Collegiate soccer in Washington has come a long, long way in the last 50 years. Just ask a pair of the founding fathers.
When the state’s first varsity programs were established back in the Sixties, all of what we see today was a pipe dream. And if you thought a player’s love for the game could only be illustrated by what they do between the white lines, then you’ve never heard the story of Ron Jepson and Joe Zavaglia.
If ever there was a Dawgfather of Husky soccer, it’s Jepson. While still an engineering grad student, he was tapped to be the first UW coach in 1962.
“We were very limited in the schools we could play: UVic (Victoria) and UBC were stalwarts and had been playing soccer for quite a while,” recalls Jepson, who grew up near Manchester before coming to Seattle with his family as a teen. It might seem remarkable today, but also played for the Huskies, along with a smorgasbord of other international students. The only American was the goalkeeper, a former army brat.
