The Aztexan

photo: TexasSports.com wallpapers

Our Game Magazine — Leah Fortune update

In the July 2010 issue of Our Game, we featured 20-year-old American, Leah Fortune, who played for the Brazilian U-20 Women’s National Team. A redshirt freshman at the University of Texas, Fortune is second on the team in scoring this fall with four goals and four assists in 13 games. But last Monday, she made a difficult choice. She withdrew from the University of Texas. She did so because she was called up to the Brazilian Women’s National Team to compete at the 2010 Sudamericano Femenino, CONMEBOL’s 2011 World Cup qualifiers.

See pages 14-16 of the July issue of this online women’s soccer magazine for the story of how this promising young player with dual citizenship came to be joining Brazil on their journey to next year’s World Cup in Germany. I’m glad I was able to see her when I attended a Longhorns game earlier this season.

School is starting back in Austin, from your neighborhood elementary all the way up to college. That means the University of Texas Longhorns soccer season is starting again, too.

You can be pretty sure that all the “UT football” hype you’re hearing (or promoting yourself, if you’re one of those people) is about that other of football: the one in which, despite the name, everyone uses their hands all the time, except for the one guy who kicks the ball a few times each game. Despite the impression you might get from most Longhorns fans, the school does field teams in other sports.

Which brings us to the UT women’s soccer team, which just started their 2010 season last weekend. They’re off to a good start, winning that opener with North Carolina State 2-1. (With the Aztex win over the Railhawks on Sunday, that makes two NC soccer teams going down to their TX rivals last weekend!) The Longhorns also won their sole preseason game, against Louisiana State, with the same 2-1 scoreline.

This UT squad boasts several players with international experience. Midfielder Lexi Harris and goalkeeper Alexa Gaul have both played for the United States U17, U20 or U23 teams, defender Nina Pederson has played for the Danish U23s, and Leah Fortune has been called to both the U20 and senior Brazilian national teams. As qualifying runs continue ahead of next year’s World Cup in Germany, we may see some of these Longhorn athletes on the world stage.

As you can see from the schedule, the season is pretty short, with the last regular season game on Oct. 29. There will be 11 home games on UT’s beautiful natural grass field at Mike A. Myers Stadium. The first two of those games are this weekend: Friday at 7:00 PM vs. the UT San Antonio Roadrunners, and Sunday at 1:00 PM vs. the USC Trojans. (I’m considering going to the Friday game; let me know via email, Twitter, in the comments, on BigSoccer or via carrier pigeon if you’re interested in joining me.) Tickets for home games are just $7, $4 for kids through 18. Despite the occasional weirdness of NCAA soccer rules (e.g., unlimited subs), these games are a good time, and a chance to see some excellent play.

Though Texas chooses to not field a men’s team, there is a UT “club” soccer program that includes men’s teams (as well as another women’s team). These guys actually had a booth set up at the Aztex-Railhawks game on Sunday, handing out copies of their schedule. Their home games are played at UT’s Whitaker Fields, field #10. I haven’t gone to any of these games myself, but may try to check one out (I assume they’re free admission).

So, if you’re missing live soccer games while the Aztex are on the road, or after they’ve finished winning the title, don’t forget the college options we have in Austin.