POWERHOUSE DEFENDER: Chad Vandegriffe

It takes a certain mindset to be a successful defender in any sport.

You might want to double or triple that when you want to cover the top goal-scorer of an opposing team in indoor soccer.

Case in point:

Kansas City Comets defender Chad Vandegriffe, who has forged a reputation as one of the leading backline players in the Major Arena Soccer League.

Through the years, he has covered the MASL's best, whether it has been Frank Tayou, Tavoy Morgan, Ian Bennett and a host of other lethal goal-scorers over the years.

"I like the challenge of guarding a team’s best scorer and trying to shut them down," he said. "I know if I’m able to keep them off the scoreboard or have a big impact that plays a major part in my team’s success and the outcome of the game."

Defending certainly isn't for everyone.

Vandegriffe realizes you can play a perfect or near perfect game, have a second of a lapse and your man scores the winning goal.

"I take a lot of pride in my defending," the 35-year-old defender said. "I really do think that defense wins championships. Defense can be hard because you can play such a great, solid game and make one or two mistakes. Those are kind of what people remember about a defender. Whereas offense, you can shoot 50 times and score a goal or two or not play so well and score two goals and people like, 'Oh, he did great.' "

In an indoor soccer career that has spanned 12 seasons, Vandegriffe done great, whether it was being a member of the 2018-19 Milwaukee Wave championship team, being named MASL Defender of the Year, or being selected to an All-Star team. Last month, he competed at the MASL All-Star Game in Utica, N.Y.

"Defending, you might not get all the glory, but I feel that your teammates recognize it, especially your home fans," Vandegriffe said. "In the long run, people really understand how important it is. Indoor is crazy, because it can always be multiple people who could have had a play in that to make the outcome different. But I tried to always look at what I could have done. How could I have avoided that, even if it wasn't solely my fault.”

It's about being prepared and knowing which players the 6-1, 182-lb. Vandegriffe will cover.

"There's so many different style targets [players]," he said. "You want to be consistent so your coaches can rely on you. I think consistency is just a huge part of the game,

"You get to know their tendencies, which really helps you. That's not just you know what foot they are. It's what certain moves they have. Do they like contact? Or are they going to turn and take you on? Obviously, there's a lot of great ones. You'll still get caught on a few of those, but at least you're aware, and you can then minimize your mistakes."

In contrast to forwards and midfielders, it is difficult to define defenders by individual statistics. There are no stats on times when a forward is held below his average number of goals, assists or points.

One thing is certain about Vandegriffe. He leads the league in blocked shot (62), eclipsing his career-high of 61 from last year. He has blocked 363 shots since starting his MASL career, second only to the Empire Strykers’ Robert Palmer (383).

No one needs to remind Vandegriffe that he is living a dream. He wanted to play professional soccer since he was five. While many of us might dream that, not many can live that.

Born and raised in St. Louis, one of the soccer capitals in the United States, Vandegriffe played for the famed Scott Gallagher Youth Club before graduating from Chaminade College Preparatory School in Creve Coeur, Mo. He played two years at Southern Methodist University before transferring back to his hometown to compete for St. Louis University.

When he graduated in 2011, there was no professional soccer in St. Louis. The second incarnation of the St. Louis Steamers played their last Major Indoor Soccer League season in 2005-06.

Vandegriffe, who worked as a sales representative, attended several combines, including Major League Soccer and the USL.

"Things didn't work out as planned," he said, refusing to give up. "When the outdoor season starts, you're like, 'Okay, I just have to stay fit, stay ready and maybe give it a try next year.' Soccer's still my dream."

In 2013, the St. Louis Ambush was born. He went to an open trial with the team, which competed in the MISL at the time. Vandegriffe was so impressive that he was offered a contract the second day.

"My dreams, I never lost sight of them, but for a moment, it could have things could have changed," he said. "I was working a regular job. I was about almost a year removed from playing the game. Then from there on, it was incredible."

Indeed, it has been.

