Darren Sawatzky called over his FC Tucson players at the end of a recent midweek practice. As they gathered around him, Sawatzky preached about having a positive mindset. Not everybody, he reminded the team, will get a chance to dress for Friday night’s match against Orlando City B at Kino North Stadium.
In that regard, the first-year coach is setting a good example.
“I’m a glass-half full guy,” he told his players.
Sawatzky’s light and upbeat personality is important as FC Tucson navigates its first professional season. His job, first and foremost, is to develop players. Wins matter, sure, but the coach’s biggest victories come when he promotes players to Phoenix Rising FC of the United Soccer League. The relationship linking players between the two teams began this year, after Tucson spent its first seven years in USL PDL.
“The result base here is making players better and making sure they get sent up to Rising, so it’s been an adjustment for me,” Sawatzky said. “Sometimes I make decisions based on the individual growth of a player as opposed to the team winning games. That’s very difficult for a competitor, but I love it. The sun is shining and we have a great organization here in Tucson.”
So far, three FC Tucson players have been called up to the parent club. Defender Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu missed the club’s 1-0 road loss to Toronto FC II last week so he could play for Rising, but is expected to be back on the field for FC Tucson Friday night. Wheeler-Omiunu ranks second on FC Tucson’s team in games started (seven) and minutes played (630).
Wheeler-Omiunu played collegiately at Harvard. At age 24, he’s typical of many of FC Tucson’s players: Young professionals hoping to receive a phone call from Phoenix.
Of course, individual progress can sometimes delay the growth of a team. Through eight matches, FC Tucson is 3-4-1.
“We haven’t had the same group of 11 guys on the field so each week. It’s a different group, but no excuses,” Sawatzky said. “We’ll finally build a foundation, the guys perform well, and then they get called up to Rising, which is awesome, but then we have to work again. Player development in your 20s takes time, and our job is to help Rising, so sometimes that’s a detriment to our results, but we’re here to win games.”
Growing pains?
“I don’t describe growing to be painful. We’re always working towards a better goal for next time,” Wheeler-Omiunu said. “We’re only as good as our last performance and we have to try to improve on the next one so we can keep the consistency and move in a positive direction.”
Dealing with a consistent turnover on a roster already filled with first-year players is a new challenge for everyone. FC Tucson defender and former University of Washington standout Luke Hauswirth is still adjusting.
“It’s not quite like this in college. Usually you get new freshmen coming in, but there’s guys from the team before and guys that have been with the program for two or three years that come back,” he said.
“Here we have guys that move in and out every single week, but we should be able to adjust to it at this point.”
