Pioneers: Kathy Ridgewell-Williams, Still Imparting the Life Lessons of the Game

INTRODUCING: Kathy Ridgewell-Williams

COLLEGES — Western Washington University, University of California-Berkeley

Kathy Ridgewell-Williams, left, tracks a ball in front of U.S. National Team goalie Ruth Harker (courtesy of Kathy Ridgewell-Williams)

TOUGH KID IN TOUGHSKINS — Growing up in Enumclaw, a rural farm community southeast of Seattle, Kathy’s only initial connection to soccer was the “Soccer Made in Germany” show hosted by Toby Charles on PBS in the early ’70s. “I am the youngest of four siblings who are all much older — so I had to do everything I could to keep up,” said Kathy. “We had a pretty competitive household, including my brother, Wally, who was four years older and super athletic, so by the time I started school I didn’t even think about what girls did at recess. It wasn’t really a question for me. I went to school dressed in Toughskins ready for any sport on the playground with the boys.” What she didn’t realize, at 5 years old, was that it had only been a year or two since girls weren’t required to wear dresses to school and that she also wouldn’t be allowed to play on the boy’s club soccer team. So, when Don Ryan, a local attorney, started a U9 girls’ team called the Auburn Devils a few years later, he found Kathy ready and waiting. She remembers watching the German men win the 1974 World Cup at 9 years old and having her first spark of the idea of a National Team — just for women.

THE REALITY CHECK — Playing with fellow future National Teamer Lori Bylin Sweeney on the Auburn Devils, their team won several consecutive state championships. The reign ended abruptly, however, when Michelle Akers’ team from Shoreline, Wa., moved up an age bracket to U16. “Michelle was a flat-out revelation,” said Kathy. “I mean, I thought we were pretty good until she came along. She just tore through our defense like we weren’t even there. Honestly, as aggravating as it was to lose, I think we all knew we were witnessing something really, really special. I suddenly knew there was so much more I could do to improve my game.”

Kathy, fifth from left in the front, was a maintain of the Cozars for many years. Michelle Akers is third from left in the same row

THE COZARS CONNECTION — College was on her radar, but earning a degree from a high-profile school wasn’t a priority for Kathy when she graduated from Auburn High School. Only a handful of universities, the majority on the east coast, even funded soccer programs in 1983. At first, she migrated with a group of male soccer friends to the local Green River Community College — but again was only allowed to practice with, not compete, on the men’s team (no women’s team existed). Her life changed later that year when Booth Gardner, the soon to be governor of Washington, asked her to join his club team known as the Cozars, which he fully sponsored and coached. “That team was as close as you could get to being professional players at the time,” said Kathy. Traveling to tournaments that included trips to Hawaii and Las Vegas, she scored 38 goals in the first half of 1984 and made such an impression when the Cozars landed in St. Louis for the national club finals that the University of North Carolina and several other schools offered full scholarships. Kathy turned them all down. “Honestly, at that point, Cozars were offering me a level of play I didn’t want to give up and I thought to myself, ‘Why would I leave this?’”

BOOTH WHO? — The Cozars’ camaraderie, including their team relationship with the team founder, is legendary in women’s soccer. “Booth was a really special human being and did so much for the team. He was so down to earth, but also a Weyerhaeuser family heir and, by 1985, the Governor of Washington.” To this day Kathy loves reminiscing with the Cozars alum. “Booth would literally drain the gas out of the cars for his security detail to get away from them and show up alone at our practices. Or he’d show up to McDonald’s with us after our games, not have any cash on him because he was Governor, and he’d steal our French fries. It was hilarious.” A year later, Kathy would attend nearby Western Washington University with her best friend, Diana Inch, and several Cozar players including National Teamer Cindy Gordon, helping them to a NAIA Regional Finals berth. “The Cozars evolved over several years to have some of the most amazing talent and coaches, including Berhane Andeberhane, in women’s soccer at the time. It was unique, like the soccer universe aligned to bring everyone together.”

Booth Gardner, the biography of a soccer-loving governor (courtesy of the Legacy Project)

THE MOMENT OF A LIFETIME — In July of 1985, Kathy traveled to Baton Rouge, La., after being chosen for the historic Olympic Sports Festival tournament, from which the 17 members of the first-ever National Team were selected. Picked for the starting lineup in the inaugural game, Aug. 18, 1985, against the host team, Italy, Kathy said standing on the field and singing the national anthem was forever embedded in her lifetime of memories. “It’s one of those pivotal moments you look back on and say you wouldn’t trade for anything. It was truly overwhelming. It was a ‘Wow! I achieved my dream. I did it!’ moment. It was an incredible experience and a rare bond that we share. But for me, as a woman playing soccer at that time, I didn’t know if or when there would be more. It was like, ‘That was amazing, but now what happens?’”

Kathy, right, with Berhane Anderberhane and National Teamer Margaret "Tucka" Healey (courtesy of Kathy Ridgewell-Williams)

COMPARING GENERATIONS — When considering the remarkable total of 13 players from the Seattle area who played for the National Team from 1985-1990, Kathy balks at the suggestion that today’s soccer players are fundamentally better than those of her era. “It’s tough to compare. An elite athlete is an elite athlete regardless of when they were born,” she said. “Maybe our era didn’t play soccer year-round as kids or have private trainers at 9 years old, but we had something just as good: we played with boys and men. That made us quicker physically and mentally, and technically sound at faster speed of play. If you’re an elite player, you know it; you have a hyper-drive growth mindset, you want to be better than the player next to you, woman or man, and that’s going to be true in any generation. Not to mention we had a long list of players with soccer IQs off the charts including Sharon McMurtry, Lori Bylin Sweeney and Shannon Higgins Cirovski.” Kathy was one of the players born in the 1960s who were named Washington state’s 50 all-time greatest players. That 2016 list also included all of her National Team teammates including Michelle — who Kathy believes belongs at the top of any list of women players. “I have loved watching so many great players come through. I’m really proud to see these young women have this opportunity and just dominate on a world stage. And as the pioneers, I think we are all amazed at how far the program has come. But Michelle was on another level. It’s kind of like Pelé. How do you compare Pelé to Ronaldo, or Messi? You can’t. If you saw Pelé and Michelle play in their prime or had a chance to play with them, you just know they’re different.” (NOTE: Michelle's story is a major component of our critically acclaimed new book, Raising Tomorrow's Champions)

A SUDDEN END: A torn hip flexor kept Kathy on the sidelines in 1986, but after six months of rehab, she returned for the Cozars season before appearing in two more games with the National Team in the summer of 1987. Targeted to join Colorado College that fall, Kathy changed course and followed long-time University of Washington coach Lesle Gallimore and National Team legend Joy Fawcett to the University of California-Berkeley, where Kathy became a third-team All-American in her final year of college eligibility. After graduating with a political economies degree, and with the Cozars disbanded, Kathy spent 15 months working and traveling in China. On her way back to the states, she was recruited by former National Teamer Gretchen Gegg Zigante to play professionally in Japan. Fatefully, she said, she turned Gretchen down. Returning stateside and training with a new Seattle women’s club team, Diadora, Kathy’s soccer future was instantly truncated a few months later when a driver sped through a stop sign and devastated Kathy’s car and body. “It was all neck and back injuries and my competitive days of playing, heading a ball and winning a tackle, were over. Just like that. But even so, I still am so grateful for the time I had at that level.”

