Tracy Ducar Is Ready If Needed
March 30, 1999
by Tim Nash
The life of a backup goalkeeper with the U.S. Women’s National Team can be a bit frustrating, but Tracy Ducar understands the role.
“One of the toughest challenges for me on the national team is trying to stay game-ready without really playing in that many competitive games,” says the former UNC keeper.
As she prepares for the 1999 Women’s World Cup, Ducar exists in a Catch-22. In order to prove herself to the coaching staff, she needs to play. But as the backup, she rarely plays against top-flight competition, often finding herself 100 away from the action, patrolling the empty half of the field.
“As the backup, I don't get that many minutes and when I do get in I typically face the weaker opponents,” she says. “So I don't really see too much activity. Playing against Portugal and Norway are two completely different things. However, I have to be ready to step into that starting spot at any moment.
“To prepare myself for this challenge I mentally visualize myself in those types of games and see myself making the right decisions and making good saves,” she adds.
Ducar has yet to play against Norway or China, who along with the USA comprise the tiny elite group of international women’s soccer. She understands, however, that she has to be ready at literally a moment’s notice. An injury or red card suspension to starter Briana Scurry could put Ducar in the thick of the World Cup chase.
In the U.S. training camp, competition is fierce for every position, and the goalkeepers are no exception. Scurry, the starter in the 1995 World Cup and the 1996 Olympics, is the incumbent and the former University of Massachusetts All-American is unlikely to be unseated before the World Cup kicks off in June.
However, Ducar, ex-Rutgers star Saskia Webber and recent UNC grad Siri Mullinix are giving Scurry all the competition she can handle.
“Competing against Bri is very difficult,” says Ducar. “Don't get me wrong, Bri and I get along well. What I mean is that she has been on the team for over five years now and has been on the World Cup team in '95, she’s an Olympic Gold Medalist, and she has over 80 caps. That sort of experience is nearly insurmountable. No matter what I do in practice, I can never touch the experience she has.”
And every time Scurry gets the starting nod against an upper-echelon opponent, the gaps between her and Ducar widens.
“Bri is a very established player, and it’s a credit to her that she has been able to stay on top of her game for so long,” Ducar says. “I try not to look at those factors, though, since none of it is within my control. The only thing that I can control is how hard I train and take advantage of the chances I do get to play.”
Ducar is hardly sitting around waiting for something to happen. She is arguably the hardest working player on the team. A typical week for her includes four to five days of lifting, two days of fitness, three days of training with the ball, two days of fast footwork, one or two days of plyometrics and speed training, and one day off. On days that she doesn’t do straight fitness, she will either bike, run, do the stairmaster or rock climb.
“I take my training very seriously,” she says. “I have always found that I perform better when I‘m fit and strong. So I usually kill myself when we are away from the team instead of easing up on my training. My husband, Chris, says I overtrain and is always trying to slow me down.”
Most of the advice she gets from Chris, an assistant coach at UNC, comes via email or phone. Given their busy schedules, the couple spends the majority of their time apart.
Married in 1997, they have yet to find time for a honeymoon. “I counted the days that Chris and I were together in 1998 — whether we were at home or on the road. I counted 160 days total. Out of 365 days, that's a sad statistic.”
But like many of her teammates, Ducar understands that she is not making sacrifices, she is making choices. And she’s hoping it will all be worthwhile this summer.