Army West Point Athletics
Feature Friday: The Family Business
October 28, 2016 | General, Men's Soccer
Feature Friday highlights the tremendous personal stories our coaches and cadet-athletes have to share on a weekly basis. Each Friday, a new feature story will be prominently highlighted on GoArmyWestPoint.com. The features will include multi-media pieces, as well as written stories by media outlets and the Army West Point athletic communications staff.
"That was an incredible feeling. Coming here as a freshman and playing in a big game and scoring a goal is really hard to describe. It was a great moment."
Tyler Mitchiner not only scored a goal in the first match of his college career, but he did so against service academy rival Air Force during a 3-1 victory by the Black Knights on Aug. 26 at Clinton Field.
Mitchiner's goal was Army's third of the game, and second in a 1:04 period, and all but sealed the season-opening victory over Air Force. More than 600 fans in attendance watched as Mitchiner found the back of the net off a failed clearing attempt and raced to the sideline, where he was embraced by his teammates.
Watching the live video stream of the action was Tyler's father, Sean, who couldn't have been more proud of his son's debut.
"I saw Tyler in his first game as a plebe do something that I didn't do in four years of my career, and that's score against Air Force. That was unbelievable, you talk about a proud papa moment. I couldn't do that in four years and he did it in his first game as a freshman!"
Sean was a four-year member of the men's soccer program at West Point in the mid-1980s. As a forward, he earned all-conference and regional All-America honors and became Army's leader for points and goals during the 1980s. He continues to rank second for career goals in Academy history after scoring 37 times over his four years.
He finished his career by netting the game winner in a 1-0 victory over Navy in the fall of 1987 and graduated the following spring to begin a 12-year career in the United States Army.
Sean remembers the excitement of scoring his final goal versus Navy and describes a scene closely resembling the moment that Tyler scored against Air Force.
"The first and foremost memory was my final game, which was scoring the winning goal against Navy as a firstie and winning the game 1-0," Sean said. "That's the way to go out. I scored the goal with about five minutes to go in the game and the whole team dogpiled on me."
Sean spent 12 years in the Army before finishing out his military career back at West Point to work as a boxing instructor in the Department of Physical Education.
While living in Clearwater, Fla., Sean and the rest of the Mitchiner family weren't able to experience Tyler's goal against Air Force in a person, but Sean did make it up to watch Army's 1-0 defeat of Navy in the fifth installment of the Army-Navy Cup in Chester, Pa., in late September. He also made the trip to West Point for Parents Weekend to watch Tyler and the Black Knights play to a tough 2-2 draw against Loyola on a rainy evening on Oct. 22.
Sean knew Tyler had potential from an early age after watching him as a 6-year-old.
"I remember Tyler playing soccer and running around the field with his hair way too long, he definitely needed a haircut," Sean said. "He was scoring a lot of goals and I realized this kid's got some unbelievable potential."
That early potential led to Tyler excelling at the sport in the years to come, and eventually turned into a real opportunity to play collegiately. He joined the Chargers Soccer Club of the United States Soccer Development Academy in order to pursue the idea of playing soccer at the next level.
"Once you get into that program, you believe you have the ability to play at the collegiate level, whether it's Division 3, 2 or 1," Sean said. "He went to these showcases and he started to attract attention from coaches and that's when I realized he really had a chance to parlay this into something he can do beyond his high school days."
Playing in the United States Soccer Development Academy was vital to Tyler's path to college soccer. He was able to play with a team that featured the best of the best high school players in the region and traveled to tournaments that offered the chance to play in front of college coaches. But strong ties to West Point also factored in to getting Tyler to where he is today.
"My dad definitely exposed me to West Point and what it's all about here," Tyler said. "So he was that initial spark of interest. He was stationed at West Point, but I was really young and I don't have much memory of that.
"I remember we came back to West Point for my dad's 20th reunion and it was a cool place to walk around, but I didn't really grasp what this place meant and what it meant to my dad at that time. The more that I kept visiting and being exposed to what West Point is, it all started to make sense."
The third of four children in the Mitchiner household, Tyler and his family made another trip north to the Academy to drop off his oldest sister, Meghan, in the summer of 2010. Meghan was a captain on the West Point crew team and graduated with the Class of 2014.
On that trip, Sean met new head coach Russell Payne, who, now in his seventh season, has guided Tyler and the Cadets to an 8-5-2 record.
