From Walk-Ons to Leaders
10/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
By Richard Retyi, U-M Athletic Media Relations
Spoiled. Pampered. Entitled.
Some people believe these are the qualities that make up the modern collegiate athlete. Pursued by a bevy of college coaches, promised playing time and perks, attended to like royalty and benefitting from free food, equipment and medical care, not to mention a free college education. All for playing a game.
Women's soccer seniors Katie Miler and Kristin Thomas certainly don't fall into this category, however. Both midfielders are walk-ons, receiving no financial aid through athletics. Both worked their way from obscurity to prominent roles on the varsity team under not just one but two coaches. Both were also selected as co-captains for the 2008 squad, completing a pair of long and unique journeys that led to wearing the captain's armband for the Maize and Blue.
Miler had a successful prep soccer career at Worthington Kilbourne High School in Columbus, Ohio, earning her a Wendy's High School Heisman nomination her senior season. Her academic laurels surpassed even her athletic accomplishments. She qualified for the National Honor Society and Spanish National Honor Society as well as becoming a Gold, Silver and Bronze Key recipient. Miler's brother, Joey, enrolled at MIT and walked onto the soccer team as a defender for the Division III Engineers. With him as an example, Miler planned to enroll in a prestigious university and play soccer on the side. She applied to 11 schools narrowing it down to her top pick, the University ofChicago.
"My plan was to go to UC and enroll in their international studies program," said Miler. "I spoke with their soccer coach about playing, but she said she'd talk to me once I got in because a lot of people applying to UIC aren't accepted."
Miler was accepted to UC and went to Chicago to check out the soccer program, hang out on campus and get an idea of what her first year of college would be like. It was then that she realized she had made a horrible mistake.
"I hated it," said Miler. "It wasn't the right fit. Academically it was fine, but it didn't seem the right social fit, with clubs or groups or anything like that."
Scrambling for a school, Katie reviewed the other colleges she had applied to and Michigan kept coming up. Her older sister, Kristina,had graduated from U-M with a Ph.D. in political science and her family urged her to check it out. She visited Ann Arbor, checked out the school and campus and loved it. Miler moved to Michigan in the fall and began her academic career, leaving soccer on the side for the time being.
Thomas' journey to Ann Arbor was geographically longer but more conventional. A prep standout at Cherry Creek High School in Centennial, Colorado, Thomas also excelled off the field with National Honor Society and German Honor Society citations, while leading her team to a league championship as a senior and state qualifiers her sophomore and junior campaigns. She was lightly recruited by then-Wolverine head coach Debbie Rademacher, slotted for a walk-on role with the team to start the 2005 season.
"I wasn't recruited heavily, but I knew I had made the final team," said Thomas, "so I didn't have to try out."
While Thomas was training with the varsity team to prepare for her freshman season, Miler was struggling with the soccer bug.
"I had a good spring of soccer in high school and I didn't want to be totally done with it," said Miler. "I heard that Michigan had a club team, so I tried out."
Thomas played through the 2005 season on the varsity, seeing action in a pair of contests as a reserve, while Miler was a star on the club team, averaging over a goal a game and leading the team to a National Women's Club Soccer championship.
Miler was encouraged by Lindsey Cottrell -- who went on to be a captain of the 2007 Wolverines -- to try out for the varsity as a walk-on, but then-head coach Debbie Rademacher was hesitant to let an unknown player on the pitch in the offseason. Miler's relentlessness finally persuaded Rademacher to call her club and high school coaches leading to an offer of a chance to train with the varsity in the winter on a day-to-day trial basis. So began Miler's varsity collegiate career.
From February through April, Miler trained side-by-side with Thomas and the rest of the team from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. At the end of every session, Miler would walk up to coach Rademacher and ask if she could return the next day. The answer was always yes. Still, learning to balance athletics and academics for the first time and feeling the pressure to perform day in and day out made it a difficult winter semester for the freshman. After a solid winter and spring, Rademacher offered Miler a chance to try out with the team in the fall.
Miler wasn't the only one working hard during the winter and spring months. Thomas trained hard to increase her role on the team and wanted to improve on U-M's 8-9-4 campaign her freshman year. The hard work continued through the summer with the now-sophomores pushing themselves for the fall.
"The experience in the winter motivated me and I realized I really wanted to do this," said Miler. "I wanted to keep playing and I didn't want to go back to club. I knew I had to convince Debbie in the fall. In August, I tried out like any other walk-on."
