Former Cougar, Steve Magleby is a professional soccer player in Denmark now.  Here’s a Q & A with Magleby about his new found career.

Q. How did you find your way to Denmark?
A. I was looking in to some different places to try and play in Europe and Denmark stood out above the others.  I have cousins who live here and my ancestors are Danish.  Magleby is a Danish last name, pronounced mawlebu here in Denmark.  So this was the place to start.

Q. How was the tryout experience?
A. Finding tryouts was the toughest part.  Right now a lot of clubs don’t have much money and aren’t looking to buy new players.  So I had a trial with one team which went well but they decided not to keep me.  Then I found a trial with Skjold and was with them for a week before their coach offered me to stay with the team.  I had two other teams that I was looking at if things didn’t work out with Skjold.

Q. What’s Denmark like?
A. Denmark is a great place.  The weather has been really nice.  Besides the occasional rain it’s in the 70’s pretty much all the time.  It’s a very green country which reminds me a lot of my hometown in Maryland.  There is a lot of history here.  It’s a very family oriented society, which was a big plus for me and my young family.

Q. Is your hair still rock-star length?
A. Still growing.

Q. What’s the soccer style in Denmark like?
A. The players here are very skilled.  The style is pretty direct.  They like to use their wings and often bypass play through the middle of the field.  It is a very physical game here and you don’t see too much diving.

Q.  What club are you with and when do you play?
A.  The club I am with is located in Copenhagen.  Their name is Skjold and they are in the 2nd Division (which is actually the third division in Denmark.  It goes Superliga, 1st Division, 2nd Division).  We have games once a week and sometimes twice.  Our season just began and so I have to work my way in to the playing roster, but I’m confident I will be able to get some time.

Q.  How long will you be there?
A.  Not sure right now.  It depends on how things go.  Anywhere from a year – 2 or 3 even.  We’ll see how far I can get.

Former BYU soccer player, Steve Magleby is taking his game to Europe.  Magleby told Head Coach, Chris Watkins that he just finished a trial with 2nd Division Club, Skjold in Denmark.  It appears he will join the team this season, whose season just began.  He will also be training with FC Copenhagen.

Freshman defender, Junior Lartey was featured in a Mormon Times article by Chris Peterson on August 3.  Read his compelling story at this link.

Junior cut his hair shortly after this picture in February and played in four games as a defender during the 2010 PDL season.

Junior midfielder, Josh Patino gives his weekly thoughts about the team on the blog known as “On the Pitch”.

Jul 16^th, 2010 – Over the past two weeks the majority of my time has been spent on the soccer field. With cub camps, the overnight academy camps, and coaching two youth teams I literally live on the field. I love coaching and having soccer being such a huge part of my life. As I watch players develop over the 4 day camp it’s remarkable how much they improve and become friends with someone they didn’t even know existed four days earlier. On Tuesday night my training team left me driving home in awe…

My training team consisted of 10 players from the U14 Ranger Boys, a player from Utah FC, and a young man who had never played competitively, we’ll call him Bryce. On the first day of camps I could tell that this team would be one of the most skilled teams that I would ever coach at camps. You could tell they all knew each other and they adapted well to each other’s style of play. The level of respect on and off the field impressed me, aside from teammates, they were friends, and as such, they pushed each other to be better all week long. Clearly, Bryce never playing at a competitive level and not playing with the boys he was by far the weakest player of the team. Tuesday night we were having our daily scrimmage and as the game progressed Bryce scored his first goal…what happened after is what left me in awe. Bryce was ecstatic. I looked up to see his reaction and celebration and I saw all 11 players surround him and congratulate him. They all celebrated as if he scored the winning goal in the World Cup Finals. The 11 others were almost more excited for him than he was himself. Here are 11 young men that for the most part play and understand each other and when the unknown 12^th guy scores they embraced him as one of their own. If I were an onlooker I wouldn’t have guessed that Bryce wasn’t part of their team.

This led me to think of the team I play for and represent. I believe it was two games ago that Pedro suffered a knee injury towards the end of the game. His injury didn’t look that bad from the sideline and most of us thought he was just trying to get a call from the ref. When he wasn’t getting up Deniece, our trainer, ran to his aid. She’s great. The next thing I saw was three of his teammates lift him up in their arms and start to carry him off the field. Cam was sitting out due to his ankle injury, and he ran onto the field to relieve the field players and take over carrying Pedro, his teammate. I, then, rushed on the field to help Cam. Pedro covered his face with his hands and you could hear the sobs he was trying to hold back. Here are two examples of teammates lifting each other. Literally.

This is what makes our team unique and special. Watch what happens when the team comes together for a cheer, EVERYONE is involved and in the inner circle. When the starting line-up is called the guys on the bench almost cheer more loudly for the their teammates than the fans in the stands. During the game the guys not playing are always offering encouraging words to their teammates on the field. When a substitution is made almost every single player gives the player coming off a high five, a short man embrace, but most of all he is welcomed to sit with a “Well done.” I’m often asked by younger players or fellow students about how I like playing for BYU, and my response has been the same since the first day I put on the blue and white jersey. It’s a dream come true. I wouldn’t exchange this experience for anything, this experience is one that I could only have here.

