LAST CALL: The Road Gladly Traveled

Coaches in virtually every sport at every school in the nation bemoan having playing on the road. Tough travel schedules, hostile fans and unfamiliar locker rooms all play a role in the universal disdain for leaving home, but Texas A&M soccer coach G Guerrieri is taking a glass-is-half-full approach as the 3-seed Aggies prepare to travel to Gainesville, Fla., for a Sweet 16 match against second-seeded Florida.

It helps that A&M has seen a fair amount of Florida in recent years, including an exhibition game prior to last season. It also helps that this year’s A&M squad has been pretty darn good when they’ve ventured outside of College Station.

The Aggies are 5-1-1 in true road games this year, the school’s best record away from the Aggie Soccer Stadium since the 2004 team posted a 6-1 mark. The fact that Sunday’s contest with the Gators will be played in warmer conditions also helps.

“Those are good things for us,” Guerrieri said. “If we were having to go to the snow belt and play someone we’ve never played against, we would be in a much different match-up that what we will see Sunday.”

A&M’s road prowess this year is interesting considering the amount of underclassmen contributors the team counts on. Eight of the Aggies’ 11 starters in the team’s second-round game against Washington were freshmen or sophomores. The Aggies upended the Huskies by a 3-1 tally, and two of those goals were scored by freshman Rachael Balaguer and sophomore Whitney Hooper.

The fact that this team has performed so well in front of hostile crowds says a lot about the type of steel-willed players Guerrieri has recruited, as well as the chemistry the team began developing during a pre-season trip to—interestingly enough—Florida.

The Aggies spent several days in mid August in the Sunshine State, training at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., and playing an exhibition game against Florida International. A&M picked up a 3-1 win against the Golden Panthers, but more importantly, Guerrieri said the team began to bond during their days away from home.

“The reason we did that was to get us in an environment where we were completely on our own,” Guerrieri said. “It was a big growing up for a lot of our players, not that they were shocked into having to grow up, but they were able to grow together quickly. The team gets along together very well, and in women’s sports more than men’s sports, chemistry and respect and communication and how the team kind of breaths together is a very important part of your success.”

Midfielder Laura Grace Robinson, one of just two seniors on the roster, has played in plenty of tough games in her career. She said in a way, it can be a little easier to focus before a game away from home.

“When you’re on the road, you can focus completely on the game,” Robinson said. “You’re not going to class on Friday and you’re in the hotel—we’ve done a good job of staying focused. We know that since we draw such a great crowd at home that it isn’t going to be that (friendly) on the road.”

If the regular season was any indication, the Aggies will be primed up to play the Gators. A win would catapult A&M to its second Elite Eight showing in three years and would likely set up a contest against North Carolina to advance to the Final Four.

"Hey, Coach G, can I have your autograph?"

Women’s basketball coach Gary Blair is always working. Whether he’s dissecting film in his office, toting a whistle on the practice court or taking in other sporting events across campus, Blair’s brain is constantly going.

As the coach of a team that has traditionally struggled to pack the stands, Blair is particularly interested in watching what unfolds right across the street from Reed Arena. He’s attended several A&M soccer games this year—and he doesn’t do it just to get out in the sunshine and relax.

“A lot of people think I am just going to games to fill out my 12th Man Team Rewards card,” said Blair earlier this week. “I go to the games to study marketing and study coaching.”

There’s a lot he can learn from Guerrieri, who has built one of the most rabid soccer fan bases in the country. The Aggies averaged 3,538 fans in 11 home games this year and are routinely in the top two or three in national attendance. Blair has certainly done his part to help pad the team’s numbers. (Seriously. A quick search at http://sports.tamu.edu/12thManTeam/leaderboard.php confirms Blair is one of the top event-attenders in the athletic department.)

“When I first got here, the two people I really admired the most on promoting their sports were Tim Cass in men’s tennis and G Guerrieri,” Blair said. “I took a little bit from each of those because those are sports where it’s (traditionally) hard to draw people in. I tried to bring some of my marketing ideas and incorporate them with what (Cass and Guerrieri) were doing, as well. I learned from everybody.”

The similarities don’t stop there. The product Blair has put on the court is certainly worthy of drawing inordinately large crowds like soccer. The Aggies rolled to the Elite Eight last year and set a school record with 29 wins.

His success on the court has allowed A&M to open its recruiting beyond state borders. In fact, last week’s signing class included highly-ranked players from Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee and California—and none from Texas.

“Coach Guerrieri hit that road about his fourth or fifth year here, where he could go in and recruit just about anywhere in the country,” said Blair, now in his sixth season at A&M. “We’re almost at that point.”

That’s good news if you’re an Aggie fan. Blair’s squad may soon find itself in a situation similar to Guerrieri’s: an almost permanent fixture in the national top 10.