Kathy, with one of her recent students, Elizabeth Baltz (courtesy of Kathy Ridgewell-Williams)

EVER THE COACH: Despite playing in an era with little financial return from the game, Kathy has cashed in by turning those experiences into a professional career of coaching and managing business teams. After owning a couple of sports bars with her husband, Tim, and starting their family, she moved on to serve as a corporate manager and coach for Walgreens to help turn around financially struggling stores. She worked for many years after that consulting and managing private education programs within public K-12 school districts. Her last few years have been spent at the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services consulting as a certified diversity executive and coaching leadership development programs for an organization of more than 16,000 people. She’s remained an avid student of the game and also coached many youth teams along the way — and sees little distinction between managing the game and business. “It’s amazing how many people lack basic team management skills,” she said. “What I learned from those early days and being a bit of a nomad in my playing career is that we didn’t all have to agree all the time as long as we all had the same strategy in mind. The most successful teams I played for had people with diverse perspectives and different ideas that were willing to learn from each other then flex enough to get the win. As a leader, coach or manager in soccer and in business, build trust and relationships, allow freedom to innovate and fail; that’s what will bring you success. We learned how to experiment, fail and be more adaptable in those small-sided pickup games, right? ‘Winner Stays On! or Last Goal Wins!’ How many times do you let yourself look foolish and fall, literally, flat on your face before you pull off a Maradona in a game and everyone goes crazy? You have to trust each other to be that vulnerable. By removing the barriers that prevent people from being creative and taking risks, you’re creating an environment where they're going to get better, faster and stronger no matter what they’re doing.”

Pioneers: Pam Baughman-Cornell, an Outdoor Life Well Lived

INTRODUCING: Pam Baughman-Cornell

COLLEGES: University of Central Florida, George Mason University

Pam Baughman-Cornell at Fairfax High School circa 1980 (courtesy of Pam Baughman-Cornell)

THE CAREER THAT ALMOST WASN’T: Soccer launched at Fairfax High School in Virginia the year Pam entered the school as a freshman and, having played for the Fairfax Police Youth Club for coach Ron Dietrich, she was considered a great area player — yet went unrecruited well past her graduation date in 1981. When the father of Michelle Jardin, a player from the nearby Braddock Road soccer club, recommended Pam to Jim Ruby, the coach at the University of Central Florida, she showed up in Orlando sight unseen and immediately became a college All-American and team MVP with 18 goals and 11 assists. Almost as quickly, she flunked out. “I just wanted to be outside; I really, really had a thing about being inside a building all day,” said Pam. “I just felt like that’s not where you learn; you learn outside. I needed to be out in the environment. Also, in college, there’s a lot of distractions and it was my first time away from home for any lengthy period. The truth is, I just didn’t go to class.”

PUT ME IN, COACH: After a year back in northern Virginia at a community college to get her grades in order, Pam walked into the office of Hank Leung, then the coach at George Mason University in her hometown of Fairfax. The school had just started its soccer program in 1982. “I’m going to come here and play soccer,” she said matter-of-factly. “His jaw dropped, because he knew what I had just done at Central Florida.” Hank had never seen Pam play previously. "I heard about her from all the northern Virginia girls on the team," he said. "She walks in and I think, 'Is this for real?' It was a bit of magic as far as I'm concerned."

The 1985 George Mason soccer team; Pam is on the far right in the second row (courtesy of George Mason University)

BRING ON GOLIATH: Joining future National Teamer Lisa Gmitter, among many others, Pam instantly helped elevate George Mason's status. In their first year together Lisa and Pam led their team to the national championship game against North Carolina, where they were soundly defeated 4-0. The following year they lost 2-1 in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Colorado College and its four-time All-America goalie, Janine Szpara (who is prominently featured in our book, Raising Tomorrow’s Champions). Immediately after that game, Hank raised a lot of eyebrows in the locker room when he pronounced to his players that George Mason would win the national championship the following year. “In that moment, we were just devastated,” said Pam. “He sat us down and said, ‘Start preparing for this tournament next year. You guys are the winner.’ I was just furious. I'm like, ‘How can you say we’re going to win — after we just lost! The pressure!’ How could he safely say what’s going to happen a year from now? But he planted that little seed in our heads . . .”

A SIDE TRIP TO ITALY VIA BATON ROUGE: A few months after that loss, yet just weeks prior to her senior year, Pam was among about 70 women invited to Baton Rouge, La., to the Olympic Festival. Picked for the first-ever National Team after that tournament, and starting in its fourth-ever game, on Aug. 25, 1985, against Denmark, Pam had already made George Mason history as its first USWNT member – but still had some unfinished business back in the states (Note: Pam scored a goal for the National Team in a 3-0 victory against Canada in 1986).

Pam, in the center, holds the national championship trophy with Sis Koskinen, left, and Meg Romaine (courtesy of George Mason University)

MANY PERSONALITIES, ONE TEAM: Nothing seemed to be going right when Pam got back to campus in the fall of 1985. Admittedly out of shape after her summer vacation, she spent more time in the training room than on the field. With their coach’s proclamation defining the season well in advance, teammates bickered, both on the field and off. They had all the talent in the world — the roster featured Pam and Lisa, standouts Sue Vodicka and Andrea Baines, as well as future National Teamers Chris Tomek, Kim Maslin-Kammerdeiner, Betsy Drambour and Kim Crabbe — but they often collectively rolled their eyes, especially when Hank would have the players practice meditation at halftime. “You don’t let college students lay down and close their eyes or they will fall asleep,” said Pam with a laugh. Pam and the other team captains, however, called a meeting and encouraged the players to listen to the coach, whether they agreed with him or not. The coach's offbeat approach would pay off on the morning of Nov. 25 when Pam hobbled into his office in tears with a leg injury so painful she didn't think she could play in the national championship game that afternoon. In that moment, Hank was going through the roster with Peggy Puig, a therapist who utilized the techniques of applied kinesiology in her approach to healing. "Two minutes later, Pam walked out of my office ready to play," said Hank. "Peggy had aligned Pam's 'chi,' her free energy." As described on Page 134 of Raising Tomorrow’s Champions, it was Pam’s goal, off a cornering pass from Lisa Gmitter — and a misplaced heading of the ball by North Carolina’s injured National Teamer Stacey Enos — that helped beat a Tar Heel team that some thought invincible after 56 consecutive games without a loss. “That (team) meeting made all the difference in the world; we didn’t have to agree on everything off the field, but we needed to accept what Hank was telling us. The life lesson was to have a clear vision of where you were going. It worked.”

