This semester, my friend and I took photos and worked media for the Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) men’s soccer team. The difference between us two: One of us is a legit film studies student and the other is not — instead resigned to watching 11 people live out his dream of playing collegiate soccer.
Perhaps “dream” is too intense. It would be embarrassing to state that my only aspiration in life was to play soccer at the college level. Yet years ago — as I went through the soccer recruiting process for college — it was certainly something I looked forward to and thought about often.
Fast forward to today, where I’ve told my club soccer teammates I’m going to try to walk on about 500 times. It has become a running joke; my closest friends often ask me how the practice or meeting with the coach I never had was.
I find myself in this weird limbo phase. I’m a quality soccer player, but unless the Sagehens need someone to keep the bench warm and cozy, my efforts won’t be appreciated. While I hate to admit it, I’m not on the level of the five other P-P goalkeepers.
Half the time, I yearn for the level of competition I once had in high school and academy. Playing only twice a week and on the weekend through club often leaves me wanting more. But as I look at the P-P season schedule, which includes morning lifts, practice, conditioning and more, I’m not sure I’m built for that either.
I’ve come to learn that not playing a varsity sport isn’t the end of the world. Two Saturdays ago, two of my closest friends –– who I met through club –– and I captained the “Pears” club soccer team to a thrilling 1-0 win against the previously undefeated league leaders. The game perfectly encapsulated everything I know and love about being a club athlete.
Playing club soccer is scrappy in a way that doesn’t exist on the varsity level. Though the Pears are high and mighty, we are also in debt. We can barely cover our league fees and have somehow lost all of the 12 balls we had at the start of this season. We’ve resorted to buying our own balls, which we now protect with our lives.
I see this part of club soccer as a bonding opportunity, something that has brought my teammates and me closer together. They are not just my teammates, but also my closest friends. As a Pitzer student, I never expected to spend so many nights introducing the “Mudders” to the Shakedown, kicking back at College Park during the weekends or even attending graduation for one of my close teammates.
Once I leave college, many of the memories I take with me will be from the Pears. These memories include traveling four hours to San Luis Obispo to find out our game was on the following day, drawing 1-1 to California State University Long Beach with only 10 players and eating a team dinner on the beach after drawing 3-3 against University of California Irvine.
Club soccer has become ingrained in my life. I’ve come to realize that my reservations about trying out for varsity soccer aren’t simply because I might not be good enough, but also because of what I’d miss out on if I left the Pears. Club sports aren’t just a collection of ex-high school athletes; they are also a family. A dysfunctional family, in the case of the Pears, but a family nonetheless.
If I’m being honest, my friends and peers can be pretty confident that they will never see me on the P-P men’s soccer team. Simply put, I’m not committed or dedicated enough. And maybe I’m not good enough — at least not as good as I was before. But like I said, the club sports life isn’t all that bad.
While I don’t play on the P-P varsity team, I’ve perfected the art of watching from the sidelines. I still see myself as a student of the game — one who studies them from a safe, non-exerting distance.
Otto Fritton PZ ’27 is an avid Arsenal fan who dearly misses Arsène Wenger. He likes to think that if he speaks good enough French, he can turn into Wenger himself. Spoiler, he can’t. He is also a self-proclaimed “mid-baller.”
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