My Carolina Experience: Yael Averbuch
September 17, 2014 | Women's Soccer
My Carolina Experience: Yael Averbuch
By Zoya Johnson, GoHeels.com
Sports have been a part of Yael Averbuch's life since the time she could walk. She grew up with a pair of runners for parents. Her father ran track and cross country at Rutgers University and was a two-time U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier in 1980 and 1984.
Coming from a family of athletes instilled in her sister Shira and herself an appreciation for the body and the discipline it takes to be an athlete at the highest levels. That discipline would eventually earn both Averbuch sisters spots on U.S. youth national teams and earn them full scholarships at UNC and Stanford.
"From the time I was nine years old I knew I wanted to be a Tar Heel. I would watch VHS tapes about Anson Dorrance and the UNC program, and basically memorized all the lines. It became my goal to play for UNC and become a professional soccer player. From that point on, I tried to find the most elite youth playing experiences I could to challenge myself and reach the highest level."
Averbuch was so determined to make her dreams of playing in Carolina Blue come true that she played on an all-boys' soccer team from the ages of 11 to 14 and made sure she worked hard enough to earn herself a spot on the American youth national teams at every level of the program beginning in her early teens.
Arriving at UNC with so much success on the national level, one would think Averbuch would not have lacked for confidence. But she knew the Tar Heel program inside and out and that meant she also knew that many elements that make the program what it is were not personal strengths of hers. This knowledge did not deter the cerebral freshman from New Jersey. It only encouraged her to work harder. Though she may not admit to it, when asked, Averbuch enjoyed plenty of success despite her "shortcomings" in her freshman year. She started in all but one game that season and was named to the Soccer America and Soccer Buzz first-team freshman All-America teams. She never missed a game in her four-year career at Carolina and started in all but one game, sharing the NCAA record for career starts with Tar Heel teammate Kristi Eveland.
As a part of a 2005 UNC team brimming with U.S. full national team players, in Averbuch's eyes, she was "...an important, but fairly average member of the team my freshman year. The summer before my sophomore year, I worked on everything I knew I would need to improve in my game and ended up having a wonderful sophomore season. I played in a more attacking role, won national player of the year awards, and we won the national championship for the first time in three years."
Not only did the team win the title that year, beating Notre Dame 2-1 in a thrilling final, Averbuch was a finalist for the Missouri Athletic Club Hermann Trophy and the Honda Sports Award for Soccer.
One of the most memorable moments of the season came in just the fourth game of the campaign. She set the NCAA record for the fastest goal scored in a game when she struck four seconds into a 4-0 win at Yale. Averbuch sent the opening kickoff of the game directly into the Bulldogs' goal, catching the opposing goalie playing off her line. To this day, it is one of the Internet's most popular clips as can be seen here. The goal made ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 plays of that weekend and has been viewed 4,201,973 times on YouTube.
As a sophomore, Averbuch led the team in goals with 16 that year including seven in ACC games. Her play was instrumental in leading Carolina to 27 straight wins to close out the championship season.
Averbuch says that living up to that lofty standard in her final two years at UNC was stressful because by that time everyone knew who she was. That heightened level of responsibility to continue to push herself did not stop her from becoming a team captain both years and continuing to lead her team both with her voice and by example.
"I was part of the Carolina Leadership Academy, and that taught me a great deal about the nuances of team culture and how I fit into that. I still think about a lot of the principles and concepts that we were introduced to in those leadership academy meetings. I cannot speak highly enough of Anson (Dorrance) as a leader. He has developed a team culture that is like no other team in the world. Most importantly, he always made it very clear to us that our contribution to the world as human beings came first.
"It's important to compete and win, but nothing is more important than being a grateful, classy person. Anson and his staff showed me what it takes and what it means to be a champion. He instilled in us a relentless work rate and systematic approach to success. He also taught me the core principles that are most important in sports and life - those of taking responsibility, earning trust, serving others, working harder than anyone else out there, and sacrificing for the team."
At Carolina, Averbuch not only gained the tools she needed to continue her development in becoming a professional athlete, she gained a knowledge of self and an appreciation for things outside of academics and athletics.
"Carolina completely transformed my life. I learned a lot about who I am, what is most important to me, and how I want to live. It had always been my goal to be a professional soccer player, but I realized at UNC that there are a lot of other things in life that are equally as valuable. I made amazing friendships with people who taught me about spirituality, faith, and life philosophy. I got to know people who were raised in different ways than myself and came to appreciate my upbringing and also realize in what ways I differ from my parents.
"Carolina gave me a great education and also taught me how to learn and how much more there is to learn. The soccer program allowed me to play with players who soon went on to do what I aimed to do. I watched the tools that made them successful and learned from them as players. I grew immensely as a person and an athlete. I left college with a mental and physical toughness that I certainly didn't have going in."
As a professional soccer player in the National Women's Soccer League and a blogger for the New York Times, Averbuch is not only living out her dreams, she is able to share them with the world through her performances on the field and the words she carefully selects to share with her readers in America's paper of record. The U.S. Jewish Sports Hall of Famer, U.S. Women's National Team Member, professional athlete and writer she has become will always cherish the young woman she was not only because that young woman chose Carolina as her catalyst for transition but for choosing an experience that changed her for the better.
To this day, Averbuch has no doubt as to where most talented young soccer players should spend their college years.
"There are many places where you can have an amazing and fulfilling college soccer experience. I knew that if I went to UNC I would never regret any of the other college programs I missed out on. But if I went somewhere else I would always wonder what it would have been like if I went to UNC. There is a reason that Anson and the UNC women's soccer program are in the history books for the the unmatched success it has attained. There is no more special system or team to be a part of, at any level or for any sport. You can learn soccer skills from various coaches throughout your entire career, but what you learn at UNC is unique and you can't get it anywhere else."