Pam being interviewed by ESPN reporter Saemus Malin after scoring a goal in the first nationally televised NCAA women's championship game (courtesy of Pam Baughman-Cornell)

AN OUTDOOR LIFE: Having married her high school boyfriend, Glenn Cornell, in January of their senior year at GMU, Pam has never strayed far from soccer. She has coached either youth, high school and college teams since well before she retired from playing, which included three national 30-and-over women’s club championships. She has also remained true to her life’s mantra that the best environment for learning is outdoors. Pam and Glenn have been involved with vineyards, have taken numerous wilderness excursions — Pam has hiked the Appalachian Trail on multiple occasions — and raised a pair of soccer-playing outdoorsmen, Nick and Brian. The family exudes happiness in its vast collection of experiential photographs; Brian has even turned his passion into a vocation as an outdoor writer. “He is living out of the back of his pickup truck right now, somewhere in Nevada, I think,” she said. “And, yes, I sleep fine at night. We told our sons they were going to be independent, they were going to go away to college, and they were going to be able to take care of themselves. That’s how we raised them.”

Pam and Glenn with their sons Nick, left, and Brian (courtesy of Pam Baughman-Cornell)

Pioneers: Gretchen Zigante, the First Full-Time Professional Women's Soccer Player

INTRODUCING: Gretchen Gegg Zigante

COLLEGES: Universities of Washington and North Carolina

LOVE AT FIRST SITE: Gretchen said she knew within a minute of stepping on the middle school soccer field practice for the Dash Point Dashers that soccer was the only sport she would ever take seriously. Though Gretchen would have preferred to remain a field player, one of the area’s many pioneering girls coaches, Dan Swain, quickly saw her potential as a goaltender and recruited her for his Team Adidas club that ruled the soccer landscape in Tacoma, Wa. “I’m not sure he thought I was that good, but he did think I was brave,” she said.

Gretchen Gegg Zigante, with her husband of 28 years, Nenad "Ziggy" Zigante at home in Utah (photo courtesy of Mario Zigante)

18-0 AND NOWHERE TO GO: Amidst the birthplace of American women’s soccer that the Tacoma-Seattle area of Washington state represented, Gretchen soon found herself playing with or against many of the 12 other women from that era who would join the National Team via her club team, the Cozars, which competed for national championships for several years. Her Hall of Fame teammate Michelle Akers was the legend in the making, but the area also produced Sandi Gordon Yotz, Cindy Gordon, Lori Henry, Denise Bender, Shannon Higgins-Cirovski, Kathy Ridgewell-Williams, Denise Boyer Merdich, Amy Allmann Griffin and Sharon McMurtry. Gretchen even allowed her future National Team teammate Lorraine Figgins Fitzhugh to live for a year on her family's 25-foot sailboat in the Seattle harbor when Lorraine was attending the University of Washington and fighting with the school administration about adding a women’s varsity team. As Lorraine told us in her interview, the UW club team was beating all comers, including an 18-0 season in 1984, but were denied the opportunity to play for anything but pride.

MOM VS. MOM: Gretchen’s biggest rival might have been the other goalie, but instead the pair were each other’s biggest supporters and instigators of hijinks. “There’s not a human being in the world that doesn’t like Amy Griffin; she’s one of my greatest friends to this day and will be forever,” said Gretchen. “Our mothers, on the other hand? They were fiercely competitive with each other about who should be playing the most, Amy or me. That carried on for years.”

Fearlessly going all out carried Gretchen to the highest levels of the game.

THE NATIONAL TEAM: Gretchen declined to attend the infamous tryout in Baton Rouge, La., in 1985 for what became the first National Team. “I honestly didn’t think I was that good,” she said. She changed her mind in 1986, however, and National Team head coach Anson Dorrance liked what he saw enough that he not only offered her a spot on the roster, he also offered her a scholarship to attend North Carolina that fall for her senior year. Though she suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament after college and was sidelined for long periods — with no surgery to repair it — Gretchen managed to remain a regular attendee at National Team camps through 1990 and appeared in two games, one in 1986 and the other in 1990. “I think I was in the best shape of my life at that point and I gave it my all,” she said. “When I didn’t get picked for the World Cup roster in 1991, I was at peace with the decision. I was in the stands when they won in China in 1991 and I was in the Rose Bowl with my mother in 1999 and I still felt connected to the players and the team.”

Marketing the women's game in Japan, circa 1990.

THE CALL THAT OPENED A HUGE DOOR: The day after being cut from the National Team, Gretchen received a phone call from Hiro Watanabe, a professional men’s player from Japan who she had met while completing her college degree at Idaho State University. “He said, ‘Did you make the team?’ When I told him I had been cut, he said, ‘Great! That means you can come to Japan.’” Hiro, who was instrumental in developing Japan’s team that beat the United States in the 2011 women’s World Cup, helped Gretchen land what is believed to be the first-ever full-time professional contract for an American woman in soccer. The Fujita Tendai paid her six million yen annually, along with housing and other covered expenses — which was the equivalent of a $30,000 American salary with myriad other benefits from 1990-1995. With Gretchen serving as an unofficial ambassador for the only professional women’s league in the world at the time, several other Americans followed her to Japan, including Stanford standout Heather McIntyre and 1999 World Cup hero Brandi Chastain.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: Sexism was rampant in the early 1990s in Japan, as evidenced by the marketing pieces for the women’s matches that Gretchen saved. Still, she said the experience was positive overall. “I was treated very, very well,” said Gretchen. “Once they trust you over there, that means everything.” The men of Japan, however, were not necessarily used to seeing women with muscular physiques. “I had a man in the supermarket walk up to me and say, ‘Your legs look really strong!’ He proceeded to grab my legs right there in the store to test how strong they were.”

Gretchen, fourth from bottom right, joined a Canadian, Carrie Serwetnyk, and an American, Heather McIntyre, for her second season in Japan.

