MISL Feature
Thursday, August 2, 2012
In his career the Baltimore Blast’s Mike Lookingland has been to five championship series, winning three of them, and has become a constant as the club has turned over its squad to bring in a new generation of players to continue the club’s consistent success.
The past two seasons, however, have been somewhat breakout years for the 31-year-old defender. An All-League Second Team selection in 2011, Lookingland earned his first All-League First Team selection this past March after recording 34 points, taking just one penalty, and blocking 35 shots. On top of that, he became just the third player in the Blast’s history to be named Defender of the Year.
“It was actually amazing,” Lookingland said by phone. “Since I was three years old, I was playing soccer, and as I got a little bit older, teenage years, I realized that I definitely wanted to pursue playing professionally. I dedicated myself to the sport very, very young, and it definitely paid off during high school, college and briefly in MLS.
“Once I came to the indoor game, I was familiar with the Baltimore Blast growing up in the area, saw some of the greatest indoor players of all time, so for myself personally to be named a player of the year at the professional level, it was definitely the icing on the cake. I’ve won multiple championships, so to be able to add an individual player of the year award, I definitely feel very proud to put on the Blast jersey every week and now to be able to put myself at that level of such an elite player is definitely a ‘hard work pays off’ sort of thing.”
Hard work has been at the base of Lookingland’s game since he joined the Blast late in the 2005-06 season. He made two appearances in that first season, but since then has been a mainstay for the side. Growing up with the Blast’s tradition in his backyard – Lookingland’s hometown is Fallston, Md., which sits 25 miles from the city center – the opportunity to play for the team he grew up watching has been a deeply rewarding one.
“To be able to play for the Blast, it’s like playing for any top-level professional team,” Lookingland said. “They’re very organized from the owner to the general manager to the coaching staff to the players, there’s an expectation of winning, as well as of professionalism. Carrying on that tradition for the past 30 years or going on eight years now myself, and being the captain, there’s a lot of stressful times, but there’s nowhere I’d rather be, and I’m sure every player that’s put on the Blast jersey would say their experience was once in a lifetime.”
While he still has plenty of soccer left to play, Lookingland is also keeping one eye on the future, with the aim of moving into the coaching ranks when he takes the Blast uniform off for the last time. While already involved in local youth soccer coaching with the Baltimore Bays, Lookingland got the chance to step up to a new level this summer as an assistant coach to Steve Nichols with the PDL’s Baltimore Bohemians.
Having been coached by Nichols at a young age, and having maintained a strong relationship with one of the top youth coaches in the country, Lookingland was excited for the opportunity to help train some of the top college players in the country as they aim to move into the professional ranks.
“The [PDL] is not far off from the professional league,” he said. “A lot of those guys will probably move into USL PRO, or even MLS, so being able to work with the older age-group and some of the elite players in the country, it was definitely a coaching dream come true, and I’m looking forward to moving through the ranks as a coach as I age out of the professional game myself. Hopefully this is a step in that direction.”
Don’t expect Lookingland to be stepping away from the Blast anytime soon, though. While he always thought that he and Sagu would bow out together, the Brazilian goalkeeper’s return to his adopted home in Dallas means that this season could be a challenging one for the Blast. Lookingland certainly understands what a big piece to the puzzle Sagu has been for Baltimore, with the veteran having won four Goalkeeper of the Year awards with the club.
At the same time, Lookingland is full of admiration for the manner in which General Manager Kevin Healey and Coach Danny Kelly have been able to keep the franchise at the top of the league. Kelly in particular, whom Lookingland played with in his first season with the Blast, has only built to his legacy with the Blast as he has maintained the same high standard in the coaching ranks that he accomplished as a player.
“When I first came into the league, he was one of the top players,” Lookingland said. “He actually retired at the end of my first season, so the respect was already there. A lot of the guys have retired or moved on from that ’05-’06 championship team, but Danny was an unbelievable player, very passionate, so I got to see that before he was a coach, and now that he’s a coach, the passion, the organization, the professionalism, it’s all first class. I really couldn’t play for another organization, or another coach, just because I have such respect for the Baltimore Blast and Danny Kelly.”
As for the league itself, Lookingland believes it’s as strong now as at any point of his career. With the addition of new franchises in the past two seasons, the challenge will be greater than ever for the Blast to maintain their run of appearing in the last three championship games, with Rochester and Syracuse expected to improve as they enter their second seasons.
But for someone who is as passionate about the game of indoor soccer as he is about representing the Blast, that’s a good thing.
“I think the teams you see in the league now, you’re going to see for a long time, and I think that’s due to good ownership, a good product on the field,” Lookingland said. “I think all those teams put a lot of stands, I know Rochester had a ton of fans, Wichita sold out a bunch of games, Missouri, they’re still kind of new, but they did really well last year, Syracuse had a solid showing, I think people need to recognize it’s an exciting sport, there’s a lot of goals, it’s a lot of action.
“I personally feel the league right now is as strong as it’s ever been from top to bottom. There are no gimmes, which we’ve had in the past, and I’d say moving forward I’m really excited to be part of the USL/MISL merger. Hopefully we can get back to the days where we’re playing 35-, 40-game seasons and the stadiums are packed."