Kater Chats About the Orangewomen Soccer Program

Chat with Women's Soccer Head Coach, April Kater
Friday, March 30 at Noon
Hosted By Total Sports& SUAthletics.com

Welcome to SUathletics.com. Do you have any opening comments coach?

Glad to be here to have this chance to chat with Orangewomen fans.

Tom O'Grady Asks: April, Will the Orangewoman break the 14 win barrier next season? Also can you speak to next year's improvement (hopes) compared to the rest of The Big East?

Answer: I certainly hope we can break the 14-win barrier. Our schedule is the hardest of any schedule we have had in the history of the program. It will really depend on how the players come in and how we mesh together as a team. We have lost some key players, but we have a great group of returning sophomores and a good recruiting class coming in. It will definitely be an exciting year to see how our young team performs.

Old Bomber Asks: Coach: What do you sell about Syracuse University when you are trying to attract a recruit?

Answer: We certainly sell the Athletics Department commitment to its programs, the support services we have here for student-athletes from weight room to equipment room to academic services to media relations. We sell the fine athletics tradition that Syracuse has built with many of its long-standing programs. On top of that, we have high academic standards at Syracuse with a variety of areas of study to choose from. I think that after we can get a prospective student-athlete to come here for a visit, the selling is in the hands of our current student-athletes to finalize the recruiting process. They all do a great job of that which is clear when looking at the outstanding recruiting classes we continue to have.

Fitch McDuff Asks: You've obviously had a lot of success starting the program from scratch. How difficult has it been to establish a reputation as a solid program on a regional and/or national level?

Answer: Yes, I think we have been successful early on. That is definitely a tribute to our student-athletes and the commitment they have put in to try to build a tradition here. We have consistently been able to be in the top five in the Northeast region and top four in the BIG EAST, however, the jump to national recognition has been, at times, difficult. Our team is capable of beating top 20 opponents, as evidenced from our last two seasons, but the question is can we do it on a consistent basis, game by game. That remains to be seen. They are certainly talented enough. As with any new program, it takes time for the confidence level and maturity level to get to that point.

soccer fan Asks: Coach Kater, I have noticed that SU is one of only a very few schools that has female coaches for every women's team. Do you think that is a positive to the development of these programs? How exactly do you see it helping or hindering the women's teams at this university?

Answer: Having female head coaches gives the women student-athletes a great role model. It is also great for us, as coaches, having come into similar situations, to be able to give back to the sport that we love and that has given us so much. As far as the development of a program, the gender of a coach is not as important as the commitment of the coach. We have that commitment with all of our coaches and the coaching staffs at SU. It is clear in the success of all of the programs.

Janie Smith Asks: Coach Kater, this is obviously the time of year that there is a big push on recruiting for soccer and signings. Can you talk a little about the recruiting process? What do you think is the most attractive part of SU to a prospective women's soccer recruit?

Answer: The recruiting process for women's soccer generally starts when prospective student-athletes are in their junior year of high school. Identifying young talent at this age and starting general correspondence is critical. By the time July 1 of their senior year rolls around, we should have narrowed our pool down to about 30 prospective student-athletes, at least five deep in every position. Obviously we must prioritize our recruiting based on what our needs are as a team, key positions we need to fill, either due to graduation or injury. We typically look at five areas in a prospective student-athlete. Their technical ability, their tactical knowledge of the game, their character and mentality, their physical attributes, and certainly, academics and family play a critical role in the recruiting process. Obviously a prospective student-athlete will have many factors that they believe are important to them in their college decision. I belive they will choose the five schools that they will visit based on those factors. Ultimately, after they have come to visit us, the most attractive part about Syracuse will be our team.

Jamie Lawrence Asks: As a prospective recruit, should I be sending full game tapes or highlight tapes to you?

Answer: Highlight tapes which demonstrate all aspects of your soccer ability give us a better opportunity to evaluate your talent. A highlight video is a good way to catch our attention if we haven't actually seen you on the field, but ideally, we would like to see you play in person. If you are not going to be in major tournaments with your club team or there is a distance factor, a highlight video is a great way for us to get an initial impression of your ability.

Jamie Lawrence Asks: How does a player get looked at by your coaching staff? Do you look for an established, complete player, or do you consider player potential?

Answer: We typically attend 19 tournaments per year. These range from ODP events to regional and national tournaments. This is the easiest way for us to see the most players. However, we also make a commitment to go to as many high school games in this area as we can to evaluate local talent. We never recruit soley based on a resume. A resume could catch our attention, then we might prioritize that person as someone we need to see play. We consider both a player's potential to develop in four years and their potential to make an immmediate impact. We recruit both types of players.

Amy Schwarting Asks: Ms. Kater, how do you explain recruiting phenomonal athletes, but two of which could not even meet the 2.o GPA mark? And do you continue to stand by your "academics first" policy?

Answer: Let me start by asking you, did you know that our team had the highest GPA of any team in the Athletics Department last year and one of the highest in the past three years, as well? In the Spring of 1999 we had the second-highest GPA for all women's Division I soccer programs for the year. Currently, our overall team GPA is above 3.1. For you to have such priviliged information about two individuals on our team must mean that you are a former team member or know student-athletes on our team. It is unprofessional for you to attack the academics of two individuals who are not here to defend themselves. We do stand by our academic policy and always will expect the best from our student-athletes academically and support them in achieving the ultimate goal of every student at Syracuse University -- earning their degree.

Orange Fan Asks: With the graduation of Erin O'Grady, who will you look to for more offensive output?

Answer: It is very hard to replace someone like Erin O'Grady. She has been a tremendous contributor both on and off the field to the success of our young program. But, this is the nature of college athletics, replacing great individuals, and we have to do that. I am confident that we still have great players returning next year and we have some incoming freshmen who have the potential to do big things.

Michelle Bertocchi Asks: Hiya April- How do you like to incorporate your goalkeepers into team training?

Answer: My assistant coach, Maren Rojas, takes four to six players out early before practice with the goalkeepers. We incorporate a lot of "team trains the goalkeeper". When the rest of the field players come to practice, we then incorporate the keepers as much as we can into the practice. Whether defensively they are using their feet as the last defender and directing traffic, or if we are working offensively, using the goalkeeper to generate attack and/or stop shots.

Jamie Lawrence Asks: Are you going to be attending the tournament in Orlando, Florida in June?

Answer: No, we will not be attending the tournament in Orlando in June.

Chat Moderator Asks: Thanks again for chatting. Any final comments April?

Answer: I have enjoyed our chat. Thanks for supporting Orangewomen soccer and Syracuse University.

Syracuse University Athletics

Kater Chats About the Orangewomen Soccer Program

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