Miler and Thomas now found themselves on the same footing.
Both players made the team to start the 2006 campaign, beginning the season as reserves. Thomas' playing time increased dramatically, while Miler had to adjust to a new role after her days as the top dog on the club team.
"I was the go-to player on club and I went to a situation where I could lose my starting position at any time," said Miler. "Varsity was a whole new level of competitiveness. Everyone tackles harder and runs faster. It's bigger, faster, stronger."
Both athletes thrived. Thomas scored the first goal of her career on her first collegiate shot at Ohio State (Oct. 22, 2006), while Miler worked her way into the starting lineup, tallying three goals -- all game-winners -- for the Wolverines.
The next season as juniors, the tandem saw action in every game with Miler making 16 starts and Thomas making 13. The teammates became models of hard work and determination and began to take on more leadership responsibilities during a trying three-win season.
After all their physical and mental hard work, the duo looked forward to one final season and a chance to redeem themselves and the Block M' on the pitch. That was when the script changed yet again.
In November, Rademacher stepped down as head coach after 14 seasons, and Miler and Thomas' futures became uncertain. After an extensive coaching search, the University hired former U.S. women's national team coach Greg Ryan on February 1. One of Ryan's first acts as head coach was to inform his returning players that everyone would start out on the same footing in the off-season. There would be no entitlement in his program. Adding to the pressure on the returning letterwinners was an incoming class that Soccer Buzz Magazine rated the best in the Big Ten, bringing in eight highly-regarded freshmen to compete for playing time. Nerves were raw with some of the returnees, but for Miler and Thomas, the situation was more than familiar.
"It was refreshing to know that you have to work hard and have a positive attitude to have an input on this team, because that's what we've been doing the whole time," said Thomas. "To know that behavior was going to be rewarded was definitely a good thing to hear."
"I was excited when Greg Ryan was named head coach," said Miler. "I've known his name since I was a little kid. He coached some of my idols. We were a little nervous because we knew he'd have high expectations, but we were excited."
"It's definitely a new kind of soccer," said Thomas. "We all started off on the same level and had to prove ourselves. He wasn't going to stand for negative attitudes or not being committed to the team. Every player had to earn her spot."
"Greg set the tone where you earn your playing time and earn the right to be on the team," Miler added.
The two seniors knew what to expect and were undaunted with the challenge of fighting for playing time. Ryan saw this resolve in the duo and it made an immediate impact on the new coach.
"Katie and Kristin embraced everything we've tried to say," said Ryan. "They're two examples and they have earned what they've gotten. Actually, they should've earned more than what they've gotten, because they are still walk-ons but have been playing key roles for this team for a couple of years."
In the preseason, Miler and Thomas acted as de-facto captains, but it still came as a little bit of a surprise to the duo when Ryan officially named them as such.
"My parents remind me a lot of how far I've come," said Miler. "Being a captain is a big responsibility, but I haven't taken time to step back and look at it. I know what a privilege it is and how fortunate I am and I would never have believed it was possible."
"If someone had told me my freshman year that I'd be named as captain as a senior, I would've thought they were crazy," said Thomas.
"Having captains who know what it's like to work hard to earn a spot helps set the tone," said Miler. "The team can look to us and we can help the rest of the team with that struggle. Kristin and I were once in their position. It helps keep the team closer because nothing is given. You have to earn everything."
The co-captains have helped U-M's new coach build his program, keeping the team focused and unified through its growing pains. The seniors have each seen action in 14 matches this year, helping the team already surpass its 2008 win total with games to spare. Miler has continued her clutch ways, scoring a game-winning goal against Ohio State (Oct. 12), and adding another goal and assist to make up her season line, while Thomas has one helper on the year. The pair has tutored a young team during a difficult time, setting a tone that will be felt well after they graduate.
"Katie's a little more intense, and Kristin is definitely our positive, feel-good player," said Ryan. "I wouldn't call Katie a bad cop, but she's a tough, feisty girl. Kristin's so positive with everybody. I think it's a good mix."
From walk-ons to leaders, Miler and Thomas have earned their place in U-M history. They will be listed with Michigan's captains forever, joining All-Americans and National Team members who have preceded them and will follow. For Ryan, the pair has been indispensible for his debut season.
"More than anything, I'm just thankful that I have players like Katie and Kristin who are leaders with a young team," said Ryan. "I'm happy to have people like them around."
