By Lindsey Soet
Most student-athletes leave their sports behind after graduating high school, but that’s not the case for Brett Miller, 20, of Grand Rapids, the starting goalie for the Grand Rapids Community College men’s soccer team.
Miller started his soccer career in kindergarten, explaining, “My parents just wanted me to…try everything,” and it stuck. Although he’s now a goalie, Miller used to split time between goalkeeping and attack when he was younger.
“…I would play striker for half the game and then drop back,” Miller explained.
He quickly became a full-time goalkeeper, however, saying he preferred it because of “The expressions and reactions I would get when I would stop and save (the ball) and see the disappointment on the other guys’ faces.”
In addition to the enjoyment of competition, Miller continues to play soccer because of the mental clarity he gets when playing.
“Everything disappears and, like, it’s you and the ball type thing,” said Miller
Throughout Miller’s 10+ years of experience, he has managed to get goalkeeping down to a science.
“Throughout the game you can determine how the player likes to play,” Miller said. “ …If they’re very aggressive they’re usually going to smack it as hard as they can, but if they’re more of a finesse player…they’re going to try and curl it around you.”
Being named all-conference and all-district twice, all-region, and first team all-state in his high school career, Miller accredits his accomplishments and development to his coaches at Northview High School.
“I had a really good coaching staff that was able to develop me a lot and helped me get to this stage,” Miller said “…My goalkeeping coach got me into all these camps, and I was able to do a lot of development stuff (that was) just goalkeeper specific.”
When it came time to build the inaugural GRCC men’s soccer team, head coach Damiekco Smith was quick to add Miller to the roster, as he was one of the first four signers to join the team.
“It was weird to me that he wasn’t taken already,” Smith said. ”So once I found out, it was a no-brainer for me…He was my first pick as a keeper.”
Beyond his goalkeeping skills, Smith was equally impressed with Miller’s personality as a whole, saying “…He doesn’t take things too seriously, but when it’s time to be serious, he is serious,” adding that, “(He’s) just a good kid you know, just a really good kid.”
As for Miller’s experience so far on the team, he said “It’s great,” explaining the positive, close-knit relationships he has formed with not only the field players, but with GRCC’s other two goalies, Jonathan Garcia and Daniel Beyer.
“We all trust each other enough to where if one of us goes down then the next person in line steps up…,” Miller said, adding “There’s like that confidence in each other, which helps build the confidence with all of us.”
Throughout the season, Miller has only allowed six goals and has saved 34 shots on goal, giving him a save percentage of 85%. Miller believes that his success is only possible because of his team.
“We have a really strong defense, and so I’ve only seen a handful of shots and they’ve all been saveable,” said Miller.
Miller also discussed how he has responded in the rare instances where he has been scored on, saying “…I digest it for a second, I give it like a minute of thought and then it’s gone…By the end of the games I don’t even know what the score is.”
When he isn’t playing soccer, Miller enjoys playing golf, hanging out with his friends, and playing sports in general.
Miller and the rest of the GRCC men’s soccer team will be in action again on Oct. 11 in Livonia, MI to take on Schoolcraft College at 3 p.m.
