Q&A with Former Wildcat Ann Todd on 25 Years of W. Soccer
10/15/2013 1:22:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Gavin McFarlin - Assistant SID
25-Year Anniversary Release & Registration
DAVIDSON, N.C. — As the 25th anniversary and celebration of Davidson women's soccer approaches this weekend, Oct. 18-20, DavidsonWildcats.com took some time to sit down with one of the program's first recruits, Ann Todd '93, to see how it all began here at Davidson in turning the women's soccer team into a Division I varsity sports.
Todd is the Manager of Learning & Development in Human Resources at Davidson College.
Q: You are kind of Davidson's first women's soccer recruit when it became a varsity sport in 1989, talk about how the process went with coach Boettcher.
Todd: "Lisa LeNard, Ann Hicks, Annie Adams, Lindsay Forsythe and Lizzie Clark were probably the ones most active in getting soccer established as a Division I sport at Davidson. I remember Lisa calling me after I'd accepted to tell me they were going to have a soccer team and checking to see if I was interested. Ann Hicks referred to herself as the 'ancient senior' — and in many ways saw herself as working for 'the future of the program.' She was always a great counsel for me! Annie, Lindsay and Lizzie, to me were the key leaders on the team that first year.
Sarah Nall and Carla Naegele only played that first year as sophomores, but I also think of them as incredibly impactful in that first season for the team (and personally for me!). Susan Van Rheenan I always think of as studying. She was a 4.0 pre-med, I believe, and practically had her book out on the sideline at away games. She was so impressive to me! Caroline Nelson and Frannie Abernathy were a few other close teammates and Maria Tucker played two years—she was FIERCE!"
Q: Despite not having a varsity soccer program yet, what drew you to Davidson?
Todd: "I was recruited to play at all of the other schools where I applied, but I finally decided to go to school for academics not athletics, and then I got the call that Davidson was getting a team. Thank goodness because playing for my college was such a defining part of my college experience and I would have missed it terribly if I hadn't played collegiately."
Q: Talk about that first season you were apart of and just being apart of something brand new at Davidson as terms of a varsity sport?
Todd: "In the first year there were just three freshmen and I was the only person that came to preseason. I arrived with only my soccer stuff— I didn't have a pillow or sheets or even an alarm clock. I overslept and was late to the first practice, in part, because I didn't know where the field was! Coach Boettcher made me run laps and I was so nervous I wasn't going to make the team, and my mates seemed totally relaxed about it. Apparently, I wasn't good at math because if I had actually counted the girls at preseason, I would have realized I was going to be fine. Toward the end of preseason, coach Boettcher said if anyone could do three drills from the summer workout she had sent out, they would make the team. I was the only one that tried it and she officially gave me a slot during preseason, but I remember Ann Hicks staying with me while I did the drills, cheering for me as I 'made the team.'
I'll never forgot the 'goalie tryouts.' We all had to show up in sweatpants and tryout for goalie. Fortunately, I never had a chance.
I scored the first goal in the history of the program in our first game, a 10-1 loss to Erskine College. Funny side note… my grandparents lived on a farm not far from Erskine and came to the game, and my grandmother said 'I saw your touchdown!' They didn't get out much, but I was so happy they came. We went on to defeat Erskine in later years, but that first year they came out to the field to music and were marching in step— it scared us all. We never stood a chance in our hand-me-down uniforms that first game.
One of my other memories of that first year was we went to DC for a game. It was my first trip ever to Washington and it ended up with my teammates at a homeless march in DC."
Q: How did the rest of the your career go?
Todd: "My sophomore year was a big change. Amy Hoffheimer and Elizabeth Dahm joined from my class (only year Elizabeth played, but Amy played the next three years). But then, we had our first class of recruits—Jenny Satterfield, Colleen Camione, Courtney Robertson (our first actual goalkeeper), Anne Wampler and Susan Taylor Cobb. Ashley Vagt also played field and goalkeeper that first season. Jenny Satterfield was the captain of the Mooresville high school BOYS soccer team. I remember her asking coach if she could play sweeper (defender). We were not very good and she was not touching the ball enough, so she wanted to move to defense so she would at least get to ball! I remember Colleen's family would often come to away games — they may have even come in a Winnebago – I just remember being impressed with their willingness to travel!
