Fergie time forever
Aidan Ferguson and I first met in the back row of Paul Mihailidis’ Journalism 101 in the fall of 2019. I quickly became aware of two essential identifiers: he hosts a podcast, Fergie’s Football Focus, and is a member of the men’s soccer team. Something about Ferguson’s enthusiasm made me want to keep up with the team, and that decision hasn’t disappointed me.
Since that initial meeting, Ferguson has played three seasons, was named co-captain twice, and led the Lions to their first trip to the New England Men and Women’s Athletic Conference men's soccer championship in 2022.
Ferguson comes from the college town of Berkeley, California, just outside of San Francisco. He started playing soccer at the age of four.
“It was the first sport my parents ever put me in, and I loved it,” Ferguson reminisced.
During his senior year of high school, Ferguson received appealing offers to play at the University of California Santa Cruz and Emerson College. Academic opportunities and the ability to play college soccer highly influenced his commitment decision.
“It was a combination of things,” Ferguson explained. “I knew I definitely wanted to pursue college soccer, and I knew I was interested in sports journalism.”
After touring Emerson and meeting with former head coach Bryan Harkin, he decided both the soccer and journalism programs would be a good match.
“I would have been a literature major or something there,” Ferguson laughed about his academic options at UCSC.
Written and photographed by Kayla Buck
Adapting to college can be an extremely stressful and complicated process for any student, especially when coming from across the country and knowing no one. Ferguson accredited his ease into college to the advantages of coming into a team environment.
“I think for me, being on the team made it easier because, when you join the team, from day one, you have a group of 20/30 friends as opposed to having to go, just be outgoing, and meet all these new people. And that's not really my thing.”
In the 2022 season, Ferguson was joined by a longtime family friend Jorah Delbanco. The duo grew up playing together along with junior Thomas Chuaqui.
“Having him with us and playing with him was one of the coolest things,” says Ferguson about Delbanco. “And it is also cool to have people on the team that know where you're from and when you can talk about stuff back home is really cool.”
The pandemic was unprecedented and tumultuous for millions across the globe. We’ve been learning, working, and socializing from the confines of our homes. These tasks are essential to building a team on and off the field, and the team used the time off the field to build personal relationships.
When COVID suspended in-person classes and Emerson-sponsored activities in March 2020, Harkin hosted weekly Zoom meetings to keep the team in communication, sponsor workouts, and introduce sports psychologist Emily Braunewell to the organization.
Braunewell helped the team work on team building and other off-field things that they could be in control of from a distance, and during a time they couldn’t all be together.
“Obviously, that's (setting goals) not everything because you actually have to go out and perform them,” explained Ferguson, “but I think if you can really help define what your values want to be, it becomes much easier than to execute them.”
Assistant Coach Liam McKersie explained that Ferguson’s leadership in partnership with co-senior captain Bo Feekins during the pandemic years off the field played an immense part in how the two approached and understood the importance of off-field chemistry.
“Because for those 12-plus months where no one could play organized sports, those teams with that drive with players like Fergie and Bo were able to make massive strides while other teams without that stayed in the same spot,” says McKersie. “So I think that is a huge influence on why we've made massive strides last couple of years.”
Within those goals, the rising upperclassmen set to foster an environment that made incoming players feel welcomed and continue to support their fellow teammates.
“He is someone who demands perfection out of everyone, and he's someone who not only demands it but leads by that example,” says Feekins.
Ferguson further explained that the training environment is just as crucial as off-field experiences and communication.
“Having a competitive and training environment where it's very positive and shows that you will (...) have trust and belief in your teammates is huge, and that comes down to a lot of it, the way you communicate with people,” says the two-time captain.
The 2022 season was the most successful for both Ferguson and the team. The senior tallied his first Emerson career goal and was awarded multiple postseason awards; the team had the winningest season in program history and saw great success for numerous individual players.
Members of the team and coaching staff credit the success this season to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved and the advantage of other teams seeing theirs as a joke.
“I think just having a massive chip on our shoulder and knowing that in order to be successful, we have to work super hard and be together,” says Ferguson, “and I think that just led to a team on the field that had this spirit that most other teams we faced against lacked.”
As far as Ferguson’s personal successes, he was named to the NEWMAC all-conference first team and United Coaches Poll all-region second team.
“I'm sure it is rewarding in a fantastic sense of gratification. Especially because of his work ethic. He's put in so many hours and poured his heart out, his emotions out,” says McKersie about Ferguson’s post-season accolades. “I'm sure internally, he's very proud. I think he's also very proud of the team's accomplishments. He's such a team-first player and very humble. So I know, internally, he's gratified to a degree, and he deserves all of them and more”.
Due to the loss of organized sports during the pandemic, NCAA awarded a blanket waiver to all athletes who would have participated in a 2020-21 season and those who wished could take a fifth academic year and redeem a fourth athletic season. For many, an extra year comes in the form of graduate school, either at their current school or through the decision to transfer.
Ferguson committed to Emerson’s 4+1 graduate program to study Strategic Marketing Communication.
“I love Emerson (as a) school, but soccer is by far my favorite part of it, says Ferguson. “Not just for playing but also for the people on the team. Like, those are my closest friends. And having the opportunity to play again next year just excites me so much, and I'm just super motivated to come back and play.”
The team and coaching staff are ecstatic about Fergie’s return because of his ability to lead by example, be a friend and have friends, and motivate guys on the team to work as a team and get better as a team
“It's immeasurable in a very positive way,” says McKersie. “It's huge for us to compete and function, especially in the offseason, at a higher level as possible…it allows us to continue to keep as much continuity in the leadership group as possible, which is essential for us to continue to improve.”
Ferguson’s on-field presence also brings so much to the team and will continue to prove to be an essential part of their success.
“On the field, I think the sky's the limit for him,” says McKersie. “If he keeps taking the steps he has each year, I mean, he's going to be one of the most important players in the country. I know that that sounds lofty, but his work ethic deserves that sort of praise.”