Crew Stadium. Credit: Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch via TNS
With the Columbus Crew coming off a championship season in Major League Soccer, the sport’s growth in Ohio is soaring, and Ohio State men’s soccer coach Brian Maisonneuve wants in on that action.
Maisonneuve began playing soccer at a young age in his home state of Michigan, but fell in love with Columbus while playing professionally for the Crew for nine years. It was the sense of family in Columbus that brought him back to coach the Buckeyes two seasons ago.
“Columbus was home for me for many years, and this was my only club I ever played for here in Major League Soccer,” Maisonneuve said. “To see them win the cup was great. To be a part of it for so many years and to have that family feeling that the Crew has, it was great.”
As the Crew moves forward to start their championship defending season, the team looks to continue increasing excitement surrounding the sport. With a new $300 million stadium located in downtown Columbus expected to be completed in July 2021, signs of the sport’s growth are widespread.
In 2018, the team looked to be facing relocation to Austin, Texas, by their owner, Anthony Precourt. However, the city of Columbus chose to fight back, proving that soccer is an essential part of the city’s culture.
The grassroots movement, later named “Save the Crew,” showed that not only is Columbus a successful soccer market, but that it would continue to support the sport of soccer for years to come.
Maisonneuve said he looks to imitate the growth and success of the Crew over the last few years in order to get his own team on a path to winning championships.
“Columbus is such a great soccer community here in central Ohio,” Maisonneuve said. “Obviously, the Crew is the pinnacle of it all. So, to see their success, you know, how they built it, it gets everyone excited.”
The third-year head coach said he hopes his players can use this excitement to fuel their play this season.
Redshirt junior forward Devyn Etling is one of these players, especially with his ties to the state of Ohio. Prior to Ohio State, the Ashland, Ohio, native was able to compete for the Crew starting in 2012 through the team’s youth academy.
Etling earned several accolades with the team including the 2016 Crew Academy Player of the Year.
“Playing with the Crew had a huge influence on me going to Ohio State,” Etling said. “Seeing the success of the Crew just drives us more to want to succeed for ourselves and for the school.”
Etling is not the only player on the team with roots in Ohio. Twelve of the players on the team’s 28-man roster are from Ohio, and three have played for the Crew’s youth academy.
Senior defender Joshua Jackson-Ketchup was new to Columbus his freshman year at Ohio State, but now he will call the city home after graduation, too.
Jackson-Ketchup was selected with the 54th overall pick by the Crew in the MLS SuperDraft on Jan. 21 to play for them after completing this season with the Buckeyes.
Maisonneuve said Jackson-Ketchup is a creative player and knows how to play beyond just his normal position at right back.
Jackson-Ketchup said that he was caught off-guard when he got the word during practice that the Crew had selected him.
“I was speechless,” Jackson-Ketchup said. “It just felt like a sense of accomplishment. I had worked all this time, all these years to get to the moment, and this moment is actually here.”
Jackson-Ketchup was excited that his friends in Columbus will be able to continue following him as he begins his professional career.
Despite the unusual offseason, Maisonneuve believes that this extra motivation, in addition to the team’s hard work and dedication, will help the Buckeyes navigate the challenging season.
“We’re going to have some challenges, there’s no question about it,” Maisonneuve said. “We’re going to face them head on and tackle them as they come along.”
