■1 ^'■■‘'■■1
:. ; -.
ALLf'll.Kf'HOlS^^' A' Ta./
Women’s soccer leadership
Andrew Wilson
Sports Editor
Only six players competed in all
22 of the Elon University women’s
soccer team’s matches during the
2012 season. Of those six, only two
started every game — Shannon
Foley and Claire O’Keeffe.
Both senior captains
throughout their final
seasons with the team,
Foley and O’Keeffe have
since graduated and
passed the reins on
to a group of four
more captains.
Tasked with
transitioning
the 12
freshmen
and two transfers, seniors Jennifer McGorty and
Olivia Mackey and juniors Raychel Diver and
Kate Murphy began the process of acclimating
the group early in preseason with an assist from
Greek Life by using the big/little system.
“They started, much like a sorority, a big sister/
little sister-type program within the team,” said
Elon head coach Chris Neal. “They have given
the younger players someone to ask questions to
and hang out with and to ask for advice. They just
get it. They understand how important it is for
the team to mesh.”
With 34 players on the team, each of the
players are in small groups, which McGorty said
has helped chemistry build quickly throughout
the team.
“Each freshman is with a senior or a junior or a
sophomore,” she said. “And we’ll do little activities
within those groups which are really bringing this
team together.”
McGorty also said she and Diver, who entered
the program before the 2010 season, have an easier
time leading the large team this season because of
previous experience they had their freshmen years,
when both entered as part of a class of 10 players.
“We came in with 10 and we were a big class
then,” McGorty said. “To be honest, it’s a little
bit easier for us just because we came in with a
big class and they’re coming in with a big class, so
we can relate easier as captains compared to past
captains.”
Before each season, Neal said the team sets
goals they want to accomplish throughout the
year. Those goal are usually split into categories:
non-conference, conference, community and
academic.
This season, with such a large team, the
Phoenix added another category: chemistry.
“We’ve made it very obvious that the larger the
group, the harder team chemistry is to accomplish,”
Neal said. “The girls have done just an incredible
job — spearheaded by the captains, specifically
.i-V: