Oregon Fires Erickson.

EUGENE, Ore. -- The University of Oregon will not renew the contract of women's soccer coach Tara Erickson, Director of Athletics Rob Mullens announced Nov. 4, 2012.

A national search will begin immediately for the new women's soccer coach at Oregon. The search committee will be chaired by Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Women's Administrator Lisa Peterson. Serving on the committee will be Lorraine Davis, Special Assistant to the Athletic Director, Eric Roedl, Executive Associate Athletic Director/CFO, Jennifer Jackson, Academic Advisor, Services for Student-Athletes, and Jennifer Reynolds, Professor of Law and member of the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee.

Erickson joined the Ducks in 2005, registering an overall won-loss record of 70-71-18 and a mark of 20-46-10 in Pac-10/12 play.


Erickson is a former All-Pac-10 student-athlete and the 2006 Pac-10 Coach of the Year. Previous to the University of Oregon, she was the head coach at Portland State for four seasons, compiling a record of 28-38-10, for a total record of 98-109-28 in her head coaching career.


The University of Oregon women's soccer team finished 8-10-2 in 2012, the fourth consecutive losing season for the Ducks.

I wonder what coach they will get that wants to recruit to a Turf® field.

I wonder what coach they will get that wants to recruit to a Turf® field

Are free ACL repairs allowed as part of an athletics scholarship?

With more and more high school fields in Oregon and Washington being field turf, I'm sure there are a number of players in the Northwest who wouldn't have a second thought about playing at U of O if the opportunity came up. It's not a preferred surface, but given the other facilities they have for athletes, it's probably not as much of a handicap as it was 3-5 years ago. They may have challenges getting the "top" prospects, but then a lot of programs are in that boat. If they hire a good coach, UO could be another team to be reckoned with in the Northwest.

I was wondering this weekend if she might be on the hot seat, especially the way OSU and UW have been improving.

I disagree that players don't give a thought about playing on turf... I played with a person who went from "playing in a top level european league" to "reserve league MLS" all because of a turf related knee injury. (He DID go to N Carolina and won a national title, but was demoted from central mid to defender because of a loss in explosiveness due to the knee.) If a player has professional potential, they absolutely SHOULD consider whether playing on turf could affect their career in any way. Turf has gotten better, but it will never be as good/safe as real grass.

But its all a moot point if your coach can't recruit or get anything out of those recruits and to be honest I figured it was inevitable at some point when Lauren Hansen walked away from the program by "mutual agreement"

I'm not sure. I've seen a lot of very good female players injure knees on grass. Both Rapinoes, Kendal Johnson, Chelsea Buckland, just to name a few. I agree that playing the game played on grass is preferred. I'm just saying if my daughter was offered a scholarship to play on a turf field, I don't think it would play a role because she is used to it. She'd prefer grass, but...

Re Erickson being fired. My understanding is Lauren wasn't the only assistant coach that walked away by "mutual agreement." A coincidence, hmmm?

Most definitely not.

And as for the knees issues, women have a greater propensity for knee injuries anyway, and I guess the pro prospects aren't as high as the men's game so perhaps that renders the point moot.

But if it comes down to 2 offers from schools of equal footing, it would be silly to not consider the field when making your choice, and you better believe competing programs will be sure to point out the discrepancy.

DaTruRochin wrote:Most definitely not.

And as for the knees issues, women have a greater propensity for knee injuries anyway, and I guess the pro prospects aren't as high as the men's game so perhaps that renders the point moot.

But if it comes down to 2 offers from schools of equal footing, it would be silly to not consider the field when making your choice, and you better believe competing programs will be sure to point out the discrepancy.

Actually, when it comes to the new soccer pitches built to FIFA 2star, there isn't much conclusive evidence. The fields are just too new. There is some evidence that 2star Turf is actually a little better than grass for knee injuries, slightly worse for other injuries ( upper body or Turf burns). And the technology keeps evolving, which makes long term studies almost impossible.

One issue is that UO's pitch isn't built to FIFA 2 star specs. ( it can't be. The company that makes it isn't approved by FIFA to make them). It is the same pitch that's on the football field and harder than a 2 star pitch.. And it was done so because Lacrosse apparently wanted that.

Why lacrosse wanted that is a complete mystery. On a hard pitch the ball rolls more and bounces higher ( you can, on the other hand, run faster). And a well maintained grass field is still the best playing surface in that sport as well. After an enfatuation with turf for a decade or so, the top men's programs are going back to grass.

Championship finals in Lacrosse are on Turf ( both the Raven's stadium and Gillette stadium have fifa 2 star pitches) but that's because all three divisions play semis and finals at the same venue over one long weekend. Grass could never stand the traffic.

Then again, the university of Virginia has won National championships in lacrosse and soccer on a Turf field...

New coach



http://www.slubillikens.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27200&ATCLID=205843051

Apparently getting fired at Texas and going 5-9-4 at your next gig is enough to land a Pac12 job.

Uncle Phil is apparently not a Women's Soccer fan or else they have would have hired someone who knows how to win.

U of O announcement..

http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=205846063


Love the testimonials

Let's hope she lives up to those testimonials so the Ducks will provide good competition for the Pilots.

Congrats on earning your key to the 1K beer chest and your very own BarcaLounger.

PurpleGeezer wrote:Congrats on earning your key to the 1K beer chest and your very own BarcaLounger.

And a wonderful seasonal continuation of whole avatar thing.....good job!

Looking forward to returning home from Kansas after Christmas to enjoy the beer and BarcaLounger.

DaTruRochin wrote:I disagree that players don't give a thought about playing on turf... I played with a person who went from "playing in a top level european league" to "reserve league MLS" all because of a turf related knee injury. (He DID go to N Carolina and won a national title, but was demoted from central mid to defender because of a loss in explosiveness due to the knee.) If a player has professional potential, they absolutely SHOULD consider whether playing on turf could affect their career in any way. Turf has gotten better, but it will never be as good/safe as real grass.

But its all a moot point if your coach can't recruit or get anything out of those recruits and to be honest I figured it was inevitable at some point when Lauren Hansen walked away from the program by "mutual agreement"

From a player´s perspective, I also always hated playing on turf. If it was the grade of turf of Century Link Field and it was already a well supported program that would be one thing...but, I don´t think that the U of O has those advantages. The only thing worse than playing on a field with turf is adding the hash marks...