Ryan "HRA Golden Boy" Rich tells the world all

Recently, senior writer Daniel Satterfield sat down with senior forward Ryan Rich of the men's soccer team. Rich tops the Princeton record book in assists and is one of seven players on the men's soccer team who can remember the 2001-2002 season when the Tigers won the Ivy League title.

Daily Princetonian: Where are you from?

Ryan Rich: Yorktown, Virginia.

DP: Do you have any siblings?

RR: I have two sisters. I have a twin who goes to Radford, and I have an older sister who lives in Boston.

DP: Did either of them play soccer?

RR: My sister did in high school.

DP: Where'd you go to school?

RR: Hampton Roads Academy.

DP: What kinds of things did you do in high school?

RR: I was pretty active. Basketball, track, lacrosse. All year round I did a sport, and that's including club soccer. I was the soccer kid. That was my identity.

DP: Did you have a nickname?

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RR: In high school, I was nicknamed HRA Golden Boy. A local paper nicknamed me that cause I dyed my hair blonde one game and it kind of stuck.

DP: How did you get started in soccer?

RR: I started playing when I was three or four, just kicking the ball around. I was maybe six when I started playing in a rec league. I started playing [on] like a real club team stuff when I was 12 or 13. I played ODP.

DP: What's ODP?

RR: Olympic Development Program. You start playing when you're 13 years old. And you play until you're about 19. My ODP team had people from all over the state.

My state team was actually really good. We won Regionals the last four years. We didn't lose a game the last four years. We went to the national championship. The winners of all four teams met in Las Vegas and we got fourth. It was a good experience. A lot of kids who were in that tournament went to really good schools.

DP: What schools were you thinking about for college?

RR: It was between Princeton, Virginia and UNC.

DP: What attracted you to Princeton?

RR: It was kind of hard to turn down the academics. Virginia's a great school but it was too close to home. And UNC, I didn't like the coach.

DP: Has it lived up to your expectations?

RR: I think I made the right choice to come here. If I had to do it all over again I'd do the same thing.

DP: What was it like playing soccer freshman year?

RR: It was overwhelming. It was definitely nerve racking. You don't know your place on the team. I think freshman year was a great experience, soccer-wise, because we had a great team. I got kind of spoiled because our freshman team was so good. We had some really committed players.

DP: What's after college?

RR: I'd like to go into orthopedic surgery. I'd like to involve sports. A sports doctor for a team. I'm still kind of deciding. Med school is a long haul. I guess I'm going to take a year off and go traveling this summer in Europe, go backpacking in Europe.

DP: How is the team this year?

RR: We've been trying to get back to that level [of freshman year]. I think this year, we can get to that level again. We expect to get to the NCAA tournament. Everyone believes that we should. Akron was a little setback. But everyone still believes in getting more focused and more committed.

DP: You had your first two games against Loyola and Akron. You beat Loyola but lost to Akron. What happened?

RR: Our first game against Loyola, we had good signs. We were organized and we competed hard. The Akron game, we got smashed like 6-0. That was a big wake up call. We thought we were better than we really were. It really kind of showed us how we were a team off the field, but when we got on the field we played in our own little worlds. For the other seniors it's important for us to show the competitiveness each practice, to kind of bring the team together. [Senior captain] Teddy [van Beuren] has done a really good job this year. Unfortunately he's out, but he's a good leader. I think we have a lot of potential.

DP: How do you like playing for Coach Barlow?

RR: I think Barlow is good; he's really down to earth. He's more receptive to stuff. He really cares about each and every player. I think this year, he's making a big step and trying to make the program more serious. He's going to make a reserve team that doesn't practice every day. He's going to take the top 18 players and train with them every day and get them to prepare responsibly. I think he's making a serious step to making the program a lot better and making it more competitive.

DP: How has that affected the team?

RR: His attitude towards this year has definitely hit close to home. I think a lot of people weren't as serious about soccer. They were just coasting through. It was a big wake up call. You can kind of tell a difference in the team from last year. The returning players, this year, are a lot more competitive. Everybody knows that his spot's on the line. You can kind of feel the competitiveness.

DP: Do you think the team will be better for it?

RR: It's definitely a step in the right direction. Even though it's kind of a harsh thing to do. If you think about it, if you go to any big time schools, people are intense there. What Barlow has done is brought that intensity to Princeton. We need that obviously to compete.

DP: What's your favorite aspect of playing for Princeton?

RR: Being able to come out and play with the guys on the team is the best part of playing. Even after having a stressful day, knowing that you can just forget what you are worried about for 2 hours of practice and play soccer with your friends is great.

DP: Have you had a favorite moment?

RR: I think playing Indiana my freshmen year was my favorite moment. We tied them 1-1, but they were ranked in the top 5 in the nation, and I remember the team playing really well and actually outplaying them for most of the match. It was a great atmosphere to play in.

DP: Is there a certain time that Coach Barlow or another player or anyone you respected said something to you that had an influence on you?

RR: I remember Micheal Jordan saying once that he goes out every night determined to play his best because there is someone in the crowd that has never seen him play before, and he wanted to show them he was the best there is. Although Jordan is better at his sport than I'll ever be at mine, I think it's a good mentality to have going into any competition.