 365 days a year.

When asked what forces would be necessary to change that, Flynn replied, “Owners, television, and consumers will make it relevant,” acknowledging that despite widespread grassroots participation, soccer traditionally lags as a good spectator sport.

In addressing the more problematic aspects of soccer within American culture, Flynn noted that the pay-to-play youth development model is probably the biggest hurdle of development of the sport in the United States.

Another hurdle faced by the sport within the U.S., Flynn opined, was the lack of a uniform national style of play enjoyed by many other nations, which he said varied here because of a diversity of temperature across the American geographic zones.

Flynn also emphasized that, while Americans possessed a great deal of enthusiasm and effort, as a national group, they must improve fundamental technical aspects of their play, citing the crucial nature of instruction for the 6-12 year-old age group.

He also praised the development academy model such as the one planned by AC St. Louis, which he said would likely address that issue over time, a sentiment echoed by Santel.

Flynn also wistfully noted that overzealous parental involvement could be as problematic in soccer as in any other youth sport.

Concerning the advancement of the U.S. Soccer team in its prelude to World Cup competition, Hudson said he believed that the global perception of the U.S. as soccer nation was improving and getting closer to the status of global elite.

Hudson cited the perspectives of several of his England acquaintances, whom he described as “wary” that the American team could be a bit of a force that can upset any of top eight World Cup teams on any given day.

College Soccer

As might be expected of a panel at the university that won 10 of the first 15 NCAA national championships in men’s soccer, collegiate aspects of soccer also surfaced.

Donigan remarked about the emergence of apparel deals as a critical driving force in collegiate soccer, citing Nike, adidas, and Under Armour as the top three providers in the collegiate ranks, all of whom were deemed by most panelists to feature soccer as a driving force in their current marketing campaigns.

Dr Goss also provided The Sports Business Exchange website with an update on the event, offering additional information on Global issues and Sports Marketing background. Click here for that article.

Ben Goss is as an associate professor in the entertainment management program in the College of Business Administration at Missouri State University in Springfield, Mo. In addition to his teaching in the management curriculum and courses on sport, event, and sponsorship management, Goss has also taught in Missouri State’s program with Liaoning Normal University in Dalian, China.

In 2007, Goss co-founded the Journal of Sport Administration & Supervision, an open-access academic research journal seeking to bridge the gap between academic theory and professional practice in the sport industry. He currently serves as its editor-in-chief.

Contact Goss at bengoss@missouristate.edu, and follow him on Twitter @sportMGTweet. Visit the journal at www.jsasonline.org, and follow it on Twitter @jsasonline.

Ryan Moses Commits to St Louis University Billikens

U16 Missouri State Cup - Springfield SC vs Lou Fusz PopvicThe Kickapoo Chiefs, coming off of their 3rd place finish at State last year, now have a second member of this years team scheduled to play Division I college soccer next year. Senior Ryan Moses recently accepted an offer from Head Coach Dan Donigan to represent the nationally ranked St Louis University Billikens, where he will join his friend and club teammate Devon Newport (Glendale). Goalkeeper Chris ‘Tommy’ Tombridge, also a teammate on the club squad, earlier committed to Northwestern.

Ryan will be the second Kickapoo Chief to play for the Billikens, following Jack Jewsbury’s tenure from 1999-2002, after which he was drafted by the Kansas City Wizards. Much like Jack, Ryan is a forward who prides himself on his ability to score goals. Jack is excelling for the Wizards at outside back again this season, and Ryan is also being called on to play a significantly different role for the Chiefs this year. He’ll be playing in front of Tombridge as the central defender, focused first on shutting down opposing teams attacks while also taking responsibility for leading the team from the back with his fellow seniors. It will be a challenge for a young man who is used to playing with his back to the opposing teams goal. Here’s what his Coach, Phil Hodge, had to say about it:

Ryan has taken this team on his shoulders this year. He is offering tremendous leadership and a work ethic that does not stop. Ryan is in the weight room before practice and often times after practice as well. While Ryan knows where he will be next year he has not forgotten about his Senior year at Kickapoo. Ryan will be a captain for us this fall, along with Chris, and has high expectations for his Senior year.