THE FAMILY BUSINESS: While still under contract in Japan, Gretchen was back in the U.S. in 1993 recruiting players to come to the Orient when she met a man on an airplane who seemed unusually impressed with her status as a professional goalie. “He said, ‘If you’re a goalie, you need to come train with my friend.’ He kept going on and on and on about his friend, Ziggy.” When that same man called a day later, she agreed to drive to a soccer field outside of San Diego where she met Nenad “Ziggy” Zigante, a goalie for Dinamo, the top team in what was then Yugoslavia. At the end of their first encounter, Gretchen invited him to go sailing in her mother’s boat. “There he is in his thick Croatian accent trying to find the words to say ‘Yes’ . . . ‘I’m very sorry, but I would like to come.’” The couple’s daughter, Susana, was raised playing goaltender in the U.S., but due to her father’s heritage, she has become a member of the Croatian women’s national team.

Gretchen's daughter, Susana Zigante, is a second-generation National Teamer. (courtesy of Grand Canyon University)

THE LONG, WINDING ROAD: With teaching the art of goaltending as their calling cards and the only jobs they’ve known, the Zigantes have traveled the nation and world together in the past three decades. Gretchen has coached in Japan and for colleges in Colorado, California and New York, including a year as interim head coach at Cornell University. In more recent years she has focused on club soccer, but only on her terms. “There’s a lot of crazy people in this game right now,” she said. “I’ve been in situations where the club team’s parents think they know more than I do, so I tell them, ‘Then I guess you don’t need me,’ and I’ve moved on.” In 2018, they landed in Heber City, Utah. “It’s a small community and more mello,” said Gretchen, who works with a local soccer club and previously coached the high school team. “I see this as my retirement job.”

The 1986 National Team, with Gretchen kneeling front and center

Pioneers: Stacey Enos, the National Team's First Tar Heel

INTRODUCING: Stacey Enos

COLLEGE: The University of North Carolina

PLAYGROUND PASSION: With no youth soccer or school teams to play for, Stacey started her athletic life on the softball field with girls and on the playgrounds with boys playing pickup soccer games. By age 14, Stacey found her way to Frisch’s, a soccer club team of mostly college-aged women. Though she has a twin sister, Romney, Stacey loved soccer so much she was prepared to move from Tampa to Miami to live with her aunt until Hillsborough County in Florida added girls soccer in to their school curriculum in 1980 in response to the landmark legislation known as Title IX.

Stacey Enos, horizontal in the center, keeps it light with members of the 1986 U.S. Women's National Team (photo courtesy of Cindy Gordon)

THE TRYOUT THAT ALTERED HER COURSE: Stacey said she had her heart set on playing soccer at the University of Central Florida in nearby Orlando, where she might have joined future National Teamers Linda Gancitano, Michelle Akers, Kim Wyant and Amy Griffin. When UCF coach Jim Rudy turned her down — “I think he probably figured he couldn’t tame me,” said Stacey — her high school coach pointed her toward Chapel Hill, where the new coach at North Carolina was holding an informal tryout. “Anson (Dorrance) wanted to kick the living shit out of everybody and I thrived in that environment,” said Stacy on Page 134 of Raising Tomorrow’s Champions. “I did run into Jim Rudy about 20 years later and he told me he knew he made a huge mistake in not bringing me in.”

THE PLAYER WHO CHANGED EVERYTHING: Among the most infamous stories in American women’s soccer history, thanks to nearly four decades of telling and re-telling by Anson, revolves around Stacey’s sophomore year when April Heinrichs — named the American player of the decade for the 1980s — arrived by way of Littleton, Colo. As detailed in our book and numerous other publications through the years, some of the older Tar Heel players visited Anson’s office to express objection to the new recruit’s brashly relentless style of play — but Stacey makes it clear she wasn’t one of them. She sees a life lesson for young players everywhere in her approach to her tougher-than-nails teammate. “I absolutely loved it, because April Heinrichs made me a better player,” said Stacey. “Anson always matched us up in practice and me training against April every day, in preparation for match day, was more physical, more demanding than anything I was going to face from any of the teams we played.”

THE NATIONAL TEAM: Between her junior and senior years of college, Stacey was among the approximately 70 women who traveled to Baton Rouge, La., to attend what unknowingly became the first-ever tryout for the National Team. With fellow Tar Heel Emily Pickering Harner injured for the first game in Italy that summer, Stacey carried home the distinction of being the first of more than 60 of Anson Dorrance’s North Carolina players to have played for the National Team in the past 36 years. She was also instrumental in another major team legacy that has endured from 1985 to now: the chanting of “Ooosa, Ooosa, Ooosa AH” prior to every game. As detailed in Chapter 13 of Raising Tomorrow’s Champions, Stacey was, as ever, the instigator. “I think if there was a role that I played, it was to keep things light hearted,” she said. “We focused on the job at hand, but it’s also important to have fun along the way.”

Stacey, right, with her wife, Annie, and their son, Gabriel

TAKE ME HOME, COUNTRY ROADS: When leg injuries suffered in a car accident ended Stacey’s playing career after she had started 10 of the first 11 games in team history, she said her life was shattered in more ways than one. For a long while, she said, she felt shunned by the game as a gay woman attempting to enter what seemed like an exclusive coaching fraternity. Her National Team resume, however, helped her land her first coaching gig at Utah State University from 1996 to 2001, and then her longest-standing appointment of 16 years as the head coach at Warren Wilson College in Asheville in western North Carolina. In 2018 she became part owner and coach of the Asheville City Soccer Club, a member of the Women’s Premier Soccer League that boasts 130 amateur adult teams across the United States. Though North Carolina isn’t known nationally as the most enlightened place for two married women to raise their son, Stacey has found personal and professional fulfillment in the city formed around the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers. “Asheville is the kind of small city where there’s no judgement; people here just don’t care about someone’s orientation,” she said. “People are just people, accepted for whomever they are and whatever choices they make as long as they’re kind.”

Stacey was happy to point out her club team can boast of its own beer . . .

Stacey, left, with team co-owners Lydia Vandenbergh and Meghann Burke

Recognize the tall guest to Stacey's right? That's America's all-time leading scorer, Abby Wambach.

GRASS ROOTS SOCCER: With deep roots in the game, Asheville has become one of the Premier League’s true success stories, averaging 1,500 fans per game in a non-pandemic year and even selling out the municipal stadium for Pride Night with more than 2,200 people in attendance. Stacey was thrilled when one of her team’s star players from the 2018-2019 seasons, Jennifer Cudjoe, earned a spot on the New Jersey Sky Blue team of the National Women’s Soccer League. A native of Ghana, Jennifer had taken a circuitous route through the American educational system, with two small college teams in Oklahoma, another one in Ft. Kent, the northernmost town in Maine, before Stacey fielded a phone call from her coach Alex Smith, with whom Jennifer had just won a national Division III championship. “Without our team and our league, Jennifer probably would have had to leave the country to continue pursuing her dream,” said Stacey. “She developed into a better player here and look at her now. That’s what this is all about for me . . . growing the game I love.”

Pride Night filled the Asheville municipal stadium with fans in 2019.

