Hennigh Not the Typical Soccer Player
When most people see Josh Hennigh, they would assume he plays linebacker for the Waynesburg University football team.
When the 6’0″ 235-pound defender showed up freshman year to his first soccer practice, a player on the team genuinely thought he played football.
“First day I got there, one of the players on the team told me, ‘You missed your practice. Football goes before soccer,'” Hennigh said. “Started off right away that I was one of the biggest dudes on the team, and it didn’t feel like I fit in right away. Everyone else looked like they played soccer, but me not so much.”
He’s had referees and players tell him that he does not belong on a soccer field, including a player already this season calling him “fat,” to which he replies with lifting up his shirt and showing the player his visible ab muscles.
Hennigh said his size is “a blessing and a curse.”
“Being big, I can body people off the ball, I can get in people’s way and I still have speed so I can stay with these kids and body them off the ball,” Hennigh said. “But, at the same time, the refs don’t look at the size, they look at who fell, so most of the time it ends up on my back because I’m a bigger dude, throwing my weight around and they don’t have the same weight.”
While head coach Brad Heethuis understands the difficulties around his size, he thinks his size benefits him much more than it hurts him.
“The only thing I can think of [that’s a curse] is he’s going up against guys who are probably a little bit quicker foot speed than him, so it’s tough playing against forwards,” Heethuis said. “Blessing wise, he’s able to muscles guys off balls and win aerial balls that not everybody can because of his size. Definitely more blessing than curse for us.”
During his freshman season, Hennigh played a role as a substitute on defense and played more as the season progressed, earning the nickname “Hulk.”
The highlight of his season came in a nonconference matchup with Bluffton, as Hennigh score the first goal of his career, a game-winner in the 88th minute.
“I’ve started since sixth grade, and not starting my freshman year right off the bat is something that was weird to me,” Hennigh said. “Definitely was a very humbling experience.”
When his sophomore season began, he was surprised to be named a captain on the team.
“I was surprised; I really wasn’t expecting it,” Hennigh said. “I knew I would have a role as a leader, but I didn’t think I would be named a captain. It puts on a whole new kind of pressure. I don’t need to title of captain to be a leader, but now everyone is watching you and you’re responsible for every single action. Now I’m held to a higher standard.”
Heethuis, whose first season at Waynesburg was Hennigh’s sophomore year, said he was not wary of making Hennigh a captain despite only being a sophomore.
“We ask the guys every year who they feel is captain material and who exemplifies the qualities we want in a WU Footy player,” Heethuis said. “Guys who they respect and guys they are willing to have lead and represent them, and Josh fits that billing.”
Hennigh battled injuries in his sophomore season, but played in 18 of 20 games, starting all 18 at centerback, and scored three goals, two of which game-winners.
The men’s soccer team lost to Grove City in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference semifinals 2-1 in double overtime, which is the furthest the men’s soccer program has made it in Waynesburg history.
The following was the complete opposite for the men’s soccer team, as the Jackets finished the season 1-16-1, allowing 68 goals while only scoring 11.
“It was very crushing, but in a way it was expected that we weren’t going to do as well. We had that in the backs of our heads, which probably wasn’t a good way to go into our season,” Hennigh said. “Losing all but three starters, obviously you know you’re going to be a younger team. We didn’t expect it to be like that, so that was crushing to lose and lose and lose.”
Hennigh started all 18 games at centerback for the Jackets, and he said it was a difficult season for him, because despite the team’s record, he still thinks he played the best soccer of his life.
“Junior year is when it started clicking for me and I was able to have more confidence on the ball and I was able to continue passing it and keep possession,” Hennigh said. “Personally, I thought I played the best soccer I ever played, but it was it was disappointing for us going into games, losing by six-plus goals and you think to yourself that you couldn’t have played your best soccer ever if you’re losing by six goals.”
Hennigh said Heethuis put him up for All-PAC honors last season, but he was not awarded on either team or mentioned. Heethuis said he thinks his senior captain is underrated.
“That’s probably due to that he’s not your prototypical soccer player or centerback,” Heethuis said. “He doesn’t look like a lot of the other centerbacks in the league. He’s got different traits and he does get undervalued a little bit, but we love having him here and he’s doing a great job for us.”
The Jackets have started this season 2-4, while allowing 77 shots compared to taking 71.
As Hennigh is playing his last season of competitive soccer, he is grateful that he started playing soccer in the 6th grade.
He grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated with 20 kids in his high school class from Hershey Christian, where Hennigh also played basketball and made it to districts in the shotput. If he would have gone to a high school with a football team, something that was not possible with the small class size at Hershey Christian, Hennigh undoubtedly said he would not be playing soccer today at Waynesburg.
“I would have played football,” Hennigh said. “Looking back now, where I am not, with the friends I’ve made and the relationships and overall how much I love soccer that I didn’t have the option to play football.”
One of those relationships that Hennigh is happy he made is with former Waynesburg women’s soccer player Karleigh Murphey, who graduated this past May and was selected to the All-PAC second team in her junior and senior seasons. Hennigh proposed to Murphey, his girlfriend of nearly three years, two weeks ago.
The couple has argued about who is the better soccer player – an argument Hennigh admits he loses.
“She is a very good soccer player,” Hennigh said. “If we’re talking scoring, she’s a better player. If we’re talking defender, I’ve got her all day. But [overall], she’s better.”