Wearing her orange jersey and cleats, eight-year-old Jessica Bush spent Saturday night bouncing around like a jumping bean.
From her vantage point in the bleachers behind the south goal at Lourie-Love Field, Jessica screamed "Princeton!" at the top of her lungs and cheered wildly for her favorite players.
She was one of a bevy of young girls at the game, all watching and learning from their heroes on the women's soccer team. Their common bond, beyond a love of the Tigers, is that each hopes to be on the playing field herself one day.
Actually, though Jessica wouldn't mind playing for Princeton, her real goal — like any other knowledgeable young female soccer fan — is to follow in Mia Hamm's footsteps and play for the North Carolina Tar Heels. For her age, she's not a bad player — as a member of the Princeton Soccer Association's Phantom travel team, she's scored twice in three games.
But on this night, she's a spectator, content to cheer and dream.
Role models
Women's soccer head coach Julie Shackford is well aware of the enthusiastic young fans who watch her team play. She coached a youth club team for many years and continues to run clinics for the Princeton Soccer Association in addition to running a soccer camp for girls at Princeton each summer. She knows that these girls are the future of her sport.
"Young girls are impressionable, and athletics provides such a positive environment," Shackford said in an email. "I hope that young girls see that we play at a high level and that we are passionate about our sport and each other."
The counselors at Shackford's camp are her current players, who are on hand to share their knowledge of the game and demonstrate the level the young girls must reach to compete at the collegiate level.
In many ways, the current Tigers are the perfect example — after all, most of them once idolized the same heroes.
All-American sophomore forward Diana Matheson recalls following the exploits of Mia Hamm when she was younger. Growing up in the age of a phenomenal U.S. women's team, Matheson was able to look up to Hamm and her teammates for an example of where soccer could take her.
Matheson's advice to all the girls who want to follow in her footsteps is simple: "Just keep playing and having fun," she said. "You can do anything if you're having fun doing it."
These days, the roles are reversed for Matheson: young girls look up to her.
Sophie — a Phantom described by her friends as "the shortest on the team but one of the best" — identified with Matheson.
"She's a really good player," Sophie said. "She's small, but can get around players."
Each of the young girls seems to have a different favorite player. For Jessica, one of the greatest parts of attending the Princeton camp was meeting her favorite, All-American forward Esmeralda Negron '05.
"I went to the Princeton soccer camp and met Esmerelda Negron," Jessica bubbled. "She's a cool player. I think she plays pro now."
Jessica's twin sister Tanya is partial to senior forward Emily Behncke, appreciating her offensive skills and sportsmanship.
"It's sad she's graduating. She scores like half of their goals," Tanya said. "She's a good sport. She's never like, 'Oh my God, we lost.' "
Learning from the Tigers
The young girls aren't the only ones who appreciate the Princeton soccer team. Many coaches and parents bring their daughters to games, hoping they'll learn from the Tigers. Andrew Bush, Jessica and Tanya's father, believes his daughters benefit from the experience.
"They absolutely look to them as role models," Bush said. "As they get older, they'll get more from watching."
The Under-9 Montgomery Wildcats team was also on hand, sporting green jerseys and elaborate Princeton face paint. Their coach, Paul Rangecroft, said he tries to bring his team to at least one game a year, hoping to get the girls to learn from the Tigers' play.
"They're getting into it. They pick little things up," Rangecroft said. "To see women playing at this level and the big crowd, there's an excitement about it."
Each of the Wildcats was assigned to watch a certain player so they could learn the appropriate actions for each position. Emma, the Wildcats' sweeper, was watching the Tigers' sweeper and was impressed by her skills.
"I can't kick as far," she admitted.
Jessica and her friends practice three times a week and consider themselves pretty good soccer players, but they also noticed the differences between their play and that of the Tigers.
"They dribble faster and have bigger kicks," Jessica's friend Julia said. "It's harder to get the ball."
Big dreams
Level of play aside, the girls all profess to love soccer and said nothing matches the excitement of scoring or saving a goal.
"It's a really good feeling, like a pat on the back," Jessica said. "I love the feeling."
With the sky as the limit, the girls have no shortage of dreams inspired by their favorite players.
"I want to be famous, or at least be friends with [David] Beckham and have him coaching me," Jessica said. "And everyone looking up to me, like I look up to people now."
"My dream is to play in England and discover an English accent," Sophie said. "And be like Mia Hamm and Beckham."
But for Saturday night, as the women's soccer team kicked and ran and weaved across Lourie-Love Field, the Tigers were almost as impressive as Hamm in the eyes of the young spectators.
"I wish I could keep the ball — all the Princeton people kicked it," Sophie sighed. "They're so amazing."
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