Ryan is a Springfield kid, living in the same house his entire life, and soccer has been his window to the world. While he played some basketball and ran track at Cherokee Middle School, soccer soon captured his sole attention. Whether playing for the “Surge” or later, with Newport on a Springfield Premier squad beginning at the U12 age group, he’s been testing himself on an increasingly larger stage every year. Olympic Development (ODP) programs, and then in the Midwest Regional League (MRL) with Springfield SC, he and his teammates opened eyes back in 2007 when they finally broke through and won their first State Championship.

It was at those games in St Louis, soon after Ryan scored the game-winner against Lou Fusz in the quarterfinal round to get past their nemesis (the photo above is Ryan’s reaction after scoring) that College Soccer hit his radar. Joe Burger, formerly a Missouri State assistant and long time MSU Soccer Camps Coach, approached Ryan about the possibility of playing for Drake University, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference and alma mater of Ryan’s father Ron.

That spark of interest sent Ryan on a recruiting journey that culminated in his recent decision. He first worked with Jeremy Alumbaugh to compile a list of 10-15 schools that interested him. He began reaching out to the schools to express his interest in learning more about their program while also letting them know when they could see him play, whether at College Showcase games or MRL games. He attended a couple of summer camps, including the Indiana Hoosier Camp in 2007 as well as the Wisconsin Badgers Camp this past summer. He was narrowing his choices, and soon it looked like Missouri State, Wisconsin or SLU would be his college home.

I asked Jeremy, Director of Soccer Operations at Springfield SC, to offer some thoughts on Ryan

Ryan is a high quality athlete. The first thing you notice when you see him play is obviously his size, but he has so many more qualities than just a typical target forward. He is agile and has soft feet with a good knack for finding goals at the right time. He really enjoys working hard and is always staying after practice to improve his game. The coaching staff at SLU will love his desire to improve and he is a great addition to a quality SLU program.

The first conversations with Donigan, and the SLU staff, occurred at State Cup this Spring and continued at Regionals in Rockford, culminating in a formal visit to the campus in late June. It was during this visit that Ryan let the Coaches know he was interested in making a decision before school started and that he was interested in the Billikens. A formal offer was tendered soon after his visit and his final decision was made a week later.

Asked about his decision criteria, Ryan admitted to first wanting to see a bit of the world and leave Springfield, thus eliminating Missouri State from the equation. There were also discussions with other programs, including Wisconsin and DePaul, that expressed interest in having him play as a central defender in college. While it is a role he gladly assumes for the Chiefs this season, the goal-scoring responsibilities at forward are more to his liking. That, along with the opportunity to play at a program like SLU’s with it’s tradition and fan-base that sealed the decision for him. The Billikens averaged 2,116 fans for 10 home dates at Hermann Stadium last season, which ranked ninth in the nation.

Ryan will join a signing class that already numbers 8 for 2009, including a pair from Scott Gallagher in St Louis, 2 from TX and 2 from CA. This years recruiting class is ranked #24 in the country by College Soccer News and also includes 3 Division I transfers. The challenges will only get greater. I’m looking forward to watching his continuing progression!

On a somewhat related note, I asked Ryan what was in his music player the day I interviewed him. Apparently he’s a classic rock guy, having spent the weekend with his parents at the Lake rocking to the Doobie Brothers while picking up “Mothership”, a new 3 disc collection of the best of Led Zeppelin with some birthday cash. “Houses of the Holy” and “Led Zeppelin IV” both came out when I was in high school but I was busy discovering you “Can’t Buy A Thrill”.

Devon Newport And Graham Basecke – Future Billiken And Hoosier

MRL U17 Premier Red: Springfield SC vs Pacesetter Premier (ON) 2008 has been an incredibly active year when it comes to college recruiting news. I have not done it justice in terms of recognizing the opportunities the players in this region have created for themselves. The most difficult challenge is pursuing a Division I opportunity. The two most recent decisions in that area come from one team – Springfield SC. Devon Newport and Graham Basecke both recently made verbal commitments to a pair of storied Division I programs.

