she coach by here daddy Tony Pacheco
Ottawa Citizen
Pacheco changes course, accepts full South Florida scholarship
Life was good for Gina Pacheco last fall as the Grade 12 St. Pius X student was doing some serious long-term planning for her 2008-09 university entrance.
As a highly talented soccer player, universities were contacting her about their institutions and women’s soccer programs. Up to a dozen American universities were recruiting Pacheco. Many Canadian universities would have done the same, but the word was out she only wanted to hear from post-secondary schools in the United States to get a full athletic scholarship.
By November, she already had completed three of the five visits allowed under NCAA rules to check out the university’s academic and soccer programs.
She made visits to the University of Maine, University of North Carolina and University of Vermont, which were offering full athletic scholarships to cover tuition, residence, books, food, equipment, etc. She’d only have to pay for trips home.
“I was planning to go to Vermont. It was almost a set thing,” Pacheco said in a recent interview.
But then Pacheco went to Florida in mid November to play for the Ottawa Fury girls’ under-17 team in the United Soccer League’s Super Y League North American finals. Besides being a continental championship, it also was another opportunity to be exposed to American university coaches.
Denise Schilte-Brown, the head coach of the University of South Florida women’s soccer team in Tampa Bay, attended the North American finals to get an update on a couple of the players she had recruited for 2008-09. While Schilte-Brown watched them play against the Fury, she also noticed the standout play of Pacheco, who was an attacking midfielder.
While most coaches were recruiting for 2009-10, Schilte-Brown had two athletic scholarships available as a couple of prospects had reversed their decisions.
After the North American Finals, Schilte-Brown contacted Pacheco, who turns 18 on Feb. 28, by phone and e-mail and discussed a full athletic scholarship offer for 2008-09.
“When I went to the South Florida campus, I loved the school, the girls and the location was an extra bonus. I knew right away as soon as I came,” Pacheco added about accepting the South Florida scholarship.
While Pacheco will study sport science at South Florida, which has a student population of 38,000, her love of soccer, individual skills and commitment to team play should help the Bulls improve their record in the prestigious Big East division. The Bulls were 4-10-3 and qualified for the Big East championships last season, but lost to Villanova University in the first round.
“I definitely feel very good about it,” Pacheco said. “I’m a bit nervous because I won’t have my parents with me, and excited because it’s something not everyone gets to do.”
Pacheco will spend the next six months focused on improving her academic marks, which range between 78 per cent and 80 per cent, as well as her fitness and strength. As a result, she won’t play for the St. Pius X girls’ senior soccer team, which she has done for the past two seasons, or participate in track and field as a middle-distance runner.
Born and raised in Sarnia, she participated in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’ provincial high school championships for cross-country running, soccer and track and field as a Grade 9 student at St. Christopher Secondary School.
When her family moved to Ottawa in 2005, her focus became soccer with the Ottawa Fury.
In the final two years of her three-year ride with the Fury, she was the team captain, and team MVP for the under-16 team in 2006 and the under-17 club in 2007. In the last two years, she also helped the Fury reach the Super Y League’s North American Finals as New England Division champions. She was selected to the SYL all-league team in 2006 and 2007 as well as the SYL Olympic development select team last season. Pacheco also played for the W-League’s Ottawa Fury as one of the youngest-ever athletes on the senior women’s roster.
Pacheco is recognized for her individual soccer skills and ball distribution. She started playing soccer at age four and was coached throughout her Sarnia soccer years by her dad, Tony, who also developed her individual skills. She also has benefited from the overall coaching of the Fury’s Dominic Oliveri during the past two years.
“I love being in the game and interpreting everything about the game. I love being there and I love the competition,” Pacheco said.
Schilte-Brown is thrilled to have Pacheco in her lineup for 2008-09.
“We were looking for specific needs in this year’s recruiting class and we definitely found those with Gina,” she said. “Her work rate, technical ability, tactical awareness and final pass in the attacking third are all qualities that we were looking for from our attacking central midfielders.”
Luso Canadian Gina Pacheco to Univ South Florida
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