By Alexis Platt
Does having a Soccer Club here at Virginia Wesleyan come across as shocker to you, as it did when I heard about it?
Nathan VanRensselaer, the president of the club, freshman Bijan Epps, and junior “Billy” Lawson came together and formed the college’s first ever soccer club this semester.
“I wanted to start a soccer club for all the people who either do not have time to be on the school team or just wanted to have some fun,” VanRensselear. “We didn’t have a place for people to get together and just play soccer so that’s why I got some friends and started it.”
VanRensselaer played soccer his whole life. He attended high school at Hereford High school in Maryland where they won a state championship. He also let it be known that he had played club soccer all his life.
The Club was intentaly only for men, but Layla Amarir, Stephanie Norwood, and Amber Morris decided that they wanted to be a part of the team.
You can say that the soccer club is basically like a soccer team. The club has 22 people on the team. They have practice during the week, and sometimes they have practice players jump in for some extra help.
The club travels, and plays different colleges that have a soccer club. The Marlins have played ODU and tied, and they lost to JMU.
“We have a lot of games in the spring and we’ll be playing schools such as VA Tech and Radford,” Morris said.
The club is coached by Takewon he’s also a club coach for local teams in the Virginia Beach area. The Marlins practice Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 4 pm, and they play pick-up soccer every Tuesday and Thursday from 9-11.
“I personally joined the club team as a way to continue to play soccer. I originally played on the Women’s team my freshman year; however, I decided not to come back my sophomore year. Club has given me an opportunity to still play without as much commitment or pressure,” Morris said.
Although it’s recommended everyone comes to practice, it isn’t pushed nearly as much as it would be on the varsity teams. A lot pf pressure was taken off not having tryouts to be a part of the club team.
“It’s a more relaxed environment: however, some people take it more seriously than others so practice can get frustrating. We have a lot of different skill levels so it’s definitely a lot of improvement that needs to be done before we start the spring season,” Morris added.
“I wanted to not only get together with some friends and play, but I also wanted to compete against other schools. This gave us an opportunity not only to get together and have fun but also compete,” VanRennsselaer said
