Culture of Support, Respect Fuels Hot Start For UO Soccer

The Oregon soccer team is off to an encouraging, 4-1-1 start, and there are myriad reasons that explain it.

The Ducks feature a mix of experienced veterans including Marissa Everett and Alyssa Hinojosa, and skilled freshmen such as Zoe Hasenauer and Hannah Taylor. They're anchored on the back end by goalkeeper Halla Hinriksdottir, who is second in the Pac-12 with three shutouts entering play this weekend, which Oregon has off. And they have a group of energetic "game changers" coming off the bench, including leading goal scorer Emma Eddy and her playmaking partner, Eden Hardy.

And what the Ducks have, too, is a sense of team unity that veterans say is unlike anything they've experienced in seasons past. That owes in no small part to some emotional, heartfelt discussions amongst teammates from across a diverse range of socioeconomic, racial and religious backgrounds, from which emerged feelings of trust and mutual respect that are shining through on the field as well as off.

Those conversations took place in the wake of a 2017 season in which some players on the soccer team, eager to join a national conversation about social justice issues in the United States, chose to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem. Following a preseason team meeting this fall, that morphed into the Ducks standing back to back, each player with a hand on the shoulder of the teammate in front of her.

"We wanted to show unity and strength for one another," senior midfielder Sofia Chambers said. "We literally have each other's backs physically, as well as support, no matter what that person thinks, feels, believes. We have each other's back, no matter what."

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The soccer team is among the most active in the community of any UO program. Taylor and sophomore Emily Kaestner are helping coordinate events for the O Heroes service program for 2018-19. Hinojosa and senior Kyra Fawcett went to Uganda over the summer with the athletic department's annual Courts for Kids project.

Over the last two years, the team has raised more than $75,000 to help the St. Baldrick's Foundation pursue a cure for childhood cancers. And the goalkeeper, Hinriksdottir, is helping organize a day at Papé Field in which the NAACP Youth Council of Eugene/Springfield will have an informational table at an Oregon game, and halftime will feature cultural programs and speakers.

As a native of Iceland, Hinriksdottir is one of two international players on the UO roster. There are 10 players from California, four from Hawaii, two each from Texas and Utah, and one each from Arizona, Minnesota and Washington.

Those players hail from socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds that range across a diverse spectrum. Some have family members who are active duty military, and others who work as police officers.

"What has brought us together? It's soccer, it's this mission, it's this program, where we want to go," Hinriksdottir said. "We all have that common goal. It doesn't matter where we come from, or how we were raised, or the circumstances we've had in our lives; even though they're very different, we all have this common goal, and we all love each other, no matter what."

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That spirit emerged from the team's preseason meeting, in which more than half the team spoke, drawing forth a range of emotions that ran the gamut.

"The group and the culture we've created is unique," Chambers said. "We're able to express how we feel without being criticized for who we are and what we believe in, coming from a place of love. I respect what you believe; I have my own beliefs; but I want you to know that — no matter what — I have your back."

The Ducks say they appreciate the way head coach Kat Mertz has helped foster that culture, one of open-mindedness and mutual respect for concepts like diversity and free speech.

"We can't take that for granted," Hinriksdottir said. "We talk about it amongst ourselves, that we're very lucky we have that support. We have friends at other schools and we know they're literally told, you cannot do this. Kat's always tried to make it very clear, she's behind us 100 percent, and she'll stand up for us, no matter what."

Another result of the team's preseason meeting was a mission statement to be posted in the locker room that reads:

We live in a state of "we" rather than a state of "I". We value our family and what it means to have each other's back. We stand for respect, equality, and service.
We have big hearts, are loving, accepting, and full of life. We are passionate about hard work and value genuine relationships.
We are shaped by our past and on this journey together.
We are Oregon soccer

Along with the team-wide gesture of a hand on a teammate's shoulder prior to the game, Hinriksdottir has joined with a handful of players who also put a fist in the air, in a call for attention to issues of racial inequality. A mutual understanding of the intentions behind that gesture was yet another result of the Ducks' preseason team meeting, which helped produce a spirit of unity that has the Oregon soccer team flying high as conference play approaches.

"This team has a different feel to it," Hinriksdottir said. "I don't want to attribute it just to that conversation, but …"

"It was a good starting point," Chambers said, finishing her teammate's thought.

"The culture feels more organic," Hinriksdottir continued. "It's taken a lot for us to get to this point. But it's been worth it."