Devon, pictured on the left, accepted an offer from the St Louis University Billikens in late February. Graham, on the right, accepted an offer from the Indiana Hoosiers in early April. The last player from this region to play for SLU is the KC Wizards Jack Jewsbury (Kickapoo), a decade ago, while Graham is the second regional player to be accepted into a Big 10 program following Rachel Lavoy (Kickapoo 2006) who is a Purdue Boilermaker. I can’t do justice to the quality of either of these programs if you are unaware of their place in the record books. Indiana University has won 4 national titles in the past 10 years, the last in 2003 and 2004, and is the only team with multiple titles in that period. SLU has won 9 titles, more than any other program, sports an Overall Record of 652-179-80 and has made 43 NCAA Tournament Appearance, the last in 2006 when they lost to Big 10 foe Northwestern in the 2nd Round.

I sat down with the two players recently, after a game in St Louis against Pacesetter Premier (Ohio North) in the Midwest Regional League. When I arrived at halftime on that cold dreary Sunday (two weekends ago) the boys were losing 0-3, a very uncharacteristic position for them. They proceeded to take Coach Cory Carr’s words to heart (are you a player? or a poser?) and storm back to win 4-3. You can see pictures of the game here. They are currently top of the table in the U17 Red Premier Division with a 4-0-1 record and two games remaining.

The boys begin play this weekend in the Missouri State Cup where they are defending State Champions in their age group (birth year 1991/1992). A repeat title in Cup, or finishing first in their Division of the MRL, will send them to Regionals for the second straight year.

All of these facts are pertinent to the conversation I had with these young men. They have been teammates and close friends since beginning play together on the Pershing team as sixth graders. That has continued with their play for the Glendale Falcons and most importantly, the Springfield SC U17 squad. The teams success on a national level, reaching the semifinals in Region II last year, was the catalyst for exposing them to the programs. While both college programs have strong St Louis roots (Indiana Coach Mike Freitag is a CBC graduate and former All-American player for IU) and both were noticed at State Cup last year by SLU Coach Dan Donigan, it has been the opportunity to play against programs from across the country, at Disney, Dallas Cup and through the MRL, that has allowed the boys to test themselves against the best and created the opportunities that have now presented themselves.

I generally attempt to understand the process a player went through during their recruiting cycle, so that we can all learn more about the process. For these two, it has been about the game. The recruiting cycle itself was a very stressful process, a necessary requirement to achieve their stated goal at playing at the highest level possible. Both Devon and Graham have professional aspirations. As Carl Rose recently shared with me, Devon indicated that to him as a 5 year old and Carl has had nary a doubt since that it has a good chance of happening. That is what led to an early decision, with offers, coaches and programs they have confidence in. Devon will continue as an attacking midfield player and Graham as a holding or central midfield player.

While both of them have achieved personal goals with these decisions, the commitment to the team goals remain paramount. Neither of them feels they have sacrificed anything in terms of friendships, school activities or other areas despite the long hours of training and travel to compete nationally. And it stems from the fact that this is a band of brothers that should graduate every member of the team to a quality collegiate program. And reaching the Region II competition is the next step. I’ll report from St Louis next weekend (May 3-4) on their progress. In the meantime, here’s a little treat…


Pershing Generals vs Cherokee Chiefs, Oct 18 2004 from oleolson on Vimeo.

The Pershing Generals, coached by Bob Jordan, take on the Cherokee Chiefs in a mid-season game on October 18, 2004. The Pershing team features current Springfield SC teammates Devon (xx), Graham (xx), Ian Newport, Ryan Partch, Ryan Squires and xxx on Pershing as well as Ryan Moses (xx), Tyler Bennett and xx for Cherokee. You can also see Skyler Russell (#10, Cherokee)

Give me a hand folks and identify all of the players for us :)

Recruiting Wednesday: The Scholarship Divide

This week The New York Times has run a three-part series called “The Scholarship Divide.” The series examines the chase for athletic scholarships from the perspective of athletes and coaches. The focus is on non-revenue producing sports like soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, and baseball. The series supports the comments recently made by Dan Donigan at the Springfield Soccer Club banquet in February.

