Coming a Long Way While Putting Family First

It was a simple point of fact and yet so telling. Fourteen members of Seattle University’s original varsity soccer team were reuniting 50 seasons after the program first formed.

Later that day, the ranks of alumni would swell to about a hundred former Chieftains and Redhawks as defending champion Seattle U hosted its WAC opener, a win over nationally-ranked Utah Valley. A capacity crowd was expected under the lights at Championship Field.

But at brunch that morning, as they shared stories and consumed plates of eggs, sausage and toast, Joe Zavaglia stood to interject a timely piece of information: This was the first time these teammates had shared a meal together.

“It’s 50 years of history of guys who have played through tougher times but never as successful as times as these, (and it’s) a cause to celebrate,” recalls Zavaglia, the first team captain. “It’s an incredible feeling.”

Of course, nowadays the pregame meal is an afterthought, a given. Each team’s regimen consists of eating together, and particularly before each competition. They are issued proper gear and essentials, attended by support staff and safely transported to away matches.

In the autumn of 1967, these SU originals saw little, if any, of that. Still, they pulled together in a common cause, forming the bedrock foundation to a program that now can recount a glorious past, not to mention a still more promising future.

Humble Beginnings

Few factors create lasting bonds better than adversity, and certainly Seattle U men’s soccer has seen its share. Be it the scraps on which they sustained themselves in the early days, or the constant upheaval and affiliation changes, virtually every generation of the program has faced them.

“We had some big mountains to climb,” shares another original, Tim Culbert, “but we tried to climb it together.”

The SU student body advocated for establishing the program, but athletic department leadership initially balked at launching it. An angered, frustrated Zavaglia, who had led the initiative, then had the audacity to phone the university president.

“Within two hours I got a call back from the athletic director saying, ‘You have the money for the program,’” remembers Zavaglia, “’Now who shall we hire as coach?’”

Hugh McArdle, a native of Liverpool and shop teacher, was quickly named coach. His task: trim the team down from 45 trialists, and then somehow blend a hodgepodge of first-timers, former CYO players and state league competitors into a cohesive unit. Oh and prepare to face the state’s only pre-existing varsity program, Washington, in a matter of just four days.

Although the Chieftains fell short, 2-0, against the Huskies, the chaos of those first days and weeks formed a solid bond. It was an intense, six-week season. Absorbing McArdle’s teachings, they improved noticeably with each week. In the final match of the season Seattle U played Washington again, winning 3-0.

Says Zavaglia: “It was just the start of so many great memories.”

Seattle U soccer has come a long way, literally. For the first 10 seasons, home games were played across town at Lower Woodland Park. The longest road trip was three hours, to Vancouver, B.C., with student-athletes driving themselves. Equipment was Spartan and showers at the gym was sans soap and towels.

Here to Stay

Some contend it was not simply a scarcity of resources but a barely veiled wish by athletics leadership that this upstart, “foreign” sport would simply wither and die. That notion only served to galvanize the group.

“Every game we won we were pushing the program down the road for another year,” maintains Culbert. “When we beat the U(W), I figured that should see out our program for at least five years.”

Obviously Seattle U men’s soccer has surpassed five seasons, by ten-fold, no less. Yet it was far from an ideal trajectory, especially the first 30 years, when they were clearly the city’s third-choice team, behind UW and SPU. When Peter Fewing was first hired in 1988 there had been eight consecutive losing seasons, the last three of which totaled just six wins.

Athletics ran the spectrum of affiliation, going from NCAA Division I to NAIA in 1979, the non-scholarship Division III (2002), Division II (2003) and finally back to Division I (2008). Still, Fewing’s commitment to excellence, in and out of uniform, was unwavering.

When, in 1997, Fewing got word of the impending move to non-scholarship Div. III he challenged his squad to go win the NAIA title “and then see where we land.” Indeed, they won it. When scholarships were late re-instituted with the D2 move, they not only won another national championship but did so undefeated.

“Whatever association we were in,” notes Fewing, “the goal was to make sure it was a great program.”

Investing in Greatness

One measure of a great program is winning consistently and winning championships. Those close to the program, however, will confirm that greatness goes far beyond posting victories and lifting trophies.

“It’s important what we do on the field. It’s more important what we do off the field and,” Fewing emphasizes, “it’s most important what we do after the field. We’ve got doctors, dentists, lawyers, teachers, engineers, businessmen, guys who are coaching youth teams, guys that are involved in their schools. I want our guys to come out and be special,” adding that their experience on the field and in the classroom equips them to become “great leaders in their community.”

Greatness has required an investment. Since those early days, the university has unmistakably stepped up, increasing resources, elevating Fewing (and now his associate coach, Nate Daligcon) to full-time and making improvements to Championship Field, where lights were installed in 2013.

Still, the greatest investment has been by, and for, individuals. There was commitment to putting the collective ahead of everything from Day One, says Culbert.

“We had really no example to go by of what a soccer team should be like because there weren’t any; there was no high school soccer or anything like that,” explains Culbert. “We were making it up as we go along. That was so important. The other guys had to buy in like I did.

“When the coach put somebody in for me, I had to go support him and encourage him and talk to him about what we’re doing and who we’re guarding so the team could be better,” he adds. “We’re like that, and I think that’s why we were successful.” 

An Everlasting Community

A full generation after Culbert and Zavaglia completed their playing careers, Tom Hardy sensed that, in 1993, he was joining more than a team but an established community.

“There’s really been a connection from year to year to year, that we’ve been able to maintain,” notes Hardy. “It seems like every year really this program is able to step it up. The ‘97 team helped make everybody believe it was possible, and the 2004 team confirmed that. And I believe we’re eventually going to win another title. You’ve got to believe that.”

When Cam Weaver and Bobby McAlister arrived, the sense of family was palpable. McAlister transferred from Washington, Weaver from Skagit Valley College. Both figured prominently for the 2004 national champions.

“Here with the integration of the alumni, and the history of the program, you actually feel it as a player,” claims McAlister. “You get letters from alumni writing you before big games, and knowing that they are going to be at big games really is a motivation for you. That’s what separates our program and what makes it similar to other (elite) programs around the country.”

Weaver, who later went on to play nine seasons professionally, believes the Redhawks have embraced an underdog mentality, grinding and doing everything they can to work their way up. The coaches instill confidence and the team culture breeds encouragement as well.

It Runs in the Family

“This program has certainly made some waves in the college soccer community,” asserts Weaver, alluding to the national titles, and now in D1, WAC championships and advancement to the 2015 tournament’s Sweet Sixteen. “Now you see the progression. Seattle U is an elite program. It’s awesome to witness that.”

With more than 200 schools with similar resources vying for the top spot in college soccer, exceptional talent is essential, along with some fortuitous bounces. But to contend year in, year out, will require a selfless spirit and a commitment. That seed was sown into Seattle U’s fiber now 50 years ago. There’s been a little bit of each alum in every triumph along the way.

Weaver surveys the scene around him on alumni night, lengthy conversations between originals, the current cast of players and everyone in between. “That tight-knit group,” he says, “is something that’s a huge strength of the Seattle U program.”

McAlister is in complete agreement. “It’s hard to put words into,” he confesses. “But knowing you have the support of the community and the school, as time goes on and they grow in Division I, you can see it’s going to be a program that’s going to continue to grow for the next 50 years.”

NOTE: To see the accompanying video, go to the Seattle U athletics website.