Spangler Gaining Valuable Experience As MLS Pool Goalkeeper
June 14, 2012
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Steve Spangler is just like every other college graduate. He sent out resumes and waited anxiously by the phone for a yea or nay. Biding his time. Hoping. Waiting. When the phone did ring, he was given a unique opportunity to be one of three pool goalkeepers in Major League Soccer (MLS) during the 2012 season.
Spangler concluded a very successful four-year career with the Beavers' men's soccer program after the 2011 season and had a dream, like most college student-athletes, to play professionally. He attended combines to keep his dream alive but called it "an up-and-down situation."
He kept working hard, kept sending out resumes and emails and eventually heard from the coaches at Sporting Kansas City who watched Oregon State play at North Carolina and Wake Forest last fall. They said they were unable to select Spangler in the MLS Draft but liked what they saw in his game and wanted to invite him to their preseason camp.
Spangler quickly packed his bags and joined Sporting KC but the team didn't have a roster spot for him. Instead of sending him home, they applied to keep him as a pool goalkeeper. The league agreed. So Spangler is in a great situation to play for any team in MLS during the season, while he trains, learns and grows with Sporting KC in what he calls his summer internship.
"I approached it that this is like every other job," Spangler said. "People go and take internships over the summer to progress their learning and get involved with other companies. I'm with an MLS team to train with them over the summer and hopefully get my resume out there the same way a person would do an internship after college and send out their information.
"I actually do have a soccer goalkeeper resume that I sent out along with my highlight video," he added. "So everything was very job-oriented. It felt like I was applying for any other job that a regular student would apply for."
His goalkeeper coach at Oregon State, Adam Pearce, has helped Spangler every step of the way and knows the situation is perfect for him at this point of his career.
"A lot of people might think `oh, you're just in the pool; you're not really in the league,' " Pearce said. "If your childhood dream is to be a pro, you're in and you're training hard every day. What an opportunity. Being a young, single guy you're just flying by the seat of your pants anyway. If somebody says `go', you're like `cool, let's go.' It's an exciting journey for him."
There are currently three pool goalkeepers in MLS, an emergency reserve of players who sign contracts with the league and then have a home team where they train. However, any of the clubs can add one of the goalkeepers to their roster during the season if they get into a situation where they lose a player due to injury.
Spangler has gotten the call once this season, by the Seattle Sounders, and spent nearly three weeks with the team before returning to Kansas City. He didn't see any playing time but is cherishing every opportunity he gets.
"It was a great experience," he said. "It's really been a blessing to me to have this pool goalkeeper situation work out for my development and physically and mentally it's been great. Going over to see new coaches and going over to see a new team and seeing how they train in comparison to how Kansas City trains and getting used to different styles and picking up different things from different coaches. I really like my situation better than anything I could have imagined. I'm really happy that this worked out."
The connection between Spangler and his former Oregon State coaches like head coach Steve Simmons and Pearce is evident by their praise for one another.
"I have a lot of respect for Oregon State and the coaching staff that helped me through this whole process," Spangler said. "I couldn't have done it without them and it was a blessing to have them on my side throughout this whole situation. I'm looking forward to seeing the program grow. I'm looking forward to seeing new players enter the MLS. There's a lot of talent on the team and I know a lot of guys will be meeting here."
"The credit goes to Spang," Pearce said. "He worked hard with the information and he's made the most of it. I'm really proud of him. I'm extremely proud of him that he's pursued this and made it happen on his own. He's put his name out there. He's gone to tryouts on his own. He said `I believe in myself and believe I can do it.' The only thing I can do is cheer him on and say `go for it; I have your back and am excited for you. Represent the Beavers well.' I'm very proud of him."
Although Simmons and Pearce would love to see Spangler sign permanently with one MLS team, they have a running joke with their former goalkeeper who is third all-time in school history in saves (250) and solo shutouts (11).
"We want him to get allocated to every team because we want a jersey from every team in Major League Soccer so we can put them up in our office," Pearce said with a laugh. "We want 19 different Spangler jerseys hanging in our office."
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