"I met Russell when we dropped my daughter off in 2010 when he first arrived," Sean said. "That was the first time I introduced him to Tyler. I had been following Army soccer and years later, I saw Russell at these showcases and he saw Tyler play. And then came the recruiting process."
Tyler began seriously considering West Point by his sophomore year of high school and knew there could be an opportunity to play soccer there. In fact, despite his talent and interest from other colleges, Tyler had his mind made up that West Point would be the only place he wanted to play soccer.
"I actually didn't want to play college soccer unless I came here to West Point," Tyler said. "I wasn't really interested in playing at a Division I program anywhere else. So it was pretty much the only place I was going to keep playing."
That chance to go to West Point and play soccer eventually became a reality for Tyler. He played a year at the United States Military Academy Prep School before suiting up in the Black and Gold for the first time this fall.
"The whole camaraderie in the team is totally different here than anywhere I've ever experienced," Tyler said. "Considering that everyone is going through this West Point experience with you, you create that special bond with your team."
Sean made some of his best friends during his four years at West Point and still keeps in touch with many of his teammates from the Class of 1988. He remembers how special his West Point experience was and how important the military has been to him and his entire family.
"I've always felt that the biggest thing is the patriotism piece and duty, honor, country," Sean said. "That's what the kids heard growing up. They sat in front of the TV cheering for Army against Navy every year, so that's built into their DNA.
"My daughter fit in well in that atmosphere. She's the third generation in the 82nd Airborne Division, my father served in the 82nd, I served in the 82nd and she's there now. My dad served 29 years, my brother just retired after 27 years, my other brother was an Apache pilot who did six years, my nephew is a West Point grad, another nephew just won a four-year ROTC scholarship to Georgia, and now Tyler is at West Point. The military is kind of like our family business."
Tyler isn't the same kind of player that his father was. While Sean was a goal scorer, Tyler is a facilitator and playmaker, having appeared in all 15 matches at the attacking midfield position. He did, however, choose the same number "3" that is dad donned as an Army soccer player.
"My dad always talked about having mental toughness in a soccer game and he would always teach me that as I was growing up as a soccer player," Tyler said. "That has definitely contributed to my game today.
"I really found soccer when I was six or seven and he's always been right there."
Click here to read previous Feature Friday stories.
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"That was an incredible feeling. Coming here as a freshman and playing in a big game and scoring a goal is really hard to describe. It was a great moment."
Tyler Mitchiner not only scored a goal in the first match of his college career, but he did so against service academy rival Air Force during a 3-1 victory by the Black Knights on Aug. 26 at Clinton Field.
Mitchiner's goal was Army's third of the game, and second in a 1:04 period, and all but sealed the season-opening victory over Air Force. More than 600 fans in attendance watched as Mitchiner found the back of the net off a failed clearing attempt and raced to the sideline, where he was embraced by his teammates.
Watching the live video stream of the action was Tyler's father, Sean, who couldn't have been more proud of his son's debut.
"I saw Tyler in his first game as a plebe do something that I didn't do in four years of my career, and that's score against Air Force. That was unbelievable, you talk about a proud papa moment. I couldn't do that in four years and he did it in his first game as a freshman!"
Sean was a four-year member of the men's soccer program at West Point in the mid-1980s. As a forward, he earned all-conference and regional All-America honors and became Army's leader for points and goals during the 1980s. He continues to rank second for career goals in Academy history after scoring 37 times over his four years.
He finished his career by netting the game winner in a 1-0 victory over Navy in the fall of 1987 and graduated the following spring to begin a 12-year career in the United States Army.
Sean remembers the excitement of scoring his final goal versus Navy and describes a scene closely resembling the moment that Tyler scored against Air Force.
"The first and foremost memory was my final game, which was scoring the winning goal against Navy as a firstie and winning the game 1-0," Sean said. "That's the way to go out. I scored the goal with about five minutes to go in the game and the whole team dogpiled on me."
Sean spent 12 years in the Army before finishing out his military career back at West Point to work as a boxing instructor in the Department of Physical Education.
