By: Luke van Galen
The end of one chapter is simply the beginning of another.
Rachael Ehrlich chose to leave behind a starting role in the defense of the Cortland women’s soccer team in the middle of her junior season. To the outside person that may sound like somebody bailing on their team, and teammates, but there is always another side to every story.
“I knew that soccer was something that I loved so much and still do love,” Ehrlich said.
Ehrlich started at center back for the women’s soccer team her freshman year in 2022, before redshirting her sophomore year due to a torn acl. She made a strong comeback after her injury for the 2024 season, which saw her return to the starting lineup until she quit the team.
She did not want to leave the team, but felt it was necessary to put herself first, which is a common theme among people who quit.
“It was getting to the point where I felt that my mental and physical health were at risk,” said Ehrlich.
Both Ehrlich and former Cortland women’s lacrosse player Ella Pastore experienced how difficult the decision was, and how big of an impact the support of their teammates had made.
“Thankfully my teammates were the absolute best about it and were very supportive of my decision,” Ehrlich said.
Ehrlich remains close with many people on the team and still lives with them. She realized that leaving the team didn’t mean the end of her friendships with anyone on the team. When she left, all her teammates reached out, asked how she was doing, and completely understood why she made her decision.
Pastore said that she was not the only one from her class to quit the team, and so she knew she was not going through the process alone.
“My teammates were happy for me,” Pastore said. “I felt very supported in my decision.”
Coaching staffs can have very differing reactions to players deciding to quit, with some giving their full support and best wishes, while others handle the decision poorly.
“My head coach was actually very understanding,” Pastore said. “She even said that if you change your mind and decide to come back, we’d be more than happy to have you.”
Having the support of the coach can make the world of a difference to somebody leaving the team. Coaches play a massive part in an athlete’s life in college, as they are the ones who recruit them to college, make decisions about whether they play, and are hugely involved and influential in an athlete’s day-to-day life.
Ehrlich said that her coaches did not take the news of her leaving the team well and treated her poorly during and after the meeting.
“I wish that they had just communicated their feelings with me a little bit more, because I think that the way that they handled it ended up hurting me,” Ehrlich said.
In the case of former men’s soccer player Justin Coleman, his decision to leave the team was made for him, as he was cut from the program at the end of his freshman year and decided to not accept the walk-on tryout that he was offered for the following fall.
“Once I was cut, I was just kind of done, there wasn’t anything left for me in the game,” Coleman said. “I felt like I worked my hardest at it, but there wasn’t anything left for me to do… because at that point I had fallen out of love with the game.”
Coleman’s life after soccer has been productive as he puts it. He’ss business has taken off. He goes by “CutbyJCole” on social media and always has a steady stream of clients coming to his house in Cortland where he does his work. His garage has been transformed into a barber shop, and his services are very in-demand.
He has stayed with the sport, starring on the Cortland club soccer team as their starting forward. He’s also a biomedical major with plans to be a physician’s assistant one day. Leaving the soccer team has provided him with the opportunity to craft a new identity for himself.
“For the first few weeks after it was me trying to find new friends and a new group which was great with club soccer,” Coleman said. “Honestly, I completely substituted it with barbering, so I didn’t miss it that much to be honest. I think it’s important to find something after to keep you busy.”
Finding that new identity can be very difficult for some, as for somebody who is a college athlete, their sport was the main part of their identity growing up.
“Especially going to a school like Cortland where athletics are prioritized heavily, that was a huge part of my image and letting go of that was difficult,” Ehrlich said.
Ehrlich said that she was worried about what others may think about her decision to quit, which added to the difficulty of her decision. Eventually, she realized that most people don’t care, and the benefits of what new opportunities were available far outweighed any negatives.
“I definitely do miss playing a lot and I miss being a part of a team, but not playing has opened up a lot of opportunities for me,” Pastore said. “I had always wanted to study abroad, and after I stopped playing, I actually did end up studying abroad in England.”
Balancing school and sports can also be super challenging for many student-athletes, and for some, there is simply a time when they must choose one or the other. Pastore has been able to thrive in the classroom and take advantage of opportunities that she may not have been able to when she was playing.
“Being an education major, when I think back, there is no way I could’ve been as productive or successful in what I’m doing if I was still playing a sport,” Pastore said.
There is no decision in sports as difficult as the decision to walk away. It can be an incredibly challenging and isolating time. It can be hard to know what the right decision is and so knowing that others have been in the same position before can be comforting and helpful.
“Go with your gut,” Ehrlich said. “Once that feeling sits in your head, it never really leaves. Stepping away is hard, but it opens so many new doors, and it has taught me many lessons that I will carry with me forever.”