My junior year brought new head coach Kevin Hundley and more legit recruits. Ellen Sprinkle was the smallest person I had ever played soccer with and still managed, I believe, to lead the team in goals off headers. Sarah Cantrell and Jody Lewis were also great players along with Liz Schaper, who would be the program's second goalkeeper recruit.
My final year, Claudia Lombard (the first women's soccer player to earn SoCon Player of the Year honors, 1994, as well as be inducted into the Davidson Hall of Fame, 2006) and Heather Weinberg joined us, and they were the REAL DEAL! I absolutely loved playing with them. Shannon Lowrance was also part of that outstanding class. She worked so hard.
During my tenure, I managed to escape ever going to the weight room or running outside of practice. But, when I worked soccer camp a few years after I had graduated and saw Shannon, she continued to impress me with her commitment to still working hard.
I joke that I rode a tide at Davidson—graduating from a team I'd never made if I was starting then. But loved it!"
Q: What did you do upon graduation?
Todd: "Soccer remained an active part of my life for a long time. Really in large part because I had played Division I ball. My first job was with Teach for America and I was an assistant soccer coach.
In law school I played on multiple teams and got my first job at the DA's office, I think in part, because I was there leading scorer! I also ended up coaching a team with a local judge.
I got my first job at a firm in Charlotte because a Davidson grad was a big sports fan and hired me. My next job was to join several Davidson grads running a soccer internet business, which eventually morphed into a role in sports marketing. My last job in the industry was actually serving as the Executive Director of a soccer club.
Now I'm just a soccer mom, and I love that just as much!
DAVIDSON, N.C. — As the 25th anniversary and celebration of Davidson women's soccer approaches this weekend, Oct. 18-20, DavidsonWildcats.com took some time to sit down with one of the program's first recruits, Ann Todd '93, to see how it all began here at Davidson in turning the women's soccer team into a Division I varsity sports.
Todd is the Manager of Learning & Development in Human Resources at Davidson College.
Q: You are kind of Davidson's first women's soccer recruit when it became a varsity sport in 1989, talk about how the process went with coach Boettcher.
Todd: "Lisa LeNard, Ann Hicks, Annie Adams, Lindsay Forsythe and Lizzie Clark were probably the ones most active in getting soccer established as a Division I sport at Davidson. I remember Lisa calling me after I'd accepted to tell me they were going to have a soccer team and checking to see if I was interested. Ann Hicks referred to herself as the 'ancient senior' — and in many ways saw herself as working for 'the future of the program.' She was always a great counsel for me! Annie, Lindsay and Lizzie, to me were the key leaders on the team that first year.
Sarah Nall and Carla Naegele only played that first year as sophomores, but I also think of them as incredibly impactful in that first season for the team (and personally for me!). Susan Van Rheenan I always think of as studying. She was a 4.0 pre-med, I believe, and practically had her book out on the sideline at away games. She was so impressive to me! Caroline Nelson and Frannie Abernathy were a few other close teammates and Maria Tucker played two years—she was FIERCE!"
Q: Despite not having a varsity soccer program yet, what drew you to Davidson?
Todd: "I was recruited to play at all of the other schools where I applied, but I finally decided to go to school for academics not athletics, and then I got the call that Davidson was getting a team. Thank goodness because playing for my college was such a defining part of my college experience and I would have missed it terribly if I hadn't played collegiately."
Q: Talk about that first season you were apart of and just being apart of something brand new at Davidson as terms of a varsity sport?
