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 Shannon
Higgins, a member of the 1991 FIFA Women’s
World Cup championship team, retired from soccer following this
inaugural women’s tournament. Her name hit the headlines as she
assisted on both of Michelle Akers’s goals in the U.S. 2-1
victory over Norway in the championship game. Higgins also
played for four NCAA championship teams under Anson Dorrance at
the University of North Carolina from 1986-1989. In 1989, she
won the Hermann Trophy.
Today, Shannon says
that her playing days in some ways “seem very far away.” She has
been the head women’s soccer coach at the University of Maryland
for the past five years and spends most of her time with her
family and working. Her husband, Sasha Cirovski, is also a head
soccer coach at the University of Maryland for the men's team.
They have two small daughters who both play soccer as well near
the family home in Columbia, Maryland. We caught up with Shannon
to talk about her feelings about representing women’s soccer in
the Hall of Fame, the growth of American soccer over the past
few decades, and her own personal favorite moments from her
coaching and playing days.
You are one of the few women to
have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. How does this feel to
represent professional women’s soccer in the Hall?
It seems like because I have a
family and I’m working, actually being in soccer seems so long
ago! But obviously I’m honored, and it’s great to be remembered
this way. I knew we were doing something different when it
happened. I knew it was a journey that hadn’t been done
before - participating in the first women’s World Cup. I went
through all of the firsts with this team, including the whole
Hall of Fame induction. I just feel honored to be a part of the
group.
Since becoming a coach, what more
have you learned about the game? What does coaching teach you as
opposed to playing?
 I’m learning about how the game is
evolving, from everything down to the new shin guards. I’ve
learned a little more about how mental the game is, learned more
about the mentality of becoming and staying a winner. Obviously
there’s more to worry about behind the scenes. There’s more to
it than X’s and O’s as a college coach—you deal with the
academic and social lives of your players as well. Without a
doubt, you have more sympathy for your own college coaches and
the decisions that they had to make.
What have been the biggest
changes in the soccer community throughout your playing and
coaching days?
I think the biggest conflict in
American soccer today is between playing and watching soccer.
There’s so much going on with the playing end that there’s not
as much time to watch. More people are enjoying playing than
watching the game, even adults. But I think by starting to play
you’ll increase the fan base. People want to go out and watch
soccer instead of football. It’s starting to evolve. We’re a
society accepting the game of soccer as part of us.
How do you think the youth soccer
movement has evolved?
Small-sided soccer is the biggest
change. My daughters play soccer and they started in 3 v 3 and
went to 5 v 5 and now they’re in 7 v 7. I think small-sided
soccer allows more touches on the ball. There aren’t three or
four kids on the sidelines watching the ball. There are more
touches and more quality control. Having more balls and more
kids on the ball at practice is the best thing for youth soccer.
Having kids wait in lines at practice is a thing of the past.
Small-sided soccer has had an effect on the game. I go out and
watch a lot of 16 and 17-year old girls play soccer, and now I
think I can say that all of the players have gotten quite a bit
better. I think that, tactically, young players, even up to 25,
26-years old, still have room to grow, but I think that the
technical ability and athleticism have gone through the roof.
Can you talk about the impact
that the 1991 World Cup win had on American soccer?
I think it gave everyone a feel of,
‘OK, the women have done it. There’s something here to build
on.’ I remember coming back from China and there was a US Soccer
function up in New England. Michelle Akers I went up for the
event. At the banquet, I remember we got up on stage, and there
was a standing ovation. I just thought, ‘Wow.’ I just didn’t
know it was such a huge splash. Obviously the soccer community
knew, we knew people knew about everything that had happened,
but we didn’t know how excited they were.
How about the ups and down
experienced by the WUSA? Do you see a future for the league?
I think that the league will find
its seat. There’s a market out there, not a huge one, but if we
approach it wisely, it can work. I think this time around, we
did a bit of what the men did in the NASL (North American Soccer
League) and we got too big for our britches. We can’t be in the
RFK’s of the world, not yet. There is a market, and I know we’ll
find it. We just have to hope that the sponsors are loyal. I
have two daughters, and they have Mia Hamm shirts, and they have
aspirations. When I was young, it was an on-paper national team.
Now, there are young women that we can all see.
Was your top playing moment the
1991 World Cup?
 That was the top moment. We had
times that we played better as a team, but definitely, it was
the top moment. The 1991 World Cup was phenomenal. The Chinese
had bought into it, there were fans coming and watching the
games, and it was fun to see the packed stadiums, which showed
an interest in women’s soccer. We were seeing the future. It was
a tremendous experience. We had been in China on four previous
occasions, so we knew what to expect and we were prepared for
the little things you deal with while traveling, the food and
stuff like that. It was an amazing experience.
What soccer players and teams,
past and present, do you most admire? Does anyone playing today
take after you?
Let’s see. It’s so hard as a
female. Obviously I admired all of my teammates. Anson always
preached that the reason we had this team is that we had people
good at different things. He always praised me for vision and
tactical ability. When we worked on the speed drills, he was
always quick to point out that I had a good brain (laughs). Just
to keep me going! I think today, in the women’s game, we’ve
moved away from a person in a tactical scheming role, which is
what I did. I think Aly Wagner is closest to me in playing style
of players today.
What soccer players and teams,
past and present, do you most admire? Does anyone playing today
take after you?
Let’s see. It’s so hard as a female.
Obviously I admired all of my teammates. Anson always preached
that the reason we had this team is that we had people good at
different things. He always praised me for vision and tactical
ability. When we worked on the speed drills, he was always quick
to point out that I had a good brain (laughs). Just to keep me
going! I think today, in the women’s game, we’ve moved away from
a person in a tactical scheming role, which is what I did. I
think Aly Wagner is closest to me in playing style of players
today.
- June 2004 -
Where
Are They Now
Jill Beauchesne of the the U.S.
National Soccer Team Player Association and the on-line journal
Round Not Oval reports her conversation with Hall of Famers in
our newest feature.
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