Success at a professional level, and any postseason accolades that follow, is usually a continuous building process spanning many years.
For Utah Freezz forward Justin Labrum, who was named the World Indoor Soccer League Rookie of the Year on Wednesday, he's taken a slightly more unconventional path to success -- absence.After a stellar prep career at Brighton High ended in 1993, Labrum tried out for a Las Vegas professional team, but turned down the ensuing contract offer because he wanted to serve an LDS mission. After two years in Venezuela, a country that surprisingly isn't passionate about soccer, Labrum returned home and within eight days he was enrolled at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne and playing college soccer.
"It was a little different than I expected," said Labrum. "It was the first time I'd played outside of Utah and it opened my eyes to national soccer, and showed that Utah can play at the national level."
For as much as Labrum loved the soccer experience in the small Indiana town, it wasn't enough to help him forget about home, so he returned after his freshman year. In a sense, he hung up his cleats. Labrum became just a regular guy. He soothed his soccer passion with pick-up games here and there, or playing club soccer whether outdoors or indoors.
Then last spring it was announced that professional indoor soccer was coming to Utah, and Labrum knew this was his chance. He'd given up pro soccer to go on a mission, and three years later he'd given up college soccer because of homesickness, but this time nothing would deter him. Twenty goals and nine assists later, and it's safe to say that Labrum has found a nice home with the Utah Freezz in the WISL, and there's nothing like a little hardware to reassure someone of that.
"It means a lot because it gives me confidence in myself and tells me I can play with anybody," said Labrum.
Utah will need all the confidence and heroics it can get this Friday from Labrum and everyone else when it travels to Sacramento for a WISL semifinal. The Knights have won 12 straight games and haven't lost at home this year.
Labrum was the only player in the rookie-of-the-year balloting, which is determined by the coaches, to receive two first-place votes. Shane Jones and Brian Alba, two of Labrum's Freezz teammates, also received votes.
"The odds were in our favor to get a rookie of the year because of the number of rookies we had," joked Freezz coach Dave Poggi. "But that doesn't take anything away from Justin, because he's very worthy."
Labrum has the ideal body type for indoor soccer according to Poggi. He gets his shot off quickly and he turns well with the ball, a rare combination that becomes difficult for defenders to contain.