Pioneers: Ruth Harker, The Goaltender With a Heart of Gold

INTRODUCING: Ruth Harker

COLLEGE: University of Missouri-St. Louis

PAYING HER WAY: Though her brother was supported in his desire to play sports growing up in the Bridgeton Terrace neighborhood long since taken over by airport expansion in St. Louis, Ruth was encouraged to be a cheerleader. She wanted no part of it. “I was Forrest Gump as a kid, running everywhere I went,” said Ruth. “My body and mind just needed to be in motion. But my mother didn’t believe girls should play sports.” Finally, when Ruth entered high school, her mother agreed to let her join a local soccer team, as well as the track, cross country, volleyball and basketball teams at the high school — as long as Ruth earned the money for cab fare to get to and from games and practices.

Ruth Harker, front left, in a National Team reunion selfie in 2019...

AN UNLIKELY GOALIE: The running drew Ruth to soccer, but her lack of experience dribbling and shooting the ball led her coach, Marge Rosenthal, to give her a try as goaltender. Having been born blind in one eye, which she kept a secret from teammates and coaches, she struggled at first with depth perception. “I still remember the first goal I ever gave up,” said Ruth, who is featured prominently in the book “Raising Tomorrow’s Champions” in the chapter focused on adversity. “The ball bounced in front of me, and then right over my head and into the back of the net. After that, I just tried to anticipate where the ball was going to be and made sure I got there first.” Within a year she was recognized for her fearlessness and talent and was invited to international competitions in Sweden.

Ruth Harker, making a save at the Olympic Sports Festival in 1985.

THE NATIONAL TEAM: Between her junior and senior seasons as a starter at UMSL, where she was team captain and MVP, Ruth traveled to the Olympic Sports Festival in Baton Rouge, La., in July of 1985 and earned one of the 17 spots on the first-ever U.S. Women’s National Team from coach Mike Ryan. When she entered the game as a replacement for Kim Wyant in the third and fourth games in National Team history, Aug. 23^rd and 24^th against England and Denmark, Ruth earned her only two career appearances (known in National Team parlance as CAPs). “I’m guessing I had the shortest overall soccer career of any National Teamer in history,” said Ruth, an engineer who now serves as vice president of Swan Packaging, a food-service company. “Since I didn’t even start playing until I was 14, and retired at 22, my entire run only lasted eight years. After that, I needed to go get a job.”

Ruth, fifth from right, stands next to her friend, Adrianna Franch, to her right. Can you name all the other women who have appeared in goal for the USWNT. This photo appears on Page 41 of Raising Tomorrow's Champions.

AN AUTHENTIC LIFE: Just prior to her selection to the National Team, Ruth started coming to terms with aspects of herself she had never explored previously. “In hindsight, I look back at my childhood and think about those crushes on (female) camp counselors,” she said. “There were crushes on my friends. At the time, I didn’t know what that meant. I was taught girls were supposed to be with guys so, of course, I dated a guy in college. It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I acted my true feelings with a woman.” Still, living in a conservative midwestern community, she didn't feel truly accepted by her mother and hid her true identity from many people for many years thereafter. She shares a dramatic story on Pages 206-207 of the book in which she needed to defend herself from a man who objected to her appearance at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.

GIVING BACK: “When you grew up like I did . . . poor, gay, confused . . . it leads to a lot of thoughts of depression and even worse, suicide,” said Ruth. “To the degree that I can help others from sharing my story, my experiences and the gifts that life has given me, that’s my primary focus now.” Ruth has served on the board of Easter Seals and is well known among the generations of National Team teammates for her generosity and compassion. When Michelle Akers’ horse rescue farm was in dire financial condition and the legendary player was selling many of her trophies and gold medals to raise money, Ruth was among the players who bought the items from Michelle, gave her the money, and then returned the memorabilia. Heading out to the 2019 National Team reunion held in Los Angeles in honor of the 20^th anniversary of the 1999 World Cup champions, Ruth stopped in Chicago to pick up Preston Klug, a 12-year-old goalie suffering from a brain tumor. “My teammates made him feel like king for the day,” said Ruth, who is happy to report that, two years later, Preston is doing well.

Ruth's friend, Preston Klug, holds the gold ball autographed by all the members of the U.S. Women's National Team who attended the 2019 reunion

THE LEGACY: Ruth is a huge fan of the current iteration of the National Team, calling out Sam Mewis for her humor, Alex Morgan for her generosity and Megan Rapinoe for stating aloud what’s been true for the National Team since the beginning: “You can win without the gays, baby! That’s science right there.” Ruth also holds a kindred feeling of warmth toward fellow goaltender Adrianna Franch, a woman who has likewise had to endure gender-based taunting and discrimination based on her appearance. “I just really like her; she’s such a good human being,” said Ruth. “Adrianna is so personable and really seems to appreciate and understand the role that the pioneers played in opening the doors for the women who came afterward.”

MOMMY'S GIRL: With her step-father, Ezra Barton, having passed away on Jan. 17 of this year, Ruth's mother, Kathy, was recently diagnosed with a terminal illness. Ruth is thankful for the time they have been able to share together in recent weeks, including conversations that have helped heal old wounds. "My mother believed what she believed back in those days and I don't blame her for that," said Ruth, who was elected to the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2019 and her college’s Hall of Fame last year. "My mom is tough, ferocious really. And, before she met my 'Pops,' she was a single mother who got four children through college. She clearly did something right."

Ruth, with her mother, Kathy, and step-father, Ezra

Pioneers: Denise Merdich, the Selfless Teammate

INTRODUCING: Denise Boyer Merdich

COLLEGE: University of Puget Sound

INTRODUCTION TO THE GAME: Denise never considered herself athletic until John Dunlap, the father of a fellow future National Teamer, Joan Dunlap-Seivold, invited her to play soccer shortly after the Boyer family moved from California to the Seattle area. “I wasn’t competitive and I might have even been considered slow,” said Denise. “But somehow, when there was a soccer ball to chase, suddenly no one could catch me and stop me.”

Denise, playing as a member of the Tacoma Cozars

THE SALVATION: Denise’s father had served in the military during World War II, the Korean War and also in Vietnam and she said she believed he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder by the time she was 10. When her father moved out of the home, Denise, her mother and brothers moved to Tacoma where, much to Denise’s surprise, a local soccer coach knocked on her door a week later. “Mr. Dunlap thought I should keep playing soccer, so he made a phone call and here was this man asking me to join his team,” she said. “I appreciated that. For those two hours on the field a few times each week, I was able to forget about everything at home.”

