A sort-of research question...

Women's Soccer at A&M however has always drawn huge crowds, could be due to the fact that A&M doesn't field a Mens program (due to Title IX compliance).

jpscholar :
Women's Soccer at A&M however has always drawn huge crowds, could be due to the fact that A&M doesn't field a Mens program (due to Title IX compliance).

The 2000 team's qualification for the Sydney Games was aided by a one-game strike by Honduran players over pay, and “we had some luck through” the process, 2000 Olympian Peter Vagenas acknowledges. Then something else took hold once the Americans got to Australia.

That team was guided by the late Clive Charles, the longtime University of Portland coach universally revered in the American soccer community. Charles, an Englishman who came to America to play in the old North American Soccer League and remained here when his playing days were done, coached the side although he had just learned (but did not divulge) he had prostate cancer, which killed him three years later.

“I've yet to find anyone in soccer who has one bad word about that man,” Vagenas said. “If you ask anyone who's ever played for him, as brief as it was, and whether you were captain of that team or never saw a minute, the over-resounding response is 'He's the best coach I've ever played for.' This is across the board.

amg wrote:Hello Nation-
This is Andrew Guest; I teach at UP in Social & Behavioral Sciences, and am a long-time soccer guy. I'm posting to ask for some ideas you all might have related to some writing I'm doing.

Here's my premise: I suspect UP is the only place in the country, and maybe in the world, where there are multiple men's and women's teams but women's soccer is the single most popular sport (but maybe someone out there can tell me if I'm wrong). So then the question is why is UP such an outlier? So the key question is really what else, in addition to the winning, explains the popularity? And are there any lessons there for other promoters of women's soccer or women's sports more generally (eg, other colleges or even the WPS)?

What I'd be particularly interested in from Pilot Nation folks is any specific perspectives and anecdotes that might contribute to a good analytic essay. So, why is it that UP women's soccer is such an outlier? And what's your evidence? (that's the social scientist in me!)

Thanks very much for any input. Andrew.

Spirit of Portland: University of Portland women's soccer team donates to Harper's Playground, volunteers with kids

At the University of Portland, volunteering is the norm. During the 2010-11 school year, university students volunteered a total of 163,891 community service hours.

But one group -- the school’s women’s soccer team -- is especially dedicated to giving back. The team won a Spirit of Portland award this week for its work on Harper’s Playground and at the Ronald McDonald House and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.

That community focus has been part of the team since Clive Charles developed it into a powerhouse nearly a decade ago, players say.

“There have been unique personalities who have been on this team every year, who are very giving and selfless,” said junior Sarah Bridges. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that every single year the team wants to do this. I think it’s intrinsic to the people they recruit.”

Last year, the team raised $5,000 for Harper’s Playground, an all-inclusive playground in the Arbor Lodge Park, by auctioning off their warm-up jerseys. They also worked at the groundbreaking. This season, the team is donating tickets and other items to raise additional money for the playground, which was inspired by 6-year-old Harper Goldberg, who was born with Emanuel Syndrome.

At the Ronald McDonald house, the team cooks dinner for families and visits with kids. This summer, members expanded that outreach to Doernbecher. When they showed up with soccer balls, shirts and lanyards, parents told Bridges that the kids were grateful for the break.

City Commissioner Nick Fish nominated the team because the players are role models, he said. The recognition is nice, Bridges said, but the real honor came Monday night, seeing the other community members who won Spirit of Portland awards.

“It was really cool to be there because you get to see all these other people who are doing things for the community, people who you might not be aware of,” Bridges said. “It’s cool to be a part of that kind of community.”