Chris Wingert is a native of Babylon, NY and played his LIJSL travel soccer as a member of the Commack Soccer Club. He went on to star at St. John the Baptist HS, and then at St. John’s University where he won the 2003 Hermann Trophy as the best collegiate soccer player in the nation. He was the 12th player selected in the 2004 MLS draft, and is now in his 7th season in the league, winning the MLS Cup as a member of Real Salt Lake in 2009.

Chris will be checking in weekly with LIJSoccer.com to update us on his MLS season and RSL’s play in Champions League games.

For two years it had been business as usual. MLS teams came into Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, UT looking for a win only to come away in defeat, or at best, with a tie. Then came Saturday night. Real Salt Lake lost a 2-1 decision to the Seattle Sounders at home, and Chris Wingert, for one, wasn’t happy about it.

“That was a bad loss,” said the RSL defender and Babylon, NY native. “We played just okay in the first half, but then we were all over them in the second half. We had our chances, but we hit a post, and their goalie Kasey Keller made some great saves.”

But then came a turning point, a red card to one of RSL’s top defenders, Jamison Olave.

“The red card was a tough call and it put us a man down for most of the second half,” said Wingert. “We went down 2-0 after that, but then we got a goal from one of our substitute players and had the ball in the box at the end.

“It was tough. That was our first MLS loss at home in over two years,” Wingert said. “It’s disappointing not to get a result at home for us. We thought we were the better team, but that questionable red card hurt us.”

So what is the cure? Where does the RSL squad go from here?

“We have to move on,” he explained. “We’ve hit a rough patch here where we’ve really struggled to score. We’re still okay. We can get back on track, but it will be tough because we are missing four or five guys right now – three have commitments with the US National Team, and two others are injured. Still, we’re capable of turning this around. We’re still okay points-wise at 5-2-2, but we need to get back to possessing the ball and creating scoring chances.”

That opportunity could come this Saturday when the team travels to Vancouver. That organization just fired their coach after a rough start to the season. Wingert warns against a letdown though. Sometimes those kinds of teams are the most dangerous, with players trying to prove themselves to the organization and the new leadership on the field. Wingert feels the best way to approach this game is for RSL to just worry about themselves and come out with the right attitude.

“We just have to go in there and take it to them.”

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With the league season and the Cup competitions coming to a close in the next few weeks, we thought it would be good to ask Wingert about what he did to help his game in the summer “offseason” when he was growing up on Long Island. His answer was a combination of fun and hard work.

“From the time I was about 12 years old, there was no shutting it down, that’s for sure, “ Wingert said. “I played on the Regional ODP team where we played a week, then had a week off. In that down time, I would try to get to the beach as often as I possibly could. Growing up on Long Island, I loved being near the water, either at the beach, in a pool, or on somebody’s boat. I still try to do that when I get home.”

His soccer advice is interesting as well. He talks about playing as much soccer as you can, but maybe in a different environment than the one you play in all year.

“I think if you love soccer, you want to try and get into as many good soccer environments as you can in the summer without burning yourself out,” he explained. “So many kids get tired of the game because they are constantly with the same kids, the same coach, year round. I would try to play with the older kids in the summer. They tend to be tougher, and they provide better competition, which forces you to push yourself. That’s how you get better.

“The other thing I think kids should be doing in the summer is playing unorganized soccer,” he continued. “The biggest improvement come with individual work, and a great way to do that in game situations is to play in pickup games, just unorganized play where you can try different things and challenge yourself without worrying about the result of the game. That’s what other kids are doing around the world. That’s why other countries have so much success in our game. They just go out and play every day. They don’t wait for the coach to call a practice.”

The important thing is for each player to find what works for them.

“It’s a balance,” Wingert said finally. “And that balance is different for everyone. Whatever you find works for you and makes you happy is what you should do. Some people can’t get enough. Some people need to get away from it and re-charge. Both are okay. I used to play other sports in my downtime, and that’s okay too. Find what works for you and run with it.”