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University of Massachusets Athletics
Iverson Enjoys Role in Philly
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Sept. 23, 2002
Just minutes after the Philadelphia Charge lost a heartbreaking 1-0 contest to the Washington Freedom in the WUSA Semifinal, Erica Iverson gradually began to put on a good face. After consoling her teammates, she then approached the hundreds of fans at Villanova Stadium who were awaiting her signature on a soccer ball, t-shirt, program, body part... whatever.
For the charismatic central defender, kids, teenagers and adults a like await with smiles and wishes of congratulations on a great season. You hear a lot of ?even though you lost, we still love you? type of statements floating around her. Unwittingly, it looks like she's built quite an ardent following. Same as it ever was.
Unlike some professional athletes who do their best impression of a root canal operation when they're asked to meet their fans or sign autographs, the 1997 first team All-American from the University of Massachusetts gladly accepts this part of the job and always has. It's the least she can do.
?You've got to realize that someone has come to see you and your team play, or in this case, has paid to do that,? Iverson said. ?They're cheering you on and are paying you the ultimate compliment by being there and supporting you. [The fans] motivate me. You may be nervous before you get on the field, but as soon as you get in the game and here them cheering for you, you just do it.
?Sometimes you're almost in a state of disbelief about [their support]. It's like, ?Is all this really happening to me?? All you can do at that point is give back as much as you can.?
Giving back as much as she can - whether it's for a fan or to an opposing forward trying to physically intimidate her - has been a trademark of Iverson's career. She does not like ?taking? too much. The much more-psychologically stable and fan-friendlier version of Iverson in the Metro-Philadelphia area has only continued what she has always done.
Like that certain Talking Heads song, Iverson's approach to life and soccer (which is inseparable in some climes) is ?same as it ever was?: loyal, colorful, friendly but most important of all, uncompromising regarding the quality of life and experience. Speaking of quality, Philadelphia had an excellent beginning to the 2002 season and triumphed in the face of adversity.
With the loss of the 2001 WUSA Defender of the Year in Doris Fritschen and top forward in English international Kelly Smith, the Charge had a lot of challenges facing them in the world's top women's soccer league as the season progressed. Like a certain memorable tackle that sent an UConn player into the media table on the old Garber Field in 1995, Iverson stepped into the mix, right from the start.
In the face of adversity, all she and her defensive mates (in team captain Jen Tietjen, wing defenders Jenny Benson and Heather Mitts and goalkeeper Melissa Moore) did was establish the league's most solid back line, allowing only 21 goals in 20 games. Looking at them play, it was easy to see teamwork reigned supreme. Coupled with the addition of French international and eventual 2002 WUSA MVP Marinette Pichon in the offense, Philadelphia was bound for its second consecutive berth in the playoffs.
Unfortunately, the Washington Freedom capitalized on a late season push and had a little bit more momentum on its side. Seven games in 21 days to finish the 2002 season looked like it took a toll on the Charge in the league semifinal. Even though Iverson and her mates held the trio of 2001 FIFA Player of the Year Mia Hamm, Chinese international Bai Jie and top rookie Abby Wambach to only one shot on goal, Pichon was well-covered and it only took a late goal off a goal-mouth scramble from a Washington substitute to get the hard-fought 1-0 win for the visitors.
There were positives and negatives to such a strong yet ultimately unfulfilling season. Unfulfilling because as a professional sport, the ultimate goal is to win championships. Iverson credited a strong team work ethic to their overall success. Yet, that initial effort to prove their worth against adversity and a tough schedule to end the season appeared to eventually catch up to Philadelphia.
?There's such a great group of people here in Philly and we have a lot of team chemistry,? Iverson said. ?We've had a lot of great players come in the past year or so who were superstars with their old teams. The big challenge for all of us was to get the team to come together, play together and we did. The camaraderie here is unbelievable. I'm best friends with not only my roommates but also my teammates. We all play better together that way.
?At the end, it looked like we lost some of our speed of play. We began the season on a great roll but it takes a lot of concentration and effort to win consistently over such a long period of time. We seemed to peak too early. Later in the season, other teams like Washington had to win to get into the playoffs, and they took that winning momentum and ran with it.?
When Erica spoke of the team camaraderie and the success it bred with the Charge, her words became eerily reminiscent of her UMass playing career. As she stated as a junior all-conference defender back in 1996, she re-stated in 2002 that she still wanted to be ?like Erin Lynch?: her former teammate, roommate and three-time All-American and two-time Atlantic 10 Player of the Year. Why? Because. Okay?
Still beaming with pride concerning the team's success during her Minutewoman days, Iverson was adamant on where and when she learned the optimal team dynamic and how that has helped her to this day.
?I owe everything to coach [Jim Rudy],? Iverson said, mirroring a statement by fellow alum and current Atlanta Beat goalkeeper Briana Scurry after the 1999 Women's World Cup. ?He has been the biggest difference in my life. He took a player with raw potential and refined it, and that has helped me to perform at this level. Because of JR, UMass was a second family to me and it's beginning to be like that here in Philly. After talking with players at this level who graduated from other schools, the negative competition promoted by these so-called high-powered coaches, pitting players against players for the sake of starting and winning does nothing in the long run.
