For a long time, soccer has been given second-class status as a sport in the United States. Over the last few years, however, the sport which the rest of the world holds highest has made considerable strides toward legitimacy here in Philadelphia.
When Penn goalkeeper Matt Haefner was drafted by Major League Soccer's Columbus Crew last Friday, it didn't register much beyond the small number of Penn soccer fans scattered around campus and anyone they might have told about the news. But if you weren't paying attention then, it's time to start doing so now, because there's a lot more coming from Penn, Philadelphia and American soccer as a whole.
The Quakers who play the rest of the world's brand of football have rarely had the spotlight to themselves. For a few weeks in September -- and November, if the season has gone well -- they can get top billing on this page.
The rest of the time, attention goes to Franklin Field. Al Bagnoli and company deserve it, without a doubt. But it's a little confusing sometimes to be sitting at Rhodes Field on a fall Saturday afternoon and also hear the cheers and music emanating from the big brick horseshoe across the train tracks.
Now that's starting to change.
It is a testament to the rapid growth of the men's soccer team under the guidance of Rudy Fuller that in only six years here he won Penn's first Ivy League championship in 22 years, gained a Penn College Cup win for the first time in a quarter-century and coached the first Penn player in Major League Soccer history.
That Haefner was chosen by Columbus, instead of New York or Chicago -- where head coaches Bob Bradley and Dave Sarachan built their resum‚s at Princeton and Cornell, respectively, and have been more inclined to bring up Ivy League talent over their tenures -- is further proof of his talent.
I firmly believe that more Penn players will follow Haefner's footsteps into the professional ranks, and we won't have to wait long to see that happen. Sophomore Erik Violante has already attracted the attention of clubs in France, where he grew up, and a trio of Quakers -- freshman Derrick Jumper and sophomores Artie Bartholomew and Bert Lockwood -- have spent time at the prestigious IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Landon Donovan and Freddy Adu, two of American soccer's new superstars, also trained there.
And although there are some obstacles to overcome before it can happen, the next Penn stars might only have to travel as far as Lincoln Financial Field to turn pro. Philadelphia has long been targeted for MLS expansion, a natural compliment to teams in Boston, New York and Washington. Large, passionate crowds for last year's Manchester United-Barcelona exhibition game and the Women's World Cup gave further credence to this city's ability to support the game.
The future is not all rosy, though. When the Women's United Soccer Association folded last September, mere days before the World Cup, the effects were felt hard right here at Penn.
Penn women's soccer team head coach Darren Ambrose was a goalkeeper coach with the WUSA's Philadelphia Charge, and his children took as much joy running around the turf at Villanova Stadium as at Rhodes Field after games.
For Quakers' star forward Katy Cross, the question was becoming not if, but where she would play professionally. That's all on hold for now, though. It remains to be seen whether the big corporations that splash exorbitant sums on professional basketball players my age have it in them to spend less money to keep an entire sport afloat.
I know that there are a lot of soccer fans on this campus, and a lot of them probably don't even know that there are teams worth watching just down the street instead of up the highway or across the Atlantic Ocean.
The time is now to start paying close attention to what's going on at Rhodes Field. The best is yet to come, and it will be worth everyone's time to watch.