Denise, front of the line, in the Cozars’ team photo

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME: In those days, the University of Puget Sound fielded a women’s team, but the part-time coach had never actually played the game and the competition was less than stellar. Fortunately, Denise had already caught the attention of the Dunlaps and the rest of the Washington area’s immense pool of other soccer talent that would form the cornerstone of America’s earliest women’s national teams: Lorraine Figgins Fitzhugh, Michelle Akers, Sandi Gordon Yotz, Cindy Gordon, Amy Allmann Griffin, Lori Henry, Denise Bender, Shannon Higgins-Cirovski, Gretchen Gegg Zigante, Kathy Ridgewell-Williams and Sharon McMurtry. Denise also played for a bevy of renowned coaches through the years, including Greg Ryan, the first National Team coach, as well as Berhane Andeberhan, Clive Charles, Larry Feir and Booth Gardner, a two-term governor of Washington.

THE NATIONAL TEAM: Denise was first selected for the National Team in 1984 when it existed only on paper and made it again when the infamous selection occurred in July of 1985 at the Olympic Sports Festival in Baton Rouge, La. She played in all four of the National Team’s games in Italy in 1985, then took 1986 off. She agreed to try out again in 1987 and appeared in three games — scoring the only goal of her National Team career on July 7 against Canada — before retiring from the team just prior to it leaving for an international tournament in Tianjin, China.

BETTER HER THAN ME: Denise said she always considered her soccer teammates sisters and found it difficult to watch players get cut from the team when Anson Dorrance began to make significant roster changes, including the addition of teenagers Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Julie Foudy in the summer of 1987. “I’d watch my teammates come out of a meeting with Anson and they’d be crying; it was just so sad,” said Denise. “I went in and told Anson, ‘They want this more than I do. Give one of them my spot.’ And that was that. It was the right thing for me to do, for me and for them.”

ENDURING MEMORIES: Denise said she cringes when she hears people say the first National Team in 1985, with its record of three losses and one tie, wasn’t very good. “We went over there to Italy after just three days of training together in New York, suffering from jet lag, and were competitive against every single team; we had a lot of moxie,” she said. Some of her favorite memories came off the field, including receiving what amounted to her first soccer paycheck — $10 a day in meal money. “I was so excited for that $10,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine why they were paying us after they already paid for the plane ticket and gave us uniforms. That was my mindset, honestly. I bought an Italian bathing suit and two pairs of sweat pants, and a bunch of us rented those paddle boats out on the Adriatic Sea. We had it in our minds that we were going to paddle to Yugoslavia!”

*Denise, accepting her flowers and plaque from the Denmark national team in 1985 . . .*

After the game against Denmark on Aug. 21 that featured the first two goals in American National Team history, by Michelle Akers and Emily Pickering, the two teams gathered for a celebration at a disco in Jesolo. “Our hosts played Bruce Springsteen’s song ‘Born in the USA’ for us. The music was blaring and all of the U.S. team was on the dance floor jumping up and down and bumping into each other, laughing and worrying about nothing.” Later that evening, Denise was presented with a flowers and a plaque with an inscription that, when translated, reads: “To the best American athlete of Denmark vs. USA.” She has held onto it all these years.

HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED: When Denise called her father to tell him she had just made the National Team in 1985, his response was: “Why are you playing that stupid Mickey Mouse game?” When she gave her fiancé the news, he reacted similarly: “You’re not going to play, are you?” More than 35 years later, she’s proud of the legacy she helped build. “It allowed me to help be a part of laying the foundation for young girls to dream attainable, possible dreams — and for parents to have an idea of what that dream can look like for their daughters.”

LIFE LESSONS: A volunteer assistant coach for several teams through the years, Denise is perhaps most proud of the Washington Premier “B” team comprised of girls born in 1994. After losing a series of games by a lopsided score, the head coach asked Denise, who works in the physical therapy industry, to help out. Team administrators wanted to cut most of the players and rebuild the roster with new recruits, but she proudly protested: “Do you know how much talent we have on this team? They’re only 12 years old. They’re babies. Give them time!” Two years later, with virtually the same group of girls still considered a “B” team, they won Washington state championship and ultimately played for a national club championship. “I helped them stay positive the whole time,” said Denise, who played competitively well into her 50s. “I’d ask them to go ‘make a little magic for me,’ just like Berhane used to say to me. Be creative. Take risks. Make your teammates look good, and they’ll make you look good. Most of all, just have fun.”

Denise, with longtime National Team friend and goalie, Amy Allmann Griffin

Pioneers: Kim Wyant, Still Making History

Kim Wyant . . . coaching the men of New York University

INTRODUCING: Kim Wyant

COLLEGE: The University of Central Florida

DON’T MESS WITH MOM: Growing up in Miami, Kim was often the best athlete playing whatever sport was in season, even though everyone else participating was a boy. For many years, her favorite pastimes were BMX bike racing, also against boys, and baseball — from which the male administrators attempted to ban her due to her gender. Faith Wyant, a single Mom, wasn’t having any part of that decision. “She threatened to sue them for all they were worth,” said Kim. “My Mom always fought. Hard.”

Kim . . . the champion BMX bike racer, circa age 12

NOTEWORTHY: Kim continued with BMX racing, against men and women, well into her adulthood and is considered one of the sport’s significant pioneers who helped bring BMX racing to the Olympics in 2008.

MAKING COLLEGIATE HISTORY: When the NCAA staged the first-ever women’s national championship in soccer in 1982, Kim was the starting freshman goalie for UCF. Even though her team lost to North Carolina, she was named the tournament’s first most valuable player.

NATIONAL TEAM: When Kim traveled to the 1985 Olympic Sports Festival in Baton Rouge, La., none of the players had any idea that coach Mike Ryan would be picking the first U.S. Women’s National Team at the end of the 10-day, four-team tournament. “When I look back on that now, I’m kind of in awe that it all actually happened,” said Kim. “It strikes me that, unlike today where kids have internships and real jobs, we were hanging out at a festival for 10 days. Then we get picked for the National Team and they tell us, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re going to Italy in a couple of weeks, so you need to go home and get your passport and then be up in New York to train.’ When you look back on that, even though we lived it, you think, ‘Wow! What a beginning.” Kim was the starting goaltender in the first-ever National Team game on Aug. 18 that summer.

Kim . . . the National Team goaltender in Taiwan in 1987

HANGING ON: With no women’s professional soccer leagues, staying in game shape for whenever the National Team might call, at a moment’s notice, was a challenge — especially after Kim tore her anterior cruciate ligament in 1986. An industrious leader, even back then, she often formed her own teams for the U.S. Women’s Open Cup each summer just so she’d have games to play.

