My son picked up a soccer ball at the age of five and never put it down. He's (as of the date of this blog), is about two weeks from his fifteenth birthday. In my blogging history, soccer mom life has been a part of other blogs but never had a blog of its own. This first post is about how my soccer mom journey has strengthened my connection to my college Alma mater, The University of North Carolina. I studied at the university in the early nineties and one of my favorite things in my current life has become sharing my love for the university with my children. Young soccer players often attend college games to learn about higher level play and to cheer for their favorite teams. My son is no different. We're fortunate to not only be within an hour of UNC; but to be in an area with a lot of good soccer programs. We also live thirty minutes from Wake Med Soccer Park, home to United Soccer League member North Carolina Football Club and National Women's Soccer League member North Carolina Courage so we have access to professional games as well. Wake Med has also often been host for both the men's and women's soccer College Cup. That is the final four for other sports fans. My son and I have seen several College Cups in person. Most recently we were there to witness the North Carolina Women's Soccer team win the 2024 National Championship.
My son was eight years old when I began bringing him to UNC soccer games. We watched both the men and the women play consistently. During that time "Fetzer Field" which would later be named for the program's long time coach Anson Dorrance was undergoing a long overdue renovation. The teams played their regular season home games and any post-season games in which they were the host, at Wake Med Soccer park for two seasons. For the 2018 season the women's team made runs to the finals of both the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the National (NCAA) tournaments. But a conference rival was on the rise. The Florida State Seminoles won both match-ups by one goal, claiming both titles. Still North Carolina's run was impressive when one considers the team's leading goal scorer, Alessia Russo was unavailable for the entirety of the post season due to a broken leg suffered in the final game of the regular season. It still hurt though and the significance of the final game was not lost on his eight year old heart.
The women's college soccer landscape had changed a lot over the years since I finished my time at North Carolina. Carolina was consistently near the top, had qualified for the NCAA tournament every year, won multiple ACC regular season and tournament titles and been to several College Cups; but a National Title had eluded them since 2012. For most programs that is fine...stellar even; but after the 2018 final we were hearing and reading rumblings that UNC Women's Soccer had "fallen off" It sounded ridiculous to me; but I was well aware of how the landscape had changed. I'm also aware that the program had spoiled its fans and made it look simple. Achieving what the program has is anything but simple.
Carolina is known for is great success in athletics. People will sometimes replace the North Carolina in the acronym UNC and call it the University of National Champions instead. There are sixty-two titles and counting among all sports. Over one-third of those titles however belong to Women's Soccer. The program began competing at the varsity level in 1979. Under Coach Dorrance's staff, they quickly became an almost unstoppable force amassing multiple National Championships, including a run of nine consecutive titles from 1986 to 1994.
My time at the university coincided with five of those championship runs. Those teams featured names permanently etched in the history of the sport Folks like Kristine Lily, Tisha Venturini and the incomparable Mia Hamm made those years at then Fetzer Field (now Dorrance Field) a really amazing ride. I was in the University Pep Band. I also lived in Carmichael Dorm, which was a very short walk from the soccer field. I attended almost all of their home games during the regular seasons and the post season games hosted there. As a student, I never saw them lose. Now they've built a really nice walkway into the stadium that begins on Stadium Drive (the street in front of my old home) that lands on the stadium's concourse. Carmichael is the taller building on the right. We're able to park near the dorm and walk right in and it's lovely.
Carolina would return to the College Cup in 2019, 2020 and in 2022. Unfortunately, a championship wasn't meant to be then. In 2023, the season ended in the Elite Eight. After that, things got interesting and from the outside looking in, it was kind of worrisome for a while. We came through spring and into the summer and we were wondering how the staff would put together a complete roster after ten of eleven starters went pro. Three of them had multiple years of eligibility left. One of them was the starting goalie. Multiple players also transferred to other schools. When the dust settled there were twelve players left. Perusing any online forum with information, there seemed to be an influx of players via freshmen arriving for the fall semester, upperclassmen coming from other universities via the transfer portal and fill-ins from the university intramural club team. Two of the incoming freshmen gave up their senior year of high school and enrolled early. Somehow the staff had turned the group of twelve that remained in the spring into a robust 27 player roster. But how would that work out?
We attended the second exhibition game and at some point I thought to myself Coach Dorrance looks tired, but figured it was just the heat. I don't know him. And It was really warm that day. Oh let's face it, the weather can only be described as scorching. My son pretty much only puts on a hat at Disney World.
Then came his retirement announcement which interviews later revealed no one saw coming. I had taken a photo of the post game huddle not realizing it would be his last as head coach. He had been the program's only head coach. The move sent waves through the soccer world similar to how the basketball world responded when Dean Smith retired. The season would start in a few days and "What now?" Fortunately Associate Head Coach Damon Nahas who'd been with the program for nearly a decade, stepped in as interim head coach. Assistant Coach Chris Ducar had also been on staff for almost thirty years.
So off they went, this group that had been put together from different places and were clearly in the process of learning each other into a season that was already guaranteed to be different than any that had preceded it. Normally we would be very limited in the games we could attend due to my son's own soccer schedule; but he's entered high school, which meant two things. One, he would only have club soccer from January to May because in the fall, club soccer makes way for high school soccer which takes place from August to November. Two, since high school games and practices take place during the week, we would have weekends open. My guy had begun his first season with North Carolina Home School Athletic Association member South Wake Wolves Soccer; and with his schedule, we were able to see multiple home games and collect on some really cool giveaways. Our favorites were this t-shirt with the 2024 home schedule on the back and the poster and trading cards given out when the players made themselves available for post game autographs.
When I say this guy loves UNC Women's soccer it's an understatement. He studies the roster, learns their official names and nicknames, reviews film to learn how to better his game but also to learn more about theirs. He was thrilled to meet some of his favorite athletes up close. He got a chance to tell them he admired them. He also got to see them giggle and tease each other like regular human beings. He obtained every signature save one. Maddie Dahlien was away at the time. She'd been pulled to compete with the United States Women's Youth National team in the U20 World Cup. When we left that day, he said he felt like this team was special and would make a deep run. He asked if I agreed. I told him anything was possible and if they stayed healthy, they'd be dangerous.
The season went on. Dahlien came back; but then another player, starting center back, Trinity Armstrong departed for the U17 World Cup tournament with USA soccer. As a fan you're thrilled to have players of this caliber. You also selfishly don't want to let them go. The team did well to be without several starters between injuries and US Soccer. Both World Cup teams won the bronze medal. Thankfully, the injured players recovered. Whew! Soccer had me outside. Every week I was here:
Or here:
Unfortunately, the UNC Women's soccer team's regular season ended with a 3-2 loss on Senior Night to this other school a few miles away. Moving on! Mixed emotions abound at this point. I have always detested releasing seniors. And I was feeling old because some classmates had a daughter on the team. I'd been at UNC at the same time as UNC football great Natrone Means and his wife Shonda. Their daughter Asha was one of the Senior Captains. But you just have to have a special place in your heart for this group that along with the juniors, lead the team through so much uncertainty. The journey through the post season is in part two. Thank you Seniors.
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