North Carolina junior midfielder Taylor Ramirez was quickly introduced to the Tar Heels’ winning tradition.

“I remember the first time I was in Anson’s office, he kicked something under his desk,” she said. “I go to look at it and it’s a national championship trophy.”

One look at UNC’s McCaskill Soccer Center and you believe every word of Ramirez’s account. The building is one part office and two parts trophy case.

There is no better testament to success than a pile of trophies sitting in the corner of a hallway as if they were leftover boxes from a move. North Carolina women’s coach Anson Dorrance is the dragon of this cave, and he knows it is getting harder to protect his gold.

Winning tradition

UNC women’s soccer has won 21 of 31 NCAA national championships. They hold 20 of the 26 ACC Championships. A UNC player has been handed a national player of the year award 18 times.

“I think it’s one of the greatest dynasties of all time in college,” Duke coach Robbie Church said.

Winning is expected. Both the players and coaches feel the pressure.

“There’s an immense amount of pressure on us to carry on the tradition,” sophomore Reilly Parker says.

The pressure is systemic, too. It pervades every part of life in Chapel Hill.

“Absolutely there’s pressure,” UNC assistant coach and head of recruiting Chris Ducar said. “There’s been some great teams here.”

That second part may be an understatement. 

North Carolina has gone undefeated 11 times, and there have been 11 more occasions when the Tar Heels have only lost once.

North Carolina is nothing short of a dynasty, but recently the tone of women’s soccer has shifted ever so slightly. The vise grip that Dorrance has held over the NCAA since 1982 seems to be loosening.

Growth of the Game

“It’s night and day,” Church said about the difference in the level of play from 20 years ago. “The aggressiveness, the skill level, the way they play out of pressure is all better.”

According to the latest census, between 1980 and 2010 an estimated 1.5 million women have joined high school athletics.

Over 350,000 young women now play high school soccer.

This generation grew up watching Mia Hamm score goals at prolific rates. They saw Brandi Chastain rip her jersey off in jubilation after winning the 1999 World Cup.

They love the game like no generation before them.

“I loved soccer so much that I was actually anti-social in high school because of it,” UNC forward Reilly Parker said. “Not many – almost none of the games were televised, but I would always follow UNC.”

Today, women’s soccer gets slightly more TV time. ESPN now airs NCAA championship games, although frequently on their third channel, ESPNU. Small steps.

The U.S. Women’s National Team drew a reported 13.4 million viewers in their 2011 World Cup final against Japan, the sixth-highest rated soccer telecast in the U.S. Chastain’s shirt-removing, gold-medal winning performance is still first. 

In fact, women’s soccer has grown to a point where a professional league may finally be viable. The National Women’s Soccer League held its inaugural season last spring and is headed into season No. 2 this year.

Dorrance talks about the new deal Sunil Gulati, head of U.S. Soccer, has in place to help with the economic stability of the NWSL. The deal calls for U.S. Soccer to pay the salaries of up to 24 of their national team players, Canada to pay for up to 16 Canadians and Mexico up to 12 Mexicans.

This deal will help remove up to 42 of the largest salaries from the local franchises. The goal is to eventually have a league that can get on its feet before it has to fully sustain itself.

Change of Strategy

This generation may be the one to finally break through. As a whole, this generation is faster, stronger and better than any that has come before. This may be the newest problem for UNC.

“Recruiting’s gotten harder recently with all the talent,” Ducar said. “We’re recruiting eighth, ninth and 10th-graders.” 

Dorrance recalls a time when recruiting was limited to just seniors. Kristine Lilly, one of the best players in program history, committed to the program the May of her senior year in high school in 1989.

Women’s soccer must face the sad truth of its new recruiting process. Girls in their early teens are being recruited for skills they may show at age 19 or 20.

Ducar talks about how recruiting for the top talent requires years of work. Many times players are on their radar by eighth grade. By ninth and 10th grade they are beginning to actively recruit players without ever being able to contact them directly, although rules do not prohibit players from talking to schools if the players initiate the contact.

Thousands of dollars go into each recruiting trip, and the details of who’s watching what are planned intensely ahead of time.

“It’s all about getting bang for your buck,” Ducar said. “We don’t have an endless budget.”

Part 2 will run on Monday.