By James Zwilling skiff staff There are 20-year-old TCU students who plan their days around classes. Then, there is junior Spanish major Ian Keate who structures his days around soccer. "Soccer is a way of life," Keate said. "Everything I do revolves around soccer. I plan my days according to soccer."
"Soccer is about all 11 guys on each team all trying to win," Keate said. "The fact that it is not set in stone on any one day which team will win is exciting. In soccer, the fastest team doesn't always win." Some of Keate's accomplishments include being named captain of his high school team, Most Valuable Player of his National Champion U-19 team, Second Team All-WAC (1998) and two All-Tournament team selections so far this season. "I started realizing my soccer abilities when I quit all the other sports in high school," Keate said. Keate played basketball, tennis and golf at Brophy Prep in Phoenix, Ariz., before quitting to concentrate on soccer. "The best thing about soccer is that it is a non-stop team sport," Keate said. "That's what attracted me to it." When choosing a college, Keate looked at other schools including SMU and Fresno State, but he felt that he would fit in best at TCU. "I agreed well with the team," he said. "They gave me the opportunity to start and become a big-impact player immediately." Choosing to play soccer at TCU is a big decision for any player because athletic scholarships are not offered for the sport, but Keate said it is worth it. "It is not frustrating that we don't have scholarships when we are beating teams that do," he said. Keate hopes to one day play professionally and after spending the past summer with the Motherwell Futbol Club in Scotland, he believes he may one day have the chance. "Playing abroad showed me what it takes to win and take soccer to another level," Keate said. "Soccer is a lot different abroad." Keate said he believes Americans have the ability to play competitively with players abroad. "Soccer abroad is like any big sport like football or basketball here in the states," Keate said. "Kids know the players, the media is around, everyone knows soccer. I think American athletes have the ability to be better, [Europeans] just have a better knowledge of the game." Keate said he would seriously consider putting his college career on hold if a professional offer came in. "If an offer comes along, with some money, I would definitely have to consider it," he said. "The pursuits of my mind will not go away, but I know that my soccer ability will. I don't want to take that for granted." Keate believes that inspirations both on and off the field have led him to where he is today. "When I play soccer I always look up to the older guys on the team," Keate said. "I know I can learn from them." Off the field however, Keate said his mom is the one who gives him inspiration. "My mom is my biggest inspiration," Keate said. "She loves sports and she came to all of my games growing up. She loved them. Even now, living in Scottsdale (Ariz.) she tries to make it to as many games as possible." Keate said that moving around several times as a kid has helped his soccer career. "I moved around a lot as a kid which gave me the opportunity to play for a lot of different coaches," he said. This opportunity, he said, has instilled in him a strong winning attitude which he hopes he brings to every team. "I always want to win," Keate said. "Whether it is pingpong or a game in practice, I never want to lose. Some people think that is crazy, but that's the winning attitude I contribute to every team."
James Zwilling
By Gibbs Colgin staff reporter Seven members of head coach Richard Sybesman's swim team are from San Antonio, and his efforts to recruit from the city started 21 years ago when he began making trips there. "No one (from San Antonio) came (to TCU) at first, but then one signed and others followed," Sybesma said. San Antonio has always had good swimmers mainly because of the swimming programs in the high schools and in the club system, he said. A top swimmer will swim on both the high school team and the club team, he said. The San Antonio club system, Alamo Area Aquatics, is one of the top clubs in the nation, and every TCU swimmer from San Antonio was a part of a club team, as well as a high school team. Sybesma also said once swimmers come from an area, like San Antonio, and are successful, then others follow. "We've had a lot of success from San Antonio," Sybesma said. "Since I've been here, we've had around 25 to 30 swimmers come from there. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't keep coming." Many of the swimmers said they feel like Sybesma is the reason so many recruits choose TCU over other schools. "Richard is really good at recruiting," said freshman Clint Barghi. "He is very persistent and no other coach is like that." Team members from San Antonio said they thought TCU offered a well-balanced atmosphere athletically, academically and socially. Freshman Katie Peterson and junior Ryan Mammarella both said, out of all of their options, TCU was the best all-around choice and they heard good things about the school. Many swimmers said they were influenced to come to TCU by other San Antonio team members. "Part of the reason I chose TCU is because I swam with (Charlie Fell) in high school and Mammarella from club who were already on the team," sophomore Josh Pipes said. "Knowing them helped me to adjust. I also talked to a couple of people that I had trained with already at TCU about the atmosphere in and out of the water." Fell, a senior, chose to swim for TCU because his older brother Trip had four years before. "My brother was a big influence," Fell said. "I guess I followed in his footsteps." Walter Soza was a TCU swimmer to come out of the San Antonio system. While at TCU, he was an All-American and still holds three school records, the 200-meter butterfly, the 200-meter individual medley and the 400-meter individual medley. Soza finished his career in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, competing for Nicaragua. Soza was the only swimmer from his country to go to the Olympics that year and he swam his career best in two out of the three meets he competed in. Sybesma accompanied him as his coach. This year the Western Athletic Conference championship will be held in San Antonio at Palo Alto College.
