The Joy of Soccer: Part 2 of 4

5 October 2010 1,390 views One Comment

Read Part 1 to start at the beginning
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Read Part 3 to continue the story

From Manchester to Manhood
Despite coming from a family where he played the same position (defensive left-back) as his father, and with a mother and two older sisters who both played growing up and were fans of the game, Ian never felt any pressure to play as a kid.

“It was always just go out and enjoy yourself.” says Ian.

However, as he got a bit older and started to show a more serious interest in learning the sport, his father was there for him.

“He knew I had talent and that I wanted to get better, and once I was getting somewhere he pushed me a bit harder.”

Ian began playing all the time. If he wasn’t playing for his school’s team, then he was playing for his club team, and if not for his club team, then he was probably kicking a ball around somewhere with his friends. At the age of 12, Ian was playing for one of the most successful club teams in Scotland and developing into a talented young prospect. Not the tallest or the biggest kid, but quick and with a good left foot, Ian was scoring a lot of goals and people were taking notice.

However, Ian’s father knew that there were bigger opportunities across the border in England, a simple fact that there were more leagues, more teams, and more money. Soon, Ian was scouted by Manchester United, one of the biggest and most famous programs in England, and was invited to enroll in their “school boy” training academy. He began traveling to Manchester on weekends and holidays, training against other top prospects his age. The competition was tough, but the experience gave him confidence and a taste of a more serious level of soccer.

Joy’s plate was getting full. On top of school, he was practicing soccer for 3-4 hours a day, and then still had to go home and do homework in the evenings. Also around that time, Joy began to get involved with the Scottish National youth team. The coaches of the Scottish youth team had high expectations and placed a lot of demand on their young recruits.

“My dad didn’t like (the Scottish team), everyone wanted to treat you like you were a professional instead of just having fun.” Says Joy, “There was so much politics and we were only 13 year old boys, you know?”

Although he had impressed many of the Scottish scouts, Ian talked it over with his family and decided to stop training to make the national team. It wasn’t fun anymore, so he decided to just focus on school and playing for his local club teams.

“My parents were always so positive.” says Joy. “They always encouraged me to be happy and be successful outside of soccer as well.”

It didn’t take long for Ian’s talents to be noticed again. Playing for Manchester United in a school boy match against the Tranmere Rovers, Ian scored 2 goals in a 5-0 win and was approached after the game by the Tranmere head coach, Warwick Rimmer. Coach Rimmer was a former professional player, who had played in England and was now involved in developing the youth system. Rimmer asked Ian if he’d like to come train for a week with Tranmere. Just come take a look, Coach Rimmer had said to Joy, no strings attached.

“I absolutely fell in love with (Tranmere). I fell in love with the coach, fell in love with the team, fell in love with the place.” remembers Joy, “And they really wanted me there, where at (Manchester) United there was so much competition, you were just another kid to them.”

Coach Rimmer offered Ian a permanent spot on the team, meaning he’d have to pack his bags and move to England during the school year. It didn’t take long for Ian to make a decision. He was fifteen and many of the kids around him were partying, drinking, or doing drugs. Ian wanted more, something different, something more meaningful. He wasn’t sure exactly what that was, but he knew he was ready to leave his hometown and get out into the real world.

“I jumped at the chance.” says Joy.

After a few hugs and goodbyes to friends and family, Ian was off to Birkenhead, England to live in a bustling suburb called Tranmere. He was given room and board, and assigned a landlady or “team mom”, who was paid to house, feed, and look after many of the players on the team. It was here in Tranmere, while “living in digs”, that Ian began to take his first steps towards becoming a man.

“It made you grow up very quickly.” says Joy.

The landlady, Paulette, made the boys clean, do their own laundry, taught them how to cook, and how to fend for themselves. She was a nice woman, kind and understanding, but had little patience for disobedience. Most of the boys were too busy to cause any trouble anyway, their days were filled up with school and soccer.

On the field, the boys were learning to take care of themselves as well. Coach Rimmer loved training the younger recruits. He was a man of great character and knew how to mold the boys, knew how to look after them. Plus, he loved soccer with a passion and wanted to pass that same love for the game on to his kids.

“He taught me everything.” says Joy. “He showed me on the field when to cross, off the field how to act, how to focus, when to be aggressive, basically everything that it took to be a good professional he showed us.”

“When you’re 16 and young, you’re always so excited (to play).” adds Joy with a chuckle. “It can get heated out there and you’re so (amped) up that you just want to go out and smash someone.”

In one match for Tranmere Joy recalls, the team was facing their rivals in a derby match, and the players could hardly contain themselves they were so excited to get out onto the field. The boys riled each other up so much in the locker room that within the first ten seconds of the match the team captain was given a red card and ejected for crashing into an opposing playing.

“He taught us that to be a professional you have to stay calm in situations.” says Joy. “When you’re out on the pitch you have always be on your game.”

At age 16, Tranmere Rovers. Ian is middle row, far left. Coach Warwick Rimmer, front and center.

Ian would spend 4 years at Tranmere, where he learned to play left-back, the same position that Coach Rimmer had played and the same position his father had played as a professional as well. Ian learned about soccer and learned about life during his teenage years at Tranmere, an important time of development in any young person’s life.

“Warwick Rimmer was an amazing coach.” Says Joy. “A great person too.”

Ian smiles fondly when talking about his old landlady, Paulette, as well.

“I bump into her now and again when I go back.” he says.

