Dec. 6, 2001
Head soccer coach Nick Cowell sat down Thursday afternoon and chatted with fans online. The following is a transcript of the chat session.
For archived transcripts of earlier chats, click here.
Dallas: I understand injuries played a role in last year's results but I feel the talent level is decreasing at Baylor. What is it going to take to the program competitive again in the Big 12.
Nick Cowell: Attention to recruiting, quality student athletes. At the college level, you can be the best coach in the world, but if you don't have the talent, you're not going to win.
John (Waco): How do you explain the team's decline in wins every year since you've been here?
Nick Cowell: This year's record was a direct result of an unfortunate set of circumstances regarding injuries to key positions. I think last year's record was a result of a very high strength of schedule.
waco: Coach Cowell, you came from a division III school as a successful coach, but since you got to baylor, it just seemed to me you kept recruiting division III players and not division I. Baylor soccer was awesome to watch because of the great players they had before, and those caliber players have faded away the past couple of years. how long do you think it will take to rebuild this team into a top 20 team in the nation??
Nick Cowell: I disagree that the players we've recruited are D-III players. Certainly players like Dawn Greathouse and Courtney Saunders have been hard to replace. However, we are currently involved in recruiting some similar-type athletes. We were hopeful this year to have a top-20 team and even received votes early in the year, but it's tough to play our type of schedule without a regular, fully-fit goalkeeper in the majority of the games.
Robert (Amarillo, TX): Thanks for doing this, coach! You only lose two seniors off last year's team, and have a lot of girls returning. Who do you expect to be your standouts next season?
Nick Cowell: Our top two goal-scorers were freshmen this year (Ginny Rosario-Tull and April Robertson), and Candace Reilly in the midfield, and Melissa Humke and Tamura Crawley on defense will anchor the team.
Linda (Houston): Tough year, Coach, with all the injuries. Seemed like everytime I turned around some one was getting hurt. How can you avoid that in the future? Was this just a fluke season? Good luck next year!
Nick Cowell: Tiffany Boshers and Sarah Gardner, both freshmen, tore their ACLs before the season even started. Katie Peterson and Sarah Dearing tore their ACLs early in the season. Emily Koch had a chronic back injury, and Mel Pannell, our other goalie, tore her shoulder in the first game. I'm not sure there's any reason for their injuries, apart from teaching the lesson of humility to coaching staffs.
Ralph S. - Dallas: With all the youth on your team, do you ever consider looking for transfers? Is that much of a factor in soccer?
Nick Cowell: It's funny, the last couple of days I have fielded many calls from athletes interested in transferring to Baylor. The problem is that most of our recruits commit to us early in the fall, and it's hard to predict which athletes might be coming out later in the year. Certainly we encourage athletes to transfer to Baylor, but it is difficult to find adequate scholarship money at this late stage of the recruiting season.
Ronaldo, Waco, Texas: Baylor has some of the nicest facilities in the nation, with that new complex and all. Soccer, though, seems not to have benefittted quite so much. Are there plans to do more for soccer? If so, what is the timetable on that? How can we as fans push things along? I don't want to see our girls be neglected!
Nick Cowell: There are significant plans for the continued beautification of the soccer facility, and I think the completion of the indoor tennis complex will really help seal off the soccer area. It would be hard to justify work on inclosing the soccer stadium only to have that work ripped up for the new tennis complex. There has also been talk of a grassy berm in left field of the baseball stadium which would also serve as a berm behind one of the soccer goals. If you would like to push things along as a fan, send a check to Tom Stanton! :)
Dave (Ft. Worth): Nick, How does your recruiting class for next year prepare you to counter the loss of your seniors (Kaz and Alyson) and what would you say is your biggest weakness moving into the spring? Hows your Grand Tursimo game coming?? Kim and I send our best to you, Yvette, Sydney and Devon!!
Nick Cowell: We are very excited about the players that have already committed to Baylor, although the NCAA precludes us from telling you who they are. We have concentrated our recruiting efforts on a quality forward and midfielder. We feel that quality is much more important at this stage than quantity. Thanks for asking, the family is doing great.
