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THROWBACK THURSDAY | Jimmy Maurer Starts Career As A Pro With The Silverbacks

The current Cosmos goalkeeper learned and grew as a player from his time with Atlanta
Matthew Levine (@NASLInsider} | Sep 3, 2015

In his third year with the New York Cosmos, Jimmy Maurer has become a key member of the team. Starting as a backup in 2013, the Lawrenceville, Georgia, native has held the Cosmos’ No. 1 goalkeeping spot for almost two full seasons.

For Maurer, the professional journey began closer to home.

A four-year starter at the University of South Carolina, the goalkeeper’s first taste of professional soccer came in the nascent North American Soccer League at Atlanta Silverbacks Park for the home side in a 2-1 loss against the NSC Minnesota Stars in 2011.

The Silverbacks, however, were familiar to Maurer, who had played with the club’s U-23 team in the Premier Developmental League (PDL) in 2008 after his sophomore season of college.

“I got to see what the club was about a little bit,” Maurer told NASL.com about his stint with the PDL side.

“It was great to be able to play my first pro season in Atlanta, where all my family and my wife’s family are and where I grew up and went to high school. It was awesome to be able to start my career in my hometown.” 

While goalkeepers tend to come into their prime later in their careers compared to outfield players, Maurer was thrown into the fire from the start. He noted that there were growing pains over the course of the season.

“One of the toughest things coming out of college – it’s such a big jump,” Maurer said. “Some people talk about the rookie year wall, which guys will hit after three months because their bodies aren’t used to it.

“But it was great having an experienced guy that had played in different countries and played a long time to help work through some of those growing pains in the transition to the professional game.”

The veteran presence was ‘keeper Felipe Quintero, who played for several Mexican clubs, including Querétaro and Irapuato. Quintero helped the former U.S. youth international in several ways, including getting the message across from the Silverbacks’ Mexican-born coach, José Manuel Abundis. The two goalkeepers, however, battled for minutes as they split time in goal that season.

“For me, in life, the situation is a lot about what you make of it,” Maurer said. “It was great having Felipe – he was a guy that played in Mexico – and being able to compete and learn from him. He was an older guy, so he was great for me. He helped me out with a lot of different things, we pushed each other, and he talked to me about the position and being a pro.”

That first season for Maurer and the Silverbacks in the NASL wasn’t an easy one. The club finished with a 4W-4D-20L record. The rookie goalkeeper from Atlanta featured in 18 games, starting 17.

After that season with Atlanta, Maurer headed to South America, where he spent a season with C.D. Universidad de Concepción in Chile. But the lessons learned in the NASL hung with him.

“The grind of being a pro,” Maurer said of what he learned from his season with Atlanta. “Taking every experience for what it is, trying to take the good and the bad and staying positive through it all.

“That first year in Atlanta, we won four games – it was a tough year. I gave up a lot of goals, the team just wasn’t doing well, but it really toughens you up and prepares you for anything. There was a ton of experience packed into that one season that really helped me on going down to Chile.”

Maurer then returned to the United States, linking up with the Cosmos for the start of the club’s reboot season. Maurer spent 2013 as Kyle Reynish’s backup as New York won the title. Now he patrols the Cosmos’ net on a regular basis and holds the NASL Modern Era record for shutouts --19 and counting.

While Maurer is more entrenched in goal, so is the league, now in its fifth season after its return in 2011. The changes, Maurer notes, have been ten-fold.

“Immense changes,” Maurer said. “Every year the league keeps getting better and better, growing more – the level of play, the style of play, the organizations themselves. It’s crazy to think back and think about how times were then.

“It seems like the teams are pulling in more and more talent – there were foreign guys then – but now the foreign guys have played in really big clubs, not just Raúl and Marcos [Senna], but guys who have played for big clubs in Brazil and a high level in Spain and all these different places. It has brought everyone up with it.”

And while it may not have been the easiest of times, Maurer still reflects and remembers his time in his native Atlanta appreciatively.

“I look back on it very fondly, it was my first chance to play professional soccer,” Maurer added. “I’m really glad that the organization gave me that chance.

“It was a great learning experience of dealing with ups and downs – and a lot of downs. One of the toughest things as a goalkeeper is how you play after giving up a goal or keeping yourself going when you aren’t doing well. That year was huge for that.”

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