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This Team Works: The 2019 Varsity Soccer
Thisteamworks
PerhapsnogroupbetterreflectsthesoulofRoxburyLatinthanthe2019varsitysoccerteam: acollectionofgritty, selflessboyswhosedevotiontoeachotherproducedoneoftheprogram’smostcompetetiveseasonsinrecentyears. by ERIN BERG, photos by ADAM RICHINS
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Soccer is the most democratic sport there is,” begins Head Coach Paul Sugg. “Whether you’re a small kid or a big kid—regardless of your size—there are ways for you to be a good soccer player. This notion fits well with Roxbury Latin’s ‘democratically gathered’ ethos.” Paul Sugg is in his 35th year of coaching varsity soccer at RL, assisted by Arturo Solís, of the Modern Language department, and Phil Thornton, of the Development office. This fall season was highly successful, earning the team the league’s Wiedergott Improvement Plate, given to the team deemed most improved over the prior season.
Coach Sugg also points out that, in his opinion, soccer is as pure a team sport as there is: “Players have a level of responsibility and accountability that they don’t necessarily have in other sports. Play calling is not on the coach, as in football. Players have a bigger role in the team’s success in the moment. One person on his own can’t make you a great team. All 11 players on the field have to have a certain cohesion.”
And perhaps that’s the reason that RL’s varsity soccer team found such success this 2019 fall season. (The team had a winning record of 8–4–3 and a near bid to the New England Prep Tournament, missing out by the narrowest of margins.) The coaches, and the boys themselves, all point to a group of players who were committed, selfless, who didn’t gauge their happiness based on their own individual success or their own playing time, but who contributed to the positive, collective tone that began with the prior year’s team leadership and then persisted—and grew—over the season.
This commitment was apparent early, as the boys came to school in August physically prepared in a way that stood out against years past. “This year there was a real emphasis on fitness, and everyone showed up with that in mind,” says Byron Karlen (II). “Everyone was prepared in that regard after the summer, which meant we could start right in.”
That fitness contributed to the team’s success in tangible ways throughout the season, says senior co-captain Jack Cloherty: “The fact that we were more fit, as a team, than a lot of our opponents really showed itself in several contests throughout the season.” “The last 15 minutes of so many games were our 15 minutes,” adds Alex Fuqua (II).
that will apply for us in the game later, when we’re down three to two and there are five minutes left. Who are you then, as a team? How do you rally for each other—for your brothers, for your family? These are the lessons beyond the actual running. The running is the vehicle.”
The team had many opportunities this year to show “who they were,” for one another, and for their school. There were rough patches—few, but consequential: a pounding loss to rival Nobles, falling short of the league playoffs by a vote. But there were moments of greatness as well, and that’s what the players and coaches point to as highlights of the year.
The St. George’s game—overlooking the ocean of the Rhode Island coast, on an October evening that boasted every strand of New England weather—is a moment in the season that the
“We also communicated really well on the field,” adds co-captain Peter Frates (II). “Even in moments when we are not the most technically skilled 11 players on the field, being more fit and communicating more effectively than our opponents mean we can compete, which I think we showed this year.”
While the boys took on the responsibility of physically preparing themselves over the summer, Coach Solís takes up part of that mantle once the season begins, charged with planning and executing fitness days during practice: “We tell the guys that if they can get themselves to 80 percent, we can do the rest.”
And while that physical preparation is important to Coach Solís, it’s secondary in his goals for the boys. “Those fitness days are really a moment for the boys to bond as a unit,” he says. “In that collective sacrifice, in those hard moments, the boys start to ask each other, ‘Who are we? Who are we now?’ When you have to be introspective, when you have to be positive—when you’re tired, when your legs are burning, when the guy next to you hasn’t made the times and we’re repeating a set—who do you become then? Because the character matters then. Because
team and coaches universally point to as an example of what this group of boys worked toward and could accomplish.
“With 20 minutes left, we were up by two and we thought we had it,” recalls Byron. “St. George’s came back and tied the score with nine minutes left to play. The weather was crazy, the wind, the rain—it was intense. We were really fighting for it.” In the last ten seconds of the game Ben Brasher (II) scored to secure RL’s 5–4 victory.
“Regardless of whether we had won, tied, or lost that game,” says Coach Solís, “the grit and determination that the boys showed—as the weather changed and the score tightened— won them that game. It wasn’t their skill, but rather their character, their commitment to each other, that won them the game. They earned it because they willed themselves to earn it.
They were exemplary. In terms of what we’re trying to teach the boys, they fully accepted and showcased it on that day.”
The future looks bright for the varsity team. “We’re returning a lot of players next year,” says Peter. “We have lots of rising seniors, and we know how to play well as a possession-based team, which I think we’ll only improve upon next year.” The team is graduating seven seniors, one of them being Jack, who earned first team All-ISL and All-State honors and will play at Brown next year. “Without Jack as a stand-out player on the field next year,” says Alex, “next season will need to be an ultimate team effort, which I think we’re ready for.”
“This year’s group of guys was such a coachable team,” says Coach Solís. “When they received constructive criticism, they could apply it immediately and adjust, both physically and mentally. Their collective ability to move beyond upsetting moments and learn from those moments was led by fantastic captains, fantastic senior leaders.”
Coach Solís names Antonio Rosado as among those consequential senior leaders. “In terms of Antonio’s skill as a soccer player, perhaps he wouldn’t even identify primarily as a soccer player, but he is a leader in our community who will shoulder whatever burden we ask of him. He is a great representative of leadership on our team.” Antonio was tapped to step in as goalie in the BB&N night game when starting goalie Brady Chappell (II) was injured. “Antonio’s immediate response was ‘Of course, yes. Of course I’m going to do this.’ We asked ‘Do you feel nervous about this?’ and he said ‘No, I’m ready.’ For the boys to see that, and for every person who was at that game—every boy, every adult—to rally around Antonio, tells the whole story. The way he stepped up and kept us in the game and made huge saves for us exemplifies so much of what we’re trying to teach here.
“Every individual in this small, tight, soccer team family that we’ve created is important. Whether you’re playing 90 minutes every game, or you’re getting your two minutes every game, or you’re playing once every 10 games, you are as important as the guy in front of you and the guy next to you and the guy behind you. We’re all in this together. That is the lesson I hope these boys take with them when they leave Roxbury Latin.” //
