Soccer Part 2: Transition from Rec to Club Soccer and ODP

When I moved to Utah, my parents had decided that I needed to go to the next level if I were to get serious about soccer. That's when they signed me up for Park City Soccer Club and I was ecstatic. When I first joined the team, I knew things would be different. From the first practice, I realized that the difference between recreational soccer and club soccer was monumental. Don't get me wrong, Southern California is one of the best areas for soccer development in the country, so I grew up around basically the same standard, but in general recreational soccer around the country is nowhere close to its club soccer counterpart. I sensed the difference in skill and knowledge for the game automatically. As I examined my new teammates, I was troubled. I had always been the best on all of my previous teams, and now, things were quite the opposite. Although club soccer was hard for me to adjust to, I ended up loving the new experience.

 The club I currently play for. Image courtesy of Park City Extreme Cup

 

I have been playing with Park City Soccer Club for three years now, which translates to five seasons. I began my journey with this club, excited, yet nervous at the same. I was eager to experience club soccer for the first time, but I was scared about the transition from rec to club. Nevertheless, I decided to do everything in my power to play to the very best of my ability. My first two seasons with the club were slow. I played left wing for the majority of these seasons, scoring a couple of goals throughout those games. Although at left wing I wasn't at my best, I was noticed by John Cairel, who was the coach for the older team. I had the honor of playing with the team older than me, as well as the team for my age group. I believe this helped develop my game even further. Towards the end of our third season, we hadn't done very well in the league for the third year in a row. The club decided we needed a new coach. That's when things changed for the better for our team. My dad, who had previously been involved with the club for a short period of time, filled in as our team's head coach. His presence made an instant impact within our team. He filled in as coach for our last five games, where we won four of them, and lost our last game 3-2 against the number one team in the league. The next season, with the addition of some new players, my dad took us to promotion from Division 3, to Division 2. Within that season I played left wing, but my dad allowed me to try central midfield which I felt I did well at. We also have a very impressive habit of at least making it to the finals of every tournament my dad has coached us under. We won second at a Premier tournament in Las Vegas, and have won every other tournament we have participated in. This season I have been playing central midfield. During this season, we were doing amazing and were heading for promotion. However, we lost our most recent game, basically putting us out of the race for promotion. Even though we didn't get promoted, I believe we'll come back even stronger next year.

An older Cameron killing it on the pitch

Another amazing experience I have had with soccer since my move to Utah, has been the Olympic Development Program, also known as ODP. ODP is when the best players in the state come together to form a team, and participate in a prestigious tournament against other regions in the country. I had never experienced anything like this in California, so I was extremely excited. My friend Forrest and I tried out for the team together, and we both agreed that the standard of play was super high and extremely fun. After the first three tryouts, we learned that we had made the first cut known as the player pool, which consisted of forty players who would travel to Nevada for one final tryout to see if they would make the final eighteen. Technically speaking, that put us in the top forty best players in the state for our age, which is an awesome achievement. The trip to Nevada was a weekend long and it was definitely a new experience. For the first time in my soccer career, I was treated like a professional. I was expected to be at the bus on time every day, attend team meetings, and to behave correctly off the pitch. Unfortunately, when it came to the final cut I did not make it. Forrest, however, did make the final eighteen and went on to travel with the team. What sucked even more, was that I made what was known as the "stand by" list, which means if anything happened to one of the eighteen, I would be called up to play. That sadly didn't happen. Nevertheless, I am extremely excited for ODP this year, and I hope that I can make the eighteen along with Forrest this time.

That's my soccer story for now. Bye bye.

Soccer Part 1: My Introduction to Soccer and My Rec Soccer Experience

Football, known as soccer here in the United States, is my passion. I live and breath this sport. There is no time in my life where I haven't been itching to get on a field and kick a soccer ball around. I currently play for Park City Soccer Club. My history with the sport of soccer goes way back to before I was born.

My father, Jean-Marc, was a soccer fanatic. Growing up in Bern, Switzerland, my father constantly had a ball at his feet. The bond between him and the sport of soccer was unbreakable. Sure enough, as my father grew older, so did his skill and passion for the sport. My father became so good, in fact, that he was captain for the academy team of a professional Swiss soccer club, BSC Young Boys. My father played along Swiss national team players, and could have made it there himself, but instead he chose to get an education. He went on to coach top tier players after his career in soccer, and his passion for the sport lives on to this day.

