There’s a Silver Lining

As dream seasons go, this one had all the trappings of a nightmare. But now that it’s over--through all the defeats and those precious few victories--it will be a year forever tucked in a special place in the memories of David and Josh McLeish.

David’s Southern California College men’s soccer team plummeted far from expectations with a 2-8 mark in the Golden State Athletic Conference. And his star midfielder--son Josh--managed to sneak just one shot past the goalkeeper into the net.

But the 1997 statistics tell little about David’s coaching or Josh’s playmaking, and they say nothing about the kid who passed on a chance to jump immediately into big-time Division I soccer so he could play for his dad or what the decision meant to his father.

“It’s always been my dream for him to play here,” David McLeish said. “And Josh made it come true.”

Josh McLeish was a first-team All-Southern Section midfielder at San Clemente High as a junior and was named one of Soccer America’s Far West “Super 11” recruits. He made an oral commitment to take a full scholarship to attend Fresno State, but found himself thinking more and more about the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he was giving up.

Josh literally had grown up with the SCC soccer program and 1997 was shaping up as a banner year. Winning a conference title with dad seemed like it would be a lot of fun. Soon after Josh’s decision to enroll at SCC, the dream season took a couple of bizarre twists.

Five players who figured to be in the starting lineup were academically ineligible. Two others left school. Throw in a couple of injuries to key players, a couple suspensions for various red and yellow cards and forget the fairy-tale ending.

So much for bear hugs and back-slapping.

“It was hard at times,” Josh said. “If I didn’t play well, I felt like I was letting him down. You always want to play well and win, for the team, for the coach, for yourself most of all, but this was like one more added thing.

“I mean, he never put any pressure like that on me, but you can’t help but have that emotion, especially when you’re losing.”

Unable to make a key tackle or head one into the net, the coach often takes a loss the hardest. He can’t find solace in the satisfaction that comes with knowing you’ve spent every ounce of energy and it just didn’t measure up. But having his son on the seat next to him made a lot of drives home more bearable this year.

“Having him here was just so great in so many ways,” McLeish said. “It made it a lot easier . . . and a lot more fun.”

Josh, 19, is not used to losing. His club team, the San Diego Nomads, won the State Cup every year from the under-14 level to U-17 and lost in the finals of the U-18 division last spring.

So maybe fun isn’t quite the right word.

“We’re all really bummed that it wasn’t a great season like we were hoping,” Josh said, “but I won’t look back when I’m older and say I made a terrible choice.

“I’ve really enjoyed this chance to spend this time with my dad. And I’ll have plenty of time to play other places.”

Josh McLeish’s trek begins soon. He will transfer to Cal State Fullerton for the spring quarter and play for the Titans next fall. Both father and son admit that Josh probably would be there right now if he hadn’t said he planned to go to Fresno State.

“[Fullerton Coach] Al [Mistri] and I have been friends for a long time, but he didn’t call until he heard Josh had changed his mind and was coming here,” McLeish said. “It was Josh’s decision all along and he decided to come here, but I think he might have gone to Fullerton if Al had recruited him early.”

The move to the next level, which was the plan all along, according to the McLeishs, was another step in a career Josh hopes to continue on to the professional ranks. And don’t expect dad--who often does special evaluations for close friend Steve Sampson, the U.S. men’s national team coach--to come up with any reasons why it can’t happen.

“His forte is setting people up and he has great vision and a great understanding of the game,” McLeish said. “He’s the guy a couple of passes behind the goal. He’s left-footed and he’s the kind of player who can always find a way to contribute. He’s always been a very good technical player who can hold the ball under pressure, but he has a wide range of skills, both offensive and defensive.

“He’s also one of the best long passers I’ve ever seen. He can put the ball on the head of a player making a run on the complete other side of the field.”

The younger McLeish has a much more succinct summary of his playing style: “I get the ball and I give good passes.”

He plans on perfecting that simple formula for success at Fullerton, where he also will make a concerted effort to kick-start his offense. Even for a playmaking midfielder, one goal per season doesn’t cut it.

“Scoring goals has never been my forte and most of the shots I took this year came from about 30 or 35 yards out,” he said. “But soccer players, regardless of position, need to score goals, and it’s part of my game I can work on.

“That’s what moving up to Fullerton is all about. They have great coaching, great players and a great facility. If you want to keep progressing in soccer, you have to keep stepping up to the next level. It’s always about doing all the things you do against a higher level of competition.”

And playing at Fullerton figures to be less painful than playing at SCC, where he often had to bite his tongue.

“Whenever it’s your dad telling you something, you feel like you’ve got the right to put in your 10 cents worth,” Josh said, smiling. “But I was really good, I didn’t pop off to him all year.

“I did have a little trouble calling him, ‘Coach,’ though. I think I was about 50-50 on that one.”

That’s one stat from the 1997 season that father and son alike will cherish.