You have been playing at the professional level for a few years now. What advice would you give to young players who want to become pros?
Tim Murray: For young kids who want to be pros, I think the most important thing is to put your mind to it and decide that’s what you want to do, then to go after it and really put your whole self in it. Train hard every day and make sure to practice.
Do you have any pregame rituals, such as listening to certain music or getting ready in a particular order?
TM: I don’t have many pregame rituals. As far as music goes, home games are left up to the older guys on the team so I don’t have much say in that. On the road, I listen to the iPod or something more relaxing like reggae or ska. That’s more of my feel. That’s kind of it. Some of the other guys put the left sock on first or put the socks on before anything. I’ve got none of that.
What are some of the most important lessons you have learned throughout your experience? And has there been a particular person that has helped you or any one piece of advice you were given?
TM: I’ve been pretty fortunate along the way to have some good mentors, whether it be at club level, college or high school level, or even now and to have good coaches. I think, for me, one of the biggest mentors is a local guy, having actually grown up watching Matt Reis play. I’d say that he probably is one of the biggest mentors that I’ve had so far. He’s great with giving advice when you need it and a great person to have around. He‘s a great person to train and learn with.
Do you have any short- or long-term goals in regards to your career?
TM: Long term, it would be to keep it long-term: play as long as I could. Short-term would be just to keep improving and getting better and to get some minutes.
How would your teammates describe you?
TM: Really quiet – nice, I think. I hope. I don’t say a heck of lot in the locker room, so I guess probably those two things.
What has been your proudest accomplishment as an athlete?
TM: Making the hometown team.
As the offseason gets underway, how will you spend the time off?
TM: Well, I’ll probably build a quite a few snow forts. Hopefully we get a lot of snow this year. We didn’t last year. I really missed out on that! My snowball fighting decreased significantly, so I really hope we get a lot
What would you be doing if you weren’t playing soccer for a living?
TM: I watch a lot of Food Network and Travel Channel, so maybe something like that.
Like Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations?
TM: Yeah, definitely. Great show. Amazing, if I could do that, really.
When did you first realize that you could make playing soccer a career?
TM: Once it happened. (Laughs.) It’s always been a goal of mine to get there, but you never really know until it happens. You have to be in the right place at the right time and have a little bit of luck. You just never know. There are no real certainties, so I guess when I actually did it.
Did you have any especially memorable moments this season?
TM: Well, I have a moment I’d like to forget maybe
Okay, that will do.
TM: I had surgery on my knee midway through the season, so that was memorable but not in a good way. I’d like to put that behind me
There is some debate over giving every child a trophy for playing a sport. Do you believe this is good idea or do you think that by not receiving a trophy, it will be a learning experience for that child?
TM: I think that depends on the age group. As for younger kids, if you receive a trophy, do you really know what that means and what that’s all about? For me, in Little League baseball, our coaches would always take us out for ice cream after games. So for me, that was worth way more than a trophy
As you get older, you think getting a trophy should be desired or you should strive to get there. It’s not just given to you; there is a lot of work put into it. For example: the MLS Cup or Stanley Cup. Those guys, those teams and organizations put in a lot of work and no one is handed anything, so at what age that kind of shifts, I don’t know.
You played four years for Providence College and now serve as assistant coach. How does it feel to go back to your alma mater to work in one of the places you played?
TM: It was kind of weird the first couple of days. I walked into the training room the first day and one of the trainers was like, ‘You’re not a student here anymore, right?’ It’s kind of a surreal experience to be back there and not be an actual player. This current class that’s graduating now were freshman when I was still there. It was great to see all those guys again, but there was a different aspect to it. I had to be their coach, not a teammate. But I actually coach at Brandeis University, as well, so I’ve had that transition a little bit. Obviously I still play, but I’ve had to separate playing and coaching and learn that different aspect of it. I had a little bit of experience of it already when I first came to PC, but it’s definitely different when you actually went to that school.
All those coaches were there when I was there so it was interesting to be on the different side of it. They are talking to you as a coach, not as a player.
Where was your go to place while you were in Providence and do you ever visit now?
TM: Right next to campus, we used to go to the Abbey all the time. I don’t think I missed many wing nights there, especially my last semester. It was great. We used to go there all the time and then Thayer Street. We would go there a lot and Antonio’s, East Side Pockets and Mr. Lemon … Yes, I have gone back to all those places since leaving PC.
