Catching Up With Perry Van Der Beck, Part II

Perry Van Der Beck made history with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1978 as the first high school soccer player ever drafted by a North American Soccer League team. The talented midfielder stood out as an amateur by winning two high school state championships and representing the United States in international competition at almost every level, including the Olympic team. Van Der Beck enjoyed a 19-year playing career, nine of which came as a member of the Rowdies. Today, Van Der Beck serves as the Technical Directory and Director of Player Development for the recently revived Rowdies in the USSF Division 2 soccer league. Van Der Beck recently took time out to chat about everything and anything related to his life’s passion: soccer. The following is the conclusion of a two-part interview with Van Der Beck.

Q. Were you familiar with the Rowdies when you were drafted by the team in 1978?

A. First and foremost, I'm not just saying this because I'm here, but I remember sitting down with a professional player from the St. Louis Stars -- who was one of their international players – and he asked me if I had the option, what team would I play for? I said the Tampa Bay Rowdies. He says, “You’ve got to be kidding me. You could play for Manchester United and you're saying Rowdies?” The very next year, I'm drafted by the Rowdies. That was in January 1978, but I couldn't sign until my high school class graduated. Then I turned 18 and was able to play, but I really didn't know what was going to happen. The St. Louis Stars had the second pick in the draft. They were the hometown team. I met with the manager and he said, "We're going to draft you." So, I'm thinking it's going to be the Stars. Well, my dad calls St. Thomas Aquinas High School and they call me to the office to tell me that I've been drafted by the Tampa Bay Rowdies. We did a whole press conference and then they flew me down here. The Rowdies were averaging 28-30,000 fans a game. Averaging! You had around 50,000 for July 4th.

It was an unbelievable atmosphere walking onto the field. My first time getting into a game was as a substitute in Tulsa. We were up 3-0, and they brought Rodney Marsh off and put me on. As Rodney was coming off the field, he gave me a little high-five and said, "Good luck son." That was my first taste of pro soccer. That first year I only got in two or three games, but I was traveling a lot with the Olympic team. And you know what? I wasn't ready for the first team. You just have to work your way into it. A lot of young players want to play right away, but trust me it takes a lot to work up to it.

Q. You must have learned so much watching the veterans on the team though.

A. That's what I tell players. We're visual. Even as a coach. You're sitting on the bench, you're watching the guys, the communication -- you're hearing that -- the way they tackle, the way they position themselves. Johnny Gorman, Mike Connell, Wes McLeod, all very influential in my career. Coming in as a young player out of high school, these were the senior professionals.

It wasn't easy. Think back to when I was playing. The rule was you had to play two North Americans on the field. Now, MLS only allows three international players at a time. They flipped it. So again, you know what, I was kind of the odd man out. You had to play two, and guess what, they only played two, either at midfield or at the back. The rest of the guys were all international players.

Q. Did you have as a mentor as you were starting out?

A. Very much so. Player wise, let's start with a guy named Bobby O' Leary. He played for the St. Louis Stars, later the California Surf. He was a big mentor for me through my high school years and club soccer until I came down to Tampa.

Players on the Rowdies? Johnny Gorman, Mike Connell, Jan Van Der Veen, Winston DuBose, Rodney Marsh. Those are the players that stuck out in my mind as guys who were looking after me. They were true professionals, good teammates, and Mike Connell was a very good captain. He was a good player, but I'll tell you what, he was boisterous and looked after the team. The same with Johnny Gorman. When he became the assistant coach of the England national team in the 1998 World Cup, you knew he deserved that. So those were my mentors, besides my coaches growing up. My coaches were very good to me, and I fed off them.

Q. You talked before about the attendance and support for the Rowdies. Can you talk about what it was like to enjoy that kind of support?

A. The support that this community gave the Tampa Bay Rowdies is something I'll never forget and I don't know if there'll ever be anything to compare it to again. You looked forward to doing an appearance. Fans were going to be there and they were always cheerful and inspiring. Players were out in the community and they really embraced us, and we embraced them back. That was the marriage that thrived for so long.

What happened to the Rowdies? It wasn't so much the Rowdies as the actual league itself. When I joined the league in 1978, I think there were 24 teams. In 1984, there were only nine, with Tampa being one of them. It just wasn't feasible for the owners to fly their teams all over the place. It needed to be more regional, but that wasn't happening, so they just called it quits there.

People tried to compare it with MLS with the Mutiny. There is no comparison. 70,000 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. Ft. Lauderdale, sold out. 18,000 standing room only. ABC, Sunday afternoon "Wide World of Sports." Those are the kinds of things I remember that you just don't forget.

Mike Connell was interviewed -- and I don't want to steal his thunder -- but he said it was like Woodstock. It was the timing. People try to emulate it. We've got a great bunch of kids here -- not kids, players -- tied in with some older, experienced players and we've been successful. That's how the Rowdies were, successful from the beginning. I think at one time when George Strawbridge owned the team the record was 121-38. They won five division championships. We always won, especially at home.

Q. How does it feel not just to have soccer back in Tampa Bay, but with the Rowdies brand as well?

A. We're off to a good start. The fact that we've got the Rowdies name not only brings credibility to the team here in Tampa, but also there's a history with the Rowdies. Not just nationally, but back in the United Kingdom. When MLS started, Cornelia Corbett wanted to get involved, but the way the league was set up she had no interest. My understanding is the league didn't want to be painted in the same brush as the NASL because there was some failure there. But, there were some very successful teams like the Vancouver Whitecaps, Portland Timbers, and of course, the Tampa Bay Rowdies. They're all coming back now because people remember that, they grew up with it.