While living in Clearwater, Fla., Sean and the rest of the Mitchiner family weren't able to experience Tyler's goal against Air Force in a person, but Sean did make it up to watch Army's 1-0 defeat of Navy in the fifth installment of the Army-Navy Cup in Chester, Pa., in late September. He also made the trip to West Point for Parents Weekend to watch Tyler and the Black Knights play to a tough 2-2 draw against Loyola on a rainy evening on Oct. 22.
Sean knew Tyler had potential from an early age after watching him as a 6-year-old.
"I remember Tyler playing soccer and running around the field with his hair way too long, he definitely needed a haircut," Sean said. "He was scoring a lot of goals and I realized this kid's got some unbelievable potential."
That early potential led to Tyler excelling at the sport in the years to come, and eventually turned into a real opportunity to play collegiately. He joined the Chargers Soccer Club of the United States Soccer Development Academy in order to pursue the idea of playing soccer at the next level.
"Once you get into that program, you believe you have the ability to play at the collegiate level, whether it's Division 3, 2 or 1," Sean said. "He went to these showcases and he started to attract attention from coaches and that's when I realized he really had a chance to parlay this into something he can do beyond his high school days."
Playing in the United States Soccer Development Academy was vital to Tyler's path to college soccer. He was able to play with a team that featured the best of the best high school players in the region and traveled to tournaments that offered the chance to play in front of college coaches. But strong ties to West Point also factored in to getting Tyler to where he is today.
"My dad definitely exposed me to West Point and what it's all about here," Tyler said. "So he was that initial spark of interest. He was stationed at West Point, but I was really young and I don't have much memory of that.
"I remember we came back to West Point for my dad's 20th reunion and it was a cool place to walk around, but I didn't really grasp what this place meant and what it meant to my dad at that time. The more that I kept visiting and being exposed to what West Point is, it all started to make sense."
The third of four children in the Mitchiner household, Tyler and his family made another trip north to the Academy to drop off his oldest sister, Meghan, in the summer of 2010. Meghan was a captain on the West Point crew team and graduated with the Class of 2014.
On that trip, Sean met new head coach Russell Payne, who, now in his seventh season, has guided Tyler and the Cadets to an 8-5-2 record.
"I met Russell when we dropped my daughter off in 2010 when he first arrived," Sean said. "That was the first time I introduced him to Tyler. I had been following Army soccer and years later, I saw Russell at these showcases and he saw Tyler play. And then came the recruiting process."
Tyler began seriously considering West Point by his sophomore year of high school and knew there could be an opportunity to play soccer there. In fact, despite his talent and interest from other colleges, Tyler had his mind made up that West Point would be the only place he wanted to play soccer.
"I actually didn't want to play college soccer unless I came here to West Point," Tyler said. "I wasn't really interested in playing at a Division I program anywhere else. So it was pretty much the only place I was going to keep playing."
That chance to go to West Point and play soccer eventually became a reality for Tyler. He played a year at the United States Military Academy Prep School before suiting up in the Black and Gold for the first time this fall.
"The whole camaraderie in the team is totally different here than anywhere I've ever experienced," Tyler said. "Considering that everyone is going through this West Point experience with you, you create that special bond with your team."
Sean made some of his best friends during his four years at West Point and still keeps in touch with many of his teammates from the Class of 1988. He remembers how special his West Point experience was and how important the military has been to him and his entire family.
"I've always felt that the biggest thing is the patriotism piece and duty, honor, country," Sean said. "That's what the kids heard growing up. They sat in front of the TV cheering for Army against Navy every year, so that's built into their DNA.
"My daughter fit in well in that atmosphere. She's the third generation in the 82nd Airborne Division, my father served in the 82nd, I served in the 82nd and she's there now. My dad served 29 years, my brother just retired after 27 years, my other brother was an Apache pilot who did six years, my nephew is a West Point grad, another nephew just won a four-year ROTC scholarship to Georgia, and now Tyler is at West Point. The military is kind of like our family business."
Tyler isn't the same kind of player that his father was. While Sean was a goal scorer, Tyler is a facilitator and playmaker, having appeared in all 15 matches at the attacking midfield position. He did, however, choose the same number "3" that is dad donned as an Army soccer player.
"My dad always talked about having mental toughness in a soccer game and he would always teach me that as I was growing up as a soccer player," Tyler said. "That has definitely contributed to my game today.
"I really found soccer when I was six or seven and he's always been right there."
Click here to read previous Feature Friday stories.
Â
Players Mentioned
Midfielder
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