Have soccer ball, will travel

Esmeralda Negron '04's soccer career has taken her around the world, but now she's returning home. Along the way, she's played in the top club division of women's soccer in three countries and picked up the attention of the U.S. national team.

Negron enjoyed a stellar career with the Tigers. The two-time Ivy League player of the year was instrumental in Princeton's unprecedented run to the Women's College Cup, was named a first team All-American as a senior and earned a spot on the U-21 team that went on to win the 2004 Nordic Cup.

To challenge herself, Negron has always "played up," taking on much older opponents. After her sophomore year of high school she played over the summer in the W-League, the premier division of women's club soccer in North America. Her hopes of playing in the Women's United Soccer Association — the first fully professional women's soccer league in the world — were dashed when the organization folded in 2003, however.

With the demise of American professional women's soccer, her long time friend and playing partner Kazbek Tambi encouraged her to go abroad, first to France and later to Germany.

"I'm really happy that I went abroad," Negron said. "It's not the easiest thing, but it was great that I got to keep playing soccer instead of jumping into the real world in the office."

Negron faced a steep learning curve playing for USCCO team Oise Compiegne in France.

"There were two Hungarians and myself — the rest were French players. I was pretty much forced to learn French. I didn't know any going in," Negron said.

The difficulty in communication didn't slow her down, though. In her first year in France she was the team's leading scorer.

Negron also faced a different soccer culture abroad.

"In the U.S., soccer is more of a woman's sport than a man's sport because men have alternatives like baseball and football," Negron said. "It's different over there. If you play soccer in Europe, you're considered more masculine, whereas in America, you're celebrated as a female athlete."

Moving on to Germany the next year, Negron found more familiar surroundings.

"Unlike France, most people in Germany speak English. Also, my coach was Spanish, so I could hold conversations," Negron said.

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Playing for FFC Brauweiler Pulheim Koln, she teamed up with former Harvard standout Sarah Sedgwick and another American.

When Tambi called her about an assistant coaching job at Seton Hall, however, Negron jumped at the opportunity. She'll take on the full-time job for the upcoming season. That doesn't mean, however, that her playing days are done.

"If I could work out something with [Seton Hall], I would love to play in the W-league again," Negron said. "The season runs from April through the summer, when we're not practicing."

Negron and U.S. women's soccer, however, have greater goals. The WUSA is trying to make a comeback, learning from its mistakes while still fulfilling its mission.

"I think that women's soccer is more popular here than in Europe," Negron said. "I think it's a shame that we don't have a premier league. The league was mismanaged the last time. They shelled out too much cash up front instead of focusing on building from the ground up."

Negron's dream is to play for Sky Blue, a proposed WUSA franchise that would be located in northern New Jersey. That dream would keep her close to home — and give her another shot at national recognition.

"Last March was my last camp with the national team. I haven't been called back since. Maybe playing in the pro-leagues again will help," Negron said.

In any case, Negron looks to stay home in New Jersey for a while, and says she wouldn't mind coming back to Princeton.

"I talk to coach [Julie] Shackford all the time. [She's a] great coach [and a] great mentor," Negron said. "I would love to work with her. It'd be cool to come back and work for Princeton."