The club my father used to play for. Image courtesy of the Young Boys Wikipedia Page

When my family moved from Switzerland to California, I was about two years old. Growing up, I was an energetic and athletic boy. I played multiple sports other than soccer such as basketball, football, lacrosse, and water polo. Although I loved all of these sports, my main love was for soccer since day one. I have been playing soccer for as long as I can remember. I began my soccer career on a recreational team (rec team) in Palm Desert when I was about four. I must have inherited something from my father, because I was born a talented soccer player. My father was heavily involved in my soccer career. He helped shape the player I have become today, by influencing my style of game as my coach throughout both my recreational and club soccer careers. In my recreational days, I was swerving in between defenders with ease and calmly finishing in front of the keeper, averaging about five or six goals a game. There was no doubt in anybody's mind that I was the star player of each team I played for. I kept up this astonishing habit of scoring numerous goals throughout my entire recreational soccer career, which lasted until I moved to Utah when I was twelve. Although my style of play seemed extraordinary at the time, the standard for recreational soccer was nowhere close to the club soccer standard. Club soccer was fast paced, physical, and you needed to understand the game in order to prosper as a player.

A young Cameron tearing the defense to shreds

The closest experience I had to club soccer before I became a part of it, was the Recreational Allstar Team. This was a team made up of all of the best players within the rec league. This team participated in tournaments and faced off against club teams. The first time I made this team, I was younger than everybody else. Most of the players were as good as, if not better than me, and it was difficult for me to make as big of an impact as I did with my original rec team. I still did my part at tournaments, however, scoring goals and unselfishly providing my teammates with the ball so they could score. Our first tournament was a qualifying tournament for an even bigger tournament called the Tournament of Champions. In this qualifying tournament of many within the region, allstar and club teams faced off to make it to the prestigious Tournament of Champions. The top team from each tournament moved on to the champions tournament. We were underdogs going into this tournament, but we were confident in our style of play and strength as a team. Surprisingly, we breezed through our group stage, grabbing three easy wins and moving on to the semi-finals. The semi-finals were much more difficult than the previous three games. I remember seeing opponents that were twice my size and accusing them of using steroids, because there was no way an eleven year old was six feet tall and had a full grown mustache. Despite the fact that were grown men on the opposing team, we managed to squeeze by with a 1-0 win and moved on to the finals of the tournament. The finals was against the home club, Temecula Valley. This team was extremely difficult to play against from the get-go, and we went 2-0 down early into the game. At half time, our coach attempted to motivate us, but there was no hope. We sat on the bench sadly, and awaited the start of the second half. Although we were extremely discouraged, we managed to fight back when one of our forwards scored an absolutely sensational goal from the middle of the field. This extremely lucky goal motivated us to push forward to fight back in the game. We fought hard and long, yet we were still down 2-1. In the dying moments of the match, we won a free kick in the middle of the field. Our center back pushed up to take the free kick. He kicked the ball, originally intending to cross the ball into one of our forwards, but the ball miraculously went in. The final whistle blew, and we were going into extra time with the game tied 2-2. The ref announced that the extra time would be under the "Golden Goal" rule which stated that the first team to score a goal wins and would move on to the next tournament. We went onto the field, more motivated than ever, and eagerly awaited the referee's whistle to restart the game. The whistle blew, and extra time was on. Temecula Valley put extreme pressure on our team, but our defense held them off brilliantly. Once our defense stopped one of their attacks, our left back began a counter and extraordinarily dribbled the ball all the way down the field. He looked up took a shot, which deflected off of one of their defenders, and the ball landed right at my feet in the box. It all happened in slow motion, I looked up, settled the ball, and hit it with power and precision right into the top right corner. I had scored and won the game 3-2 for my team, sending us to the Tournament of Champions. I can vividly remember my teammates, coaches, and parents pouring onto the field and tackling me into a gigantic dog pile as we celebrated our victory. This was one of my best soccer moments, which only strengthened my passion for the game.

The Palm Desert Allstar Team pose after an amazing win in extra time thanks to hero Cameron Chevre

 In order to prevent this post from being way too long, I'm going to divide this topic in half. Stay tuned for part two of my experiences with soccer, which will discuss the transition from rec to club soccer and my experiences with the Olympic Development Program.