Turning Pro
Although already through with his Scottish team, Ian’s national team experience wasn’t over quite yet. While playing in a tournament in California for one of his numerous club teams, Ian was spotted by Luis Balboa (father of U.S. National team legend Marcelo Balboa), who liked what he saw in the young defender. After inquiring, Balboa found out Ian was a United States citizen and promptly put in a recommendation to the U.S. Soccer program. Ian was soon contacted by the under-18 U.S. National team, and was eager for the chance to play against worldwide competition and the potential exposure it could bring.

“When somebody gives you the opportunity to travel the world and play for a national team, you say yeah.” says Joy.

By the age of seventeen, Ian was captain of the U-18 team and regularly making trips around the globe to play in international matches. The only problem was the time commitment for the national team was beginning to interfere with his duties for his primary club in Tranmere.

“I was leaving Tranmere every 4-5 weeks.” says Joy. “I had worked so hard to get on the first team there, then I’d go away with the national team and I’d come back a couple weeks later and find myself back on the B-team.”

Joy admits now that juggling responsibilities for so many teams could have been a mistake at such a young age, possibly even hindering his progress as a professional somewhat. Still, he values the wealth of experiences he gained at that time in his life.

“(When you’re traveling) you learn about different cultures and how to handle yourself off the field.” says Joy. “I had a lot of great moments with the U.S. National team, so it was a good tradeoff.”

Turning eighteen and now an adult, Ian was ready to officially begin his professional career and began considering his options. He no longer qualified to play for the U-18 national team and his progress with Tranmere was starting to hit a wall.

“I was playing for the (Tranmere) reserve team.” says Joy. “I needed to make that jump to a real men’s program.”

Ian decided to accept an offer from a small 3rd division team called Montrose back in Scotland. Montrose was only a couple hours away from Bo’ness, so Ian was able to live close to home and play in front of his friends and family once again.

“It was nice for a while.” said Joy.

However, playing in the 3rd division wasn’t paying much and it certainly wasn’t the level of soccer Ian wanted to be involved with. So, Ian kept giving it his best, training everyday, and playing all he could with his team and with his old neighborhood friends. Eventually, his passion on the field would draw attention once again.

Former longtime Danish international and Liverpool legend, Jan Molby, was the head coach at Kidderminster FC and liked the potential he saw in Ian when the two opponents met in a friendly. He took Ian back to England with him and after a short training session with the team, Coach Molby offered Ian a contract for £500 (about $800) a week.

“It was my first proper contract as a professional.” remembers Joy with a smile.

About to turn 21, young and with a good amount of money in his pockets for the first time, Ian began to really reap the benefits of being a pro athlete.

“I went out and bought a Playstation with my first paycheck.” laughs Joy. “I don’t know exactly why I bought it, but everyone else had a computer (video game system). I never played the thing. It stayed in the box for months.”

Ian was too busy on the soccer field to play video games. Practice sessions with Kidderminster were instense and Jan Molby was just as talented a coach as he was a former player. Often he would participate in drills and scrimmages with the team, taking a hands on approach to teaching.

“Even though he was in his forties,” recalls Ian. “Jan was still one of the best players in training sessions.”

Coach Molby would eventually receive a contract offer from England’s Hull City and leave Kidderminster , an opportunity that was too good to pass up. A new coach was hired to replace Molby and brought with him a different coaching philosophy and a new direction for the team. The emphasis to build younger talent was gone, and soon the roster was filled with older, veteran players. It seemed that Ian’s time at Kidderminster was quickly coming to an end.

Learning the lifestyle of a professional was fun, but it certainly came with a few negatives. Besides a lack of job security, another part of competing at a high level was enduring the physical grind and dealing with injuries, a problem that Ian would come to know well. Back in his Tranmere days, at the age of 16, Ian had suffered an injury to his right knee, an odd ligament tear from a rough tackle during his first pro debut.

“I had the real fear (at that time) that I wasn’t going to be able to play (soccer) anymore.” says Joy.

The first doctor had diagnosed the injury to be so severe that he questioned whether Ian would ever play soccer again, but Ian refused to give up on the game he loved. His family searched out a few second opinions, and after three months of intense rehab, Ian was fully recovered and back on the field playing soccer again.

Joy at Kidderminster FC

With his contract nearing an end and his playing time dwindling at Kidderminster, Ian was sent on loan to the Columbus Crew in search of a more significant role and also hoped that moving back to the U.S. would lead to another opportunity to play for the national team. He trained with the Columbus Crew for a few weeks and things were beginning to look promising. However, Ian’s old knee injury that he’d suffered back at Tranmere would return again to haunt him. Although the knee didn’t give him any physical problems on the field, the injury had healed funny, which concerned doctors enough that they failed Ian on his physical test, putting an abrupt end to his national team aspirations.

“(Soccer) is an unknown job.” says Joy. “There’s a lot of uncertainty involved, it can make you wonder if you’re good enough to make a living out of the game.”

It was the first real speed bump of his young career. Ian went to Chester City, a lower division team in England, but after a handful of games decided it wasn’t the competition level he wanted to be playing at, so he left. The only job opportunities Ian saw in front of him were positions with smaller clubs, but he was still young and healthy and didn’t want to settle for what was simply easy. Out of work and unsure where his next paycheck would come from, he tried to not feel discouraged. Down, but not out, Ian tried to stay positive, unaware that things were about to take a dramatic turn in his life.

To be continued…

The Joy of Soccer – Dropping Timber’s four part series on team captain Ian Joy. One part will be posted every morning until the Playoffs begin this Thursday. Read Part 3 to continue the story.

Read Part 1 to start at the beginning
You are reading Part 2
Read Part 3 to continue the story