University of Memphis Athletics
The Tigers celebrate their fifth-consecutive conference title in 2011.
Seasons Of Success
Sep 10, 2019 | Women's Soccer
Memphis women's soccer celebrates Year 25 in 2019.
Note: This feature story on the University of Memphis women's soccer 25th season celebration in 2019 first appeared in the Aug. 31 Tigers Football GameDay program vs. Ole Miss.
Coaches talk about building foundations all the time. They mention it when signing a high-ranking class. Or when a senior group leaves its indelible mark on the program.
The phrase becomes cliché. But when it proves prophetic, is it still just coach-speak?
The University of Memphis women's soccer program played its inaugural season 25 years ago, and then-head coach Les Szabo mentioned that first team was "trying to establish a firm foundation." He continued that it was tough, but it's "going in a positive way."
Szabo said that after the first Tigers squad won only five games. Since then, the program has had numerous accomplishments.
Fifteen winning seasons, including 11 straight from 2004-14.
Seven NCAA Tournament appearances.
Six conference championships, including five in a row from 2007-11.
Pretty good for a program that began looking a little out of sorts, according to head coach Brooks Monaghan.
"I thought it was great (adding women's soccer)," said Monaghan, who hired as the goalkeeper coach for the program's first five seasons (1995-99). "The sport was growing. We started with a mixed bag of players. It was a bit of organized chaos, kind of like a thrown-together club."
Behind what may have looked chaotic was an actual plan put together by the athletics department. While the program started play in 1995, the program's design happened earlier.
"Soccer was the sport that was being played in the largest numbers in the high schools, and that's what drove our decision to add soccer," said Lynn Parkes, Memphis' assistant athletics director and senior women's administrator at the time. "We built a three- to four-year plan, and it didn't come without a lot of hard work and commitment from the institution.
"I started a program (women's golf in the mid-1970s), and it's not an easy thing to do. I knew it wasn't going to happen overnight, so we were really patient with it."
And Memphis was patient. The Tigers experienced only one winning season in their first nine years of existence. The program also went through a coaching change at the turn of the 21st century with Monaghan taking the reins.
"We had some rough patches, but everything new has to go through that," said Jodi (Fisher) Grant, a member of the program's first four-year class from 1995-98. "Looking back, it was tough at the time, going through ups and downs. But it set the groundwork for us to get to a new level. I was proud to be a part of it."
After Monaghan took control in 2000, Memphis still had some climbing to do. Monaghan, who has 231 career wins and 13 double-digit winning ledgers, had four sub-.500 winning seasons to start. His first winning campaign came in 2004, but bigger things were on the horizon, and Monaghan saw it coming after, of all things, consecutive losses.
"In 2007, we played in a tournament at Samford," Monaghan said. "We lost both matches to Samford and LSU. I turned to my assistants and said, 'this freshman class is going to win a championship.' They not only win one, they win four."
From 2007-11, Memphis ruled Conference USA and earned five-straight NCAA Tournament berths. The pinnacle season to date was 2011 – a campaign that very few programs in any sport enjoy. The Tigers went 22-1-1 and did not suffer a loss until an NCAA Tournament setback ended the season.
"It doesn't happen often," said Monaghan. "You don't realize how hard it is. You look back and see how many times the ball bounced in our favor. You realize how hard it is for everything to go your way. It took some time to see how special that year was because it's rare."
Memphis has continued to pile up the wins and NCAA Tournament appearances since. The Tigers got back to the mountaintop in 2018, winning their first league title in The American.
Reaching the current level of success took time, and now it's something every player who wore the Blue and Gray can take pride in.
"I'm so blessed that I was a part of the program because of where it is right now and how far it's come," said Grant, who also served as Monaghan's assistant from 2001-14. "I love Memphis and the University, and I'm so proud I was there at the start."
Monaghan added, "Every kid that has come through this program is special. There are many players who left their mark and helped build this program. Sometimes people don't realize how important a piece they were, even though they were not on the field helping hold the trophy."
Coaches talk about building foundations all the time. They mention it when signing a high-ranking class. Or when a senior group leaves its indelible mark on the program.
The phrase becomes cliché. But when it proves prophetic, is it still just coach-speak?
The University of Memphis women's soccer program played its inaugural season 25 years ago, and then-head coach Les Szabo mentioned that first team was "trying to establish a firm foundation." He continued that it was tough, but it's "going in a positive way."
Szabo said that after the first Tigers squad won only five games. Since then, the program has had numerous accomplishments.
Fifteen winning seasons, including 11 straight from 2004-14.
Seven NCAA Tournament appearances.
Six conference championships, including five in a row from 2007-11.
Pretty good for a program that began looking a little out of sorts, according to head coach Brooks Monaghan.
"I thought it was great (adding women's soccer)," said Monaghan, who hired as the goalkeeper coach for the program's first five seasons (1995-99). "The sport was growing. We started with a mixed bag of players. It was a bit of organized chaos, kind of like a thrown-together club."
Behind what may have looked chaotic was an actual plan put together by the athletics department. While the program started play in 1995, the program's design happened earlier.
"Soccer was the sport that was being played in the largest numbers in the high schools, and that's what drove our decision to add soccer," said Lynn Parkes, Memphis' assistant athletics director and senior women's administrator at the time. "We built a three- to four-year plan, and it didn't come without a lot of hard work and commitment from the institution.
"I started a program (women's golf in the mid-1970s), and it's not an easy thing to do. I knew it wasn't going to happen overnight, so we were really patient with it."
And Memphis was patient. The Tigers experienced only one winning season in their first nine years of existence. The program also went through a coaching change at the turn of the 21st century with Monaghan taking the reins.
"We had some rough patches, but everything new has to go through that," said Jodi (Fisher) Grant, a member of the program's first four-year class from 1995-98. "Looking back, it was tough at the time, going through ups and downs. But it set the groundwork for us to get to a new level. I was proud to be a part of it."
After Monaghan took control in 2000, Memphis still had some climbing to do. Monaghan, who has 231 career wins and 13 double-digit winning ledgers, had four sub-.500 winning seasons to start. His first winning campaign came in 2004, but bigger things were on the horizon, and Monaghan saw it coming after, of all things, consecutive losses.
"In 2007, we played in a tournament at Samford," Monaghan said. "We lost both matches to Samford and LSU. I turned to my assistants and said, 'this freshman class is going to win a championship.' They not only win one, they win four."
From 2007-11, Memphis ruled Conference USA and earned five-straight NCAA Tournament berths. The pinnacle season to date was 2011 – a campaign that very few programs in any sport enjoy. The Tigers went 22-1-1 and did not suffer a loss until an NCAA Tournament setback ended the season.
"It doesn't happen often," said Monaghan. "You don't realize how hard it is. You look back and see how many times the ball bounced in our favor. You realize how hard it is for everything to go your way. It took some time to see how special that year was because it's rare."
Memphis has continued to pile up the wins and NCAA Tournament appearances since. The Tigers got back to the mountaintop in 2018, winning their first league title in The American.
Reaching the current level of success took time, and now it's something every player who wore the Blue and Gray can take pride in.
"I'm so blessed that I was a part of the program because of where it is right now and how far it's come," said Grant, who also served as Monaghan's assistant from 2001-14. "I love Memphis and the University, and I'm so proud I was there at the start."
Monaghan added, "Every kid that has come through this program is special. There are many players who left their mark and helped build this program. Sometimes people don't realize how important a piece they were, even though they were not on the field helping hold the trophy."
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