The University News

Issue date: 10/1/07 Section: Sports

Standing on the walkway next to Bourke Field on the Rockhurst campus Thursday afternoon, there was much to appreciate. It is never dull for a sports purist to watch a pitcher's duel in baseball, or a defensive gem in football.

But what about a scoreless battle in soccer?

This writer has never been a soccer enthusiast. Having attended a few Kansas City Wizards matches in the past, there has never been any inkling of a reason to add another notch on to an already quite full sports repertoire.

Of course, there is the original American triumvirate of baseball, football and basketball.

Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth and Cy Young are legendary participants of the United States' oldest pastime. The World Series has become as common to American heritage as any two words housed in the English vocabulary.

Football produced the Galloping Ghost (Red Grange), the four horsemen (Notre Dame's famed backfield of Harry Stuhldreher, Don Miller, Jim Crowley, and Elmer Layden) and George "Papa Bear" Halas (Chicago coach and a founding father of the NFL).

Basketball, though younger than the rest, has produced American icons like Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain, Julius "Dr. J" Erving and Red Auerbach (Boston Celtics owner and coach). Even hockey, in its relative infancy as a national sports phenomenon, has managed to produce the "Great One" (Wayne Gretzky).

Thus soccer, the most popular sport in the world, despite international efforts by Pele and Diego Maradona, has never been given its fair shake in competition for the American public's heart and soul.

To be fair, soccer has experienced dramatic increases in youth participation in the past quarter century. In past generations ,Little League Baseball in the spring and Pee Wee Football in the fall were popular youth activities. Soccer, with ever-increasing development of indoor facilities, has positioned itself as a year-round activity, thus, whether intentionally or not, leaving little time for an increasing amount of youngsters to participate in the others.

Becoming a "Soccer Mom" has been a badge of honor for suburban wives and mothers for the better part of the past 20 years as well.

UMKC soccer has been in good hands under the tutelage of Head Coach Rick Benben over the past decade. The former Major Indoor Soccer League coach of the now defunct Kansas City Comets has built a program the university can be proud to call its own.

To watch a Kangaroo soccer match at close range is an experience in excitement, impatience and intimacy at some of their highest levels. Even for a less than enthusiastic observer, the sheer athleticism of the sport coupled with the ferocity of the competition makes for an intense experience.

Continued...

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