Tag Archives: Michelle Akers

#KnowYourHistory Just got Easier

In American soccer, it ain’t easy to know your history. So many fits and starts; it’s been a sport interrupted, and often the second act forgets the first.

The WA Legends landing page, designed by Palador.

Locally, unless it’s St. Louis or the swath of pitches stretching from Philadelphia north and east to Boston, soccer’s past is likely buried in an attic, far from public consumption.

That goes for the great soccer state of Washington, as well. We could begin chipping away at our own Rushmore with hall of fame players like Akers, Higgins and Keller, yet most are unaware that five prior inductees were among those who poured the foundation of what was to come.

Nowadays, of course, the multitude of fans supporting Sounders FC are world-class and, consequently, have grabbed the world’s attention and made Washington impossible to ignore. Still, the footing for this fan base, this pipeline of top-class footballers and our undying love for the game has been left unexplored. Until now.

Washington State Legends of Soccer is bringing this history back to life. There’s enough to fill a few hundred pages in a book, but time marches on and more and more history is being made. So, instead WA Legends is telling tales through a legacy platform designed by Seattle’s DCGone. There, visitors from across the globe can dive headlong into a pool of knowledge about Washington, whose roots in the game extend back some 130 years, practically to our territorial days.

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The Gifts of Cliff McCrath

Wanted: Someone to supervise 300 kids 24/7 during summer, take 22 rowdy college boys cross-country to win a soccer championship in the fall, marry a couple on Saturday, christen a newborn on Sunday, keynote a corporate speech to hundreds first thing Monday and pull votes for a stadium initiative on Tuesday. Ten fingers not necessary. Sense of humor a must.

Unless your name happens to be Charles Clifford McCrath, there’s no need to apply.

Cliff McCrath often shares company with soccer’s royalty, in this instance Pelé.

On Saturday, Feb. 11, a true treasure of Seattle and soccer, Cliff McCrath, will be inducted into Seattle Pacific University’s Falcon Legends Hall of Fame. McCrath knows the drill. After all, it’s his 10th such enshrinement around the country.

Unlike the others, however, this will be celebrated on his turf, where since arriving 47 years ago he grew to be an outsized figure capable of accomplishing amazing feats for a sport that, at times, struggled to take hold.

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When National Team Was Made in Washington

Every four years there’s an expectation that the United States will win the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and that’s no different in 2015, especially after America’s advancement to the final.

That expectation, that belief, is very much grounded in history and the U.S. National Team’s conquests early on. The reason we truly believe we will win is because, early on, we did.

Anson.Dino.trophies
Anson Dorrance, right, has made UNC women’s soccer the foremost collegiate sports dynasty with 22 national championships. (Courtesy UNC)

In 1991 Anson Dorrance took a young team to China and promptly won the first World Cup. A few years later they won the first Olympic Games and in 1999, of course, the USWNT doubled their number of World Cup stars at the Rose Bowl.

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