HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES

Psyching for Success

Soccer star Emily Stauffer looks to the future

By Alec Solomita

Special to the Gazette

Last summer, when Emily Stauffer would near the end of her solitary and punishing training sessions, a time when the body starts to protest, when you want to fold up your tent and go home, she found strength in a mantra. It was a phrase she knew was running through the minds of her Crimson teammates scattered across the country. "It's hard to kick it out for that last sprint. When I wanted to give up, I'd say to myself, 'This is for Brown.' "

It worked. Harvard's women's soccer team, which had in 1994 finished just a notch behind the champion Bears, concluded their triumphant 1995 season with a one-goal victory over their nemesis from Providence, clinching their first Ivy League Title since 1981. After a scramble in front of the net, the winning goal was scored by senior co-captain Sara Noonan; sophomore midfielder Stauffer got the assist.

For Stauffer it was one of nine season assists which, along with her 13 goals, added up to a near-phenomenal league-leading 35 points. After a freshman year studded with honors, including First Team All Ivy selection and 1994 Ivy League Rookie of the year, great things were expected from Stauffer. Even so, her point production this season was truly sensational, and she was duly recognized for her achievement with both the Ivy League Player of the Year Award and being chosen First Team All-American.

Despite the fact that Stauffer is, as her coach Tim Wheaton puts it, "truly exceptional as an athlete," the honors are hard-won. For the last seven years, that is, since she was 13, Stauffer has dedicated much of her life to soccer. "Until this year," she says, "I've spent each summer immersed in soccer, mostly in the Olympic Development Program." The winter off-season is no idle time either -- Emily and her teammates continue to train, working out in the crowded weight room at least three afternoons a week in addition to keeping up with running and plyometrics, a series of jumping exercises. And this spring, she will be training with the Under-20 National Team.

It all seems to come naturally to Stauffer, which is perhaps not surprising. As she explains, "My family was always soccer-oriented. My parents, who are big runners, were involved in the sport, coaching and managing kids' teams. And I was always in the backyard playing with my older brother, Matt." Her 13-year-old sister Hannah is also an "all-around jock," adds Stauffer, who hails from New Canaan, Conn., and is a resident of Eliot House.

As consuming and demanding as soccer is, Stauffer, like all Harvard athletes, must find a way to balance sports, academics, and social life. "It all comes down to time management," she explains earnestly. "There are certainly tough times during the season, mid-terms, for example, when you have to be true to academics and the team. But Tim [Wheaton] knows we're all dedicated to our academics, so he's generous -- when we tell him 'we've got to miss practice today,' he knows we'll make it up."

Stauffer's concentration is government and she is particularly interested in women's studies. "It has the most direct effect on my life," she says, "It's both applicable and interesting." This summer, Emily is looking forward to taking art classes at New York University, a departure for her. "It's something I've always wanted to do. Ultimately, you've got to be true to yourself and do things you really need to do to make you happy."

These sentiments don't seem like platitudes coming from Stauffer, who has a self-possession and seriousness that belie her years. Tim Wheaton says of her, "She's a special kid. Her athletic ability, which is genuinely superior, is only a small part of what she brings to us. She's a great leader who works as hard or harder than anybody else, which means a great deal to everybody. As a coach, it makes my life easier, and nobody on the team begrudges her her awards."

Indeed, when she talks about the victories of the past season, Emily concentrates on the efforts of the team rather than her own personal accomplishments. She points out that freshmen "made a big contribution this year," mentioning, among others, forward Naomi Miller -- "always scoring big-time for us," Devon Bingham, "a very creative, dynamic midfielder," and Jamie Chu, "a standout back -- nobody's going to get by her."

About her individual honors, Stauffer demurs persuasively, "Certainly they're nice and you're proud to achieve them, but winning the Ivy League Championship, the joy and pride you get from working together, well -- no individual honor matches that excitement." And she adds, "I would have given up all the awards to get an opportunity to be in the NCAA tournament."

If there was a dark moment in the Crimson's stellar season, it was the failure of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to choose Harvard to the 24-team NCAA Division 1 Tournament, the "Big Dance," as it's called. "I was disappointed by that," admits Stauffer, "but we're a growing program and getting more serious, placing higher expectations on ourselves each year. This year we did everything we expected to do -- beating Brown and winning the Ivy. Perhaps we were too focused on the Ivy League Title to tell ourselves we could get to the NCAA."

"Next season," she says with a determined glint in her blue eyes, "we're going to look toward being one of the top 24 -- we're going to get into the tournament."

Stauffer is a great believer in mental discipline, in "mind over body," as she puts it. "Your mentality about what you do is really important," she says. And this summer when she feels the body flagging at the end of yet another grueling training session, when she's looking to muster up energy for that last sprint, "I'm going to say to myself, 'This one's for NCAA.' "