USL Feature
Thursday, September 15, 2011
By NICHOLAS MURRAY
When you’re a goalscorer, the biggest thing you are judged on is whether you are taking advantage of your opportunities.
After missing out early in his professional career, F.C. New York’s Jhonny Arteaga finally did.
The USL PRO Scoring and Goal-Scoring champion, bagging 13 goals for the club in the league and 16 overall, had a standout season for New York, taking advantage of the turnaround in his career that just two years ago saw him playing in the USL PDL.
“It’s been great, it’s been a great experience to individually have a great season, and I think that all the hard work I’ve put in over my career is slowly starting to pay off,” Arteaga said by phone this week. “It’s was a great experience playing in USL and I’m definitely looking forward to what’s ahead.”
A native of Colombia whose family moved to the United States when he was 12 years old, Arteaga appeared to have all the makings of a promising pro career ahead of him when he was named to the Daktronics All-America First Team. He signed with then USL Second Division side the Western Mass Pioneers, keeping him close to his family’s home in Connecticut, but things didn’t go according to plan.
“I wish the experience had been better, because at that time it would have been great for me to be playing and on the field rather than going through the paperwork situation I had with Western Mass,” Arteaga said. “Overall, I wish it had been better for me and for the club, but I feel like it was good to take care of the stuff I had to take care of and take a step back.”
Arteaga played in the PDL, including a spell with the Westchester Flames, as he tried to rededicate himself to the game and find an opening that could provide him with a break. That came in 2010 when thanks to a relationship with local coach Jerzy Karwoski, Arteaga packed up for Europe.
“I had been training with a few clubs in the states,” Arteaga said, “I had played a little PDL while I sorted out my paperwork situation, and once I’d sorted out my paperwork, I had the opportunity to go to Europe to play a couple of games in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.”
Opportunity called from Poland, and a fourth-division side called LKS Lomza.
“I said I was going to make the best out of the opportunity, it was what I had been waiting for,” Arteaga said. “I took that chance, went to Poland and played, five months, six months with a lower division club and it was a great experience to go to a different country, a different culture, their football style, and they gave me the opportunity to come in and play all the games I was there for.
“That was the opportunity I was waiting for, as far as playing and being bit consistent. It was definitely a really good step.”
The next step was to find a club back in the U.S. As much as Arteaga appreciated the opportunity Lomza had provided him to play, he realized the goal of making it to Major League Soccer was going to be easier to accomplish from within the United States. After having been put in touch with New York’s former coach Matt Weston, Arteaga became a member of the club’s inaugural squad, and didn’t take long to make an impact.
Not that it was all smooth sailing as the club tried to find its way in its first season.
“It’s difficult to be a first-year franchise and expect everything to go smoothly,” Arteaga said. “Just being there and experiencing their first year of the franchise with them, it was a great experience for me and I think I learned a lot from the season with them. Sometimes you’ve got to get through a low in order to get where you want to be, that’s the way it’s been for me so I’m just going to accept it and keep working, whatever happens will happen.”
In particular, Arteaga said he learned from Paul Shaw, who would take over after Weston’s resignation early in the season. The Englishman, who had played for Arsenal, Millwall and Sheffield United during his career, became a role model for Arteaga as he continued to develop.
“You look up to an experienced player like Paul and try to learn from him for things on the field and off the field,” Arteaga said. “I think it was definitely great for me to have him there as an example and as a leader. I did learn a lot from him this season, definitely.”
And it showed on the field. Arteaga was consistently a threat throughout the season for New York, bagging a pair of goals in what he says was his favorite game of the season against Antigua Barracuda FC on July 1 before a brilliant four-goal outburst in New York’s final game of the season against Dayton that won him the scoring titles. He has since had the opportunity to train with the New York Red Bulls, scoring a pair of goals in a reserve team game against Philadelphia on August 15, and is now eager to continue to build what again appears to be a promising career.
“Obviously as a professional I want to keep growing,” Arteaga said. “One of my goals, and the next step for me, is to go to MLS, so that’s definitely something that attracts me a lot and I’m looking forward to.”