Part 1 explores the unrealistic scholarship expectations of students & parents. Part 2 looks at the scholarship chase from the perspective of college coaches. Part 3 examines the demands placed on scholarship athletes. There are a number of sobering stories about the recruiting process that each student-athlete AND their parents can learn from.

As you read the series, keep the following soccer scholarship limits in mind. Remember that not every school provides the maximum number of scholarships allowed by the NCAA or NAIA.

Division I Men: 9.9 scholarships
Division II Men: 9 scholarships
NAIA Men: 12 scholarships
NJCAA Men: 18 scholarships (thanks Mike)

Division I Women: 14 scholarships
Division II Women: 9 scholarships
NAIA Women: 12 scholarships

Monday, Part 1

Tuesday, Part 2

Wednesday, Part 3

Hat tip to Bob Jordan at Glendale Soccer who identified the stories and has been providing running commentary at the Falcons site. He also provided the outline for this story.

Dan Donigan, SLU Head Coach, Headlines Springfield SC Banquet

Springfield SC Banquet I had a very enjoyable evening last night attending the 4th annual Springfield SC Banquet. With over 450 in attendance, the Oasis Convention Center was overflowing with my kind of crowd – soccer junkies!

The featured speaker was NSCAA Regional Coach of the Year Dan Donigan, Head Coach for the St Louis University Billikens (pictured in the center with Bob Florez, Joe Kofron, Steve Eise and Jeremy Alumbaugh). Donigan and assistant Coach Dave Beck recently received a verbal commitment from Devon Newport to join the Billikens but due to NCAA regulations I couldn’t get a quote or even a photo so I’ll bring you the recruiting details from Devon’s standpoint next week.

What Donigan was able to talk about were his thoughts on what it means to be a collegiate soccer player and the steps a player can take now to prepare for that opportunity. It’s a familiar story but one that cannot be repeated often enough. Of the 30 players on the SLU roster, only 17 are receiving soccer scholarship money. There is not enough money available in men’s college soccer programs at the Division 1 level to help everyone. That, along with the rigors of essentially being a full-time athlete and a full-time college student, means that academics are critically important. By maintaining your grades now you demonstrate an ability to balance the responsibilities that will only increase at the collegiate level. You also increase the possibility of receiving academic scholarships that can supplement any soccer scholarship money that may be available. An important consideration at a private school like SLU that costs close to $40,000 annually.

There was one additional point that Coach Donigan emphasized. Entitlement. It’s an attitude, a sense of being owed a result. Don’t bring it unless you want to be disappointed. It’s a message that had every coach I saw nodding his/her head along with Donigan’s talk. I’m not going to belabor the point, I know my niece and nephews have heard it plenty from me. As a Sales Manager, all I can say is ‘earn the right’ to be heard, to play for a team, or more importantly to lead your teammates.

As I noted earlier, I had a great time last night. Soccer does that for me. Having an opportunity to meet Coach Donigan, only the fifth coach at one of the most storied programs in collegiate soccer and the measuring stick for D1 soccer in Missouri, was an added benefit. For other clubs in the region, consider a similar step. The banquet serves multiple purposes – recognition, community building, fund raising. It’s not cheap nor easy training, developing or competing with over 25 teams as Springfield SC does. But whether you have 3 teams or more, it can be a great way to get the word out and build your program.

Before I get off my soap box, I’ve got one more thing to say. Missouri State visits St Louis University in late September this year, for a game at Hermann Stadium. I asked Coach Donigan if we could expect SLU to visit Missouri State in the future, especially now that they’ve tapped the growing talent base this area has to offer. Based upon the response I got, I think there are still a few more things we need to do to earn that right. So here’s my idea – who would be prepared to join me for a road trip to St Louis on Saturday September 27th to cheer on the Bears at SLU? I want to rent one or more buses and take a very vocal cheering section to the game and send S Louis a message. Leave a comment or send me an email