Jeremy Vuolo argued with Marc Sagal, the New York Red Bulls psychologist and man he called one of the best in the world. Sagal posed a simple question.

“Why do you want to be the No. 1 goalkeeper?”

Vuolo said he wanted to glorify God through his play on the field.

“And the sports psychologist would always question me and say, ‘Yeah, OK. I’m buying that a little bit, but I think there’s more to it than that,’” Vuolo said. “And he’d say, ‘I think you want more money and I think you want more fame and I think you want more attention and approval.’”

The former Syracuse goalkeeper, who played for the Orange in 2010, insisted he didn’t. But as the 2012 season wore on and he slipped further and further down the Red Bulls depth chart, Vuolo stopped being able to deny his more selfish motivations.

“Long story short, the Lord began systematically humbling me in ways that I didn’t think were possible to be humbled in such a way,” Vuolo said.

His desires for personal glory and to promote his faith were “waging war on each other.” Vuolo would find himself struggling in the middle of a tough training session, wondering why he even wanted to play the game. The realization of the conflict helped, but by season’s end, he wanted out of New York. In the offseason, he lost his desire to play altogether. On March 7 of this year, he announced his retirement at the age of 25 on his personal blog, and then his intention to immediately begin pursuing ministry.

Three weeks later, he was back, having signed a contract with the San Antonio Scorpions of the second-tier North American Soccer League.

“It’s a great step for him, it’s a good opportunity for him to challenge and really, truly be a consistent No. 1,” former Red Bulls goalkeepers coach Todd Hoffard said, “to get a lot of games under his belt and get some visibility.”

Despite returning to the United States fresh off of a dominant season in Finland — nearly half of his games were shutouts — Vuolo was stuck on the bench with the Red Bulls behind rookie goalie Ryan Meara.

He never saw the field — not in the regular season, not even in the U.S. Open Cup when the Red Bulls faced minor-league teams. Then-head coach Hans Backe didn’t rate him, Vuolo said, and in August, the Red Bulls signed former U.S. national team goalkeeper Luis Robles. Robles buried Vuolo on the bench, but provided a light for Vuolo during an otherwise frustrating season.

“From Jeremy’s experience, I was able to just share with him what happened in my life,” Robles said, “how my wife and I decided what our next plan was going to be.”

Robles’ national team career fell apart. He had to give up playing in Germany, where his career was launched playing for Karlsruhe and Kaiserslautern, because his father became too frail to travel to games. His wife had a miscarriage, his father-in-law got cancer, MLS offers fell through and he had to take a minimum wage job as an “errand boy” at an old friend’s real estate company.

While Vuolo wrestled with his motivations, Robles had just seen his personal and professional dreams decimated. For both, though, Robles held simple advice.

“I’m not as awesome as I thought I was.”

By the end of the season, Vuolo was excited to leave New York. He was one of many players released as a new front office staff cleaned house. He still wanted to play the game, but he wasn’t done being humbled.

His agent arranged a tryout with one of Finland’s top teams, HJK Helsinki, in Valencia, Spain. Vuolo called it the “perfect opportunity.” His friend and former Red Bulls teammate Teemu Tainio were set to join the team.

Vuolo was dominant on the field. He shut out one of the top Norwegian teams, Strømsgodset IF, in a practice match. Off the field, his teammates were excited to talk about the Bible with him.

“It was just an interesting team dynamic that is very rare,” Vuolo said. “You don’t often find, within a few days of meeting a team, that you get along with everybody so well. So everything seemed to be pointing to HJK.”

Even the general manager said the club wanted to sign him. But after returning to the United States, Vuolo got a text message from his agent saying there was no offer from HJK.

It forced him into a lull. He was back living at home in Downingtown, Pa., without offers and struggling to find the motivation to train. Everything pointed to ministry.

But when the San Antonio Scorpions came calling to invite Vuolo to a tryout, he hesitated. Robles remembers being in the airport, about to board a plane to Portland, Ore., and talking to Vuolo to convince him to give the sport one last shot.

His parents convinced him, too. Still reluctant, Vuolo rode down to San Antonio with his father, a preacher. On the way, he realized one of his favorite pastors, Tim Conway, lived in San Antonio. Vuolo’s passion for the sport rushed back. During his tryout, he dove and scrapped his way to a contract offer.

Now, he lives with Conway, balancing his drive for soccer and his future in ministry.

“This is the place where I am,” Vuolo said. “This is the ideal place for me to be focused on ministry, as well as soccer. God’s really given me both.”

Published on April 23, 2013 at 11:44 pm

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