Soccer Helped Keenan Forge New Life in U.S.

On the eve of his departure from Manchester, England, Chris Keenan was counseled by Neil Martin, a family friend.

Martin, who played for Scotland’s national soccer team, told Keenan, then 13, that he would be a soccer star in the United States. Keenan listened, but he had more immediate worries on his mind.

“I wasn’t quite sure what to say. I was thinking about the move,” said Keenan, now 22.

He also wasn’t confident about his talent.

“I really was just an average player for my village team,” Keenan said. “And I was on the B team.”

In retrospect, Keenan doesn’t consider Martin’s statement a prophecy. But it has been pretty close to the truth.

Since moving with his family to Kalamazoo, Mich., in the winter of 1979, Keenan has lived a soccer odyssey. It’s a trek that has taken him from Kalamazoo to Indiana University and, finally, to San Diego State.

Along the way he has received honors, been suspended and achieved stardom in a sport he has played since he was old enough to walk.

Tonight, Keenan will end his collegiate career by playing for the West in the Soccer Bowl Senior All-Star game at 5 p.m. at the Santa Ana Stadium.

“If I had stayed in England, soccer would not have been my career,” said Keenan, who was a vital part of the Aztec team that reached the NCAA final last fall.

“Everyone plays over there. They go down to the parks and play pickup games, like kids play basketball in the United States. It’s a cheap form of entertainment for the poor.”

Said Indiana Coach Jerry Yeagley: “Coming from a soccer culture helped Chris. There is no question he had an edge on the other kids. But, even without that, he had the intangibles necessary to be a great player.”

Keenan’s soccer outlook began to change when his father was offered a promotion with his health care firm in the United States. As big a move as it was, none of the Keenans objected.

“Things had been tough for us financially in England,” Chris Keenan said. “Dad worked hard, but the money wasn’t circulating over there. We were eager to go to America.”

Still, Chris had trouble adjusting. The variation of English spoken in this country created problems that took time to overcome.

The first day at school, he requested an eraser, using the English term that in America is slang for a condom. This elicited laughter among his classmates. He had to explain to his eighth-grade teacher what he meant, which caused him further embarrassment.

“When you’re that age, you want to be accepted as normal by the other kids,” said Keenan, who became a U.S. citizen in 1985. “With my accent and tough time I had adjusting to the language differences, I was different.”

He gained acceptance through soccer.

Keenan began playing for Arsenal, a club team in Detroit. He commuted three hours each way for practice, but it was worth it to play soccer again.

It didn’t take long for Keenan to become one of the best. In the ninth grade, he played for a state youth team, and later he was selected to the junior national team, although he was ineligible to play because he wasn’t yet a citizen.

Soccer made Keenan feel more comfortable in his new surroundings, and he began to make friends.

“Being a boy, I think I had it a little easier than my two sisters,” Keenan said. “They didn’t play sports and had to go out and make friends. With soccer, I automatically had a common interest with my teammates.”

By the end of his senior year at Gull Lake High School, Keenan had scored a state-record 99 career goals and was one of the most sought-after soccer players in the United States.

Every college that came calling brought an offer of a full-ride scholarship, except one.

Indiana.

It wasn’t that Yeagley didn’t want to give Keenan a scholarship; he just didn’t have any to offer. Indiana, which was coming off back-to-back national championships, had eight seniors returning and no money to spare.

Still, Keenan insisted on attending Indiana.

“It was a challenge,” he said. “All my friends were telling me there was no way I could play as a freshman at Indiana. So, I was determined to try.”

Said Yeagley: “We recruited Chris, but he also recruited us. He was confident that he could play for us, therefore he turned down the other schools and eventually earned a scholarship.”

Keenan wound up starting half of the Hoosiers’ games and played in the NCAA final, won by Clemson, 2-1. But it was the high point of his three years at Indiana.

After his freshman season, Keenan expected to receive a full-ride scholarship, but Yeagley instead offered half.

“We didn’t have the money to offer him a full ride,” he said.

Keenan saw it a bit differently.

“There were freshmen coming into the program that were getting full rides over me,” he said. “They kept telling me I’d get it the next semester, then the next semester. It got very frustrating.”

At the end of his sophomore season, Keenan went to Yeagley with an ultimatum--either he got the full ride or he was gone.

“Amazingly, the next day, they had the money,” he said.

Keenan stayed, but for just one more year.

On a trip to Louisville for an indoor game, Keenan and a few teammates went to dinner with some parents. At the dinner, beer was served. Yeagley, who had already warned the team after a previous incident, found out about the drinking and suspended Keenan.

“I don’t blame Coach Yeagley. We’ve remained close,” he said. “It was some of my teammates. They told him what happened and blew it all out of proportion. That’s what really hurt.”

Keenan got the impression that the suspension was permanent and began looking around for another school. He had stayed in Carlsbad the year before and liked the area. He contacted San Diego State Coach Chuck Clegg.

“There were some other schools that were skeptical about whether Chris would make it back,” Clegg said. “I didn’t feel that way. We were fortunate enough to have him come here.”

Said Yeagley: “I was rooting for him the whole way.”

Even with Keenan, the Aztecs got off to a slow start. After squandering a 2-0 lead against Cal State Fullerton and losing 3-2 last September, SDSU had a 2-2 record.

Keenan offered to move from midfield forward to sweeper to shore up the defense. The switch helped the Aztecs finish 20-6 and reach the NCAA final before losing, 2-1, to Clemson.

“Chris was the main reason we got there,” Clegg said. “When he moved to defense, his leadership took over. He made a very young defense a very good defense.”

For his efforts, Keenan was named the most valuable player for the Far West District.

“I’ve thought a lot about what Neil (Martin) said to me before I left England,” Keenan said. “Maybe he did know something.”