A HAUNTING MEMORY: Throughout her decade-long National Team career that included nine game appearances, Kim figures her best chance of playing in the World Cup would have come in 1995, but feels a single moment in 1994 might have derailed her chances. Playing in a scrimmage that January in California, she allowed a relatively easy shot — a “soft goal” — to slip through her hands and into the net. “The stakes were higher by then because we knew the World Cup was around the corner and the Olympics were coming,” she said. “That was so deflating, to me and the team. I remember being at the airport and the assistant coach, Lauren Gregg, came over to me and put her hand on my back and said, ‘Hang in there.’ But I can’t help but feel like that sealed my fate. At that level, the line between playing, sitting on the bench, or getting cut, is just so razor thin.” Kim’s final opportunity to prove herself would come in the fall of 1995 as the National Team gathered in Chula Vista, Calif., to begin preparations for the 1996 Olympics, which was the first time women’s soccer would be contested in the Games. By then, future legend Briana Scurry, backed up by Saskia Webber and Mary Harvey, had a lock on the goaltending position. “I never actually retired from the National Team,” said Kim. “I eventually just stopped getting invited into their camps.”

INSPIRATIONAL STORY: “One of the things I took away from that last camp in Chula Vista, and I continue to tell young players about today, was the story of Brandi Chastain,” said Kim. “She was cut after the 1991 World Cup. She had some injuries. But she loved the game and eventually went to Japan and joined a professional team over there to get playing time. Tony DiCicco was National Team coach by then and Brandi would call Tony every single week to remind him that she wanted to play for him and that she was ready. When we get to camp that October, Mia Hamm is there. Julie Foudy. Kristine Lilly. And Brandi is the best player in camp, by far, in the best shape, running circles around people. But Tony meets with her and says, ‘You’re a forward. I don’t need a forward . . . but I do need an outside defensive back.’ Some people might have been crushed or insulted by that. Brandi says, ‘Tony, I’ll carry the water bottles if it means I can be on the team.’”

THE PLAYER-COACH: Kim began coaching the Florida Atlantic University women in 1995, but traveled to New York in the summers to participate in the W-League, a semiprofessional network of teams that included many National Teamers and collegiate players. By 2001, after many years as the league’s best goaltender for the Long Island Lady Riders, she also began coaching the team and continued as head coach for three years after she retired as a player in 2003. At that point, she began coaching at Dowling College on Long Island in New York before eventually agreeing to help out at New York University as a part-time assistant with the women’s team.

MORE HISTORY: In 2015, when the men’s coach at NYU resigned suddenly for family health reasons after just one game that season, the university immediately turned to Kim to pick up the pieces. Some on-line sources still call Kim the first woman to ever coach an NCAA men’s team, but that distinction appears to belong to Liz Belyea who, way back in 1980, became the men's coach at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Amy Machin-Ward, a former North Carolina standout, also became men’s soccer coach at Regis College in Massachusetts in 1992.

BATTLES OF THE SEXES: Kim, who is profiled and offers her views on gender differences in Chapter 1 of our book, "Raising Tomorrow’s Champions," doesn’t subscribe to the theory that coaching men and women is substantially different, nor does she believe needs to behave any differently with her current team than she did with her past women’s teams. “If I even tried to be someone I’m not, by yelling more, being louder, that wouldn’t be me and the players would see through that in a second,” said Kim. “The key to success in anything you do is to be authentic.”

Pioneers: Denise Bender, Never Say Quit

Denise Bender, the first National Team captain (courtesy of Denise Bender)

INTRODUCING: Denise Bender

COLLEGE: Washington State and the University of Washington

INTRODUCTION TO SOCCER: Growing up with a brother and twin sister on Mercer Island near Seattle, Denise competed in gymnastics and diving, as well as track and basketball, and didn’t start playing soccer until the Mercer Island Jockettes were formed in the early 1970s. Soon afterward, Denise was scouted by Mike Ryan and picked for his nationally recognized club team, FC Lowenbrau, that won three national women’s club championships from 1980-82.

NATIONAL TEAM: After playing at the University of Washington, where soccer was still only considered a club sport, Denise was one of approximately 70 players invited to the Olympic Festival in Baton Rouge, La., in 1985, where Mike Ryan picked her to join what would become the first physical assemblage of the U.S. Women’s National Team later that summer. Selected by Mike as the team’s first captain, she appeared in all four games as a defender — but was never asked to try out for the team again. “That pissed me off,” said Denise, who shared more pointed feelings about that topic, as well as her brief role as team leader, in our book, Raising Tomorrow’s Champions. “Back in those days, if you wanted to play on the most special teams, they were always coached by men and you had to put up with a lot of crap that wouldn’t be acceptable today.”

The only known photo of the original 1985 National Team, with captain Denise front row, fourth from right (courtesy of Frank McDonald)

LIFELONG LOVE: Not making a team, having differences with a particular coach, or getting cut from your current team should never mean quitting the game altogether, according to Denise. She continued her involvement with soccer for decades after her National Team career, coaching and winning numerous championships — including an over-40 title with a Copa de Vida team that included her friend, Jan Smisek, who was the first woman in America ever to obtain an “A” level coaching license. At age 50, Denise appeared in the Senior Cup in Australia, making it to the semifinals. In more recent years, she’s been involved in Seattle’s “walking” soccer league, an all-ages game played with a futsal ball that’s smaller and heavier than a traditional soccer ball.

Denise, left, drives to the goal in the 1980 club national championship game (courtesy of Frank McDonald)

THEN VS. NOW: “The skill level is definitely better overall in today’s players,” said Denise. “But there were a few players from my era who would have been stars today. Michelle (Akers) is a given. Michelle was formidable, she had a presence about her that was undeniable. I think I’d probably have to agree with the people who say she’s the best of all-time, but I would have liked to have seen Sharon McMurtry (USWNT 1985-86) keep going. She had a stature just like Michelle, but was much more clever with the ball.”

THE LEGACY: Denise feels that playing sports is empowering, especially for girls who may find it initially difficult to express their leadership skills in other ways. “I’m proud to be associated with a group of women from the National Team who have put themselves out there as leaders,” said Denise, who earned a master’s degree in industrial hygiene and now serves as assistant director of occupational safety and health at the University of Washington. “Through the years, and especially in recent years, these women are making bold statements. They are advocating for minorities and other groups of marginalized people. I think Megan Rapinoe is great. I do. But I also feel good about the mostly forgotten women who, in 1976, started a club soccer team in an era when society said women shouldn’t be playing soccer. They were told they should be housewives. I feel good about being a part of that group, too.”

Our Book's Goal: To Give Back

Our book tells the story of how Jessica McDonald’s success at Phoenix Community College ultimately propelled her to the National Team. In 2019, the college retired her jersey. (Photo courtesy of Phoenix College)

Generosity, in the form of gifts, donations or scholarships, helped launch the careers of numerous National Teamers. Giving back is also the core spirit that drives our book project.

