Player: Michael O'Herron
Recently, we sat down with FC Boulder and Boulder High player Michael O'Herron for 18 questions about his experiences as an elite U18 player. Michael was part of the Boulder High squad that was 2014's Colorado 5A state runner up.
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Where are you from? I was born in Boston, but moved to Boulder when I was 18 months old.
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How old are you? 17
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What teams do you play for? I play with the FC Boulder U17 elite team and the Boulder High School team.
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How did you start playing? I started playing because my dad played a lot in college. It was definitely a family oriented event. I was definitely the kid in a 4-on-4 game where everyone had their jerseys down to here [pointing to knees], those cotton t-shirts, YMCA style with no referees and no one even knew what a goal was. So keeping score wasn’t an issue. And there would be maybe two kids playing, one kid picking dandelions and the other getting sunscreen on. I loved it. It was great.
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What kept you playing? We had a core group of kids that just wanted to play soccer during elementary school and middle school. It got more and more competitive. Then my coach took us to Europe to play in England and Spain when we were 13 or 14, and pretty much everyone on that team is still playing because it was such an incredible experience. It was like, this is where soccer can take you and this is the experience that is available if you choose to pursue it as far as you can. I’ve suffered quite a few injuries since then, but it’s definitely one of the things that keeps you coming back to the field. Those types of experiences, with a lot of it being the boys that you’re around all of the time. It brings you back to the field and now, for high school, it’s maybe a third of the experience is playing, and the other two thirds the boys in the locker room. Friday night dinners, other team bonding things. It’s become a family.
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What’s your signature move? Well, honestly, the one I go to all the time is the single cut. As a midfielder, it’s the one-touch pass and two-touch passing. If I get stuck on the ball it’s usually not a good thing, so I usually just try to do one little cut and get out of it and pass it off. If I have the opportunity, it’s usually a one or two-touch shot.
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What’s one skill you think any player needs to cultivate? The inside-of-the-foot pass. If you haven’t got that, you don’t have anything. You can have other things like the scissor move, but if you don’t have the pass you are going to be doing scissor moves and getting crunched every time.
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Who are your soccer heroes? When I was younger it was definitely Ronaldinho. I probably did four of my five research projects in elementary school on Ronaldinho.
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What was your favorite moment of World Cup 2014? I really wanted Australia to beat the Netherlands when Tim Cahill scored that blast, that cracker. That was such a crazy game because Australia came in as the worst team in the World Cup and they got by far the hardest bracket. They got the hardest group having Chile, Spain and the Netherlands. Nobody thought they were getting out. Then Spain got knocked out early so I was thinking the Netherlands and Australia would be getting through. That would be crazy. But that goal. That goal still made the game.
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What’s your greatest moment on the pitch? I feel like the moments that are not individual, but when your team has success, like a big win. That’s the thing about soccer. Usually the best moments are not about just one player, but those games you grind out together. Those State Cup games when you played the best team in Colorado and would grind out a 2-1 victory with our goalie saving a PK for the win. We’d all rush the field. Those are the best memories I have of this game. That feeling during the car ride with all of your buddies celebrating and talking about it. I’ve been privileged enough to have a few of those. Those are the ones that I will never forget.
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What’s your worst moment on the pitch? Wow, there are so many...just kidding. The worst for me, and I’ve had this happen a lot recently, is injuries where you want nothing more than to be out on the field with your buddies playing and passing the ball around. But you have your doctor saying that if you step back onto that field it will be another four months of not playing. You have the team trainer giving you the eye when you try to sneak on. It’s the worst. It’s the worst feeling. It’s not that you’re not good enough; you just absolutely can’t do it. I’ve had some rough injuries lately. It’s been really hard.
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How do you get past bad moments like this? Just stay a part of the team. If you can’t be on the field, stand up for the other guys when they come off. Give them a pat on the back and get them some water. Converse and talk about the game, because if you can’t play you might as well be a part of it in any way that you can.
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What’s the “ultimate soccer experience” you’d like to have? Unfortunately I don’t think I’m quite at the level, but it would to play in front of a stadium with legendary European fans like the Galatasaray supporters in Turkey. Their stadium is called "Hell" or something similar. Before the game they have like three thousand flares. The stadium is enclosed with a roof. Everyone lights the flares before the game. You can’t see anything because of the smoke. There is just this red glare until the smoke clears and the game starts. The fans are just super rowdy.
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What music do you listen to before a big game? At Boulder High, we have a certain playlist that we’ve been working on for the season. It’s something like 20 minutes. It’s preseason’s fitness, getting your touches, and then getting the mix tape together. It has a mixture of a fair amount of stuff, but it’s tailored to get you excited and pumped up for the game.
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What soccer or talent would you most like to have? There’s something about Andrea Pirlo. The class, the vision and the technique combine into one. He’s the ultimate old Italian player that just doesn’t ever get old.
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What advice would you give to someone new to soccer? What comes to mind is the fact that somebody told me a few weeks ago that you will have more failures than successes in soccer. Almost everyone has more failures than successes on the soccer field. That’s why there are so few professionals and so many kids playing. So I would say to just enjoy the successes because sometimes they are few and far between, but awesome when you get them.
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What sports and activities do you enjoy off the pitch? I study quite a bit unfortunately. I like to hang with the team and during the winter I ski a lot in the mountains, which I am lucky to do because of where I live.
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Where will we see you in 5 years? In 5 years I will be 23. I don’t know. Hopefully back here [in Boulder]. This is definitely the place I want to live when I am older. I might go away for college. Hopefully I will end up back here playing soccer, which would be great. Actually, for sure I will be playing soccer when I am 23.
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