BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – On Friday night, Logan Pause will close out his 12-year professional career with his 337th and final match for the Chicago Fire Soccer Club.
As Chicago-Fire.com contacted folks that meant a lot to Logan following his retirement announcement last month, we asked for memorable stories throughout his career. While we hit hard on memories that were Fire-related, Pause’s college coach at the University of North Carolina, Elmar Bolowich (pictured above), told us that his career nearly halted before it even started.
Now the head coach at Creighton University after a successful 22 seasons at UNC, Bolowich recalled his first memories of Logan serving as a ball boy for the Tar Heels Men’s Soccer Team. Soon after, Bolowich would play an integral part in the future Fire star’s career when he began coaching 14-year-old Pause with club team Carolina United.
“Right away I recognized the talent and what he could bring to the table in the college game and started recruiting him to UNC,” Bolowich said.
Over time, balancing his year-round soccer schedule at club, high school and the Olympic Development Program with his academics and social life had taken a heavy toll on Pause.
During a training session in the spring of 1999, it all came to a head.
“One day he came up to me in practice and said, ‘Coach I think I’m burned out. I don’t like it anymore. I think I’m going to hang up soccer and focus on my school.’”
“I was totally stunned. At that time he hadn’t committed to North Carolina yet but I though this guy with that potential, who’s a team player and loves the game -- to hang it up now, there’s something wrong.”
“Balancing those things had been my whole life,” Pause recalled Thursday. “I think as a 17-year-old kid, the pressure of performing on the field, off the field, in the class room, socially I felt like I was burned out. It had been my entire life – not just a piece of it but my entire life up to that point.”
With Bolowich admittedly trying to bring Pause to UNC, he could have pushed off the comment or pressured him into a decision. Instead, the mentor revealed his character and did the exact opposite.
“I told him, ‘Take time off. You take as much time as you need. You can take a few days, a few weeks – you can take the whole season off if you want to. Just sit down, relax, reflect, talk to your parents and whenever you feel okay to come back then you’re always welcome.
For the purposes of this story, it's somewhat anticlimatic but less than 24 hours later, Pause was back on the field.
“I have a big smile on my face as I recall that moment,” Pause said. “I knew subconsciously that he cared about me but when you have a coach like that meet you in the middle, meet you right where you need him to and give you the time you need to process your decision, it meant a lot. I knew I was always welcome, I could confidently say as soon as he said that I could have easily said right back that I didn’t want to quit.”
“Having the outlook of not being able to play soccer I think it sort of woke up him up a little bit and he dedicated himself entirely,” Bolowich said.
Pause went on to win the NCAA College Cup with the Bolowich and the Tar Heels in 2001 – the middle of his three seasons at UNC. He forewent his senior year and was selected by the Fire in the third round of the 2003 MLS SuperDraft, the start of a 12-year professional career that will culminate Friday night.
“Logan is a coach’s dream – that’s who you want on your team,” Bolowich continued. “He’s a total team player, he cares about others, he cares about you and he’s there when you need him.”
“I’m fortunate to call him my friend,” he continued. “We stay in contact regularly. I’m sure I’m going to see him at some event. I want to retain that friendship because in essence that’s what it’s about.
“I was a part of his path and I’m very proud of that. I’m very proud of him and I wish him nothing but the best.”
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