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College Soccer Diary Young Florida team living up to its potential
Posted: Thursday September 30, 1999 02:44 PM
Becky Burleigh has been the head soccer coach at the University of Florida since the program began in 1995. Burleigh became the first female coach to lead a team to the NCAA title when the Gators won the 1999 national championship. Through Thursday, Florida is 9-0 overall and 4-0 in the SEC. Check out Burleigh's dairy each Thursday on CNNSI.com
September 30, 1999
Welcome to Gator Soccer. Hopefully, these installments will give you insight into the world of collegiate soccer as well as the Florida Gators. Although we entered the 1999 season as the defending NCAA champions, I don't think people outside of the UF program had high expectations for the Gators. It is a bit unusual to be in the position of defending champion, but still in the role of an underdog. We lost 13 seniors from that championship team and to go from no program to a national championship in four seasons did seem a bit like a fairy tale.
We thought this team had potential, but there were some question marks. We didn't know how some of the younger players coming in would perform. A class of eight true freshmen is a big group that needs to not only make the adjustment to college play, but to college life. Losing that big group of seniors which provided so much leadership for the '98 team also left some question marks.
But at this point of the season, this team is living up to the potential of my expectations. The freshmen have adapted well to this level of play. They are a good group and are fitting in well with the rest of the team. Several people have stepped up to fill the leadership roles on the team. Sarah Yohe was voted the team captain and she is doing well leading this team on and off the field. But others have shown good leadership this season, like Heather (Mitts), Abby (Wambach), and Karyn (Hall). And even though she is a freshman, Danielle Murphy shows good leadership abilities. She really isn't like a traditional freshman due to all of her experience with the Great Britain National Team. We knew this would be a tough schedule, especially considering that most of the really difficult games were away. But in a way that is good because playing in front of hostile crowds helps prepares you for the post-season and the tournament. It makes it more difficult, so you can be successful when it really counts. Philosophically, I've always felt it is much better to have too tough of a schedule than too easy of a schedule. Our goal is to win a national championship, not to just get into the tournament. So that is why we are looking more at the big picture. Another philosophy of Gator soccer is to be the hardest working team in the nation. We want to make winning the goal because so much has gone into the preparation. Preparation for a season seems like it begins as soon as the last season ends. The team has individual workouts with the coaches and the strength staff in the off-season as we try to develop the players to their fullest potential. Preseason training in August is hard work. It's the only time of the year that the NCAA doesn't put limitations on how much the players can train. We do three-a-days, which is taxing, especially in the Florida heat and humidity. But that training can pay off benefits because so many times when we go on the road, the players feel like they can play all day because the conditions are so much cooler. This week we have Wake Forest, a team that is on the way up. We are looking forward to playing at home in front of the Gator crowd before we start a six-match road stretch. The Gator fans have been very supportive of this program since it began in 1995. In fact, the first ever match drew a crowd of more than 4,400. We started off this year with an overflow crowd of more than 4,700. It was quite a night -- the UF Marching Band performed pre-game and Head Football Coach Steve Spurrier scored the ceremonial "first goal" of the season. The Women's World Cup and the national title are probably contributing to the fact that we are averaging more than 2,300 fans a match this year. The first month is over and October will be an important month to see how this team handles the challenges of being on the road and being a student (mid-terms!). Check in every week and see how we've been doing. We always have plenty of adventures when we are on the road. -- Becky Burleigh
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