Assistant Coach, Clay Christenson gives his weekly thoughts about the team on the blog known as “From the Box”.

As a team, we expect to win every game. It’s difficult to play well, fight
for every ball, and not come out on top. Unfortunately, we’ve had results this year that aren’t reflective of how good we are or how hard we work. What the guys do show day in and day out at practice and in games is character and heart. It takes a lot of character to come out each day and work your guts out, despite having your back against the wall all year. I’m deeply impressed with how hard the players fight, even though the season hasn’t gone according to plan.

The last week of practice for the year is always surreal for the players who are graduating. It’s tough to close this chapter in their lives, but I know they’ll work just as hard as ever as they prepare to play their last games as a BYU Cougar.

BYU plays its final two games of the season this week. (BYU Photo)

Check out the photos from BYU’s student newspaper from the July 3 game versus the Ogden Outlaws.  Jamison Metzger is the photographer.

http://universe.byu.edu/node/9419

Junior forward, BJ Pugmire drops some of his writing skills on the blog with his weekly look at the different aspects of the BYU soccer program.

In this weeks profile story, we will highlight a player who is playing in his first year with the Cougars, but has already had a very positive influence on the team. One interesting fact that many might not know about Kip Critchlow, is that he is the grandson of Dale Critchlow who plays the part of the old man in Napolean Dynamite that shoots the cow.

Kip is another Utah native on the team that was discovered by coach Chad Sackett while playing with the men’s league team Olympique Montreux out of Salt Lake.  He is the third of four children in his family and claims that he was a soccer player from the start.

“I don’t really remember ever playing other sports as a kid,” Critchlow said. “My oldest brother played soccer and I remember starting to play with him in the backyard, and then later on the playground and I just stuck with it.”

Growing up Critchlow played with the club team the Nighthawks who were the Utah state champs in 2004. In his junior season at Hillcrest High Kip was an honorable mention, all-state player.

Within the ranks of the team Kip is known as the man who can run forever and also one who can spit rhymes.

In preseason training the joke on the team and the sad reality for us, was that Kip was in a league of his own. We were separated into different groups based on our physical fitness and Kip literally had a group created just for him that no one else was worthy of.

In response to the question of how he became so fit, Kip said, “It’s all natural I guess, I have a lot of dreams where I run away from people so that might be it.”

As far as spitting rhymes (battling people with words and a beat) is concerned, I can remember sitting next to Kip on the bus home from Las Vegas and listening to him pick apart different players who thought they could battle him. My personal nickname for Kip is Deejay Critchflow.

“Kip has some pretty mad skills,” said freshman teammate Matt Rider jokingly. “But I’m not scared to battle him anytime any place.”

Kip said he enjoyed listening to rap growing up and then when his family bought their first Mac he learned to use garage band and started creating his own beats which helped him to progress.

As for now Kip is excited to finish off the season well and hopes to serve a mission in the near future. He has no idea what he wants to study, but hopes to learn Spanish on his mission and return and continue his studies. He said his favorite player is Zidane and loves the style of play Zidane had. Finally, Kip is rooting for the Netherlands Sunday in the World Cup Final!

Kristina Cummins wrote a feature in the BYU student newspaper, The Daily Universe on July 1 about Brady Marshall.

Brady Steve Marshall began playing soccer when he was 5 after his mother, Lisa, said he couldn’t play his favorite sport, football, until he entered high school because she thought he would get hurt.

His dad, Tony Marshall, invited him to play soccer when he was 5. To this day, he said he still teases Brady about his response to the invitation.

“Brady responded with, ‘I am not very good at things with my feet,’ ” Tony said, in jest.

This year, Brady has taken 15 shots on goal, the third-highest on the team, according to the league division’s website. Antonio Niccoli has 17 shots on goal and B.J. Pugmire has 19.

“Brady is a great athlete with unique speed, power and agility,” Watkins said. “When he’s motivated, he can play with anyone in the country.”

Tony said he did the typical fatherly things in Brady’s young soccer career, like taking him to practices and games. He noticed at a young age that Brady’s driven nature and high level of intensity impacted every facet of his nature.

“Brady has always been a young man of spiritual intensity,” Tony said. “He is very obedient and he wants to do what is right and never get in trouble. He is a natural leader and good example for others to follow.  It has been an absolute pleasure as a parent to watch him.”

Tony said in any sport Brady took on, the coaches were always happily surprised by his ability.

“The coaches would say, ‘We can’t get over this kid,’ ” Tony said. “He stood out because of his work ethic.”

Brady’s strong and intense work ethic was developed as a result of always being small compared to the other kids on teams, so he had to work harder to compensate, Tony said.