?Are they friends with their former teammates after they graduate? I don't think so. Will those same people be there for them after all is said and done? I don't think so. At UMass, it's a different deal. We wanted to win but it was only a part of the entire experience. No matter what, I was made to feel like a part of the family. I will never, ever forget that. It's all about a personal connection with JR. Seeing Erin [Lynch] playing with his Old Boys team [a over-40 indoor soccer team] and then I got into it, all those great people who supported us, who supported him and how much he took us into his life. That is what it is all about.?
Hardly recruited out of high school, Erica has used an almost ?underdog? type of mentality to inspire her way of life, on and off the field. It suits her. She is equally comfortable slide tackling someone like Hamm into the fifth row as she is conversing with a 12-year-old after the game or instructing a beginner in soccer basics. Such pliability and open-mindedness has fueled her life and consequent success, and while this whole WUSA experience might be of the flowery, dream-like variety, she knows the reality of her surroundings as well.
?I had no idea that soccer would develop this much when I started playing,? Iverson said. ?Who knew the WUSA would ever happen and women's soccer would get to this level of exposure? But it was never about that for me. Soccer was always about getting together with a team, hanging out with your friends and having fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, soccer has got to the point where someone wants to offer me money to play? For sure, I'll take it! Hey, I got invited to play [at the WUSA Combine], so why not? It's alright with me. If someone wants to pay me money for doing something I love, no problem.
?On the other hand, you have to be a professional now. It's a lifestyle decision you've made and you need to keep up your end of the project. If you don't do your job correctly, you can get fired. Also, you have to disconnect yourself from family and friends. Never mind what I've had to deal with, but my roommates are married with one of their husbands living all the way in San Diego. This is a professional decision that affects your lifestyle. There are really no second chances if you fail, and if you do get that second chance, you need to perform at the highest level you can.?
Performing at the highest level she can and accepting (and winning) any challenge put in front of her has been a ladder-like progression upwards for Iverson since her youth soccer days in Walnut Creek, CA. First, it was the big step up to a Top 25 program at UMass in 1994; done. Then, it was All-Conference recognition; okay, bring it on. Next, accolades from the Northeast Region started to come in; alright. And then, it all culminated in her Atlantic 10 Tournament MVP and first team All-America honors her senior year in 1997; is that all?
No, that was just college. One of the premier club teams in the W-League calls and Erica is named a Team MVP and a League All Star for the 2000 National Semifinalist Boston Renegades. A minor hick-up occurs after she was drafted by the New York Power in the inaugural WUSA Draft. She is released during spring training (smart move) but is then immediately picked up by Philadelphia in the 2001 WUSA Waiver Draft. No problem. Asked to fill the place of Fritschen in 2002, she becomes a starter in the top league in the world. Same as it ever was.
So, the question becomes: what's next? Thoughts abound of eventually returning to coaching as well as her current work with the ?Crusade For Health and Fitness? (an initiative run by her boyfriend and Mass Pro Soccer coach Paul Turner) where she speaks to high school and club teams about maximizing their ?life/soccer? experience.
However, just when you thought ?the so-called nobody from supposedly nowhere? is done showing the world what she has to offer, she does it one better. Scurry is usually the first player that comes to mind when you talk of UMass Women's Soccer. Just for starters, a stellar college career and the well-publicized goalkeeping effort for the U.S. National Team in the 1999 WWC backs that statement up.
When the names for the All-WUSA first and second teams came out last August, though, both Iverson and Scurry were on the selection list but in a new order this time: First and Second, respectively. Erica was a first team All-WUSA selection alongside teammates Pichon and Tietjen, and while it was not a surprise to most, it definitely was for the recipient.
The uncompromising player and person looking to prove the naysayers wrong throughout her playing career was taken aback by this honor. The motivation of having to prove her worth against the big names in the business might have to be changed. Erica Iverson is now a big name.
?[Being selected to the All-WUSA first team] feels like a big thank you,? Iverson laughed. ?I really couldn't believe it when I first heard about it. I owe a debt of gratitude to everyone who has been there for me, and helped me along the way. Thanks go to them and the people who voted me on the team for this honor.
?I was not highly recruited out of high school and I've had to prove myself every step of the way. I love that challenge. Sometimes I'm out on the field and I begin to realize how amazing this whole experience is. How can this so-called nobody be doing this? How cool is that??
NOTE: Scurry and Iverson were not the only former Minutewomen who plied their trade in the WUSA this season. Nicole Roberts (who transferred to North Carolina her senior season) was signed and cut by the Carolina Courage, but a UMass presence was still on the club. Signed to a reserve contract, goalkeeper Julie Podhrasky had a inside view of the exciting semifinal win over Scurry and her Atlanta team, and was there as Carolina defeated Washington by a 3-2 score in the Founder's Cup final. The 2000 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, Podhrasky was thrilled to have got a chance to train and be with the Courage this past season, ?Playing for the Carolina Courage was a tremendous experience that I can't wait to get back to. It surpassed my dreams and it was a privilege to experience up close the game, the players and the level of play I've so long admired and chased for.?