Lutheran grad, Martin, makes adjustment to college soccer

Former Lutheran High School soccer player Tyler Martin is doing just fine in his new environment at Waynesburg, Penn., University.

He played in all 15 matches for the Yellow Jackets and started in eight. He scored a goal and had two assists. Martin also earned the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week and the school’s Athlete of the Week this fall.

Martin said the adjustment from high school to college soccer was easy.

“I love the game so the hours of practice and training didn’t bother me at all,” Martin said. “It did take a few games to get used to the size of the players and the speed some of them possessed. But, I like to play physically and use my body to my advantage so that helped me fit in with the other players. I found that just like my high school team, I bonded quickly with the other players and we became a little family. This made it easier to be so far from home and not knowing anyone else on campus when I started at Waynesburg.”

The coaches’ expectations were about the same as they were in high school.

“I think the biggest adjustment was being captain and four-year starter on the Lutheran team to being just one of the incoming freshmen on the Waynesburg team,” Martin said. “Nobody knew who I was or what soccer talents I possessed, so I had to work really hard to show them that I belonged as a starter on their team and I was a player they could trust to get the job done.”

That said, there were some surprises in store.

“When I played for Lutheran, I thought we played some pretty physical games. But the college soccer experience was at a whole different level,” Martin said. “The players are bigger, stronger and faster, and they used their strengths to capitalize on any little mistake your team made. Because of this, the pace of the game was really intense.

“At first, the intensity had me worried about whether I could keep up with the pace and whether I could be an asset to my team,” he continued. “But, after the first couple of games, I found this intensity was what I really enjoyed about playing college soccer.”

Martin said his biggest adjustment was balancing the time between playing soccer and studies.

“I quickly realized that my commitment to play college soccer and my team would take up most of my time,” he said. “We would practice every day for two hours, plus time we would spend time reviewing film, meeting with Coach (Treg) Lunger to talk about our play in the last game, lifting weights and running miles and miles.”

The season began Sept. 1 and ended Oct. 26. The fifteen-game season included two games each week and seven away from home.

“Our first game was a four-hour bus trip to Arlington, Virginia,” Martin said. “I was exhausted when we got home. Some of the other away games were in West Virginia and Ohio. When it came to keeping up with my studies, I found that I had to be super organized and on top of my assignments, and this was not one of my strengths.

“I realized I couldn’t put homework assignments or studying for tests off until the last minute,” he added. “First thing I did was to get myself into some study groups, and this really helped keep me on track. Another helpful thing was that Coach Lunger set up a mandatory soccer study hall for all players every Friday afternoon.”

Martin’s first choice of college wasn’t Waynesburg.

“In fact, I had never even heard of it until I attended a college soccer showcase in February 2022,” he said. “Coach approached me, and we had a good talk. He invited me out to visit the Waynesburg campus and spend a weekend playing soccer with the team. Before my plane landed back in Denver, I knew Waynesburg would be a good fit for me—the team, the coaching staff, the campus and the curriculum.”

One factor that pointed him in the direction of Waynesburg was the school’s accelerated 3+2 program, where he could earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in athletic training in just five years. Martin attended Southeast Christian School through middle school before landing at Lutheran High School. He said both schools are smaller Christian schools “where I had a great group of friends that felt like family to me.”

“Waynesburg is a small Christian college with about 1,500 students, and I just had this good feeling while I was on campus,” Martin said. “I knew I wasn’t ready to give up my soccer career just yet, and Coach Lunger gave me the opportunity to play another four years.”

Martin has his eyes set on a future in athletic training.

“Soccer has always been a huge part of my life,” Martin said. “I started playing when I was 4 years old, so I always knew that I would pick some kind of job where I could be involved with sports. I would love to work with a college or maybe even a professional team. I had a pretty bad groin injury in high school, and then I was dealing with a hamstring injury in college. During these injuries, I had the opportunity to work with some great athletic trainers who helped me heal and work through these issues. This is something I know I could be really good at. And if I could help future athletes, it would be the best job ever.”