Scott (Temple): Hi Coach...... Tar Heels again??? or do you see a sleeper walking out of Dallas this weekend with the trophy? Your thoughts please
Nick Cowell: Why bet against the Tar Heels? They have reached the final four for the 20th consecutive year. However, both Portland and Santa Clara could give them a run for their money.
Ron in Ft Worth: Considering that injuries seem to be more common as soccer becomes more violent, what are your plans to make sure that injuries don't sideline the team next year?
Nick Cowell: We have an excellent strength and conditioning coach who helps prevent injuries by increasing our players' explosiveness. I'm not sure what we can do to stop the ACL curse.
Ron in Ft Worth: As the parent of multiples with two soccer players among them (9th grade), what should I do to attract your attention and train them properly? (Already on select teams)
Nick Cowell: Make sure they receive the best in technical training. Try to involve them with the Olympic Development program, and send them to a variety of soccer camps. E-mail has become the communication of choice for high school athletes, and certainly letting coaches know your tournament schedule ahead of time will help us make sure that we see her.
TMars(Dallas): Why do you not utilize T. Crawley as a forward in your game plan? It is obvious that she is fast and quick and can score, since this was shown in the Oklahoma game. Are you recruiting any defenders so that you can accomplished this change?
Nick Cowell: Tamura is a fast player, whether she plays at the back or up front. We feel that we need her abilities more as a defender, particularly when we were committed to playing only three defenders. Next year, we may change our game plan and go with four defenders, in which case it might be easier to justify T playing up front. She certainly changed the game when we played Oklahoma.
mikek(ambridge): how do you get mentally motivated and what kind of pregame things do you do?
Nick Cowell: I'm not sure if you mean the coach or the team, but we feel it's important to have a set regiment before games, which includes eating correctly, relaxation, visualization, meetings with coaches, appropriate levels of stretching and aerobic exercise to make sure that we are totally ready when the game starts.
tulsa: Coach what is the biggest change you made from coaching a D-3 school to a d-1 school
Nick Cowell: The biggest difference is in recruiting. At D-I, the recruiting is much more specific, whereas in D-3 the recruiting is much more numbers oriented. The game itself is really not that different.
Pat(Waco): How is goalkeeper Mel's rehab coming along? Her loss was a blow last season.
Nick Cowell: Mel Pannell can now raise her hand over her head, which is huge progress since for the longest time she was unable to lift her arm above shoulder level. If you crack a joke at her expense, she can now slap you back, which is not a good thing. In all seriousness, her total rehab time is estimated to be six months, which puts her back on the field around the end of April.
Plano: Coach Cowell, What have been your most gratifying and most disappointing moments since taking the top spot in the Baylor soccer program?
Nick Cowell: One of the most gratifying moments occasions was defeating the Mexico National Team in the spring. Those types of occasions are things that will last in the players' memories for a lifetime. I also think the Big 12 Tournament victory against Missouri last year was a particularly exciting game to be a part of. (4-3 overtime, comeback win after trailing three times in the game) The most disappointing moment was probably losing away to Iowa State this year.
Matt(Waco): Other than recruiting good players, are there anythings to do in order to have better preparation/improvement? I can see the team's talent. But I can't see much improvement individually. I don't think they do a good job in handling the ball, like passing and receiving.
Nick Cowell: Our spring training focuses totally on individual technical improvement. The college soccer season is so short and hectic that individual improvement usually comes after tactical preparation. The spring, however, is when we see the most development in our players, since we have a less hectic game schedule and more time to spend with individual players.
Ron in Ft Worth: When will the soccer team benefit from the internet and television type broadcasting?
Nick Cowell: Those types of questions are really outside my jurisdiction. We currently offer live statistical/play-by-play updates during our home games. I assume additional radio/TV type activities would require additional funding. Since we are a non-revenue producing sport, I don't see that on the horizon. The Big 12 Championship game was aired (tape delayed) on Fox Sports, and the NCAA Final Four is on ESPN.
Plano ... again: What have been your biggest hurdles during the last three seasons, aside from student athlete injuries?
Nick Cowell: Some might call them hurdles, others opportunities. The increased competitiveness of the Big 12 Conference is definitely a challenge. Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have all got vastly improved programs the past three years, while Nebraska, Texas A&M and Missouri have remained strong.
Nick Cowell: Thanks for everyone's interest in our program. We hope for a more healthy and prosperous season in 2002.
