Hempen travels to Mexico; Marshall does not
CU soccer Coach Bill Hempen is all about the “beautiful game.” While talking about his trip to Mexico with the Under-20 Women’s National Team, Hempen watched the Manchester United in a Champions League game.
Hempen went with the national team, which is in the process of picking and identifying players for a youth championship in Chile. It was his first time working with a United States Soccer Federation squad.
“I was the assistant coach, and I worked with the goalkeepers. You know, it was a pretty short trip. There wasn’t a lot of training. It was just kind of organization of the kids we had on the trip and evaluating them,” Hempen said.
CU’s Nikki Marshall did not go on the trip to Mexico, but Hempen thinks Marshall will have a chance to continue competing for a spot on the team for the tournament in Chile.
The team played two games against the full women’s national team from Mexico, which is preparing for a couple of games against Japan.
Hempen said the team experienced some strange officiating during one of the games in Mexico.
“Everybody kind of has issues with officials. But it was really kind of weird. We scored a goal off of a deflection — a kid went up and headed it into the empty net — and mysteriously the whistle blew, and they said she fouled somebody,” Hempen said.
Hempen said it just goes to show you how important the little and big things are in an international match.
“Everything has to go right to win an international (game) away from home,” Hempen said.
Still, Hempen said this is an “invaluable experience” for the women on the team because it constantly challenges the players to become better.
“Every time you go to a high level and come back to your base, you realize you’ve become a better player,” Hempen said.
CU’s soccer program is coming off of one of its best seasons after the team reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Women’s College Cup in the fall. Hempen talked about how the Buffs are coming along.
“Obviously, our name is getting out there, and that’s a good thing now. The bad news is we’ve been using the past as kind of a chip we carry with us on our shoulder — nobody really paid attention to us before,” Hempen said. “I think they have to take us a little more seriously than they had before.”
As the program is getting more attention, Hempen is finding that recruiting is getting harder.
“Recruiting is never easy. I think it becomes harder because your pool gets larger by virtue of the fact that we are more successful,” Hempen said.
Hempen said the Buffs are starting to compete better with more well-known soccer programs in terms of recruiting. He said his goal is to be among the elite programs for women’s college soccer.
“My goal is to be one of those teams. Are we there? Absolutely not. Are we closer to that goal? We certainly are,” Hempen said.
While watching Manchester United in the Champions League, Hempen said soccer is starting to come along in the United States, but it still has a ways to go.
“In my lifetime, we certainly won’t reach the status of baseball or football,” Hempen said.
Check out a blog Hempen wrote about the experience.
Contact Campus Press staff writer Kyle McDaniel at kyle.mcdaniel@thecampuspress.com.
