Tar Heels' Lesli Gaston: The Path to College Soccer

Keep hope but don't expect it to just fall in your lap. :) (I must admit, as a Duke fan, I had trouble posting this. I guess it's hard to deny that the Tar Heels have a fantastic women's soccer program.)

Source: Road to College Soccer

The Path to College Soccer

Leslie Gaston, a girl who grew up out of the soccer mainstream, finds the route to the nation's top team.

By Maggie Mason

Leslie Gaston often joked with her club teammates about receiving calls from big soccer schools, but when Coach Anson Dorrance actually phoned last December she shrieked into the receiver in delighted disbelief. The dream of every young soccer player came true for Leslie this winter, as she was recruited by universities such as Notre Dame, Stanford, George Mason, Vanderbilt, and Alabama - as well as North Carolina. This would be a remarkable accomplishment for any student, but for a girl growing up in an area where opportunities for girls and women to play are barely getting started, this bordered on unbelievable.

Leslie's experience offers hope for all girls who love soccer but live in small communities or areas where girls' soccer is not entrenched enough to offer competitive experience or exposure to college coaches. What does it take for a girl to make it to a big soccer school from a small soccer state? In Gaston's case it took perseverance, courage and parents willing to drive thousands of miles so their daughter could play on competitive teams.

Growing up in Montgomery, Alabama - a small city with a minute girls' soccer community - she played from age 5 as the only girl on a team with her older brother. Her brother lost interest in soccer after a year or two, but Leslie loved it. When she reached second grade her mother coached a girl's team open to any players under 14, so that Leslie and her two younger sisters could compete against the other four teams in the only girl's league in town. Her mother had no previous experience in soccer, but their team won the city championship each year.

By the time she was eleven, Leslie needed more of a challenge, so she and her best friend tried out for a boy's traveling team coached by her friend's father. They both made the squad, and played in nearby tournaments, going as far as Birmingham and Atlanta and playing teams made up only of boys. She stuck with this team until she was 14 and accepted by a club team in Birmingham, the Briarwood Lady Lightnings. She continued to practice with her local boy's team on weekdays and her parents drove her to Birmingham (100 miles each way) two days a week to practice and play with her first competitive girls' team.

Last year she guest-played with the Top Hatters of Atlanta in a tournament in California. A large club with several traveling teams, the Top Hatters and their coach, James Harris, offered just what Leslie needed: an opportunity to play with and against the toughest competitors and exposure to college coaches. Due to administrative delays in getting her papers transferred from Alabama to the Georgia club, Leslie was restricted to cheering from the sidelines as the Top Hatters won the Top Flight level at the WAGS tournament in October, but her transfer was complete by the time she traveled with them to the Junior Orange Bowl in December, where she scored the winning goal in the final game.

Her hopes for a soccer scholarship had seemed diminished two years ago when she tore her anterior cruciate ligament and was in the hospital for surgery during the Thanksgiving Olympic Development Program (ODP) tournament. But she persevered through rehabilitation and it was after this year's Thanksgiving ODP tournament in Bradenton, Florida that Leslie was named to the National Pool and started receiving serious attention from the big soccer schools. As a child, she'd dreamed of attending UNC because her father - a North Carolina native - had always worn Tar Heels shirts. As offers came in, she limited her choices to a school in the south, and on a tour of possible campuses in January was struck by the pride of people who attended UNC. She remembers touring a cemetery in Chapel Hill where the grave of one woman was inscribed:

"A Tar Heel born
A Tar Heel bred
A Tar Heel Raised
A Tar Heel Dead."

With school loyalty (and a sense of humor) like this in its graduates, she was drawn more than ever to the soccer powerhouse created by Coach Dorrance.

Gaston had come to the attention of Coach Dorrance when UNC Assistant Coach Bill Paladino saw her at ODP events and suggested that Dorrance take a look at her, since two of UNC's starting defenders were graduating. Dorrance saw her play in Florida, and was "impressed with her courage, speed, tackling and heading." He was especially impressed when, in the middle of a goal-mouth crowd with the keeper charging out, Gaston went for a header with no fear or restraint. He says that the one trait which most impressed him was her courage.

To reach the top in teen soccer, Leslie and her family worked and sacrificed. Her parents drove the 400 miles a week for her to compete with the Birmingham team. By the time she joined the Top Hatters Leslie was able to borrow the family car and drive herself to Atlanta (nearly a three hour drive each direction) and spent each weekend last fall with the family of a team member so that she could practice and play with her new team. She felt sad as she gave up the chance to attend dances and events at her school every weekend of her senior year, but she enjoyed her teammates and the tough workouts and games so much that she felt it was worthwhile because, "We're all so focused and have so much fun."

She has missed most Thanksgivings (except the one in the hospital) with her family and almost every Christmas break and holiday of her teen years has been spent traveling with a competitive team. She enjoys going out with her friends when she can, but has not had interest in a serious boyfriend, preferring to have fun with a group and feeling that she has plenty of time for dating later on. She's avoided the heavy drinking and drug use favored by many of her age group, and wouldn't consider smoking cigarettes, because of her need to protect and nurture her body as an athlete.

Leslie credits her Top Hatters coach with helping her progress in her soccer endeavors, adding, "Coach Harris made me grow up." He also offered solid advice on her game and college choices. Her parents, more than anyone else, have helped her. Neither of them had any soccer background and they never pushed her to play soccer - offering to let her participate in any sport she chose. The lesson they stressed was, "Leslie, if you make a commitment you have to stick with it." They always supported what she wanted to do, although the family is not wealthy and Leslie has sometimes needed financial aid to pursue her soccer dreams.

As she completes her last year of high school, Leslie has had to give up the opportunity for a college tour with the Top Hatters because she wanted to support the first girls' soccer team officially sponsored by her school. This year, for the first time, three high schools in Montgomery are fielding girls' teams and Leslie felt she owed it to her school to participate on the team, although there is no competitive challenge for her. (She is also running track for her school). Leslie is proud that her team is now 11 and 0 for the season and that she has had an opportunity to grow in a team leadership position. She is spending weekends at home and for the first time is able to enjoy parties and social functions with her classmates. Leslie stressed only the positive aspects of playing for her school, but it was obvious that the Alabama High School Association's rule banning club play for school team participants is causing her to miss chances to hone the skills which will be needed to compete for a starting slot on a team like UNC. Leslie will spend most of the summer in Atlanta, trying to get the most out of her last months with the Top Hatters.

Leslie had no particular role model in soccer as she grew up. She is pleased that her family still doesn't have cable tv ("They didn't want us to be couch potatoes") so she never saw the few women's matches which were televised during her youth. The family didn't subscribe to any soccer publications - Leslie learned the game because she just went out and played. She feels fortunate to have natural talent and ability, and hopes that with coaching from Anson Dorrance she'll learn the technique and tactical strategy which might one day qualify her for a place on the national team.