TicketsSept. 20, 2011
By Jeremy Powers
Leadership is a quality all coaches' relish and an attribute most athletes strive to achieve. For senior soccer player Sam Klosterman, leadership comes as naturally as striking the ball with his gifted left foot. A three-year starter for the Bearcats, Klosterman leads the team as one of their appointed captains and an anchor of a defense that ranked in the Top 10 nationally last season.
Klosterman is a weapon that coach Hylton Dayes loves to have in his defense. Klosterman, who was the everyday left back for the Bearcats recently switched to a center back position due to an injury to Roger Thompson, another seasoned veteran. The position move speaks to Klosterman's flexibility as a player and leadership as a captain moving to a not-so-familiar position in order to make the team better.
"He provides a lot of stability and a lot of knowledge to the young guys," Dayes said. "Sam is a guy who is very steady and always does his job."
As a sophomore in 2009, Klosterman led the Bearcats in minutes played with over 1,600 minutes recorded on the pitch. Now he is only adding to that total and trying to organize a defense that held its 2010 opponents to a mere 14 goals in 19 matches. That's a 0.68 goal against average for any one who decided to pass on doing the math. Klosterman, however, does not attribute the defensive success to his progression as a defender in this program; instead he focuses on his role as a member of a stellar back line that works together.
"It feels good personally, but I know the team as a whole also feels good about the defensive success," Klosterman said. "The back line gets together before every game and we say that we all need to work hard and we all need to talk to each other including Joey (Barnard) in net."
A physical therapy major, Klosterman has not yet had to use his physical therapy expertise on himself as he is and has been one of the Bearcats most durable players. As well as being on the pitch for every game of his UC soccer career, Klosterman has also performed very well in the classroom. Like D.J. Albert, Klosterman was a UC Scholar of the month recipient during his career. Coach Dayes predicates those academic accomplishments to the hard work that he has shown every day in the program.
"Sam is a very hard worker and is very conscious to the things he does," Dayes said. "He's a good student and he spends the time to make sure he gets good grades, so the credit goes to him."
Klosterman speaks to the fact that his parents' guidance is the reason for his academic accomplishments. In high school he would come home and make sure his schoolwork was done before anything else and it looks like that trend has paid off. He realizes that the experiences he has as a member of the soccer team only come with his success in the classroom.
"We are student athletes and student comes before athlete," Klosterman said. "If I am performing well on the field, but not performing well in the classroom then to me that's not overall success."
Those pieces of success allow Klosterman to lead by example, something that has allowed for number 13 to become a captain of the 2011 squad and a favorite among his teammates. Dealing with a lot more newcomers this season than in the past, Klosterman knows how pertinent his actions are because the coaching staff can only do so much motivating. That's what makes him a quiet, yet powerful leader and sometimes leading by example is the best way.
"The coaches can set up academic meetings, they can keep close tabs on you, go to your classes, check your grades, and talk to your professors, but they can only do so much," Klosterman said. "In the end if the athlete doesn't want to do what he needs to get done in the classroom then it sounds like a broken record."
Even when the spotlight is on him, Klosterman cannot say enough about the people around him: his teammates and his coaches in particular and that's what made him proud to wear Cincinnati on his chest and his number on his back. A true Bearcat and a staple of a program that is hoping to return to Red Bull Arena in New York for the BIG EAST semi-finals.
"Cincinnati and the soccer program is like my home away from home," Klosterman said. "I love the city, I love the campus, I love the guys here and it's just a camaraderie that has grown every year."
Klosterman is planning to continue his academic years at UC. He has applied to do graduate work in the Physical Therapy program. He has loved his undergraduate experience so much that he cannot see himself continuing his academic career anywhere else. UC has made a great impression on him but most importantly he has made a great impression on UC as a leader, an athlete, and a student.