Fresh out of college, Eric Conerty comes to Madison eager to begin the next chapter of his playing career. After growing up in Michigan, Conerty decided to attend Butler University to start his collegiate playing career.
“I didn’t like it that much,” Conerty stated when discussing his experience at Butler. “Being away from all my friends in Michigan just felt kind of weird. On top of that, the team wasn’t really a great fit for me.”
After his first semester at Butler, Conerty decided it was time to find a school that was a better fit. After two of his older brothers had attended Western Michigan University, Conerty looked to feel a sense of comfort at a school he was familiar with.
“I wanted to go somewhere that was comfortable. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten better with uncomfortable situations, but when I was younger, I really liked the familiar feeling because that’s when I was able to play my best.”
After transferring, Conerty’s goal was to prove himself to earn the team and manager’s trust to become a valued leader on and off the pitch. He loved the team and wanted to make a positive impact.
“It was kind of like this uphill battle the whole time trying to figure out what I could do to become a captain. Eventually, once that was rewarded, it felt really nice. Because two of my older brothers played there and I’ve known the coach a long time, it was a pretty prideful moment.”
Earning the captain title was just the start of a very successful final year at Western Michigan for Conerty. After leading his team to win the Mid-American Conference tournament, he then helped them to the third round of the NCAA tournament.
“My family was at that game,” Conerty mentioned when discussing the MAC championship. “Being able to do what we did, with the captain’s armband on, in front of my family, was a very cool experience.”
Soon after that fall season, Conerty graduated to begin his career in Madison. While he is very excited to be here playing in USL League One, Conerty had once thought that college soccer would conclude his soccer career.
“At the start of my college career, I wanted to play pro for sure. It then progressed and college soccer was taking its toll on my legs, my body, and my mind. I thought, ‘maybe playing pro isn’t for me, maybe it’s time to hang the boots up.’ Then we got into that final season and it felt like I needed to keep going, it just felt right to top it off with playing pro. So, I regrouped and said to myself ‘if I’m going to do this, I gotta go all out and see if I can get it done,’ and it’s been great so far.”
Although there may have been doubts for Conerty in the past, he has loved the opportunity of playing at this level of soccer so far. The support from the community is something that has made this experience even better for him.
“I go downtown to get food and I see people wearing Forward Madison jerseys. I just stand there and I’m like, ‘wow, I play for them.’ I don’t think I could have picked a better city to play in, the support is unreal.”
As for the rest of the season, Conerty and the team are all on the same page about their goal.
“As one of the younger guys, one of my goals is to just keep breaking into the team, making an impact on and off the field, as well as having conversations with the older guys and just getting more comfortable. I’m bought in. I think that this team could very well win the USL League One regular season and the championship. I think that the goal this year is to get there but like I said, it’s a long season so I’m just focused on the next training and then the next game, one day at a time.”
