TicketsMarch 12, 2011
By Shawn Sell
GoBEARCATS.com
They have taken very different routes to this point. But when the ball drops on the 2011 Major League Soccer season next weekend, former Bearcat standouts Josh Gardner and Omar Cummings will both be living their dreams as MLS players.
Of the duo, Gardner was the first to get a shot at playing pro. A two-time all-conference honoree at UC, Gardner was selected 13th overall in the 2004 MLS SuperDraft by the Los Angeles Galaxy. After playing sparingly in his first two seasons with the Galaxy, Gardner got his first real opportunity in 2006, playing in 18 matches, scoring his first career goal and adding three assists. Despite the improved numbers, Gardner was released by the Galaxy prior to the 2007 season and ended up with Seattle Sounders of the USL First Division, for the first of two seasons. In his first season in the Northwest, Gardner's team won the league championship, but the organization folded one year later and Gardner moved on to the Carolina Railhawks, a fellow member of the USL, for the first of three seasons. Through all the transitioning of teams, Gardner has enjoyed his professional experience.
"It definitely has been a good experience," he says. "Being a young player with LA, I feel like I could have developed a little more. (But) I don't take anything for granted. Those three years I was in LA, I feel like I could have done things differently, but I just needed game-time. From there, I went to Seattle for two seasons and really enjoyed that and won a championship there. After that I went to Cary, N.C. and played for the Railhawks. There, I met (coach) Martin Rennie. He is a great guy and I learned a lot from him. I really enjoyed it there."
After last season ended and Gardner's contract with the Railhawks expired, his agent was able to set up a tryout with MLS club Sporting Kansas City. Gardner says he played well during the tryout, but fell victim to the numbers game. Though the tryout didn't land Gardner a contract, he did impress Kansas City coach Peter Vermes enough for the latter to put in a word for him with another MLS team, the Columbus Crew.
"I thought I played well and they liked me but they just had too many guys at that position (left wing)," Gardner recounts. "I think Peter Vermes talked to either the technical director or head coach (of Columbus) and said `hey, you should take a look at Josh.' It actually worked out perfectly."
Now that Gardner is back in the same state he excelled in during college, he is hoping to one day return to UC's campus and play in the Bearcats' annual Alumni Match. In the meantime, he says he will continue keeping up with old teammates via Facebook.
While Gardner's career has gone full circle from the MLS to the lower divisions and now back to the top league in the United States, fellow ex-Bearcat Cummings took a more direct path. Following an All-American career at UC, Cummings was selected in the third round of the 2007 MLS SuperDraft by the Colorado Rapids and promptly won the team's Rookie of the Year Award. After another solid season in 2008, Cummings career really took off in 2009.
That year, Cummings was chosen the Rapids' MVP, leading the MLS in assists and adding eight goals. He went a step further this past season, scoring 14 goals, being named his team's Golden Boot recipient and earning a reputation as one of the most dangerous strikers in the league. His individual success was golden for his team as well, as the Rapids captured the 2010 MLS Cup. The key according to Cummings, chemistry.
"My first couple of years, we had a lot of turnover," he says. "But we have a lot of guys back this year. I think that is one of the strengths of the team right now; guys know more about each other and they are confident in each other."
Fresh off the MLS title last year, Cummings wasted little time in helping another squad taste championship glory. Following the MLS Cup triumph, Cummings returned to his native Jamaica and promptly helped his home country win its second Caribbean Cup in the last three years. The international play resulted in a shorter off-season for Cummings, but brought him into Rapids' preseason training in phenomenal shape.
"My off-season was pretty short," he admits. "I didn't get much off time and I came in preseason in the same form that I was in (when I left). After the MLS Cup, I didn't even come back with the team; I went from Canada straight to Jamaica. We won the MLS Cup and then three weeks later won the Caribbean Cup, it was great to do that."
Like Gardner, Cummings also tries to stay up on the happenings of his college team and hopes to one day be able to play in the UC Alumni Match. While Gardner and Cummings may one day cross paths on the Gettler Stadium field at UC, they are guaranteed at least two meetings in the MLS this season. The Crew and Rapids will square off in Columbus on June 26th, before a return meeting in Colorado on August 5th.