September 2, 2009

2009 MEN’S SOCCER PREVIEW: Q&A WITH HEAD COACH TIM O’SULLIVAN

The Virginia Commonwealth University men’s soccer team will open its 2009 regular season schedule on Friday against St. Francis (N.Y.) at 5 p.m., in the Coastal Carolina Invitational.  With three exhibition matches behind them, VCUathletics.com sat down with head coach Tim O’Sullivan to discuss how the Rams are preparing for this fall.

VCUathletics.com: What are your overall thoughts of the team heading into the regular season?

Coach O’Sullivan: What I think was really important with the spring, and the guys did a pretty good job with this, was trying to regain the culture that has been a part of VCU soccer in the past.  I think for a couple of years, for whatever reasons, that’s eroded a little bit.  It’s really important for us to get the culture back that, in the past, has really been something unique to VCU soccer.  I think when we started off in the spring, (we look at the spring from January-on as the start of our new year) the returning guys did a good job of just getting down to playing and starting to understand the details and more specifically, what is important for our team and our success.  Last year, I felt that for whatever reasons, we were a bit of a selfish group and this year that’s probably been one of the most exciting things for me.
 

VCUathletics.com: Is there anything that really stood out to you during training?

Coach O’Sullivan: Our guys began to really commit themselves to the group a little bit better [during the spring].  It was fantastic in the summer.  We have a group of 25 players right now and they came back early on their own, so they havecommitted themselves to being prepared during the summer and coming in early and working out and playing with each other three weeks prior to when we formally began – and taking those first steps and gaining ownership in terms of their team and their culture and being successful was really pleasant to see. 

That mentality has been a big part of our preseason.  So, for me that has been the most exciting part – just the whole change of our approach and the leadership in Owusu Seykere (left) and Thomas Huepper; they have been very instrumental in doing that, and just the approach of our group has been a lot better.  We are a lot more fit.  At this time last year, we were struggling with injuries and weren’t really prepared for our preseason, so it’s much different.  I think we have a very good general fitness level right now.  It’s going to take a little time for every team to play themselves into a match fitness level, but our general fitness has been good and therefore we’ve been able to avoid injuries, which is really important.  Just the general mentality, general approach and overall culture of our group has really made a big step forward from last year.

VCUathletics.com: There are three ACC schools on the preseason schedule with postseason experience.  How will that help prepare the team for regular season competition?

Coach O’Sullivan: You always need two teams to create a good game but everything about what we do is about us – and that’s in no disrespect to anyone that we play, but what’s important is how well we do things.  So, the idea of bringing a Duke, North Carolina or Virginia Tech into the picture is more of: You know what? They’re going to provide us a good game, good competition and good opportunity for us to measure how well we are doing certain things and the areas we need to improve so that we can get better.  I couldn’t tell you who played on Duke’s team; I couldn’t really tell you many players even from North Carolina or Virginia Tech.  I’ve just been concentrating on our group and they’ve been pretty good.  Duke is Duke, Carolina is Carolina, and Tech is Tech, but what’s really important is that we maintain who we are.  How well do we do things that are important to us?  Those are three good opponents that give us that challenge of doing the things that we need to do to be successful.

VCUathletics.com: What are your thoughts on the regular season schedule?

Coach O’Sullivan: This is coach speak, but we’ve tried to avoid focusing on particular opponents and get back to the culture and mentality of VCU soccer.  [Last year] I felt like we were selfish and we were concerned about too many things we shouldn’t be concerned about: What’s my playing time like?  Where are we ranked?  Am I an All-CAA?  Really as competitive athletes at this level, including coaches and everyone dealing with our team on a daily basis, our whole focus of what we do is: Are we as good as we can be today and can we make it a little bit better tomorrow?  Whether that means we play each other or a live opponent, how close to perfect can we get it every single day and how much can we challenge each other to get it as close to perfect every day?  The rest really doesn’t matter. 

