Cam Lindley keeping sharp while waiting for Eleven season to resume

By RICHIE HALL
It was something that Cam Lindley and the Indy Eleven couldn’t wait to do: Get a rising young player signed to the team and bring him back to his home town.
Everything seemed to be working out when Lindley arrived in Indiana and joined the team. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Lindley, like his new teammates and pretty much everyone involved in professional sports, got stuck in wait mode.
Even with the USL season suspended for now, Lindley is enjoying the fact that he’s back with his home team.
“It’s been good so far,” he said.
The signing of Lindley with the Eleven happened rather quickly. Lindley said there was mutual interest between him and the team, so the signing process and Lindley’s joining the team “honestly took probably a day.”
“We drafted up a contract and I signed it as fast as I could,” said Lindley.
Indeed, Lindley put his name on the contract and “was in the next day training,” he said. He already knew a few of the players on the Eleven before he signed with the team.
“I trained with them his off-season,” said Lindley. “So it was nice to already see some familiar faces when I walked in the door.”
The Eleven sent out a news release about Lindley’s signing on Feb. 6. After that, he spent the next month with the team as they prepared for the season and played in pre-season games. The team got one regular-season contest in, playing its opener against Memphis 901 FC on March 7 at AutoZone Park in Memphis. The Eleven won 4-2, coming back from 2-0 down to win the game. Lindley played in the game as one of the subs.
But as the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic began to set in, the USL joined other professional sports leagues in halting its season. The USL announced on March 12 that it was temporarily suspending play.
“We were getting ready to leave for Kansas City, then they canceled that game,” said Lindley.
Practices are also on hold, of course. But the Boys in Blue are keeping their skills sharp, and Lindley is no exception. He regularly posts “Skills of the Day” on his Twitter account (@cam_lindley), including several variations on “around the world.” For that one, think of the soccer ball as a globe and Lindley’s foot as a satellite orbiting the earth at a very high rate of speed. He even does one barefoot.
“We spend hours trying to learn new tricks, trying to learn different things,” said Lindley. There are two reasons for that: It entertains them (and their fans), and it also makes them better soccer players.
“I’m trying to do different challenges daily to get youth involved, to get them active,” said Lindley. “I get to interact with these people and they reach out to me and I get back to them,” making it a good way of connecting with people.
Lindley was already well-traveled by the time he signed with the Eleven. After graduating from Guerin Catholic High School in 2016, he played for two seasons at the University of North Carolina. He helped the Tar Heels to two appearances in the NCAA College Cup, back to back in 2016 and 2017. Lindley was named the ACC Midfielder of the Year and was a First Team All-ACC honoree as a sophomore, and enjoyed the college experience.
“Coach prepared me for the professional ranks very quickly, and that’s why I felt like I was ready to leave after my sophomore season,” said Lindley. “We went to two Final Fours, so I was proud of that as well. My time there was something that I cherish and probably will for a very long time.”
Leaving college and turning pro is not something that an athlete takes likely. Lindley was no exception.
“It’s a scary decision,” he said. “It’s definitely scary because you’re leaving a place where you’re comfortable, you’re the best player. You’re taking a leap of faith and trusting yourself to make the jump to the next level and being able to perform.”
Lindley said that people don’t realize that the decision is harder on one’s mind than his body.
“Very rarely do you see flawless transitions from college to pro,” said Lindley. “I don’t envy those who are going to be making those decisions anytime soon.”
But Lindley has made the transition well. He signed with Orlando City SC before the 2018 season and started three of the team’s four games. He then played at Memphis 901 FC in 2019, where he scored one goal and made seven assists.
“They were two great clubs,” said Lindley. “I really enjoyed playing for them and they definitely helped me develop as a person and a player.”
Now he’s back home, and hopefully will get to show that development to his family and friends. It wasn’t too long ago – 2015, in fact – that Lindley was part of Guerin Catholic’s state champion boys basketball team.
“That was still one of the best times of my life,” said Lindley. “I stay in touch with a bunch of those guys and we talk about it all the time. I love looking at the pictures and sometimes I go on Hudl and watch the game.”
As for getting back on the pitch with the Eleven, Lindley said the USL is in line with the MLS (Major League Soccer) with returning to action. It looks as if the earliest that games will be played is the middle of June, and teams need to have a three-week training window before that.
“As of right now, it looks like we’ll be starting training sometime in May,” said Lindley.