Butler soccer commit Trevor Share鈥檚 MLS academy experience helped prepare him for the next step in his career
INDIANAPOLIS (BVM) — Trevor Share has always had a ball at his feet. Share began playing soccer when he was 4 years old, but he found his love for the sport when he was 6.聽
鈥淚 think I was around 6 years old, my coach had volunteers go in for goalkeeper and the first time I hopped in goal I knew I enjoyed it,鈥� Share said.聽
He has been a goalie ever since that day. After that Share played for a few small clubs in his hometown of Elgin, Illinois until he joined Sockers FC, one of the local MLS Next clubs in the Chicago area.聽
MLS Next, founded in 2020, is the MLS version of the European academies. Currently, there are over 11,000 youth athletes in the MLS Next youth system. Kids from ages 13-19 play for 133 different clubs across the United States and compete in the MLS Next cup — won by Chicago Fire FC in 2021 — at the end of the season.聽
Share鈥檚 club, Sockers FC, is in the mid-America division, which meant they faced cross–town rivals Chicago Fire FC and FC United Soccer Club, as well as teams from Ohio, Michigan and Missouri.聽
Share and the Sockers finished with a 23-3-2 record on the season and finished 17-1-0 against U17 competition in 2019. Share finished the season with 14 clean sheets and 74 total saves, allowing less than one goal a game (.545 average goals against).聽
This experience of playing a level up from typical travel soccer meant these high school athletes are plunged into a professional environment before they enter collegiate athletics.聽
鈥淚 think being at Sockers really put me into this professional environment that drove my dedication and really prepared me for what is coming next,鈥� Share said. 鈥淲e practice four or five times a week with games on weekends. It was very professionally run.鈥�
Not only was the schedule and the rigor professional, but game days were run like a European fixture as the Next academies would walk out of the tunnel and line up on the field. Teams would even take a starting eleven picture before they lined up.聽
Even the style of play was different.
“We didn鈥檛 just get the ball, kick it up, find someone to score and go,” Share said. “It was more of playing out of the back and through the middle. It was very professional.”
Share rose to the challenge of playing in this professional environment as he led his club to the playoffs in Dallas which hosted MLS Next teams from across the country. Share and the Sockers beat the Tampa Bay Rowdies, 3-2, in the first round, but lost to Real Colorado, 1-0, in the second round.聽
As Share looked forward to the next stop in his career, his search for a Division I program led him to Indianapolis. There he saw something similar in the Butler program, coached by Paul Snape, to what he saw in his MLS Next academy.聽
鈥淲hen I visited, I watched a practice and I鈥檝e watched a couple games at Butler,鈥� Share said. 鈥淚 saw that it was like me being at the academy but the next level. Better players, harder workers, all of that.鈥澛�
Having the right opportunity for athletics was important to Share. But equally important was how he felt on the campus, and at Butler, he felt welcomed.聽
鈥淚 did an official visit and I got to stay with a couple of the kids on the team and the characters on the team, every kid was super welcoming and super nice,鈥� Share said. 鈥淪ame with the coaches, they made me feel welcome and part of the school from the beginning.鈥�
As Share comes into the Butler program, he will be one of four goalies fighting for playing time. Senior Gabriel Gjergji — who has started all but two games for the Bulldogs over the last three seasons — seems to have the starting spot locked up. However, Share hopes to one day be the starting keeper for the Dawgs.聽
鈥淚 want to be the main guy, I want to be the starter,鈥� Share said. 鈥淗opefully, in the future Butler can win some Big East championships and get to the national tournament and see what we can do there,鈥� Share said.聽
Butler鈥檚 2021 season starts Aug. 15 with an exhibition game against Michigan State on Butler鈥檚 Victory Field.