Gibbs Colgin
By Matt Stiver staff reporter Conference USA and TCU Athletics - currently, rampant speculation exists that the latter will join the former. When C-USA presidents gave commissioner Mike Slive authorization to explore expansion possibilities in August, TCU was one of the schools whose name was mentioned. There are several reasons why most of the media coverage has revolved around how a potential conference change would affect men's basketball and football. The Western Athletic Conference lacks an automatic NCAA tournament bid in men's basketball; C-USA has one. The WAC does not have a stake in the multi-million dollar Bowl Championship Series in football; C-USA does, if it has a team ranked No. 6 or higher in the BCS poll. Those two revenue sports might get all the headlines, but all TCU sports teams will be affected if Athletic Director Eric Hyman accepts a potential bid from C-USA. Several coaches said conference affiliation will not greatly affect their chances for NCAA championship berths. Women's golf coach Angie Ravaioli-Larkin said the team's play in all of its meets determines NCAA qualifications. "We just have a conference championship, which is one tournament," Larkin said. "We'll still play our same schedule regardless of what conference we're in." Track coach Monte Stratton said track operates in the same manner. "Track is a little different animal than baseball, football and basketball in that we don't have round-robin conference contests," Stratton said. "We'll have five or six cross country meets, four to six indoor meets and eight to 10 outdoor." Head soccer coach Dave Rubinson said his teams will still have to go out and play well. Unlike golf and track, soccer teams do play games within the conference. "(Conference affiliation) doesn't have any affect either way, I don't think," Rubinson said. "What I would hope for is it would have the champion make the NCAA tournament (automatically)." Men's tennis coach Michael Center said his team should not need an automatic bid. Center said if his team (currently ranked No. 22 in the nation) had to rely on an automatic bid to make the NCAA championships, then they are not where he would want them to be. Switching from the WAC to C-USA would also mean different competition. Larkin and Stratton said their respective teams would stack up well. Larkin said the women's golf team would be the favorite and could help the conference grow stronger. "(C-USA) is very weak," Larkin said. "We would, I think, hands down be the strongest team. They may be strong in a couple of years, but right now it isn't a great women's golf conference. "If golf isn't competitive, then (C-USA should) make it competitive. Stratton said he feels confident about the track team. "I think we can compete at the highest level in any conference in the nation," Stratton said. Several coaches said if Hyman walked into their offices and announced a conference switch, they would support it. Larkin said she would support a move. "My initial reaction would be to look at all the positives (changing conferences would bring)," Larkin said. "People are trying to look for the negatives and trying to bring it down, but I feel like the WAC is in some turmoil right now." Stratton said he has confidence in Hyman. "I would trust the leadership of the university to make the decision that was best for TCU," Stratton said. "I wouldn't have a doubt either way."
Matt Stiver
Pape leads team both on, off court Co-captain's commitment, support of others key to leadership
By Paul Freelend skiff staff While there are many aspects to senior outside hitter Jill Pape's persona, the wide range of her personality might best be described by her focus on impacting those she comes into contact with. Pape is one of the co-captains of the Volley Frogs, a part of the team's H.A.L.T. (Help Alleviate Little Troubles) program and ninth on the Western Athletic Conference's all-time kills list. With the title of co-captain, Pape feels an added sense of responsibility to the team. "Being a captain means a lot of leadership, especially with a young team like this," Pape said. "Captains need to be positive role models for the team. Also, they need to lead by example because the young players tend to do what we do and act how we act." Even with her dominance on the court, Pape's presence has been felt all around not just in the volleyball arena. "Jill has meant everything to this team," senior co-captain and defensive specialist Stacy Olson said. "She is definitely our most dynamic and outspoken leader. On the court, she has produced the most these past four years, and off of the court, she supports everyone. She wants everyone to be comfortable and to fit in and she will do everything in her power to get that.
Pape is a part of TCU volleyball's first senior class that played at TCU as freshmen along with Olson and senior middle blocker Jessica Rangel. Her career statistics to date stand at 1,512 kills, 171 set assists, 121 service aces, 1,046 digs and 178 total blocks. Before Pape became known for her volleyball skills her athletic career started in a different game. "I started playing CYO [Catholic Youth Organization] soccer when I was four years old," Pape said. "I was the only girl on our team. When I hit 10, though, the league wouldn't let girls play anymore. There were no other fall sports so my parents started a CYO volleyball team. I played on that team until I was 13, when I started playing in middle school. I also started playing club volleyball and (participated in) Junior Olympics in eighth grade." When it came time to make a commitment toward a college, Pape decided to follow the lead of a teammate and a familiar adversary. "Jessica [Rangel] and I had been playing club ball together for a while and we played against this girl named Annie a lot," Pape said. "TCU offered Annie a scholarship so we went on a campus visit with her. Jessica committed first, and I followed suit." Pape knew that she was entering a changing program, and she has seen the program flourish the past four years. "One of the biggest changes I have seen in the program is the growth of the relationships between players and coaches," Pape said. "There used to be a big rift between us. We work together more now whereas it used to be us versus them." Pape plans to graduate in the winter of 2000. "What I really want to do is go to Europe and travel for a while," Pape said. "It's somewhere I've never been to and something I have wanted to do for quite some time. There is a lot of stuff to see over there." Pape said she hopes to leave a legacy with the program she has come so far with. "I want to leave each player with something different when I leave," Pape said. "Most of all, I would hope to tell them to make the best out of the time that they are here and continue to work hard. I hope to be remembered as someone who was a really hard worker, who was fun to watch and who took advantage of all the opportunities given to her."
Paul Freelend |
Keate, who has played soccer as a goal keeper for more than
15 years, said he enjoys being a leader on the TCU men's soccer team, but
he enjoys the team-oriented aspect of the game most.
"She is a very caring person. She's also very observant
and considerate of other people, both those on the volleyball team and
those who aren't. Jill is also a creative person. She always thinks of
new and different ways to solve problems."| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |