University of North Carolina Athletics
Fetzer Field: The Place to be on Wednesday Night
September 1, 1999 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 1, 1999
By: Travis Everette
I would be the last person in the world to ever try to pretend to be a soccer expert. As a matter of fact, the first soccer match I ever saw was the first one I worked for the athletic department in Chapel Hill. What I do qualify as though, is someone who is a die-hard "big time" sports fan, and I can tell you that everyone should be at Fetzer Field on Wednesday evening at 7:00p.m. when Carolina Women's Soccer opens its season against the University of Tennessee. After watching the ladies in light blue play just one time, I was hooked on a game that I had never even noticed before. I don't know exactly what it is that I find so appealing about these events, but I'll try to give you a good idea.
First of all, these athletes play harder and give more to their fans than any others I have ever witnessed. When was the last time you saw a basketball or football team return to the field after a win to stand arm in arm as the alma mater is played and applaud the fans who have given their time and money to see the game? This has two wonderful effects. Not only do the fans (and there are a lot of them, by the way) feel appreciated and want to come back, but they remain until the end of the game even in a blowout just to see this impromptu postgame ceremony. A certain former head coach who urged his fans to show up early and stay late would definitely be jealous of the women's soccer following.
If the niceties described in the previous paragraph don't appeal to you, maybe this will. These girls are TOUGH. They take more kicks, elbow jabs, head butts, and falls than anyone in bar brawl. It is continually amazing to me that an athlete could take such a beating over the course of 90 minutes and still be the definition of grace in movement on the field. If you want to see someone run full boat after a ball all the while kicking, pushing, and just generally roughhousing their opponent, then Lady Tar Heel soccer is for you. You won't even have to worry about those annoying TV time outs and other stops in play because the clock basically never stops!
Finally, every sports fan understands the word dynasty. John Wooden had one at UCLA in the 60's and 70's. Most would characterize our basketball program as one, and Nebraska football is an institution. You can combine all of the national championships of Dean Smith, John Wooden, and Tom Osborne at Nebraska, but you would still be a few short of the 15 that Head Coach Anson Dorrance has compiled during his tenure in Chapel Hill. Years down the road, people will look back and say that North Carolina had THE GREATEST sports dynasty of all time in its women's soccer program. Wouldn't it be nice to turn to that person and say, "Yeah, I used to go to all of their matches, it was great!"
