Hit with an Achilles injury midway through his sophomore season that held him out for a month and a half, Bryan Suertegaray just didn’t know how his next two years would pan out. The injury had left a long-term mental mark on his mind and his self-confidence that he was sure would get in the way between him and a healthy career.
That injury would continue to nag him psychologically — “My whole senior year I was very worried about getting injured. It was tough.” But it wouldn’t keep the young Uruguayan native, a psychology major at Hunter College, away from the soccer field and a highly competitive level of play. Suertegaray became captain for those two straight seasons following his injury, leading the Hawks to a CUNY Finals title run during his final season.
And now as he plans to graduate this spring, Bryan looks back on his two seasons as captain, happy to have left his legacy.
Being a captain and leader on and off the field requires a certain set of standards and skills. But what Bryan brings individually as a captain and competitor is excellent anticipation, an energized drive and hustling attitude, great positioning and movement in the box, and a powerful vocal command to communicate with his teammates.
“He plays with a passion — he’s very, very fierce,” said Head Coach John Sanchez. “Other players follow his tempo, and that’s the great thing about Bryan.”
Soccer has been a part of Suertegaray’s life since he was a little boy in Uruguay. “My father played soccer when he was little, a few of my uncles played professionally back in Uruguay where I lived, my mom is like a crazy fanatic. Basically, since I was 3 years old, I’ve been kicking a soccer ball.”
He lived in Uruguay up until the age of 7, moving to Port Chester, N.Y., where he has lived for most of his life. Throughout his soccer career he has primarily played defense, and has always aspired to be like the great, iconic defenders of his home country Uruguay, such as Diego Lugano and the Atletico Madrid star Diego Godin, “gritty center back position guys” as Suertegaray puts it.
The captain generally has a high level of skill and talent in his position. But Suertegaray sees his strength as more heart and grit – like his idols – than technical ball handling skills.
“You have to go hard for every ball,” he says. “You have to put your body on the line constantly; tackling, putting your body in front of a flying ball. No sane person does this. You need to be a little crazy to do it.”
But Suertegaray also scored eight goals and had two assists his junior season, a huge achievement for a defender. “Individually, that was my best year I would say that I had in my soccer career.”
Although his senior year was not as lavish with goals, scoring only three along with having two assists, Suertegaray is leaving a void on the team.
“It’s a huge loss, especially the way he plays the game in the back, the way he reads the game, his understanding of the game, his leadership in the back that keeps our defense in check,” said Sanchez. “It’s going to be tough to replace him.”
Being a leader also had its challenges, particularly off the field team chemistry and
camaraderie, which wasn’t always easy to manage for Suertegaray. He had to weather some conflicts with the seniors his junior year, some of whom likely coveted the captain position. There were some fights, he said, and some conflict over who had the last word on the field.
“But at the end of the day we are all on the same team,” he said. “Everyone is a leader in their own way, I’m just the one with the captain band.”
Michael Merlo, a sophomore and fellow defender, reflected on his two seasons with Bryan with a great sense of respect and admiration. “Bryan brought a lot to the team,” said Merlo. But he didn’t do it in a quiet way, Merlo added. “He was very emotional when it came to the game. If we were doing bad, he’d yell and scream and pressure you to do better. There was no joking around at practice either, he’d make sure of that.”
As for the future, Suertegaray can’t quite leave Hunter behind, at least not yet. Come the first full month of summer vacation in June, Bryan is going to continue working and volunteering at the hospitals he has been volunteering at which include New York Presbyterian and the Hospital for Special Surgeries. However, alongside his volunteer work, Suertegaray will be preparing to take on a new challenge in his soccer career; Bryan is going to be an assistant coach for the men’s soccer team at Hunter for the upcoming season next Fall.
Currently, Suertegaray is working at a Physical Therapy Aide in Chelsea for a company called Professional PT. But for Suertegaray, the ultimate next step is to pursue his medical career as a Physician Assistant.
Bryan’s commitment to both his PT volunteer work and assistant coaching of the soccer team this summer, can be also seen through the hard work he puts into training and staying in shape, hitting the gym at least 5 times a week and also playing recreationally in the men’s leagues he’s a part of on Sundays.
“I’m going to keep playing, you know,” he said. “I’m always going to keep playing until I can’t walk anymore.”