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BEGINNING 11.26.19
8 — Friday, November 22, 2019
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Hallahan’s winding road to Michigan stardom
Watching
Jack
Hallahan
roam the soccer pitch is, simply
put, mesmerizing.
He dances through opposing
defenses, weaving in and out of
crevices not usually traversed.
His feet control the ball so
smoothly the defense might
as well be on ice, gliding left
with one foot then dragging
back across with the other.
Give him an inch of separation
and he’ll rifle in crosses that
find teammates with magnetic
precision.
When it’s all said and done,
Hallahan will go down in
history as one of the best to
ever wear the Michigan soccer
uniform. How did he get to this
point? To best understand his
brilliance, one ought to retrace
the steps of his winding soccer
journey.
It’s a story that all starts
with a five-year-old blonde boy
across the pond.
***
Redditch, England, is crazed
for soccer — it’s no different
than any other English town in
that sense. Most of its 110,000
residents live and breathe the
sport they call “football.” By the
time he turned five, Hallahan
was one of them.
“It’s not like in America
where you have a choice to
play ice hockey, basketball or
American football,” Hallahan
said. “It’s more just like that’s
where you go to meet people,
to make friends. It’s the main
sport, so it’s a social thing.”
Hallahan’s entry into soccer
may
have
been
for
social
purposes, but the game soon
grew
to
encompass
much
more. Like any other child,
Hallahan fantasized over his
boyhood idols, reading books on
Liverpool star Steven Gerrard
off the pitch and attempting to
emulate Gerrard’s play at center
midfield on it.
Not
every
soccer-playing
English schoolboy, though, is
scouted by Aston Villa at the age
of eight.
“That was just the first
indication that I was pretty
good,” Hallahan said. “That I
could really compete.”
While
an
opportunity
at
Aston Villa never materialized,
it didn’t take long for other
clubs to catch on to Hallahan’s
talent. West Bromwich Albion
discovered Hallahan a few years
later and, freshly into double-
digits,
11-year-old
Hallahan
aced his tryout, signing with the
academy team.
In his first game against
Cardiff City, Hallahan scored a
goal. For the first time, he felt
established as a soccer player.
Hallahan would play in West
Brom’s
youth
academy
for
seven years, receiving his first
taste of a professional soccer
environment.
“It was massive,” Hallahan
said.
“You’re
around
really
talented players. There’s a lot
of competition going on, so that
really brought out the best in
you. It was both challenging
and fun at the same time.”
The stint at West Brom
gave
Hallahan’s
raw
talent
a
formidable
avenue
for
development.
What
came
calling next, though, really
proved that he had the potential
to be special.
***
Hallahan’s mother, Michelle,
is English. His father, Will, is
Irish.
When
it
came
to
the
possibility of representing a
national team, only one country
beckoned.
“I never got a call from
England,
but
I
just
kept
playing,” Hallahan said. “But
then Ireland called me up and
I was like, ‘Wow, it’s a great
opportunity. I have to go for it.’
”
Despite
being
raised
in
England, Hallahan had always
been proud of his Irish heritage.
Playing for the U-18 and U-19
national teams allowed him to,
for the first time, fully embrace
it.
“Me playing for Ireland, it
really brought together two
sides of the family,” Hallahan
said. “I have a lot of family out
there, and it was brilliant to be
able to represent them.”
In 2014, Hallahan debuted
for the U-18 team, playing two
friendlies against the Czech
Republic and scoring a goal in
the second one. As a member
of the U-19 squad, he notched
two goals in two games against
Azerbaijan and also appeared in
other international friendlies
against Sweden and Mexico.
In
the
UEFA
Euro
U-19
qualifiers, Hallahan’s play was
instrumental in the team’s run
into the knockout rounds.
International
experience
provided Hallahan a global
perspective
on
the
sport,
broadening his horizons beyond
the English playing field.
“Ireland, they’re grinders,”
Hallahan
said.
“There’s
probably
less
talent
than
England’s national team, but
there’s
some
real
grinding
lads who put in a lot of hard
work. It certainly brought out a
different side of my game, more
of a team effort than a bunch of
individuals.”
***
Michigan
associate
coach
Tommy McMenemy first caught
wind of Jack Hallahan thanks to
a tip from a connection he had in
England. The colleague reached
out to McMenemy to tell him
about a talented soccer player
who was seeking a different
opportunity, someone eager for
a fresh start after years in the
grueling English soccer system.
McMenemy,
serving
as
Michigan’s
recruiting
coordinator
at
the
time,
proceeded as he normally did
when tipped off on a recruit —
he watched game film and did
some research on Hallahan’s
make-up
and
academic
intentions.
Immediately, he was sold.
He
booked
a
flight
to
England to watch Hallahan
play in person. He still recalls
the potential he saw. The
game just came naturally to
Hallahan. Yet what impressed
McMenemy more than his skill
was his play style — his grit, his
determination, his drive.
