Wambach Connects with Crowd at a Packed Phillips Center in Return to UF
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 | Soccer
>By TARYN BRAY
GatorZone.com Writing Intern
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- There are few names nearly every Gator has heard of.
Abby Wambach is one of them.
UF's ACCENT Speakers Bureau brought the international soccer star and former Gators standout back to her alma mater Tuesday night to speak to the student body and most importantly, her fans.
The 35-year-old Wambach, arguably the greatest female athlete the University of Florida has ever produced, owns the Southeastern Conference goals record (96) as well as being the all-time international goal scorer in soccer history with 184 goals.
Now that's a career worth talking about.
The Phillips Center was filled to the brim with excited fans to hear the tales and advice Wambach has to offer.
In true Gator fashion, Wambach walked on stage while gator chomping to a standing ovation. Still donning a post World Cup win glow, she sat comfortably on stage and spoke with ease while making the crowd laugh endlessly throughout the night.
Wambach announced her retirement last week. She plans to play her final match for the U.S. Women's National Team in December. Based on her speaking engagement Tuesday, Wambach is a seasoned veteran not only in soccer but also as a role model.
“I just want to be a good example and lead by that example,” she said. “You can be a leader at any moment of any given day. I'm here to be somebody that my teammates know they can turn to.”
The moderator for the night, UF journalism professor Ted Spiker, asked questions that touched on all points of her life and career. Still, the clear fan-favorite story was the one of how Wambach chose to come to UF.
“I wanted to do my college search on my own and so I took three trips, and after visiting UCLA I thought 'that's it, I'm done. I'm going to UCLA'. My mom put her foot down and said that I had to visit five schools, so I was going to choose the school who called me first,” Wambach recalled. “My mom secretly called Becky Burleigh and told her, 'Hang up the phone and call Abby right now'. Becky called me and I made the visit.”
She said after her visit, the rest was history.
They pulled out all the stops for her including putting her name on the back of a jersey (which she pointed out is now not allowed) and they put her name up on the scoreboard. She was convinced.
When asked about her favorite part of Wambach's speech, junior Anthropology major Tabitha Bickman said: “I loved how personable she was. She's very down to earth and grateful for her career as a soccer player.”
Overheard in the crowd as the masses walked out of the Phillips Center were statements such as “she's so cool,” and “she's a really good speaker."
Wambach certainly scored with the crowd.
Among the other topics she touched upon:
On how female sports coverage is not near what male sports coverage is: “Our light shines so bright during the Olympics and World Cup. In order to affect that positive change, you need the help of journalists and media outlets and what drives that is money and corporate sponsorships. We were the highest-rated soccer game that's ever been shown in the United States … ever. I'm so proud of that.”
On the transition from high school to college: “I was going through a lot of life changes when I first got here. I met my best friend Ari and Ari's family took me in. I was finding myself, trying to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be. I was rebelling in certain ways. I didn't want to be just a soccer player. I didn't want being a soccer player to define me. I struggled balancing school and soccer and friends and wanting to have the normal college lifestyle.”
On deciding if she wanted to pursue soccer after college after enduring three-a-day practices and tough conditioning sessions: “A professor brought me into his office one day and said, 'Abby, you're not going to be able to do anything with women's soccer after you're done here'. I realized my senior year that maybe I could do this as a profession. There was no better option for me than to come to UF. I learned how to become the best pro athlete I possibly could but also how to be the best person I could be as well.”
To cap the night after taking questions from the audience at the end of the event, Wambach paused and told everyone she had something to say.
“I really want to wholeheartedly thank everybody here and tell your friends who aren't here that I heard you and saw you. I've played in a lot of stadiums and I see the Gator flags and Gator chomps. You guys are the best and I am so proud to call myself a Gator.
"I still bleed orange and blue."
