Military, College, & Soccer by Brennan Randel
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
Brennan Randel is a guest blogger in my college soccer guest blogging series that will be happening this fall. The series is a way for my Online Soccer Academy players and readers to see what it’s like to be a college soccer player and share in some of these players’ experiences.
Brennan is a special guest member in my Online Soccer Academy and is a freshman at West Point Military Academy; an NCAA Division 1 College in West Point, New York. Below he talks about adjusting to college life, school, and soccer as a freshman in the U.S. Military. I have had the fortune to coach Brennan at one of my camps in Shreveport, Louisiana and also to have him coach for me. I couldn’t be more proud of how well he is doing and the sacrifices he is making for himself and our country. Thank you Brennan, thank you.
Hey guys, my name is Brennan Randel and I play DI college soccer for the United States Military Academy at West Point. I was recruited my Junior year of high school, and I decided to come in the fall of my Senior year. As West Point is a military academy, the entire freshman class had to come in late June for six weeks of military training. Basic training was very tough, but also very rewarding. It was quite an interesting transition, going from being a civilian to being in the military. We did some crazy things this summer, including qualifying with our M4 Assault Rifle, repelling from a 75-foot cliff, and entering a gas chamber filled with CS gas. We also shot heavy weapons, such as the Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) and the AT4 (rocket propelled grenade launcher).
Once we got close to the end of basic training, we were allowed to leave a few days early to join the team for preseason. They had already been going at it for two weeks, and we were eager to play and adjust to the college level of play. Playing DI college is totally different from any team I have played for, be it club or high school. DI is bigger, faster, and requires quick one touch play. I found out quickly that defenders will eat your lunch if you take your time on the ball. Our season has not gone as well as we had hoped, as we are 1-8 currently. However, we have lost a majority of our games by only one goal. We are constantly striving to improve our record, and every game we are coming closer to it.
Balancing school, military duties, and soccer is no easy task. Forbes Magazine recently ranked West Point the #1 College in America; so clearly the academics are pretty tough here. I am taking 18.5 credit hours, which means I have lots of homework, projects, and essays with little time to do these things. Also, West Point teaches using the Thayer Method, which means that you have to teach yourself the material, and come to class with questions, rather than have the teacher teach the lessons. This teaches us to be proactive in our learning, and I believe it is why we as students and ultimately officers in the army are so successful. Moving on, we also have many military duties we are responsible for throughout the week. We have haircut and uniform inspection every Wednesday, as well as room inspections every day. Finally, we have soccer.
At the end of every day, usually 4:00 PM, we have soccer. Being able to play soccer at the end of every day is incredible. It’s a huge stress reliever, and I don’t know how I would be able to get through the year without it. We practice for about two hours, then the freshman usually grab dinner together after. We travel just about every weekend, and school can get really tough if you let yourself get behind. In order to prevent that, I study or do homework for about 4 hours a night. I also do lots of work while traveling on the bus or in the hotel. With all of this going on, I usually get around 5 hours of sleep a night. It’s tough being an athlete and a student, especially at the Military Academy.
The coach called me into his office two days ago to have a talk with me after I didn’t play in our recent loss vs. Navy. During this talk, he expressed to me how he didn’t think I was ready to play at the DI level consistently. He wasn’t cutting me from the team or anything, but he was basically saying that I shouldn’t expect any more playing time this season if I didn’t adapt to the college game soon enough. Of course this wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but I was glad he let me know what he was thinking. I decided that instead of getting down about this, that I would prove to him that I deserved to be on the field. We had practice yesterday and I worked as hard as I could, trying to show him that I did indeed have something to offer the team. We played the other day versus Rider, and I got about 25 minutes of playing time. I played well, recorded a shot while also sending our outside mid into space, which is what coach wanted from us. My attitude made all the difference, because instead of beating myself up over not playing well, I decided that I would make the most of any opportunity given to me. We ended up losing 3-2 in the last minute, but I know that coach has more confidence that he can put me into the game so that I can make a difference.
Our goal as a team is to make it to the Patriot League tournament, with intent on winning the tournament. The Patriot League has just started, so this goal is definitely within reach. My personal goal for this season is to make the Patriot League Honor Roll, which means that you have to letter as well as making above a 3.2 GPA. In order to accomplish this goal I work very hard in school as well as on the field. In the end, academics are the most important thing. It’s incredibly hard balancing school, soccer, and the military side of things, but it’s definitely worth it and certainly something I’d recommend to anyone. Our next game is against Colgate on Saturday in Hamilton, New York so be sure to check us out. Also, if you have any questions at all about the Academy, school, and especially soccer, don’t hesitate to email me at Brennan.Randel@usma.edu. Thanks, and remember… it’s a beautiful day for soccer!
Brennan Randel #12