“College soccer sometimes
isn’t very friendly to talented
players
who
want
to
be
comfortable,” McMenemy said.
“But when I watched Jack play,
he had a very competitive edge
underneath the skull that I
thought would hold him well in
the college game.”
McMenemy,
of
course,
speaks from experience. Fifteen
years earlier, he had been in
Hallahan’s
shoes
himself,
daring to test the collegiate
soccer waters at Columbia while
leaving
behind
his
English
career and his hometown of
Southampton.
McMenemy
recognized
that
Hallahan
possessed the persona and work
ethic imperative to flourish on
the college scene.
“He just had an appreciation
for what America could offer
him,” McMenemy said. “He’s
from a very hardworking family.
When I went over to recruit
him, actually he was working a
shift at the local pub. So I knew
he wasn’t afraid to put the work
in, to have some humility about
him.”
At
the
time,
Hallahan
was
considering
numerous
big time soccer programs in
America. Michigan’s wealth of
opportunities beyond athletics
made Ann Arbor the prohibitive
favorite as a landing spot.
“It was just a great school
academically, and the football
program was on the rise,”
Hallahan said. “I had a great
relationship
with
(Michigan
coach Chaka Daley) and Tommy,
they were very personable. It
felt like a good place to call
home for the next four years.”
In general, leaving a soccer
hotbed like England to come
play
in
the
United
States,
where soccer is less culturally-
ingrained, might appear to be
an odd move. But in England,
Hallahan’s career was at a
crossroads,
and
collegiate
soccer presented itself as the
best window to grow both as a
player and person.
It
didn’t
take
long
for
Hallahan to realize that he
made the right decision.
“At first, I didn’t really have
the bigger picture of what the
soccer would be like,” Hallahan
said. “But when I came in, I was
pleasantly surprised by how
good a lot of the players were,
how accomplished a lot of
my teammates were. It was
a nice fit, honestly straight
away.”
***
Though
he
received
significant
playing
time
as a freshman, Hallahan’s
ascension
into
collegiate
stardom
truly
began
his
sophomore season. Over his last
three seasons, Hallahan has
been one of the most prolific
players in the Big Ten and the
lynchpin of Michigan’s success.
“You’ve seen a young lad,
you know, maybe lacking some
confidence, turn into a young
man that wants the ball in
big moments and big games,”
McMenemy said. “And that’s all
you can ask from a young player
in his junior, senior year.”
Hallahan is set to end his
Michigan career as one of
the
most-decorated
players
in school history. He is the
first Wolverine to win first-
team All-Big Ten honors in
three consecutive seasons, and
captured Big Ten Offensive
Player of the Year as a junior in
2018. With 73 career points, he
holds the second-highest point-
total in Michigan men’s soccer
history.
Hallahan,
though,
doesn’t
spend too much time focusing
on his personal accolades.
“If we’re losing or he’s not
having a good day, you can see
Jack kind of roll up his sleeves
and get a look in his eye,”
McMenemy said. “He wants to
win, he wants to win now and he
wants to play his best football.
When that’s not happening,
you can see him go through
the gears to make it
happen.
He’s
got a real
winning
mentality.”
It should be no surprise, then,
that Hallahan considers his
proudest moment at Michigan
to be when the team won the
Big Ten his sophomore season.
Or that his favorite goal is not
his flashiest, but rather one in a
game last year against Maryland
that helped seal the team’s
NCAA Tournament berth.
“I just love helping the team
accomplish
the
things
we
deserve,” he said.
***
Hallahan isn’t exactly sure
what he wants to do with his life
post-college — he only knows he
has a steadfast desire for soccer
to be a part of it.
Whatever
direction
he
goes in, McMenemy knows
Hallahan will be well-prepared.
Rebuking a common stereotype
of a student-athlete, Hallahan
— an economics major with a
piqued interest in psychology
— is well-devoted to his studies.
“He’s just really embraced
the academic side of Michigan,”
McMenemy said. “It’s never
been an issue with him. He’s
taken advantage of all the
opportunities
Michigan
has
to offer. Just a great example
of what we want in a student-
athlete.”
For now, though, Hallahan’s
time as an athlete at Michigan
is
winding
down
toward
its
inevitable
end.
The
Wolverines open play in the
NCAA Tournament on Sunday
against
Wright
State,
each
game possibly Hallahan’s last
donning the maize and blue.
When the time ultimately
comes, Hallahan will leave his
legacy at Michigan behind and
move on to the next step of his
soccer journey. Michigan,
though, is a stop he will
not soon forget.
“I’ve
loved
it,”
Hallahan said. “It’s
an
experience
I’ll
remember
forever.”
JARED GREENSPAN
Daily Sports Writer
Miles Macklin / Daily