Vandegriffe was named to the all-rookie team in 2013-14 (the Ambush joined the MASL next season). He has been chosen to the MASL Elite Six first team in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and to the third team in 2021 and 2023-24. He was selected the 2021-22 defender of the year with the Florida Tropics. After the Tropics folded, he signed with the Comets in 2023.

Outside the league, he was a member of the U.S. team that captured the 2023 EMF Nations Games Championship in Slovakia and also 2023 World Mini Football World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. He scored his first international goal in a 2-2 draw with Spain.

Playing with Milwaukee in 2018-19, Vandegriffe won his first and only MASL title.

"It was such a big deal," he said. "Our team was so strong. We were so in sync. Baltimore knocking us out for a couple years leading up to that, that hurt every time we thought we could get there. The ownership there was able to keep that same squad, and we just grew stronger and stronger. Also, just the experience of being in those big games and how important the details are, we were finally able to crack through. To win that in Milwaukee, there were around 10,000 fans there, that was incredible."

He would love to add a second championship to his personal collection with the Comets. Kansas City came close last season, falling to the Chihuahua Savage in the final series.

Entering this weekend's action, the Comets (13-4-2, 41 points) are in third place, training the league-leading Savage (17-4-0, 49) by eight points. They have two games in hand. The top eight teams will reach the postseason.

"We started out so great," he said. "Lately, we're a little banged up. Luckily, nothing too serious. We put ourselves in a great spot. We still have that taste in our mouth from last year. Right now, we're just focused on being healthy and getting healthy. We believe we can beat anybody. We beat Chihuahua, we lost to Chihuahua. We beat San Diego. We've lost to them. Our main focus is getting healthy and then peaking at the right time.

"It does no good to go undefeated and not go through adversity and then lose in the first round. Coming off a couple losses here, it's not the end of the season. Our main goal is, is to get into that championship and hopefully win. These last five games, we want to start hitting our stride. Last year we did that. We started out slowly. But if you're peaking, playing some good soccer, and you're healthy, that's a good sign for a team."

Regardless of how the Comets fare, Vandegriffe plans to participate in The Soccer Tournament, the $1 million winner-take-all 7v7 tournament in Cary, N.C. from June 4-7. He hasn't selected a team just yet.

He played with Sneaky Fox FC in 2023 and Tranqui10 FC last year.

"The last two years have been awesome," he said. "I've been also meeting a lot of players that have had such great careers in tons of different leagues all over the world, plus, seeing all our MASL guys on all different teams really doing well at it. It's a really great time, competitive, and I'll be there for this third year yet. I haven't made my final decision on my team, but that's probably coming really soon."

Vandegriffe admitted that he has a love-hate relationship with indoor soccer.

"As much as bounces or the things that could go wrong and the game could change on a snap of finger, I kind of like that," he said. "It shows you have to be completely locked in for every second. You have to be very strong minded, whether that's calls or goals going in that were deflections or off the boards. You can't let that derail you in a game. You have to be very strong to stay on task.

"As much as I hate that stuff, but that's what I love the most about it. I know that this game takes a lot for a person to get to that point. So, I respect a lot of the guys that have done that. You'll see some ex-outdoor players or new players come in, and very rarely do they make an impact. It takes a few years to catch on. Once you catch on, the more there is to know.

"There's so many details and mistakes that will happen. It's just how you can minimize those mistakes individually and as a team, because mistakes will happen. The best teams, once those mistakes happen, they continue to go back to what they do best."

For Vandegriffe, that's defending.

And we have some bad news for opposing forwards, at the age of 35, he has no thoughts of retiring.

"I still haven't lost the love or passion for the game," he said. "I know some people retire because [of that]. ... I haven't even lost that fire, that desire. So, I'm thankful that I've been playing this long and I'm just trying to take care of my body, so I keep it going as long as I can.

"Trying to stay healthy, don't have major injuries, and also being still being able to help your team."

Which is what Chad Vandegriffe is still achieving at a high level after all these years.

Michael Lewis can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky at@ Soccerwriter.