|
Blazing The Trail
September 15, 1999
As someone who has covered collegiate sports on a weekly basis, it's safe to say that after interviewing my fair share of superstars, I am no longer in total awe of these athletes like I was as a kid growing up. Make no mistake about it, the J.R. Redmond's and Ryan Kealy's of the Arizona State athletic department are extremely talented and often do things that make all of our jaws drop, but I no longer ask for their autographs each time they drop by our Sun Devil Sports Network offices.
Thus the reason I was caught off guard on how impressed I was with Kerrie Kulak, a senior midfielder on the ASU women's soccer team.
In this, the year of Brandi Chastain, Mia Hamm and the women's national team catching each and every one of our hearts (yep, I watched the game at the Rose Bowl on July 10, and yes, I jumped straight off my couch when they won), it's easy for Kulak's name to be lost amongst women's soccer headlines. After all, she probably won't have too many games where she scores three goals and dominates an opponent by herself.
But that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve a headline or accolades. In fact, Kerrie Kulak, a 1995 graduate of McClintock High in Tempe, is a classic example of an athlete who's statistics come nowhere near telling the story of her Division I soccer career.
Division I soccer career-Kerrie's eyes light up when she talks about it. It wasn't supposed to be like this according to Kerrie, and according to her high school coaches.
"When looking at colleges, I wasn't really focusing on schools with a soccer program," says Kerrie while reflecting on her senior year of high school. "I was looking for schools with accredited business departments that offered finance majors."
But a funny thing happened on the way to her finance degree and a successful career in the business world.
The fall of her freshman year at ASU Kerrie learned that the Sun Devils would be launching a Division I women's soccer program to compete in the Pac-10. Having been selected as an all-state player at McClintock, yet not heavily recruited out of high school, Kulak figured she owed it to herself to train for that summer's tryouts. And train she did.
"I spent the next months pretty much working out every day for the tryouts," she says. "I have trouble making decisions, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go out or not. But once I make a decision, I go all out for my goal…. and after training everyday for months I was in the best shape of my life."
This is where the story gets good. You see, most everyone in college sports have some sort of athletic talent. Some have much more than others. Others, the real special ones, have loads of God-given ability and the hearts of lions-those athletes you usually see playing on Sunday or pitching in Yankee Stadium. And then there are athletic department's Kerrie Kulak's.
In pushing herself everyday before tryouts and pushing herself in practice and games each and every day after she made Terri Patraw's squad, Kerrie Kulak set the standard for conditioning and speed that the rest of the team has to fulfill from here on out.
Does the recruit have Kerrie's speed...do the forwards in this year's freshman class have Kulak's endurance? No? Well if they want to play, they better get over the bar that Kerrie continues to raise.
If you know anything about soccer, you know that a player's endurance separates the wheat from the chaff. That's the reason Kerrie has taken on the Pac-10's fastest, most athletic players. And if you know anything about anything, you realize one is not born with endurance, one has to work at it, all the time.
Kulak is one of only two players to play in every game in Arizona State's four year history. When she graduates with her Supply Chain Management and Finance degree her gaudy numbers will be on her college transcript, not her soccer statistic sheet. Nevertheless, her footprint on ASU's program will be felt for years. Something that doesn't surprise her, but does surprise her old McClintock coach.
"Yeah, she told me last year that of all the seniors in my high school class she thought I was the least likely one to play in college," Kulak says. "She tells my story now to her players as inspiration."
We know, there is a lot to do in the Valley in the fall, especially if you are a sports fan. If you're not at Sun Devil Stadium on Saturdays, you could be at BOB watching the Diamondbacks and soon the Suns and the Coyotes will be lacing them up for another season. But, believe me, it is worth your while to check out the ASU's women's soccer team this fall. Take a night and look in on the happenings at the stadium next to Kajikawa's football practice field. And while you're there, watch senior midfielder Kerrie Kulak.
And all of her teammates trying to keep up with her.
Robby Robinson is the Assistant Director of Broadcasting for the Sun Devil Sports Network. He is the host of "The Team Sparky Tailgate Show", ASU’s pregame football show and Sun Devil Shakedown, ASU’s Call-In Show. Robby can be reached at robby.robinson@asu.edu.
|