“I grew up in Modesto, Calif.,” Brady said. “I played baseball, basketball, football and soccer in high school but felt I had the greatest potential for a scholarship in soccer.”

Brady said his life revolved around sports and his mom tried to keep him well rounded by having him play the piano and earn an Eagle Scout award. He said even family vacations revolved around sporting events for both him and his younger sister, Jennie Marshall, who currently plays on the Cougar women’s soccer team.

Both of them recall spending their Thanksgivings in condos in Oceanside, Calif., for soccer tournaments. They said these Thanksgiving vacations were some of their favorite childhood memories, especially when extended family members went with them.

“Brady is an insane athlete,” Jennie said. “He can play anything he wants. He’s strong, fast and mentally there. A lot of athletes struggle mentally.”

Jennie said her brother has done everything he can in school as well as spiritually and has always been firm in his standards and beliefs. She said she feels close to him because they are only a few years apart and they share a common bond by playing soccer at BYU.

Brady’s wife, Annie, also played soccer at BYU. She is two years older than Brady and is currently expecting their first child, a girl, in August, she said.

Annie and Brady were married in the Oakland California Temple on Aug. 1, 2009.

They met at BYU during a youth summer soccer camp Brady attended while Annie was a counselor, Annie said.

“Brady came up to me on Monday morning, the first day of camp,” she said. “And the first thing he said to me was ‘I am a 209 area code, too.’ ”

Annie said they dated when Brady was a freshman and she was a junior. Then Brady left for his mission in Charlotte, W. Va., and she wrote him throughout. They went through the date-break up cycle when he returned from his mission, until they finally were engaged and married.

“He is definitely the clean one in the relationship,” Annie said. “Our apartment is really clean and he loves to vacuum.”

Brady said he is a steak and potatoes kind of a guy and he loves anything his wife cooks.

“I have a new favorite kind of food every week,” Brady said. “I especially love my wife’s tacos.”

Brady said he loves coming home to find his wife watching soccer or any kind of sport on TV.

“That is how you know you have a good one,” Brady said. “They understand your second love. It is awesome to be with someone who understands you completely.”

Brady and Annie continue the tradition in Brady’s family of finding a spouse at BYU. Brady’s dad said he and his wife met at BYU. He was a civil engineering major and his wife, Lisa, was an elementary education major. He said they lived in Wymount and Brady spent his first year of life being strolled around here on campus.

Brady will play in the men’s soccer game Saturday at South Stadium Field at 7 p.m. against the Ogden Outlaws.

Junior midfielder, Josh Patino gives his weekly thoughts about the team on the blog known as “On the Pitch”.

July 7, 2010 – The game is tied 1-1 to start the second half, both teams are playing for three very valuable points, the fans are hopeful that the Cougars will get a long awaited win…and most of all the players are trying to change their unfortunate luck this season. That was the feeling in the air as we fought to a well-earned 3-1 victory over the Ogden Outlaws. After being down 1-0 for the majority of the first half we once again proved a rare team characteristic to come back and win. Finally, we were able to finish our scoring opportunities and not just out play the opponent, but also win.

With only three home games remaining each game becomes that much more important. Tomorrow night we take on the division champs, Hollywood Hitmen, and then two days later, Saturday, we face the national champions, Ventura County. Tough weekend? Indeed. Are both great teams? Yes. Can we win? Without a doubt. We fell to Hollywood and tied Ventura at their home. On our last trip to California the team, only the players – no coaches, came together for a short meeting. We talked about what we can do better, where we can improve, what we want out of the remaining games. There is a lot that we can improve on and be better at, but there always will be. One mindset of the team as that we are better at the end of our final game July 17^th than we were when we started the season.

Our hopes of going to the playoffs faded quickly after our final games in California. However that doesn’t mean we don’t have something to prove. We play two of the best teams in the nation over the next three days and we definitely have plenty to play for. We’ve spent a lot of time together lately. We awoke extremely early on Monday, July 5^th, to be in the pre-parade. Quite a few of us are coaching the cub camps together that started yesterday. We’ve watched the World Cup Semifinals together…GO SPAIN! And, of course, we practice together everyday. I think more and more of the guys are becoming comfortable with one another and it’s beginning to show on the field. More confidence in one’s self and trust in our teammate.

The past two days we’ve focused on attacking with creativity and speed, actually getting to the goal and creating opportunities quickly. We had a little tournament yesterday, we had 4 teams of 7 and the team with the most overall points after pool play won. The winners received Jamba Juice after practice. Thanks Coach. Unfortunately, Cameron Lamb and Drew VanWagenen are on our injured list and most likely will not play tomorrow. Cam is our starting right back and hasn’t missed a game all season. He’s out with an ankle injury from the last game. Drew is our center back and is out with a left should injury. Both are recovering well and we all hope they’ll be back for Saturday.

Drew Van Wagenen (above) and Cameron Lamb are questionable this weekend with injuries. (BYU Photo)