Guest Column: Inside Marquette Men's Summer League
8/2/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug. 2, 2010
PHOTO GALLERY - Men's Summer LeagueDan Pfeifer is the public address announcer for the Marquette Golden Eagles men's and women's soccer programs. He, along with a group of approximately 30 others, have met at Valley Fields every Wednesday in June and July to take part in the Men's Summer League, a recreational soccer league run by MU assistant men's soccer coach Steve Bode.
By: Dan Pfeifer
I am not an athlete.
Yes, there are athletes at Marquette Men's Soccer Summer League. But I'm definitely not one of them.
Imagine this: Marquette men's assistant coach and former Chicago Fire prospect Steve Bode plays a ball from the back to Tom Comiskey, a four-year starter for Marquette from 1983-86 and third all-time leading scorer in school history.
Comiskey slashes through the midfield before finding Marcelo Santos, Milwaukee Wave player and volunteer assistant coach at Marquette, on the wing. Santos dekes the keeper, looks to the top of the box and makes a perfect pass that even the worst of pee-wee players could put into the empty net.
Just one problem -- it's not the worst of pee-wee players taking that pass. It's me. My clumsily hit shot rolls wide of the post. Furthermore, it's not like what I just described only happens in your imagination. Yet, the reaction is always the same at Summer League. We laugh. Exercise, playing soccer and having fun are the top priorities on Wednesday nights at Valley Fields. Finishing, winning and showing off are secondary.
The matches are nothing more than organized pickup games. The teams are picked randomly at the start of each night. Summer League T-shirts and pinnies are the kits. The last man back on defense plays goalkeeper. Games involve three sessions of 25 minutes, separated by much-needed five-minute breaks. There's a warm-up run around the pitch to start and, occasionally, an abdominal workout to finish.
Everyone goes to Sobelman's for a beer afterwards, except the occasional husband whose wife or kids needs him home. By the time the bottles are open, the score is usually forgotten. The memories last, though, and the personalities make them memorable.
 | "I look forward to going down to the Valley every Wednesday and wish the eight weeks of games could last quite a bit longer." Dan Pfeifer |
One of those personalities is Rollie Cafaro. An accomplished attorney by day and part of the ComedySportz group on weekends, Cafaro is a regular at both Summer League and the post-match Sobelman's outings. His highlights on the field are few, but his Sobelman's stories make him a Summer League legend, be they about the preceding game, his trip down to the Valley or something from his college days. Guys half Cafaro's age will listen and laugh along, even as he asks if they were even alive when the story happened.
At Sobelman's, as at Summer League itself, 20-somethings like Bode and Santos and 40-somethings like Comiskey and Cafaro use soccer to relate. We play, we love the game and we enjoy the company of other guys who feel the same way. If it were only about playing winning soccer, I would only belong on the same pitch as some of these guys if I were holding a microphone, and the same would probably go for Cafaro.
But that's not what it's about.
I look forward to going down to the Valley every Wednesday and wish the eight weeks of games could last quite a bit longer. Even the guys who play in other, more competitive venues like letting their guard down and knowing there's a cold beer waiting at the end of the night, no matter what happens. That's what makes Summer League a blast.
So yes, I do play Summer League, and no, I'm not an athlete. But I do enjoy the game and having a good time. And, for those reasons alone, I feel like I belong.