“At the time, I didn’t even realize (the financial assistance) was happening,” said 2019 World Cup champion Jessica McDonald, who was discovered at age 12 by the Sereno Soccer Club of Phoenix. As detailed in the pages of Raising Tomorrow’s Champions, Jessica’s family didn’t have the money for dues and travel for tournaments, but the community always stepped up with support. “As I got older, everything hit me: ‘Oh, my gosh, no wonder why I was always at my teammates’ houses.’ It was as if I had 18 other parents! I’m very grateful that people were willing to pay for my brother and me to play club soccer because we wouldn’t be where we are today without it.”

National Teamer Danesha Adams, likewise, was already on U.S. Soccer’s youth team radar at age 15 when her family dynamics changed suddenly. While Danesha was away at an international tournament in Chicago, her mother moved from southern California all the way to Ohio — but Danesha didn’t want to leave her club team behind. For most of her high school career, the friends and families of the FC Slammers of Newport Beach purchased first-class roundtrip plane tickets. Danesha boarded the 5:05 p.m. flight west on Friday evenings, and took the red-eye back to Ohio at 11:58 p.m. on Sundays, then lived with various families during summers and other extended periods for tournaments. “That’s what got me into UCLA, being a part of that club and the support of all those Moms and Dads. I’m still close to many of them today.”

Believing that the benefits of playing soccer ought to be available to everyone, regardless of their social or economic situation, we have pledged a portion of the proceeds from the sale of each book to numerous non-profit causes. We are also making the book available as a fundraiser to soccer clubs and other organizations that tie the soccer experience to social causes such as gender, race and LGBTQ+ issues.

“We wanted to create a program that would give young girls a chance to play, teach them about health and wellness, that it’s OK to be bold, to have a voice,” said Brandi Chastain, the soccer Hall of Famer who co-founded of one of our partner organizations, BAWSI (pronounced bossy), the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative.

“One of the things we do at the Mia Hamm Foundation is to encourage and empower girls through sport, and it doesn’t mean you have to be on the National Team,” Mia told us. “At the end of the day, it’s not about who plays at the highest level, it’s just about all those life lessons you learn through sport and how that can impact your life going forward.”

It’s amazing for everyone involved when young women like Jessica and Danesha, and several others, take that spark provided by generosity and take their games to the highest level. The most moving stories and photographs in our book, however, came from the girls most people will never hear about; they just love, and benefit from, the game. Thank you, in advance, for helping to make a few more of those possible.

Pioneers: Linda Gancitano, the Champion of Change

Linda, left, at the University of Central Florida with teammates Kim Wyant and Michelle Akers . . .

COLLEGE: University of Central Florida

YOUTH CAREER: Linda grew up near Mullins Park in Coral Springs, Fla., where she spent countless evenings scrimmaging with boys, including her brother, Nick, who would become the field goal kicker for Penn State University’s national championship team that beat Georgia in the 1983 Sugar Bowl. Linda joined her brother on the Coral Springs High School team, becoming the first girl in Florida history to play boys’ varsity soccer.

NATIONAL TEAM: After selection as defensive MVP of the first-ever NCAA women’s soccer tournament in 1982 and appearing in the Olympic Festival in 1985, Linda was selected to join the first-ever U.S. Women’s National Team for its four games in Italy that summer. She was the team’s first substitute, replacing captain Denise Bender in the opening game, and then appeared in one more game. A torn anterior cruciate ligament in 1986 ended her playing career.

Linda at the first National Team training camp in 1985 (courtesy of Cindy Gordon)

COLLEGE FUN AND GAMES: With four future National Teamers — Linda, Michelle Akers, Kim Wyant and Amy Griffin — all with larger-than-life personalities attending the University of Central Florida at the same time, Linda said she had her hands full as captain. She recalled frequent “swatting” on campus whereby players would hide high in trees waiting to ambush their teammates with flying objects. One night, after being out late, Linda came back to her dorm room only to find it filled floor to ceiling with newspaper. “Oh, you can be sure I made them pay for that!” she said.

Thirty-five years later, Michelle, Linda and Kim are still smiling

GOOSE BUMPS: Memories of the first official National Team game can still fill Linda with emotion. “Way back in the mid ’80s, we weren’t playing for the money. We weren’t playing for anything other than the joy of the game and for each other. But then you get out there in the middle of the field and they’re singing the United States national anthem. And it felt like ‘Oh, my God, this is real.’ You were playing and representing the United States. I’m still in awe of that moment.”

THE FAMILY BUSINESS: After college, Linda decided to follow her father, Nick Sr., into the classroom, but didn’t know if she could handle it at first. “These kids are off the wall!” she told her Dad after her first day. “He was a principal in Broward County and the first thing he said to me was, ‘Kids aren’t perfect in middle school and, at this age, they might not ever learn anything. But the biggest gift that you can give them is to love themselves.’ And I always remember that because that is that stage where they have to be able to start accepting who they are and loving who they are — no matter what. And I think that message is finally getting out there. A lot of things have stayed in the dark for so long: racism, inequality, sexual orientation. It’s finally becoming OK in school to talk about these things.” Linda offers further perspective on the subject of race on Page 35 of “Raising Tomorrow’s Champions.”

GOING GREEN: Linda said she was deeply impacted by Al Gore’s 2006 movie, “An Inconvenient Truth.” She brought that passion into Driftwood Middle School in Hollywood, Fla., by creating an environmental “Green Team,” and launching an energy-reduction challenge campaign “How Low Can You Go?” that ultimately expanded throughout her entire school district and led to a high-profile partnership with LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

OPENING DOORS: Linda said that having the phrase “National Team” near the top of her resume has meant more and more as the team has become more popular in recent years. Recognized as a “Champion of Change,” by the Obama Administration, Linda has been invited to the White House on several occasions in the past 13 years and authored an official White House blog: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/02/27/how-low-can-we-go-fun-challenge-us-schools-reduce-energy-consumption. “There’s an instant level of respect now when people hear you played on that team,” she said. “That’s a reflection of the amazing women who have been on the team through the years and, especially, the incredible team we have now.”

Linda, with National Team superstar Alex Morgan

BETTER THAN EVER: An avid photographer and beach volleyball player, Linda said she still thrives in the middle school environment after more than three decades. Leading the school’s curriculum in a progressive direction — she teaches yoga, mindfulness, heart mapping and Rose Quartz meditation — keeps her job fresh. “The core of every child’s health is how they’re doing mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually. You can’t have a healthy child without addressing all aspects of the whole being. You just can’t. You can have the smartest child in the world, but if they don’t know how to be social, to be able to connect emotionally, they’re not going to be very happy.”

TO HEAR AND SEE MORE ABOUT LINDA:

https://www.wsfltv.com/2016/09/21/superheroes-in-our-schools-linda-gancitano