The Helping Hoya: Rothrock talks about soccer and volunteering
On the soccer pitch, Paul Rothrock is a creator for his teammates and off the pitch, he is working to create a lasting legacy.
Winston Churchill once said, “You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.” Georgetown midfielder Paul Rothrock is very familiar with giving, on and off the pitch. You can actually trace Rothrock’s history with being charitable to before he was born. 30 years ago, Paul’s parents met at L’Arche in Paris, France and fell in love. L’Arche is an organization that’s mission is “to make known the gifts of people with intellectual disabilities, working together toward a more humane society.” The Rothrocks opened an L’Arche community in Spokane and Paul has volunteered at the L’Arche community in Seattle, as well as St. Vincent DePaul food bank where his mother works as a mental health counselor and a cognitive behavior therapist. His biggest lesson learned is how reciprocal volunteering truly is, learning as much from the people he is volunteering to help as they are from him.
His soccer career has been all about helping as well. He was a two-time all-state player in high school for Lakeside School, where he tallied 43 career assists. During his senior season, he joined the Seattle Sounders Academy. “I felt like I couldn’t have done my Sounders’ experience any more perfectly. I felt like I got really lucky,” he said. “When I joined the Sounders Academy, I was also probably one of the lower level players they had taken on. I started on the bench for the first two or three games, then a player showed up late to one of our games and I got a start. From then on, the season started going really well for me. I eventually became captain in the spring, which then led to a couple of USL appearances.” He scored a goal for the-now Tacoma Defiance back in 2017 and the Academy side made a national semifinal. Rothrock has also been called into the US U-18 camp in the past few seasons.
And a big congratulations to Paul Rothrock on his first professional goal tonight! He also scored last night for the U-18s! đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/VkkBwVcBEC
— Tacoma Defiance (@TACdefiance) July 9, 2017
When asked about potentially representing the Sounders first team in the future, Rothrock said that it would be a dream come true, for him and his dad especially, and that it would be cool to see himself on FIFA.
Currently, the junior midfielder is plying his trade for the undefeated Georgetown Hoyas after transferring from Notre Dame. He lists the reasons for selecting Georgetown as the proximity to his family, a dynamic urban environment, top-level education, and a great soccer program. “The last element was an environment where I felt like I was fully exposing myself to a diverse range of people and ideas,” he said.
Rothrock has one goal and six assists during the Hoyas’ 6-0 start to this season. “A number of people have said this, but it’s the deepest team I’ve played with. I think Coach Wiese could put out 20 different lineups and no one could really question it because the level of talent is so high,” Rothrock explained. “I also think we have a lot of fun playing together and that really shows on the field. It’s a fairly free style (of play). On the great start, he said, “it’s exciting but we still have a lot of work to do.”
No. 3 Georgetown Blanks Butler 3-0 https://t.co/SSUZt51c6U
— Georgetown Men’s Soccer (@GUHoyasMSoccer) September 21, 2019
Ranked in the top five, Georgetown will look to win again when they face Louisville tomorrow in Kentucky. Like his favorite Seattle athlete Ichiro, you always know what Paul Rothrock will bring to the table: a helping hand, or foot.
