Back in 2013, as Aimee Turnbull was completing her successful 10-year run as Steinert girls soccer coach, there was always a young presence at the game, rooting on the Spartans.
That would be her son Chris, who was in second grade at the time. He didn’t know a whole lot about what was going on, but was still aware enough to bleed Green and White in support of mom.
Flash forward a decade, and Steinert is the enemy; and has been for a while now.
Turnbull has become a key member of the Hopewell Valley Central High team, but admits those early days in Hamilton Square helped fuel his desire to be on the pitch.
“I’ve heard a lot of stories,” he said. “A lot of it was before I remember, but I’ve heard stories of me with the team and going to all these games. That’s another reason I got so into soccer. I think it definitely got me involved with the game and loving the game. Just being around it and the atmosphere and watching everyone play helped me a lot.”
Hopewell coach “Uncle” Ed Gola was happy to get the player Turnbull turned into, as the senior has been a starter since his sophomore year and played wherever needed.
“We’ve moved him around over the years,” the Ice Cream Emperor said. “He’s played center back, defensive center-mid, center mid. He’s played a lot of soccer for us since his sophomore year. He started on that sectional (championship team) team.
“He’s a soccer rat. He plays on a high level club team. He plans to play in college. He’s a grinder, he’s got good feet, a good intuition about the game. He also has tremendous stamina. You never have to worry about taking him out of the game. Wherever we play him, that position is covered.”
That intuition Gola spoke of likely comes from being the son of a coach. Turnbull was ingrained with the sport as a youngster, and the knowledge and skills kept building from there.
“I think (coaches’ kids) have that in their blood,” Gola said. “There’s probably some car rides home where there’s a lot of soccer discussion after games and practices. I think it can be beneficial. Someone who has coached at that level, whether boys or girls, knows a lot about the game and probably provides a lot of good feedback.
“Probably like any other kid, they don’t want to hear from their parents, but I think that’s important. You see that with a lot of kids who have parents that have coached at that level. They have a better chance of having a stronger soccer IQ because they’ve been around the game for so long.”
Turnbull, whose father Chris is principal at Timberlane Middle School, began doing rec soccer in kindergarten before playing for the Ewing United. He moved on to Match Fit travel in fifth grade and has remained ever since. In club, he is mainly an outside back, but plays some center midfield.
He arrived at HVCHS in the fall of 2020, which was the helter skelter Covid year. Chris was placed on the freshman team as classmates had to stay together that season. But he made the jump to varsity in 10th grade and became quickly entrenched.
“Obviously it was huge coming from the freshman team going up to a varsity starter,” Turnbull said. “It was important for me. Going in I knew we had a lot of graduating defenders and I could potentially be part of the team, but I never imagined starting right away.”
Turnbull scored two goals that season but truly impressed with his playmaking skills as he was second on the team with 13 assists. Last year he dipped to seven assists, but Gola pointed out that not only did he lose the scoring firepower of Alex and Nick Tagliareni, he was moved to center back to shore up the defense and wasn’t in position to create as much.
This year he’s back at center-mid, although that could change depending on circumstances. But while he’s there, Gola wouldn’t mind seeing him be a bit more selfish.
“I would like him to take the opportunity to shoot more but he’s a guy that likes to distribute and set guys up,” the dean of CVC coaches said. “That’s just as important as the guy who scores the goals. He’s scored a couple big goals here and there. Mostly he grinds the midfield, he does a lot of the dirty work.”
Which he doesn’t mind at all.
“I like getting hard challenges, I guess,” Turnbull said. “I like just making sure we can keep the ball or get the ball back.”
As for trying to score more goals, Turnbull is not adverse to it, but won’t disrupt the flow of the game in an effort to do so.
“I think if there’s something I can add more to my game, it would be taking more shots and scoring more,” he said. “But it’s not like I’ll do that if it means going out of my way instead of just doing what I’m supposed to do.”
At times, he is supposed to defend, which is something he also does well.
“He’s very solid,” Gola said. “He has played in the back for us when we needed him. I think it’s beneficial for him if he continues to play soccer that he has the flexibility to not only play in the back but midfield.”
Speed is one of Turnbull’s strengths, as he runs track for the Bulldogs and will focus on the 400 and 800 meter races this winter and spring. In assessing the positions he plays, Chris feels more discipline is needed in the back.
“Defensively, it’s just staying in front of your guy, being confident, and playing simple is really important,” he said. “Don’t get out of what you can do.
“At center mid you can take more risks, you’re more involved going forward. It’s about distributing, getting more involved, also doing defensive work and going hard on tackles. You need the intensity and all that.”
Turnbull has remained relatively injury-free during his career. Gola points out “he’s not a guy you’d think is a body builder, his frame is thin. But he knows how to use his body and take care of it.”
The coach added that Chris is a team captain who leads by example, saying that “he’s the kind of guy you want everybody to play like on the field.”
The next stop for Turnbull will be on a college pitch, as he is being recruited by Muhlenberg and Ursinus. It was something that never appeared on his radar until recently.
“I didn’t really think about college until a few years ago, when I got to high school,” he said. “When I was young it was just about having fun and enjoying it. I still enjoy the game but (college) is more the goal recently.”
And as he gets ready to leave the nest, he’s still not too old to get advice from the old Spartan coach.
“All the time,” Turnbull said with a laugh. “She always asks me after every practice how I did. After games she and my dad will talk to me about the game. We’re all involved. It’s mostly about communicating, being confident, stuff like that.”
It’s all stuff that Turnbull has been cultivating for the past decade, with the only difference being that Black & Gold now trumps Green & White.
Versatile senior Chris Turnbull, whose mother Aimee played and coached at Steinert, has grown into a key player for Hopewell Valley soccer.,
