Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Christina Thomas In addition to his coaching responsibilities at Sacramento State, Matt McDougall plays for the California Cougars, a Major Indoor Soccer League team. [Click to enlarge]

Matt McDougall has been kicking around a ball since 1997 and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. In addition to being the Sacramento State men's soccer goalkeeper coach, he also coaches for the San Juan Soccer club and the San Juan Thunders, while also playing professionally with the Major Indoor Soccer League as the goalkeeper for the California Cougars.

McDougall moved to Sacramento 11 years ago and attended Jesuit High School after moving from Portland, Ore. Tired of playing baseball, McDougall said he wanted to try something new and joined the school's soccer team. He helped it win Metro League titles in 2000 and 2001.

After he graduated, he continued to play soccer while studying at Cosumnes River College. While playing with the Hawks, the team won the State Cup, the Western Regional title, and placed second in the National Championships. It was then that Hawks coach Marcos Mercado placed a call to Sac State men's soccer coach Michael Linenberger for a recommendation.

"Mike took a chance with me and he said it was 'one of the best decisions I ever made,'" McDougall said.

Although McDougall was red-shirted for his first year after walking onto the team, Linenberger was so impressed during the games McDougall played that he made him team captain the spring of his sophomore year.

"He is one of the best leaders I've had in the 20 years I've been here," Linenberger said.

While he was goalkeeper for the team from 2002-2005, McDougall was named a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honoree three times, was named Defensive Player of the Year his sophomore and senior years, and currently holds the team record with 306 saves.

During his senior year, Cougars coach Gene DuChateau gave McDougall a call to ask him if he wanted to tryout for the team. McDougall took the opportunity and secured the reserve goalkeeper slot. He signed a professional contract in October 2006 while he was still taking classes.

As a Cougar, McDougall became a starter after playing only two games as a reserve and earned his first career victory in that same game against the Baltimore Blast. The team made him its starting goalkeeper for seven games in his first season.

"Unfortunately, Matt was not eligible to win the 2006-07 Rookie Goalkeeper of the Year award because he played in only nine games," said Greg Young, director of media relations and broadcasting for the Cougars.

Despite a hectic schedule, McDougall said he really appreciated the fact that the team allowed him to play professionally and earn his degree at the same time.

Despite this, he said he never really wanted to leave the soccer program at Sac State and wanted to take part in training a new group of goalkeepers. So while his career in professional soccer took off, McDougall also took a position as a volunteer assistant coach.

"Goalkeeper coaches and players are hard to find," he said.

For Linenberger, he said it was a win-win situation for everyone: He needed a goalkeeper coach, McDougall received training to be a good coach, and the new goalkeepers received excellent training. McDougall said he was very satisfied with the arrangement.

"Anytime I'm around a sports environment, I'm happy," McDougall said.

But such an arrangement has meant a very packed schedule for him, especially since he also took up a position as the assistant to Steve Tebbs, facilities/operations director. He starts every day at 7 a.m. so that he can make the commute to Stockton or Manteca to train with his Cougar teammates from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. He then has to hustle back to Sac State before 2:30 p.m. to report in with Tebbs, then he attends the men's soccer practice from 4-6 p.m. After that, he either offers private soccer lessons or takes a break before helping set up and clean up the gyms for basketball or volleyball practices and games. He rarely makes it back home in time to sleep before midnight.

"I'm a guy who can't sit behind the desk for a 9-to-5," he said.

As to what he plans for the future, he said it was still up in the air with his immediate plans being to earn his master's degree while maintaining his position.

But he knows one thing is for sure.

"I want to play soccer for as long as I can," he said.

Justin Tejada can be reached at jtejada@statehornet.com.

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