Catching Up With Perry Van Der Beck, Part I

Perry Van Der Beck made history with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1978 as the first high school soccer player ever drafted by a North American Soccer League team. The talented midfielder stood out as an amateur by winning two high school state championships and representing the United States in international competition at every level, including the Olympic team. Van Der Beck enjoyed a 19-year playing career, nine of which came as a member of the Rowdies. Today, Van Der Beck serves as the Technical Directory and Director of Player Development for the Rowdies in the USSF Division 2 soccer league. Van Der Beck recently took time out to chat about everything and anything related to his life’s passion: soccer. The following is the first in a two part interview with Van Der Beck.

Q. How thrilling was it to be 18 and already in the pros?

A. I was very excited. I lived in St. Louis, and at that time, I had a mentor who was playing for NASL team called the St. Louis Stars. My dream, my life, my passion was soccer. So that's something I wanted to do. I had colleges chasing me, so I had to make a decision.
What inspired me was the league said we'll pay for your college education, we'll set money aside. So it wasn't a matter of me not getting my education, but I wanted to get to the big leagues as soon as I could. That's just the way it was with my life, it's all I talked about. Kicking a soccer ball, going outside and doing things with it was not a chore. There were kids in my neighborhood, teammates of mine who had the same mentality.

Once I got down here, you're right, I was 18 years old. It wasn't that I was going to start or how much I was going to play. It was just being in that atmosphere.

My first contract was actually an amateur contract because I was still eligible to play for the 1980 Olympic team. I got paid about $50 a week to play soccer. Then I got “x” amount of dollars to be director of Camp Kikinthagrass. I couldn't get paid more than $50 because I wanted to qualify for the Olympics. The Rowdies provided me a car, an apartment, so they made it up to me in other ways.

Q. So you really knew that you wanted to go pro and not spend time playing college soccer?

A. I had a situation where I was already involved with the Olympic team since high school. I had been discovered at an early age. I'd played international soccer and seen that lifestyle. Soccer is the global sport. I was an impressionable young player and I knew that's what I wanted to do.

Q. How did that experience prepare you for the pro game?

A. It had a lot to do with it. In fact, I remember playing when I was 16 or 17 years old in the Youth World Cup. I represented the United States in a tournament in Honduras. I'd played in some games to qualify for the Olympics, played in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Suriname. When the United States qualifies, they qualify in the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) region. I've played almost every country in the region, but I've never been to Panama.

To represent your country at the highest level is just a step up. If you look back, in my ten years with the national team I only got 23 caps because we didn't play as often as they do now.

Q. What were your feelings about the boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, considering that you were slated to be the captain of that team?

A. It was very tough to accept. Here was an opportunity to represent my country at the highest level of play in another part of the world, which back in 1980, we really didn't know a lot about the Soviet Union. So, one, what an experience, and two, it's the sport I love and now I get to play against other cultures in other parts of the world. I was looking forward to it. In fact, it took a lot of time and effort, a lot of sacrifices.

We played against Mexico in a friendly, beat them 4-0 in Los Angeles. They changed their whole team. They became a professional team. So we went down to play in Leon, Mexico, against their professionals and we lost 2-1. So now, the return leg is in New York. We were going to play before the Cosmos game. Their passports said that they were professional players. Guess what? FIFA says, "You're out, the U.S. is in." So we qualify. I think it was us and Costa Rica, but now you've got the boycott.

For the sport of soccer, you know, I don't care what Jimmy Carter says or does, it was hard for me to comprehend. He was punishing us? But, I look at the other athletes in track and field, volleyball, swimming. They don't have professional leagues. They’ve got to wait four more years before they can compete with the rest of the world. I got to go back to Tampa to play for my team. So, was I upset? Yeah, but you know what? I was able to live with it because I had something to fall back on. Now, that's me being selfish, but I'm being honest.

It was one of those things where we played in Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and in those countries, it's not friendly. It's a hostile situation every time you go. I'm not going to say that at any time I felt my life was threatened, but you know what, it is a hard way to compete. So you go down there, you've done the business, you've qualified, and now, guess what? You're not going.

They gave us all medals, and I've got some awards. Gosh, I have to tell you, it's the highest congressional award any civilian can get (the Congressional Gold Medal, awarded to the 1980 US Olympic Team). So we got honored for it, but did we get to actually play? No. So, as your career goes on you look back at those things. As a coach you want to impress upon these players that you don't know what is going to happen in your career. Okay? You score a goal here, next day you break your leg. You just don't know.

Q. As an aside, what do you think about Tampa's chances of becoming a host city for the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022?

A. The politics are working right now. If you watched the World Cup, you saw Bill Clinton sitting next to FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Sepp Blatter is the most powerful guy in soccer, and you've got the former President of the United States sitting next to him. As far as I know, the decision has been made -- I might be wrong -- for 2018. I think Bill Clinton came out and said the reason we lost out to Brazil in 2014 is because we never got our act together. There's no doubt in my mind that we had the most successful World Cup ever in 1994, and that we can do it again in 2018. Just give us the opportunity. The talk in South Africa is about the seats that were missing. There were 10,000 no-shows at a game. I’m sorry, but that wouldn't happen here in the United States.