Fox Chapel senior gets world class soccer education spending season with Riverhounds

What started with a surprise announcement during a Pittsburgh Riverhounds team meeting has turned into a season-long endeavor of valuable lessons for Fox Chapel senior Pablo Linzoain.

Linzoain signed a USL Academy Contract in May and has been training with the first team full time ever since.

Like many academy players, Linzoain had trained with the first team in stints in the past, but he was not aware he’d be getting an academy contract with the first team unit. Hounds coach Bob Lilley gave him the news while addressing the team.

“It was actually (longtime Hounds player) Kenny (Forbes’) birthday either the day before or that day, so when Bob said he had two announcements, I thought it was about Kenny,” Linzoain said. “He said happy birthday to Kenny and then he said we’re signing Pablo to an academy contract. I was very excited because I wasn’t expecting it all. Then after that all the players lined up, and I ran through them while they threw water at me.”

Those water droplets that were sprayed on him were for a celebration, but it could almost symbolize a baptism.

Linzoain admitted he was a little nervous and shy about becoming a member of the first team and being on the field with veteran players, but that subsided once he got settled in.

“Once I hung out with them more and saw their work ethic and at the pro level seeing that I had to be on my game every morning at training, that really showed me what the next level is,” Linzoain said. “In the future years, if I want to pursue the sport, I have some valuable experience.”

Linzoain has made two appearances as a substitute for the Hounds. His debut was against Indy Eleven on June 1, two weeks after he signed the academy contract.

Though he hasn’t seen many appearances, which is to be expected for a 17-year-old, he has been a fixture at training.

Linzoain has enjoyed going up against starters like Edward Kizza, Robbie Mertz and Forbes, while getting instruction from Lilley before he heads to play collegiately at Davidson next year.

“Bob has told me that he’s trying to prepare me for college, so he’s very demanding of me, which I really appreciate,” Linzoain said. “I don’t want to be at this level and be treated as a young guy. Just because I’m a young guy doesn’t mean I can’t compete or perform the same way everyone else does even if they’re professional athletes. I’ve really appreciated the opportunity to be able to train with them and how he gets after me, because he’s trying to make me the best player I can be.”

Linzoain is doing online schooling for his senior year. That allows him to be more available for training. It’s been an adjustment, but a necessary one to make his schedule work.

“After training, I’m usually doing schoolwork for four or five hours,” Linzoain said. “It was a little hard at first to readapt to school and soccer, but now that I’ve gotten into the swing of things, I’ve got the hang of it.”

Linzoain recently made the road trip to Loudoun for the Hounds’ crucial 2-0 victory on Oct. 19, which greatly boosted their playoff positioning. It was the first time he had made a road trip all season and it gave him some more perspective on what life is like as a professional soccer player.

“It was super awesome to experience it,” Linzoain said. “It gave me an opportunity to hang out with the team a lot more and see what it’s like to prepare on the road. Every game I’ve been to has been at Highmark Stadium, so it was different to be training on Friday in a different setting. I appreciated Bob bringing me even though I wasn’t rostered. I really enjoyed it.”