Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Sports

Eastern senior midfielder Mick Galeski led the men's soccer team to Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals for the second straight season. Galeski led the team and the Missouri Valley in assists. (File Photo/The Daily Eastern News)

Click here to watch Galeski discuss the 2007 season and the future.

Playing with pain is nothing for Eastern's men soccer player Mick Galeski.

Galeski, a senior midfielder, was 15 years old when he fell through a bridge while riding his bike.

Galeski said he did not notice the hole in the bridge and fell 20 feet through a missing chunk of the bridge while he was still in England.

The fall left Galeski with a dislocated and fractured wrist and elbow and an injury to both of his kneecaps.

The doctors in Blackburn, England, told Galeski he would never play soccer again.

But the 2007-08 Daily Eastern News' Male Athlete of the Year proved the doctors wrong.

Though the injury left Galeksi in a cast for 18 months, forcing his longest period away from the field since he began playing the game at 3 years old, he said he knew he would play the game he loved again.

"My parents told me they don't know what it's going to be like in a couple of weeks time, so we went back to the doctor," Galeski said. "It was getting better but he said, 'If you break it again, we might not be able to fix it. But I looked at my parents and said, 'I'm playing.' I actually fell on it again during the game I got back and it started hurting, but I kept playing."

Eastern head men's soccer coach Adam Howarth said Galeski played through injuries throughout his career at Eastern.

"Mick at 50 percent is still better than most players," Howarth said.

Despite Galeski's skill, the Panthers struggled during Galeski's underclassmen years with a 10-21-4 overall record and a 3-11-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Galeski said the team should have won more because they were among the most talented teammates he had ever had played with.

"The team, we just didn't work together enough," Galeski said. "It wasn't Coach's fault. He prepared us the same way he does now. When we got out there we just didn't perform. It was the same my sophomore year. We just didn't click as a team. Over the years, Coach got rid of the players that didn't fit and got ones that clicked."

As a team captain, Galeski helped the Panthers gel as a team. Eastern won at least 11 games and made the semifinals of the MVC Tournament during Galeski's final two seasons with the Panthers.

Howarth said Galeski started taking a leadership role during his sophomore year.

"I think (because) he was so vocal his junior year was one of the factors I named him captain," Howarth said. "He was the heart of the team even at that time. I knew he would be the person that would push us over the top."

And Galeski pushed the Panthers over the top on the field.

He ranks third all-time in Eastern program history for assists (24). During his senior season, he was the best in the MVC in assists (12) and points (28).

Junior forward Brad Peters said he expected Galeski to be a leader.

"My freshman year people looked up to him and trusted him, so I expected Mick to be captain," Peters said.

Sophomore Darby Kehoe said Galeski would do anything on the field and led the team by example.

"He knows how to motivate players on and off the field," Kehoe said. "He is the ultimate performer on and off the field, and he knows what to say to players to motivate them."

Senior midfielder Brad Earl said Galeski made a huge improvement in his offensive game during his senior season.

"This year he really took his offensive game to the next level," Earl said. "He has always been solid on the defensive end because he works so hard."

Galeski, a two-year captain and two-time member of the MVC First-Team, learned his strengths on the field from a soccer-devoted family in Blackburn.

"My dad is the biggest soccer fan I have ever seen," Galeski said. "He'll just sit in front of the TV and yell at the TV when his team's not even playing. He played a lot when he was younger, and he is always telling me how fast he was and how much he'd beat me up if he played with me."

Galeski joined his first club team at 9 years old.

"The local team was (under-11), so I was basically the youngest person in the league," he said. "That year I got Player of the Year, and that's when my dad realized I was pretty good and started pushing me a little harder."

Galeski played for a number of club and professional teams during his high school years in England. He played for the Boys-Club State Academy team in England and was given a pro contract with Burnley Football Club.

"When I started at 9 they kept tabs and when I moved to Clivero, and Burnley asked me to come along for tryouts," he said. "Usually they sign the kids at that age to a year contract every year. I went for a tryout for I think about five or six weeks and ended up signing a two-year contract, which they actually renewed after my first year for another two years so it was basically four years."

The accident prevented Galeski from fulfilling the entire contract, but before that he knew he wanted to play soccer in the United States.

"I knew a couple of players that came over here, and I knew I wanted to get a degree as well as play," Galeski said. "It is kind of hard to do that in England because they don't have the same setup."

Galeski was offered scholarships from schools in New York, New Mexico and a couple Division II schools but signed with Eastern after his first meeting with Howarth.

Galeski said the fact Howarth, who is also from England, had gone through the experience he was about to go through was important in his decision.

"I figured it was a good fit," Galeksi said. "I figured if there's a guy that's going to look after me, it should be a guy that had been through the same thing."

Howarth said he first saw Galeski on tape and never got to see him play in person. But that didn't mean Howarth couldn't tell Galeski was a special player.

Galeski came to the United States and admitted he was a little homesick at first, but his teammates really helped him make the adjustment.

"Not seeing your parents every day sucked," Galeski said. "Not being able to see them, and I had to buy phone cards and catch them at the right time, that kind of sucked. Other than that, I was just concentrating on playing. I really wanted to make it work. I was homesick, and I missed my parents, but I wanted to make it work. I knew this was going to give me a good life, so I just buckled down and went through it."

Galeski said he was proud he helped to turn the program around.

"I am very proud the team did unbelievable," Galeski said. "I am happy for Coach (Howarth) and (assistant coach Dino Raso). "They put in a lot of work, and it wasn't just a one-year thing. I think we finally made the MVC teams look at us. There were a few that looked at us and thought we were a good team. I think now everyone is going to look next year, they should definitely be top three in the preseason. I am just glad the seniors, me, (Earl), Jeremy (Maubach) could put a stamp on the program and leave on a high."

Galeski said he will play for the Colorado Rapids reserves (in Major League Soccer) this summer, but will student teach in Mattoon during the fall semester.

Galeski said he hopes to earn his master's in education and wants to coach college soccer after earning his degree.



Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.

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