Goalkeeper Lives On Renton Time Nagel Proves Ties To Shadow By Traveling For Home Matches

The Fontana Falcons from Montclair, Calif., visit Spokane this weekend for a USISL soccer match against the Spokane Shadow.

It’s also another road match for Shadow keeper John Nagel.

Nagel’s ties with Spokane and Shadow coach Einar Thorarinsson are so strong he commutes from Renton, Wash., where he is an elementary school teacher, to all matches.

Practice is out of the question.

“Commuting makes it hard financially; teachers don’t have a lot of money,” Nagel said. “The main reason I do it is I love playing. I haven’t given up. I’m holding on to that little piece as long as I can. So the commuting doesn’t bother me.”

Besides, the trip for Saturday’s 7 p.m. match at Spokane Falls Community College is a lot shorter than the one Nagel made to get to Spokane the first time.

Nagel, one of the early soccer fanatics in Hawaii, attended Punahou High School on Oahu and wasn’t ready to quit playing when he graduated in 1990. “I was looking for a school that would offer an elementary education degree in four years, was in the Pacific Northwest and had a good soccer program,” Nagel said. “Those were my three main reasons. Whitworth fell into that.”

That’s how former Whitworth soccer coach Thorarinsson landed the player, even wasting a long-distance phone call out of his recruiting budget.

“I sent him my stuff, but I was accepted anyway,” Nagel said. “Einar called me and said, ‘I see you’re interested in Whitworth. Can I answer any questions?’ I told him, ‘Well, I’m coming.’ He just said, ‘Oh. Well, we’ll see you in August.”’

Nagel’s first year he played behind senior All-American Rob Wilson.

“He was an excellent guy to learn from,” Nagel said. “Not necessarily for the physical skills - I pretty much had those when I got there - but attitude, training, how to approach the collegiate game. Einar basically told me, ‘You’re the next keeper for Whitworth, if you work at it.”’

Nagel didn’t earn the starting job until midway through his sophomore season, a year when the Pirates did not live up to their preseason ranking. The next two years, though, with Nagel in goal, the Pirates reached as high as No. 2 in the polls.

Then he got a job.

He was almost through his first year when he heard about the Shadow. Thorarinsson gave him a chance to try out and kept him, although he wasn’t really in playing shape.

“I didn’t know about it until, basically, about two weeks before tryouts,” Nagel said. “I didn’t have a chance to prepare or train. I didn’t know about any other (westside) teams. I felt Einar knew me, knew my skills, even if they weren’t sharp.

“I made the team and commuted. I didn’t play a whole lot. It was disappointing, but I can attest to the fact I didn’t play very well last year.”

Although there are several USISL teams in the Seattle area, when the second year rolled around, Nagel stuck with the Shadow.

“I played all fall and during the winter over here and got ready,” he said. “I think … knowing Einar, knowing the team, the team knew me, plus the fact I have ties in Spokane. … I felt sort of an allegiance.”

Besides, not too many coaches are going to give a 5-foot-8 keeper a chance and those that do might not give him a fair chance.

“Because of my height, most people will overlook me automatically,” Nagel said. “Einar knows me … he’ll at least give me a look, where others might not.”

With Nagel in the nets, the Shadow are 5-1 in the Northern Division of the Western Conference of the Premier League, 8-2 overall. The Falcons are 3-3 in the Southern Division, 4-4 overall.

After school ends, Nagel plans to move to Spokane for the rest of the season. Then he’ll return to his teaching job in Renton.

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