Oakland University’s men’s soccer team is rebuilding its program after a change of head coaches. Head coach Paul Doroh, a former OU player and tenured collegiate coach, is tasked with leading the program back to prominence.
For the men’s soccer club, three undergraduate students, who play the sport as a hobby, are bringing OU club soccer back atop the Midwest Allegiance Soccer Conference (MASC).
In those efforts, the team hosted open tryouts between late August and September 4, 2024.
In 2019, the team won the Michigan Collegiate Club Soccer League and looked to compete among the best of MCCSL for years to come. Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the club struggled again to find its footing.
“We were probably at our peak at that point [in 2019],” Chadwick Cole, a junior and the new club president said. “We competed with top schools like MSU, U of M. Then with COVID, the club fell apart.”
Now, however, Cole sees a bright future ahead for the club.
“We have a lot of skilled players here who love to play but don’t have the time commitment to play every day on the varsity team,” Cole said. “This is a great opportunity to get some fitness in and have a competitive environment, and we’ve seen a great turnout.”
Cole has been with the team since being a freshman, when he started as club secretary.
“I didn’t have a lot of responsibilities outside of playing, but this year it’s a lot different, a lot more to worry about,” Cole said. “But even if now I don’t play a lot during the game, it’s still great exercise and I’ve made more friends here than I’ve done doing any other activities here at Oakland.”
Cole made friends during practice, as the club team didn’t participate in league play in 2021 or 2022. Last year, after steady rebuilding, the team returned to the play in the MASC.
Elijah Barchue, a senior, has been involved with the team since attending Oakland.
“It’s been a great way to meet other people who love what I do,” Barchue said. “It’s competitive, and I’m competitive. There’s been lots of ups and downs, and things weren’t stable until the year I joined.”
As the team continues to revitalize its involvement in MASC competition, Barchue is “grateful” for his time with the team.
“Schoolwork can be stressful, I can come here and do other stuff outside of school,” Barchue said. “We carpool to games, we’ll all pitch in and pay for gas, there’s no stress here.”
Players do, however, have to chip in.
“Once you’ve made the team, we have a thing called ‘team dues’ that covers things like equipment and hiring refs for home games,” Cole said. “In the past, we didn’t require guys to pay to be on the team, but we’re continuing to try to get more serious about things [within the program].”
The team kicked off on Friday, September 13 at Michigan State. For more information, please take a look at their Campus Labs and Instagram pages.