We’ve always played good schedules here and I anticipate everyone on our schedule.  Now I’m sure it’s true with all college sports, soccer in particular, but the nature of our game creates even closer games than other sports, so every match is going to be a big challenges for us.  There is so much parity within college athletics; the differences between teams are very minute.  The difference is details, which makes it even more important to get things right every day.  At the end, come December, we will have gone on that journey and will look back and see the successes we have had along the way.

I’m 100-percent convinced that if our focus is on those areas, and so far our team has been just fantastic in their approach and giving of themselves every day, no matter what the journey brings, we are going to have a satisfying experience.  On top of that, I feel really good about the guys who are on our team and I feel confident that we will have our share of successes as well.

VCUathletics.com: What is your initial impression on the group of newcomers this year?

Coach O’Sullivan: Most of the team is newcomers it seems like, but in a good way.  In changing that culture, I think it is important the guys that returned from that group last year were committed to making change and that allowed us the opportunity to bring in a lot of new guys and guys that we had seen out there that fit what VCU soccer should be all about.  So, we’re really excited about that part.  I’m really pleased with everyone to be quite honest with you. 

VCUathletics.com: How has the battle at goalkeeper played out during the preseason with the loss of All-CAA keeper Andrew Dykstra?

Coach O’Sullivan: We have three new goalkeepers this year, so everyone at that position is new.  The exciting part about that is we’ve given everyone experience.  The three goalkeepers were probably one of the shining portions of our first two exhibitions.  All three have been outstanding and as a group they have already surpassed what I thought initial expectations might be.  They’re all excellent shot-stoppers and excellent competitors.  Andrew Wells and Jack Van Arsdale are pure freshmen, but they’ve played in ACC games now as if they’re not freshmen at all.  Gabriel Rodriguez (right) is a junior college transfer and he’s handled the transition well and has stepped right in.  By far, this is the most depth in my tenure at that position we’ve ever had.  At this stage of the game I would not say that there’s a clear starter or clear order 1-2-3 of where they fit in – all for great reasons.  They’re all extremely hard workers and it’s been a great preseason so far for all three of them.

VCUathletics.com: What can the returning players teach the newcomers about the culture of VCU soccer?

Coach O’Sullivan: I think in any environment, the most difficult thing VCU faces, and it’s both a positive and a negative, is that we have so many people from so many diverse backgrounds that it becomes a positive.  For me, I think the diversity is one of the great attributes of VCU as an institution, so our recruiting is going to reflect that.  Being a part of a world sport and having such a good international educational program, our recruiting will reflect that, too. 

It does, however, create challenges.  Not only do you have people from different backgrounds, you now have people from different cultures, form different educational backgrounds, so just getting people acclimated to such a new environment quickly is one of our greatest challenges.  Forming a new team is usually a huge challenge – everyone’s background and perspectives are different, which is good.  So it’s: how fast can you get used to being in a new environment and accepting that this is what is?  College soccer is that way.  [A player] can’t impose his background on his new setting, it’s: what can I take from my new background and apply it to my new setting and make it as good as possible?  That’s not easy for anyone to do, let alone young men to do.  How fast we can get our group to think in one mind?  They all bring individual abilities and characteristics that will make us better.  We have to understand that this is our new team and new culture and accept that so we can be one train of thought.  I still don’t want to lose that individualism, though.  I’m very proud of the guys we have in this program.  We had a lot of players with interest in joining VCU, but we chose the guys we have now for a reason.

Has anyone stepped up during the offseason and assumed a clear leadership role?

Coach O'Sullivan: Owusu Seykere has been the key to the team in the spring.  For the first time, he’s taking ownership of the team and his own scenario.  His maturity between this year and last year has been tremendous.  His focus, approach and preparation with the team has been different than the past.  I knew it was there all along but it just hadn’t come out.  I’m excited to have a strong leader to get us there and he plays with great respect.  I can’t give him enough credit to how much change he’s made since last fall and how he’s really pulled the group forward.

And from day one, Thomas Huepper (left) has had a clear idea about the right things to do as a team.  He holds the team together off the field and displays a distinct level of professionalism.