When Sam Werner comes barreling down the wing with possession and rifles a dangerous cross into the box, he makes it look effortless and easy.
In only his first season with Republic FC in 2019, the shifty midfielder managed to deliver 230 crosses on the USL Championship season – the third-most in the entire league – and collected the second-most assists on the team last season (five).
Talk about a positive first impression.
But the work Werner contributes on the pitch is far from easy, and the Bozeman-native has had to work hard every step of his soccer journey to earn his place on the Republic FC roster. This deep drive and personal devotion to pursuing professional soccer stems from his childhood days growing up in Montana.
When Sam Werner comes barreling down the wing with possession and rifles a dangerous cross into the box, he makes it look effortless and easy.
In only his first season with Republic FC in 2019, the shifty midfielder managed to deliver 230 crosses on the USL Championship season – the third-most in the entire league – and collected the second-most assists on the team last season (five).
Talk about a positive first impression.
But the work Werner contributes on the pitch is far from easy, and the Bozeman-native has had to work hard every step of his soccer journey to earn his place on the Republic FC roster. This deep drive and personal devotion to pursuing professional soccer stems from his childhood days growing up in Montana.
And it was there in Big Sky Country where Werner recognized if he wanted to make it as a pro, a dedication to hard work was non-negotiable.
“Montana wasn’t all that high on the list of states that competed across the country in terms of producing great soccer players and I knew that tactically I was going to be a little bit behind just because I wasn’t playing year round like other people were and the level of play was a little bit lower in Montana,” Werner said. “In the winter, you don’t have grass all too often so I would ski half a day with my buddies, then go to the gym then over to the racquetball courts and just kick the ball a million times against the wall to get my touches in all winter.”
Clearly from an early age, the SRFC winger was fully self-aware of his current soccer situation but he wasn’t going to let his surroundings dictate his development. Whether it be the level of talent around him or the harsh outdoor winter conditions, nothing was going to stop Werner’s commitment to growing his game.
“The philosophy my Dad and I had was ‘there’s never an excuse for me not to have the most technical skills’ because I could spend all day inside the racquetball courts or just juggling in our living room,” the Republic FC winger said.
After his sophomore year of high school, Werner moved to Portland to live with his Grandfather and compete for an opportunity with the Timbers Academy, a self-proclaimed necessary step in his competitive soccer development.
And it was there in Big Sky Country where Werner recognized if he wanted to make it as a pro, a dedication to hard work was non-negotiable.
“Montana wasn’t all that high on the list of states that competed across the country in terms of producing great soccer players and I knew that tactically I was going to be a little bit behind just because I wasn’t playing year round like other people were and the level of play was a little bit lower in Montana,” Werner said. “In the winter, you don’t have grass all too often so I would ski half a day with my buddies, then go to the gym then over to the racquetball courts and just kick the ball a million times against the wall to get my touches in all winter.”
Clearly from an early age, the SRFC winger was fully self-aware of his current soccer situation but he wasn’t going to let his surroundings dictate his development. Whether it be the level of talent around him or the harsh outdoor winter conditions, nothing was going to stop Werner’s commitment to growing his game.
“The philosophy my Dad and I had was ‘there’s never an excuse for me not to have the most technical skills’ because I could spend all day inside the racquetball courts or just juggling in our living room,” the Republic FC winger said.
After his sophomore year of high school, Werner moved to Portland to live with his Grandfather and compete for an opportunity with the Timbers Academy, a self-proclaimed necessary step in his competitive soccer development.
If there was any thought of the hard work subsiding following his move to the west coast, Werner was forced to squash that notion pretty quickly.
“I had this summer after my sophomore year where I had these two weeks back-to-back where I went to a tryout that I had set up with the Timbers, got invited and joined the academy, flew straight from that to a Stanford soccer camp and my Dad still wishes he had saved the text because I was so tired from the Timbers tryout that I had been texting him the first day of [Stanford] camp asking him to please come get me, I’m too tired!” Werner joked.
But Dad didn’t show, and the exhausted midfielder didn’t quit. Good thing too, because Werner was rewarded handsomely following the college camp.
“I pushed through that week and ended up getting a scholarship offer at the end of the camp so in just those two weeks I shored up the next six years of my life,” Werner said. “I moved to Portland at the end of that summer and the rest is history.”
Werner was beginning to see the fruits of his tireless labor, but the best was still yet to come. At Stanford University, Werner went out on top. A feat that so few athletes can say they’ve accomplished, especially while attending their dream school.
But Werner can.
Heading into his senior season, the winger was already a back-to-back National Champion but his unquenchable thirst for College Cup glory would not have been complete without a third consecutive title to his name.
If there was any thought of the hard work subsiding following his move to the west coast, Werner was forced to squash that notion pretty quickly.
“I had this summer after my sophomore year where I had these two weeks back-to-back where I went to a tryout that I had set up with the Timbers, got invited and joined the academy, flew straight from that to a Stanford soccer camp and my Dad still wishes he had saved the text because I was so tired from the Timbers tryout that I had been texting him the first day of [Stanford] camp asking him to please come get me, I’m too tired!” Werner joked.
But Dad didn’t show, and the exhausted midfielder didn’t quit. Good thing too, because Werner was rewarded handsomely following the college camp.
“I pushed through that week and ended up getting a scholarship offer at the end of the camp so in just those two weeks I shored up the next six years of my life,” Werner said. “I moved to Portland at the end of that summer and the rest is history.”
Werner was beginning to see the fruits of his tireless labor, but the best was still yet to come. At Stanford University, Werner went out on top. A feat that so few athletes can say they’ve accomplished, especially while attending their dream school.
