University of North Carolina Athletics
International Impact
September 26, 2014 | Women's Soccer
By Michael Melvin
Graphic by Julianne Hoell (photo by Jeffrey Camarati)
As dominant as North Carolina women's soccer has been in NCAA competition over the course of head coach Anson Dorrance's 35 seasons in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels have been equally as impressive at producing players who have represented the United States on the Women's National Soccer Team. Carolina has had a total of 54 players that have earned caps playing on the USWNT since its creation in 1985, and the contributions of these players in international, Olympic, and World Cup competition has been astounding.
“The unique opportunity we have in the recruiting process is to show recruits how many of our kids have played at the highest level, which is the national team,” Dorrance said. “If you are an elite player and you select North Carolina, we have a lot of experience assisting you in getting your dreams.” The United States won the first-ever Women's World Cup under Dorrance in 1991, when 9 of the 18 players were Tar Heels. Carolina's trend of representation on the national team has continued consistently since then, and most recently 7 of the 28 players invited to USWNT camp were Tar Heel alumnae.
“Even in this age of parity, where everyone is able to recruit elite players, we are still in the unique position of having more of our kids invited into the full team national player pool than any other school, and honestly I'm very proud of that,” said Dorrance.
