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The speculation that Curt Calov would become a professional-level soccer player began when he was three years old.

Joe Palumbo, the founder of the Joe Palumbo Soccer Academy, approached Calov’s father, Jeff, during a summer camp in Westchester County to tell him that his son had the passion for soccer and speed necessary to potentially become a professional player if he kept playing the game. Jeff laughed it off, politely saying, “We’ll see,” while not entirely denying Palumbo’s prophecy on Calov’s future soccer career.

Three years later, Calov still played for Palumbo’s academy, and he already played at the U-9 level. That’s when Palumbo extended another offer to Calov’s family. He told Calov’s parents about soccer connections his son had in Italy, which Calov was welcome to take advantage of if he ever needed to.

The Joe Palumbo Soccer Academy has a reputation of producing established professional soccer players, and 11 years later, Calov is one step closer to joining a team of talented alumni of the academy.

As a freshman at Syracuse (5-4-1, 1-2 Atlantic Coast), Calov has already etched his way into the starting 11 and is second on the team with five goals. He has recorded four starts and competed at a level that Palumbo knew was possible 14 years earlier.

“Coming into (Syracuse) I knew it would be a very hard challenge to get time and to start,” Calov said. “Working and having to prove myself day in and day out, that was the main goal and the coaches took notice I guess.”

David Donovan first met Calov when he was 10 years old. Donavan’s son was the same age of Calov and played for the Soccer Plus Academy (SPA) based out of New Jersey, which was ranked second in the country at the time. They were set to face another New Jersey powerhouse, Players Development Academy, in a tournament in Pennsylvania and needed a guest player.

SPA chose to bring Calov into its roster, who at the time was training with the New York Red Bulls academy. Calov scored a hat trick, leading SPA to a three-goal win.

“Even at that age he could find the goal,” Donovan said. “At that age he was that competitive and that talented as a player.”

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Four years later, Donovan coached Calov for the first time on the varsity soccer team at the Delbarton School (NJ). Over the years, Donovan saw Calov mature on the field into a creative attacking midfielder, with the skill set of legendary Manchester City midfielder David Silva but even better, he said.

Donovan said Calov was more physical than Silva, and was able to stay strong on the ball due to his low center of gravity. A near unmatched technical ability was what elevated Calov’s game above the rest of his teammates.

“He’s someone who can be real creative on the ball and he’s super technical which is great,” Donovan said. “But the unique thing about him is that he blends that with the physical attributes of a good player. He can kill a ball that’s driven like 30 yards to him on the run, or he can just ping balls around the field.”

Whenever Calov wasn’t on the field with his club team, Jeff would take him to Putnam Valley High School to train together, working on skills that needed improvement from Calov’s previous games. Jeff played for S.C. Eintracht out of Queens in the Cosmopolitan Soccer League, one of the oldest running American soccer leagues. He passed his passion for soccer on to his kid.

The two would train “whenever there was time,” working on the tactical side of the game. But they also practiced defending — although Jeff could never defend Calov.

When the Calovs lived in Putnam Valley, New York, Calov became a full-time player with the Red Bulls, making a near 90-minute commute to and from training sessions four times a week.

“If he excels it’s due to his own doing of always trying to be better on the field,” Jeff said. “To get better you have to play against better competition.”

The Calovs settled in Morristown, New Jersey, prior to his freshman year of high school, which helped him attend the Delbarton School. Calov began playing for the PDA team which at the time participated in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy league.

Almost all DA teams nationwide do not allow their players to play high school soccer due to the rigorous training and game schedules of DA coupled with the decrease in the level of competition in high school. But PDA’s director, Sam Nellins, has a great relationship with the Delbarton soccer program and allowed Calov to play solely on his high school team from August to November.

Calov played three seasons on Delbarton’s varsity team after playing for the freshmen team his first year. He started all three seasons, captained the team his senior year and reached two state championships with Delbarton.

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In Calov’s sophomore season, Delbarton advanced to the New Jersey state championship, winning all 21 of its prior games. The team faced Christian Brothers Academy in the final, but they went down to 10 players after an early red card, ultimately losing 2-1. Donovan said he believed it was one of Calov’s best games at Delbarton, as Calov fought in the midfield harder than he had seen before.

Delbarton named Calov team captain his senior year, and he became a member of a group chat that featured the team’s recent captains, including Brendan McSorley, who captained the team during Calov’s junior season. As Calov approached the state tournament modified due to COVID-19, McSorley told him to treat each game like it was his last. Calov scored five goals in Delbarton’s two-game run to a state title, including a hat trick in the state semifinals.

During his junior year at Delbarton, Calov frequently trained by himself or in small groups on top of PDA’s four-day training schedule and Tuesday strength and conditioning sessions.

After practice, Calov and his teammates would continue to play until the coaches wanted to go home. When he could no longer stay on the field, he sometimes lifted at the school’s gym. Over the past summer, Calov worked a maintenance job at Delbarton’s field. His shift began at 8 a.m., but Calov ensured he was able to fit in an hour-long training session beforehand. He ended his shift at 4 p.m., and afterward he would go straight to his 5 p.m. PDA training session.

“He’s one of the hardest working kids that I’ve coached,” Donovan said. “He’s (usually) on our soccer field practicing by himself.”

During the pandemic, Calov joined a group of local players, many of whom were collegiate or even professional players, including McSorley, Duke’s Peter Stroud and his brother Jared Stroud, who plays for Austin FC in the MLS.

The group trained at the Willow School (NJ), which has a field hidden behind a forest that wasn’t fully blocked off. They would designate a small area of the field for daily scrimmages, which Calov said he believes gave him an early experience with the physicality and fast-paced play of Division I soccer.

“It definitely helped physically knowing what I was going to be up against,” Calov said. “They’d give me the ins and outs of college, playing there, what I’d have to work on and what I’d have to do.”

By the beginning of the pandemic, Calov had already committed to Syracuse. During his visit to SU, he remembered head coach Ian McIntyre asking him “Why do I want you here?” — something Calov said no other college coach had ever asked him.

Calov now does everything he can to prove why McIntyre should continue to want him around and ultimately why he should be in the starting lineup — continuing his longtime habit of being the last player off the field.

One thing he prioritizes after Syracuse’s training sessions is free kicks, always taking two of them before the game. But before Syracuse’s game against Vermont, he missed both kicks.

In the game’s 82nd minute, Noah Singelmann let Calov redeem himself after Calov drew a foul outside the box. Singelmann handed him the ball and offered simple advice: “You’ve got this.”

Just 20 yards away from goal, Calov struck the ball perfectly with the inside of his foot, dipping it over Vermont’s four-man wall and into the goal.

Calov left the Catamounts keeper stunned as he watched the ball sail right under the crossbar, cementing Syracuse’s 5-2 victory. Those plays show Calov’s commitment, McIntyre said.

“I didn’t teach Calov how to hit a free kick like that. That’s natural ability and him practicing,” McIntyre said. “He’s the last guy to leave everyday. We’ve got to drag him off the training fields so we can shut the door and get the balls back, but that’s what makes him special.”

 

Published on September 29, 2021 at 11:58 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu