David Glaudemans was the only player remaining on the Terrapin bench after Monday night’s tough 2-1 win against Louisville. The senior defender, partially bent over, took a few deep breaths and every so often he swigged his green water bottle.
Head coach Sasho Cirovski, who already sent his players on a post-game jog, stood with his hands on his hips next to his assistants and discussed the game.
Cirovski then looked over to Glaudemans and calmly delivered a simple question.
“You all right Dave?” he asked.
Glaudemans looked up and responded with an equally simple answer.
“Yeah,” he said while simultaneously nodding his head, using what seemed like the last jolt of energy left in his body.
After playing a physical 90 minutes against the Cardinals – who wore down the Terps with 16 fouls and four yellow cards – Glaudemans was tired.
The game was especially exhausting because it came just a day and a half after an emotional 4-1 trouncing of national rival UCLA. For Glaudemans, it was even more exhausting because it was only the second time he played a full 90 minutes in nine months.
Cirovski asked simply to ensure the status of his senior defender, but the conversation, although a very simple one, carried significance because until just a few weeks ago, it appeared that a post-game chat between the two would never happen again.
After winning the national championship last year and completing his junior year of eligibility, Glaudemans decided to leave soccer and move onto the next phase of his life.
“Shortly after the College Cup, David came into the office and we talked about his future and David was on target to graduate in the spring,” Cirovski said. “He wanted to dedicate his time to what his future was going to be outside of soccer.”
In the months after the two talked, Glaudemans worked with the Terps in the spring and summer sessions, but ultimately earned his degree in May. This caused his role with the Terps to dwindle.
After graduation, Glaudemans landed a job working for Martin O’Malley’s gubernatorial campaign. The move to the professional world acted as the final step in permanently displacing him to life after Terp soccer.
“I had talked myself into the fact that I was ready to move on,” Glaudemans said. “Professionally I had a job lined up, I had credit to graduate, I was just ready to move on and find new things.”
But Cirovski never completely erased hope that Glaudemans’ career was over.
“I would joke every time I saw him,” Cirovski said. “I joked with him in the summer at the camp: ‘Hey David it is an open invitation anytime you want to come back.'”
In August, the jokes shifted from subtle humor to a possible reality.
The Terps lost forward Robbie Rogers to a professional contract in Holland, leaving the team short one man on the roster. Simultaneously, Glaudemans left his job because he wasn’t happy.
With this, Cirovski knew he had found the replacement.
While Glaudemans prepared for a sailing trip in the middle of August, he found a voicemail from his former coach waiting for him.
“It was just kind of chance that he caught me when I was in town,” Glaudemans said. “I was supposed to leave for Martha’s Vineyard a few days after he called, so I canceled that.”
The coach and the player met and discussed the possibility of the defender returning for a senior year. A mere 12 hours later, Glaudemans made up his mind to finish his senior year of eligibility with the Terps and add a history major to his degree.
“He didn’t have to say much,” Glaudemans said of Cirovski’s sales pitch. “To pass up on a final season is something I think I would have regretted in the future.”
Glaudemans came to camp Aug. 23 – the Wednesday before the Terps’ opening game of the regular season. The sudden return forced Glaudemans to wear the No. 8 jersey with the name “Rogers” blanked out on the back.
“We gave him a hard time about that,” senior midfielder A.J. Godbolt said with a chuckle. “He’s the blank man on the team, but he accepted it; he’s fine with it.”
Along with having a jersey without his name on it, the sudden return meant that Glaudemans didn’t have any time during training camp to get back in shape – the energy loss after the Louisville game an obvious side effect.
But regardless of his fitness, he has made an immediate impact this season for the Terps – he has played two full games for the Terps and has already acquired a leadership role on the team.
“His intangibles, they work to motivate us,” Godbolt said. “Technically he might not be the most gifted and physically he might not be as gifted, but he works his butt off. When people see that, it can be an inspiration to everybody.”
Glaudemans’ numbers are not flashy – 4 assists and 3 shots in his career coming into the 2006 season, making his return appear as not that big of a deal, but in reality the return of the senior to the young team gives the Terps much more than stats.
What the Terps get is a player who had 28 career starts coming into the 2006 season. They get a player who started every postseason game last year. They get a player who helped win the national championship.
And even though Glaudemans’ name still isn’t on the back of his jersey, his teammates know his name and know the importance of his return.
“They love him,” Cirovski said. “He has got the capability to be the glue of this team.”
Contact reporter Bryan Mann at bmanndbk@gmail.com
