Nothing hurts more for athletes than leaving the game they love. At the end of last semester the Loyola Athletic Department cut the women’s soccer program, bringing the careers of the members of the 2006 team to an end.
“I’ve been playing for 11 years now, and there has never been a year I have gone without playing. It’s just disappointing,” said Heather Whitfield, international business junior.
The cut came over a year-and-a-half after Hurricane Katrina, yet the athletic department cited the storm as a reason for the program’s termination. A peek at the 2006 season and a conversation with Loyola athletic director Dr. Michael Giorlando reveals that the cut was a sad, but necessary, decision.
THE 2006 SEASON
Hurricane Katrina stopped the 2005 season before the Wolfpack’s first game. After finishing the 2004 season with a 6-11 record, the team felt optimistic for 2005, retaining 22 players and hiring a new coach with NCAA Division I experience.
Upon returning the next semester, new head coach David Poggi attempted to form a team to compete for a spring season against local universities. However, as a result of the storm, Poggi could only gather a small core of women – never enough to compete for an entire season.
Retaining a core of about half a dozen players, Poggi and the athletic department decided to attempt a fall season. Selling ads for the media guide, the team helped raise funds and the head coach obtained a Nike equipment endorsement.
Although a few players were recruited later in the season, low numbers plagued the team from the start. Loss after loss, they continued to play with often barely enough players to fill the roster, and several playing hurt.
“Soccer is a high-injury sport; our bodies were being pushed to their limits. My teammates put their complete hearts into trying to end the season with dignity, often playing the full 90 minutes on injuries and down players,” said Kathryn Streeter, economics senior.
Streeter started at midfielder until she tore her anterior cruciate ligament and lateral meniscus midseason.
Jordann Webster, international business sophomore, set National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics records for most goals saved and made the All-Gulf Coast Athletic Conference second team. Opposing coaches would often approach her after games to praise her for her determination.
“Although I only played one season, it was probably one of the best experiences I’ve had, and I’ve played for over 14 years,” said Webster, who continues to play in the school’s intramural program.
All throughout, the girls were aware that the soccer program was in jeopardy. After a 7-0 loss to William Carey University, the team decided to cut its season early with a record of 2-11 and insurmountable circumstances ahead of them.
‘THE ODDS WERE VERY MUCH AGAINST US’
“There was no one that tried to make this work more than the athletic department,” said Giorlando, who was the 2006 NAIA Region XIII Athletic Director of the Year. According to Giorlando, who had consulted with the Intercollegiate Athletic Advisory Council, the department’s decision resulted from the rocky 2006 season, low recruitment and inability to find a consistent field for practice and games.
Although the team put up a tenacious effort, it could not repeat the fall season. Warned by medical advisors, Giorlando worried about the long-term health consequences of team members playing on injuries. Bus trips and hotels for away games extended the costs of the other athletic programs, and the unavoidable forfeitures and blowout games tinkered with league rating systems.
“It’s a very serious thing when you can’t finish games or you can’t finish your season. It affects everyone in the league,” Giorlando said.
Despite efforts by Poggi, recruitment suffered for women’s soccer. Both Giorlando and players said the head coach was an adamant recruiter but found difficulty attracting players to a still-recovering New Orleans.
During the fall of 2006, the team held practices and games at Tulane’s Westfeldt Facility, also the Green Wave football team’s practice grounds. Because of conflicting schedules, the women often had to hold impromptu practices at Audubon Park. Loyola had to draw and erase soccer lines for each home game played.
“We had to be at their football program’s mercy,” Giorlando said.
The Lady Wolfpack practiced in the time spots formerly allotted to the cancelled Tulane soccer program, but because of Tulane’s football and student recreational needs negotiations at the end of the 2006 season failed to extend a usage agreement another year.
In February of 2007 Poggi resigned to accept a head coach position at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn. Giorlando received a few calls for the position but was hesitant to hire anybody because of uncertainty with enrollment and future participation.
Of the department’s efforts in preserving the program for as long as it did, Giorlando said, “We were the only university in New Orleans that did not cut a program immediately following Katrina. We did everything possible to keep everything going. We tried even though the odds were very much against us.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Finding a substantial number of players remains a problem in fielding a proper soccer team. Webster said she knows of 11 players that would probably play, though most collegiate programs include 20 to 25 on rosters.
Giorlando plans to institute another women’s program by 2010. He said the department will gauge enrollment and student interest to determine which sport. Current options include tennis, swimming and golf.
Soccer still stands as a possibility, but not a priority.
Currently, Loyola is discussing plans to build a field at nearby Lusher Charter School – a prospect that would take several years, Giorlando said.
Steve Heath can be reached at [email protected].