Todd: "In the first year there were just three freshmen and I was the only person that came to preseason. I arrived with only my soccer stuff— I didn't have a pillow or sheets or even an alarm clock. I overslept and was late to the first practice, in part, because I didn't know where the field was! Coach Boettcher made me run laps and I was so nervous I wasn't going to make the team, and my mates seemed totally relaxed about it. Apparently, I wasn't good at math because if I had actually counted the girls at preseason, I would have realized I was going to be fine. Toward the end of preseason, coach Boettcher said if anyone could do three drills from the summer workout she had sent out, they would make the team. I was the only one that tried it and she officially gave me a slot during preseason, but I remember Ann Hicks staying with me while I did the drills, cheering for me as I 'made the team.'
I'll never forgot the 'goalie tryouts.' We all had to show up in sweatpants and tryout for goalie. Fortunately, I never had a chance.
I scored the first goal in the history of the program in our first game, a 10-1 loss to Erskine College. Funny side note… my grandparents lived on a farm not far from Erskine and came to the game, and my grandmother said 'I saw your touchdown!' They didn't get out much, but I was so happy they came. We went on to defeat Erskine in later years, but that first year they came out to the field to music and were marching in step— it scared us all. We never stood a chance in our hand-me-down uniforms that first game.
One of my other memories of that first year was we went to DC for a game. It was my first trip ever to Washington and it ended up with my teammates at a homeless march in DC."
Q: How did the rest of the your career go?
Todd: "My sophomore year was a big change. Amy Hoffheimer and Elizabeth Dahm joined from my class (only year Elizabeth played, but Amy played the next three years). But then, we had our first class of recruits—Jenny Satterfield, Colleen Camione, Courtney Robertson (our first actual goalkeeper), Anne Wampler and Susan Taylor Cobb. Ashley Vagt also played field and goalkeeper that first season. Jenny Satterfield was the captain of the Mooresville high school BOYS soccer team. I remember her asking coach if she could play sweeper (defender). We were not very good and she was not touching the ball enough, so she wanted to move to defense so she would at least get to ball! I remember Colleen's family would often come to away games — they may have even come in a Winnebago – I just remember being impressed with their willingness to travel!
My junior year brought new head coach Kevin Hundley and more legit recruits. Ellen Sprinkle was the smallest person I had ever played soccer with and still managed, I believe, to lead the team in goals off headers. Sarah Cantrell and Jody Lewis were also great players along with Liz Schaper, who would be the program's second goalkeeper recruit.
My final year, Claudia Lombard (the first women's soccer player to earn SoCon Player of the Year honors, 1994, as well as be inducted into the Davidson Hall of Fame, 2006) and Heather Weinberg joined us, and they were the REAL DEAL! I absolutely loved playing with them. Shannon Lowrance was also part of that outstanding class. She worked so hard.
During my tenure, I managed to escape ever going to the weight room or running outside of practice. But, when I worked soccer camp a few years after I had graduated and saw Shannon, she continued to impress me with her commitment to still working hard.
I joke that I rode a tide at Davidson—graduating from a team I'd never made if I was starting then. But loved it!"
Q: What did you do upon graduation?
Todd: "Soccer remained an active part of my life for a long time. Really in large part because I had played Division I ball. My first job was with Teach for America and I was an assistant soccer coach.
In law school I played on multiple teams and got my first job at the DA's office, I think in part, because I was there leading scorer! I also ended up coaching a team with a local judge.
I got my first job at a firm in Charlotte because a Davidson grad was a big sports fan and hired me. My next job was to join several Davidson grads running a soccer internet business, which eventually morphed into a role in sports marketing. My last job in the industry was actually serving as the Executive Director of a soccer club.
Now I'm just a soccer mom, and I love that just as much!
Women's Soccer Postseason Virtual Event with Captains
Tuesday, December 16
Women's Soccer vs Duquesne - Match Rewind
Monday, January 30
2022 Women's Soccer Preview
Wednesday, August 17
2022 Women's Soccer Preseason
Friday, August 05
