Colgate men's coach Mike Doherty has always been close to his former players, building on the family atmosphere he nurtured around the Red Raider program. The value of Doherty's soccer family was never more evident than when it pulled together after three former players were killed in the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
In his 17 years as men's soccer coach at Colgate University, Mike Doherty has worked hard to develop a family atmosphere. He has reached out beyond players on each fall's Raider team, embracing soccer alumni and parents. It is not easy and takes nearly as much effort as his on-the-field coaching. But any doubts Doherty may have harbored of the value of Colgate's ''soccer family'' vanished on Sept. 11, 2001.
Three of Doherty's former players – Todd Pelino '89, Dave Retik '90 and Scott Coleman '93 – were killed in the terror attacks that day. Pelino and Coleman worked for Cantor Fitzgerald in New York's World Trade Center, and Retik was sitting in the first row of first class on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to strike the World Trade Center.
Doherty spent that morning glued to a television set. So did many Colgate soccer alums. A number of their former teammates worked in downtown New York; they knew instinctively that the tragedy would touch all of them.
Almost instantly, an e-mail thread began. Alumni began searching for former teammates, reassuring themselves and each other whenever they learned someone else had been spared. Doherty first received word about Retik. Over the next two days came the tragic news about Pelino and Coleman. As the news spread, the alumni shared memories, tried to lift each other's spirits and organized efforts to help.
''Teammates kept me and everyone else up to date on what was happening, with those who were safe and those who were missing,'' Doherty recalled a few days before the first anniversary of 9/11. ''There was a tremendous need to feel involved, especially from guys who did not live on the East Coast. This was a real family crisis.''
Both Pelino's and Retik's wives were Colgate graduates, heightening the sense of closeness. Coleman's brother Keith and Pelino's wife's sister Kaleen Pezzuti also worked at Cantor Fitzgerald and were killed.
Doherty attended Pelino's and Retik's memorial services and was heartened by the number of alumni he saw there. Shortly thereafter, the veteran coach went ahead with the team's scheduled alumni weekend. The turnout was even greater than the usual 40 or so. After Friday night's traditional alumni-varsity match, the former players gathered on the field, talked and observed a moment of silence. There was another moment of silence the following day, prior to the varsity match against Bucknell.
Plans were made for a permanent memorial to Colgate soccer's three 9/11 victims – an archway at the entranceway to Van Doren Field, the Colgate soccer stadium, through which all players and spectators will walk. Fundraising for the $130,000 project will begin during this year's alumni weekend, Oct. 4-5.
Doherty does not like to focus on Sept. 11. Alumni relations were important long before that date, he said.
''That Friday night alumni game is such a highlight for all of us,'' he says. ''Everyone comes back in high spirits to a place they loved. A lot of my former players now have kids of their own, and it's such a great feeling to see old friends and their own kids running around shagging balls. It gives the current players an idea of what Colgate soccer is all about. It's not 'Play your four years and you're done.' The bonds and friendships formed by sharing all the wins – and the losses – last forever.''
To Doherty, those relationships are among the most satisfying parts of coaching.
''Winning Saturday night is nice,'' he says. ''But that only lasts until the next game. The bonds go on, year after year. And if anything, the friendships strengthen as the alumni get older.''
Doherty sends several letters a year to former players. He describes the current season, the recruiting process and spring practice. He also uses the Colgate Web site to keep in touch. Results and stories about each game are uploaded as quickly as possible.
''It's another way for alumni to feel connected,'' Doherty explained.
Many former players feel so connected, they seek his advice on matters such as career changes long after graduation. That is not in the coach's job description. Rather than viewing it as a burden, Doherty calls it a ''benefit'' of his work.
Doherty, a Division III All-American at Binghamton University who has spent his entire coaching career at Colgate, sees his job as more than simply teaching soccer. Although his teams are successful – he is the winningest coach in Patriot League history – he acknowledges, ''We're not gearing up for a national championship or preparing kids for MLS. Realistically, there are only 10 or 15 programs out there with the financial backing and resources to do that. Our goal is to compete and battle at the highest level possible, get an education and have a social life.''
Colgate's most famous soccer alumnus is Rob Stone, the ABC and ESPN broadcaster, who as a senior in 1990 was captain, team MVP and an all-conference selection (as well as the voice of Raider basketball). He returns as often as possible for alumni games, tries to mention Colgate during telecasts and epitomizes for Doherty what the coach-former player relationship is all about.
''It's tremendous fun for me to watch where all these guys go when they leave here,'' he said. ''That – and the fact that they stay in touch – means everything to me.''
Peter Sheinbaum, who graduated in 1992 after playing with Stone and all three victims of 9/11, offers solid proof that Doherty's attention to alumni pays off. Though he now lives in Boulder, Colo., where he works in consumer-relations management for a computer firm, Sheinbaum feels closely connected to Colgate soccer.
''Mike was very good at embracing and extending the family concept,'' Sheinbaum said. ''He brought his team together, kept it together, and the network has grown since then. He has a lot to do with that, and so does the fact that we all want to keep in touch.''
Sheinbaum pointed to the annual alumni weekend.
''Mike encourages the current players to mix and gather with us,'' Sheinbaum, ''even though they tend to keep their heads down.''
He noted that former players keep up with each other on their own, too.
''There are lots of examples where someone in business hires someone else from Colgate soccer. It comes from a love of playing there and the knowledge that the people who play for Colgate – even if you didn't play with them yourself – have that same love.''
Some of Sheinbaum's teammates were not particularly skilled players, he said.
''They probably could have dropped soccer, and no one would have cared,'' he says, ''but the sense of family kept them playing. I'm glad they did. It's not easy to be locked away in a town with three bars and one traffic light, but everyone on the team was in it together. Things worked out very, very well.''
Sheinbaum said that parents play an important part in the Colgate soccer family. Many years ago, Doherty began providing food for the mothers and fathers who attended games.
''He realized that if they spent three or four hours driving, we shouldn't just shake hands in the parking lot and leave. So we started having tailgates after games, and that grew into big events that parents and players really looked forward to.''
Parents formed close friendships, which bound them more tightly to everyone on the team.
One day, following a tough loss at St. John's, the parents watched their sons pile into vans – driven by coaches – for the six-hour ride back to upstate New York.
''The parents thought that was dangerous,'' Sheinbaum says. ''They lobbied the school, and pretty soon Colgate got rid of athletic vans. That would never have happened unless Mike had had such good relationships with parents.''
Sheinbaum's father, Richard, epitomized the Colgate connection. He was so taken by the school – and the soccer program – that in Peter's senior season he attended 14 of 18 games, driving several hours each way. He also helped Doherty recruit players.
''Through him, I realized there must be something special about the Colgate program,'' Peter Sheinbaum said. ''Now that I'm older, when I go back and see the enthusiasm, I realize that all comes from the family atmosphere.''
When Richard Sheinbaum died several years ago, Colgate named the press box at Van Doren Field for him – one more indication that parents can play an important role even in college soccer.
Perhaps the best example of what Colgate soccer means to members of its family comes from the tragedy of Sept. 11, a date Mike Doherty would prefer not to dwell on but which nonetheless has become part of the program's history.
Jason Woodworth, a member of the Class of 1992 now serving in the military as a fighter pilot, played with the three teammates who were killed. Shortly after the attack, he was sent to Afghanistan. Woodworth painted his good friend Scott Coleman's name on the wing of his plane.
''I can't imagine a better example of the strength of team bonds than that,'' Sheinbaum said.
by Youth Soccer Letter Editor Dan Woog