By By Drew Buono
Smart and intelligent is how people would describe Michael Todd. Most people know him as the student from Cleveland, England, who was brought here to make the men’s soccer team a success.
“One of my friends told me that the Pride was interested in me,” Todd said. “When I was in England, the coach met with me and I agreed to become a member of the Blue & Gold.”
By talking to Todd about his favorite sport, it’s evident that he’s not a stereotypical jock, but rather a person working very hard on and off the field.
While “kicking and screaming” for the Pride, Todd is also enrolled in 17 credits this semester.
“I take an independent studies class, which means that I go to lab for three hours a week to work on my assignments and then meet with my professors once a week to go over the work,” Todd said.
He goes to class three days a week and his latest class ends at 3 p.m. Why so early? Because Todd had to make his school schedule around the Pride’s practice schedule.
The Pride practices every weekday until 6 p.m. If the team has games on the weekend, especially on Sunday (home or away), it gets Monday off. But, according to Todd, Tuesday and Wednesday’s practices make up for that day off.
“We practice very hard on those days mostly by running a lot of laps,” he said.
Todd stays in shape by running and eating well and does not need a lot of time lifting weights because his “legs are the key.”
The game, however is much more demanding than the practice.
“It’s 45 minutes of straight running and unlike other sports, there isn’t really any time-outs during play.”
Todd admitted that it is hard to keep his mental and physical strength during game play, stating, “Your adrenaline is what really makes you move and it also helps you to have fun while playing.”
His adrenaline was really pumping during the Pride’s trip to the NCAA tournament last year. It was the first year the team made the tournament and not only did it make it, but it advanced to the second round. “Scoring the game-winning goal in the first round against Seton Hall was my favorite moment as a part of the Pride,” he said.
Todd has led the team in scoring the last two seasons and is leading it again this year with 23 points, eight more than any other Pride player. One of his most impressive goals was the one he had last year in the Colonial Athletic Association Championship game versus Old Dominion University; the Pride won that game, 1-0.
Todd attributes much of his talent to his teammates, saying, “We are a close group of players and help each other out as best we can.” The team even has what it calls a freshman-senior relation. This means that an upperclassman on the team will go out of his way to help the newcomers of the team. The elders advise the freshmen on classes, scheduling and general adjustments to get comfortable with college life.
Todd does not have much free time to himself, but he does get to act somewhat like a regular college student. “I’m an RA [resident advisor] in my building, which is comprised mostly of international students.”
Mostly though, Todd is playing soccer about 10 months out of the year.
“College soccer is very demanding, but I’d play every day if I could.”