Salzwedel Fails to Find Foothold in Pro League : Soccer: Talented goalkeeper is dismayed at his lack of options in the sport after starring at Cal Lutheran for four years.

The life of a soccer star fresh out of college is not supposed to be this difficult.

Former Cal Lutheran goalkeeper Dave Salzwedel had intended to earn his degree and, with more professional soccer leagues kicking around than summer movie sequels, sell himself to the highest bidder. He then would go on to a happy, though obscure, career doing his favorite thing, playing soccer.

Not so fast.

The only thing more confusing than the number of soccer leagues is their organization--or lack of same. Soccer leagues in this country have come and gone, multiplied and divided so frequently over the past two decades that one almost has a better chance of resolving the national debt than fathoming organized soccer.

Case in point: Salzwedel, an National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics honorable-mention All-American at Cal Lutheran in 1988 and ‘89, figured he had an outside shot at being drafted in this year’s Major Indoor Soccer League draft on July 26. Not only was he not contacted by an MISL team, Salzwedel didn’t even know when the draft was until the last minute.

It would be one thing if Salzwedel had not been contacted on purpose. But, according to San Diego Sockers Coach Ron Newman, that was not the case. The players selected in the draft are not necessarily the best available, according to Newman.

“I have not heard anything about the (Cal) Lutheran goalkeeper, but that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be here,” Newman said on the eve of the College Indoor soccer showcase, an all-star game played in Baltimore the day before the draft. “We don’t have the (means) to hear about and look at all the top players in the country. No soccer league does. That’s why soccer operates at a disadvantage in this country, and more and more kids are going to Europe.”

Salzwedel has entertained thoughts of playing in Europe but for the time being it is a risk he is unwilling to take. Salzwedel, who graduated last spring with a degree in communications, currently coaches at soccer camps in Camarillo.

“I would jump on a plane right now for Europe if someone told me they wanted me,” said Salzwedel, a native of Thousands Oaks. “But I can’t afford to do that, especially not being certain what would happen.”

Salzwedel’s predicament comes on the heels of a career in which things came easily for the 6-foot-1 goalie.

In his first collegiate game against West Coast Christian College in 1986, he notched a shutout, the first of 10 he would record that year. In leading Cal Lutheran to a 14-5-1 record, Salzwedel posted an 0.60 goals-against average, a feat that he was unable to match in the following three years. In 1987, his average climbed to a still-impressive 0.93 before topping out at 1.20 in 1988.

Last season, Cal Lutheran posted an 11-7-1 mark, its best since 1986, and Salzwedel posted eight shutouts--he finished with 30 in his college career--and a 1.16 goals-against average. In the final match of the year, he made 19 saves against The Master’s College, then ranked among the NAIA’s top 20, but his performance went for naught. The game, a 1-1 tie after regulation, finally ended after two overtimes in a 5-2 shoot-out won by Master’s.

“Dave Salzwedel is the best goalie, maybe the best player, to ever don a Cal Lutheran uniform,” Kingsmen assistant coach Sean Roche said.

His college career over, Salzwedel went to Las Cruces, New Mexico, over the winter break as the starting goalie for the West team in the 1990 NAIA Senior Bowl. Salzwedel reckoned he’d enjoy a couple of days under the New Mexico sun, come back and get his degree in the spring, and then start thinking about joining the professional soccer ranks.

“My main concern was getting my degree,” Salzwedel said. “I thought my professional goals would take care of themselves after I was finished with school.”

The problem was that the Western Soccer League, which has teams in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, holds its season in the spring. The Western League was probably Salzwedel’s best opportunity because of the aforementioned teams’ proximity, but the regular season ended a week and a half ago. All of which has left Salzwedel, well, footcuffed.

“No one has really talked to me about playing and I haven’t really talked to anyone,” Salzwedel said. “There are a lot of amateur clubs in the area, but you can’t make a living playing for them.

“Unless you know someone, it is really tough to hook on with a professional team. As I have found out.”

So if Salzwedel’s popularity doesn’t suddenly increase and the phone doesn’t start ringing, expect to see him back at Cal Lutheran in the fall--as goalkeeper coach.

“I was planning on being a coach down the line,” Salzwedel said. “Sometimes things work out in strange ways.”

If the sport is professional soccer, count on it.