Hall of Fame Spotlight: Brendan Flanagan
1/7/2014 11:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
By David Boyce
Whenever Brendan Flanagan comes to Kansas City, he makes sure he carves out time to take a drive through the UMKC campus.
One place he always stops at is the soccer field. A lot has changed with the facility since he donned the blue and gold colors for the Kangaroos from 1993-96.
“My freshman year, they were building the new field on campus so we played at St. Theresa's High School,” Flanagan said. “My sophomore year and the rest, we played at UMKC. After I left, they went to Swope Park for a few years.”
Now, UMKC has one of the top soccer facilities in the WAC Conference. The $9 million Durwood Soccer Stadium and Recreational Field is a facility that those early soccer teams can take pride in.
The teams Flanagan played on during the mid 1990s were part of the building blocks to what now exist for the UMKC soccer program.
He came in with 13 other freshmen and coach Mike Brown in 1993 and by his senior year in 1996, UMKC had its first winning season at 10-7-2 and went undefeated at 5-0-1. They won the Mid-Continent Conference West Division.
“I think there were 14 freshmen on scholarship my freshman year, which was most of our starting lineup,” Flanagan said. “Five of us made it through to our senior year so there was a handful of guys along with our coach, Mike Brown that really stuck with it and put everything together in the program. That made it even more special.”
Flanagan finished his career as the all-time leading scorer at UMKC. He currently ranks fourth all-time in goals scored with 19 and eighth in career points with 43.
The success that Flanagan and the team had during his time earned him a spot in the UMKC Hall of Fame.
The 2013-14 Hall of Fame Class will be honored Friday at the induction ceremony at the Municipal Auditorium Little Theatre. The induction dinner begins at 6 p.m.
Inductees will also be recognized during halftime of the women's and men's basketball games on Saturday. The women play Chicago State at 2 p.m. and the men follow at 5:15 p.m. Both games are at Municipal Auditorium.
Flanagan, who lives in St. Louis, said he will be present for all the festivities.
“I was pretty excited, but I think I got more excited after I told a couple of people,” Flanagan said of his reaction when he learned he was part of the sixth class to be inducted into the UMKC Hall of Fame. “To see the excitement they were showing for me made it that much more special. It is a great honor. I am happy to be inducted.
“It is always great to get back to Kansas City. Every time I do, the first thing I do is drive through the campus. The soccer field is different. They have done a lot to it. It is a beautiful thing. It is great to see.”
In many respects, Flanagan's class was the first to put a stamp on the soccer program that would eventually signal yearly success for those teams that followed.
Since 1996, UMKC soccer program has won conference titles, played in the NCAA Tournament on multiple occasions and won in the NCAA tournament.
“That is actually one thing I take a lot of pride in,” he said. “My freshman year was the first year they really started investing money and time in the soccer program. We weren't very good at the beginning. We got better and laid some of the groundwork for the success they are having now.
“A lot of people came and went, but we got better, we got more talent with good recruiting every year. It was just fun to see something grow from the beginning and be successful.”
Flanagan graduated from UMKC with a degree in communications. He said he has worked in sales almost since the day he left UMKC.
Being a student-athlete has definitely helped him navigate through the real world.
“It looks really good on your resume when you say you committed to a sport for four years of college,” he said. “I had always heard that, but when I first started going through interviews and after a couple jobs, they say, 'you played soccer.' They want to hear more about it. They are impressed that you have that on your resume.
“I work with groups in sales. It helps there. It helped me stay focused. There is a lot to relate to being a student-athlete and the real world.”
In addition, during his time at UMKC, Flanagan made lifetime friends.
“Four other guys I graduated with, I am still friends with to this day,” Flanagan said. “Three of the guys were my roommates. We were all close with Mike Brown. We were focused on seeing the program get better. The school is great. I enjoyed being there. I enjoyed Kansas City so it didn't make any sense to go anywhere else.”
These days, Flanagan remains involved in soccer, although he does not play it. For athletic recreation, he plays golf and softball. Flanagan, though, coaches soccer.
On Friday, he will allow himself to look back and reunite with old friends from his playing days at UMKC.
“It will bring back a lot of great memories,” he said. “I am really looking forward to it.”