But Werner can.
Heading into his senior season, the winger was already a back-to-back National Champion but his unquenchable thirst for College Cup glory would not have been complete without a third consecutive title to his name.
“I feel like it was kind of written in the stars because I feel like our [graduating] class at Stanford was the catalyst to all that success and so it was only right that we got to go out like that,” Werner said.
Not only did he have the luxury of hoisting championship silverware following his last game as a Cardinal – a riveting 1-0 win in double overtime against Indiana – but Werner scored the game-winner with his final kick of his decorated college career. His performance earned him 2017 College Cup Offensive Most Outstanding Player, 2017 Top Drawer Soccer College Cup Best XI honors, as well as the Bob Murphy Award which is “presented to the student athlete whose unforgettable performance in an athletic contest will secure a place in Stanford history”.
“I always joke that I peaked at that very moment,” Werner said with a laugh. “I really don’t remember what happened. There was so much emotion in that one moment that I really just blacked out and my memory of the goal is from the view of the camera because I really don’t remember from my eyes what happened.”
After ending his collegiate career on the ultimate high, Werner’s transition from Palo Alto to the pros was a little rocky.
Portland, where Werner was technically a Homegrown product of, did not sign Stanford’s recent soccer hero so the winger made the move to Israel for a trial with an Israeli Premier League club – Hapoel Hadera – for a few months.
He didn’t sign with the club, and for the first time in Werner’s career, the midfield maestro wasn’t sure if his playing days were nearing an end.
“I feel like it was kind of written in the stars because I feel like our [graduating] class at Stanford was the catalyst to all that success and so it was only right that we got to go out like that,” Werner said.
Not only did he have the luxury of hoisting championship silverware following his last game as a Cardinal – a riveting 1-0 win in double overtime against Indiana – but Werner scored the game-winner with his final kick of his decorated college career. His performance earned him 2017 College Cup Offensive Most Outstanding Player, 2017 Top Drawer Soccer College Cup Best XI honors, as well as the Bob Murphy Award which is “presented to the student athlete whose unforgettable performance in an athletic contest will secure a place in Stanford history”.
“I always joke that I peaked at that very moment,” Werner said with a laugh. “I really don’t remember what happened. There was so much emotion in that one moment that I really just blacked out and my memory of the goal is from the view of the camera because I really don’t remember from my eyes what happened.”
After ending his collegiate career on the ultimate high, Werner’s transition from Palo Alto to the pros was a little rocky.
Portland, where Werner was technically a Homegrown product of, did not sign Stanford’s recent soccer hero so the winger made the move to Israel for a trial with an Israeli Premier League club – Hapoel Hadera – for a few months.
He didn’t sign with the club, and for the first time in Werner’s career, the midfield maestro wasn’t sure if his playing days were nearing an end.
“When I got back from Israel, I was so burnt out from being on trial for a really long time and it was heading into the U.S. offseason, so I didn’t know what was going to happen soccer-wise, so I actually got a job in San Francisco and thought maybe I’m done with soccer,” he explained.
“I was living and working in SF for a couple of months and I remember I walked out of work one day and it was early December and I gave Todd [Dunivant] a call just to check in because I was supposed to hear back from them to see if I was going to continue being a working man or keep playing soccer and he said ‘we’re drawing up the contract right now and I’ll have it to you in a little while’. It was definitely a moment of purgatory there where I could have been done with soccer and I’m certainly glad that I’m not,” Werner said.
That one phone call reunited Werner with the game he committed his life to, and Republic FC General Manager Todd Dunivant remembers that special moment very well.
“We pulled the trigger on Sam pretty quickly and those are the special phone calls that are really fun to make,” Dunivant said. “Sam works so incredibly hard and he loves to compete, loves to battle, loves to win. We love having someone here who cares so deeply about the work he puts in, those are the players you want on your team.”
Thankfully for all fans of the boys in Old Glory Red, Werner swapped his brief stint in business development for the Republic FC flanks and hasn’t looked back.
As the accomplished winger enters his second season with the Indomitable Club, it’s now glaringly apparent that all the hard work the man from Montana has put in over the years is finally paying off.
“When I got back from Israel, I was so burnt out from being on trial for a really long time and it was heading into the U.S. offseason, so I didn’t know what was going to happen soccer-wise, so I actually got a job in San Francisco and thought maybe I’m done with soccer,” he explained.
“I was living and working in SF for a couple of months and I remember I walked out of work one day and it was early December and I gave Todd [Dunivant] a call just to check in because I was supposed to hear back from them to see if I was going to continue being a working man or keep playing soccer and he said ‘we’re drawing up the contract right now and I’ll have it to you in a little while’. It was definitely a moment of purgatory there where I could have been done with soccer and I’m certainly glad that I’m not,” Werner said.
That one phone call reunited Werner with the game he committed his life to, and Republic FC General Manager Todd Dunivant remembers that special moment very well.
“We pulled the trigger on Sam pretty quickly and those are the special phone calls that are really fun to make,” Dunivant said. “Sam works so incredibly hard and he loves to compete, loves to battle, loves to win. We love having someone here who cares so deeply about the work he puts in, those are the players you want on your team.”
Thankfully for all fans of the boys in Old Glory Red, Werner swapped his brief stint in business development for the Republic FC flanks and hasn’t looked back.
As the accomplished winger enters his second season with the Indomitable Club, it’s now glaringly apparent that all the hard work the man from Montana has put in over the years is finally paying off.
