Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Theresa Romagnolo was named Notre Dame's new women's soccer head coach this past March, the fourth head coach in the program's history. She joins the Fighting Irish following a successful three- year run as head coach at Dartmouth, during which she led the Big Green to 25 wins. She also cultivated a strong reputation for player development, coach- ing 16 All-Ivy League selections and four National Soccer Coaches Association of America all-region choices. Romagnolo was previously recognized as one of the nation's premier assistant coaches during her tenures at Stanford and San Diego. Prior to that, she was a standout midfielder for the University of Washington (1997-2000). She was named All- Pac-10 all four years and guided the Huskies to their first-ever No. 1 ranking and Pac-10 title. She also played for the San Jose CyberRays of the Women's United Soccer Association for three years. Blue & Gold Illustrated: What attracted you to Notre Dame? Theresa Romagnolo: "What didn't attract me to the job? The prospect of working with elite students and elite athletes is a rare opportunity that you don't get often in college sports. I think Notre Dame attracts the cream of the crop in both areas and competes for national titles." BGI: What are your plans to continue the success- ful momentum of the team? TR: "We talked a lot about the transition to the ACC. It's looking at the second year of being more familiar with the ACC and focusing on the areas we want to improve on, like finishing games out and creating more attacking chances for ourselves." BGI: You are replacing Randy Waldrum, a coach who has been here the last 15 years. Any extra pressure on you? TR: "It's more the pres- sure I put on myself in terms of wanting to succeed in everything that I do. It doesn't matter who I coach or where I coach, my goal is always to be the best in that group and to look back in the years and see that I was able to maximize the potential of that team." BGI: How did you go about picking your coach- ing staff? TR: "I retained Dawn Greathouse — she's been a staple of the program here for the last 11 years and a part of two national championships. I also actually played with her professionally in 2002. She knows what it takes to win championships and knows the level of athletes we are recruiting. "I also hired Diego Bocanegra. He has a lot of ties to California, knows the recruiting circuit and has an eye for the elite players we are looking to bring in here. And he has a great coaching background." BGI: Do you miss your playing days or is coaching better? TR: "My playing days are so long ago, I don't even think about them anymore. I think when you can't play, coaching is the next best thing. "The fun thing about coaching is that you've got all these different players that you use to get the most out of their abilities by putting them together. And I love the strategizing part of being a coach." — Staci Gasser Five Questions With … NOTRE DAME WOMEN'S SOCCER COACH THERESA ROMAGNOLO Click here to listen to the complete interview. ▼ ROMAGNOLO