The Ducars: A family affair
Thursday May 03, 2001
BOSTON -- Everyone's heard the expression, "Behind every great man is a great woman." In the case of Boston Breakers goalkeeper Tracy Ducar and her husband, goalkeeper coach Chris Ducar, that old saying should be amended to, "Beside every great woman is a great man."
Tracy (nee Noonan), 27, is a founding player in the fledgling Women's United Soccer Association. A former college standout at the University of North Carolina, she was one of two backup goalkeepers for the USA's 1999 World Cup championship team. Tracy played in five matches for the United States in 1999, and didn't allow a goal in 270 minutes.
Chris, 33, is the assistant coach at the University of North Carolina. Chris has also been a guest coach for the Colorado Rapids and the former goalkeeper coach at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. And as the former national director of SoccerPlus Goalkeeping School, Chris has had a hand in honing the skills of hundreds of goalkeepers.
Women's sports have seen numerous intimate relationships between athletes and coaches. Compared to frightening tennis fathers and Svengali gymnastics coaches, the relationship between Tracy and Chris is eerily normal and productive. Though interviewed separately and eight states apart, the Ducars' responses to the same questions knit together seamlessly, a testament to their heightened level of communication and mutual respect.
Neither of which happened automatically.
The Crusader vs. the Pragmatist
Tracy and Chris met in a soccer camp in 1994. In 1996, during Tracy's national team Olympic training camp in Orlando, Fla., she proposed to Chris, who was "glad she went for it." The couple was married in Chapel Hill, N.C., on April 19, 1997.
Best friend, husband, fan, coach.
Four hats are a lot for one head, but according to Tracy, Chris wears them all well.
"He does a great job with every one of those roles," she said. "My husband always finds a way to get me into focus when I can't do it myself. He's the guiding influence of when I need to step back. He's good at toning me down."
Of all professional athletes, soccer goalkeepers are among the most intense. In speaking with Tracy, one gets the impression that she's making a deliberate effort to rein her energies, to allow the rest of us to catch up to her. Chris' demeanor matches Tracy's for strength, but his approach seems to rely more on practicality and logic.
"It's been a work in progress," Tracy said in describing the progression of her relationship with Chris. "When we were first married and we trained together, I would have a hard time taking criticism from him. We had to find middle ground. I held him to an unbelievable standard.
"If he wasn't doing something right, I'd get mad. If I wasn't doing something right, I'd get mad. Now we have a good coach-player relationship. I admit, I had to work at it harder than he did."
What Chris referred to as a "bumpy start" evened out around World Cup time, and the hard work is reaping rewards. The Breakers' season opened on April 1 with a 1-0 win in North Carolina, a familiar hunting ground for Tracy, who was named Player of the Game.
"It was really fun to be back in Chapel Hill," she said, "although it was a little strange to be a visitor on my old college field. It felt like a home game. That really helped."
Chris' seats for that game were directly behind Tracy and the Breakers' goal.
"It's nerve-wracking for me to go to her games," he laughed. "While I'm at the game, I'm watching not as a coach, but as a fan. It's just brainless fun.
"Do I coach her after a game? The key is to define who's talking to her -- husband, fan or coach. The first thing I tell her is that she had a great game and I give her a kiss. I wait for her to ask what I think, because I know she'll be harder on herself than anyone else could be.
"I mention the plusses and the minuses. We have a good dialogue. She listens as player to coach. That took time, believe me," Chris chuckled. "We have permission to be brutally honest and we know that it isn't personal. We don't let small things fester."
Where Do They Go From Here?
"I'm her No. 1 fan," Chris said of his wife. "I'll get to as many games as possible. I'm a soccer junkie and I'm excited for [the WUSA]. I believe in it 100 percent."
Chris, in his job as Anson Dorrance's assistant and recruiting coordinator, is based in North Carolina while Tracy is in Massachusetts with the Breakers. The time apart is much easier to take knowing that it's all a part of pursuing their dream.
"It's fun to see how soccer and culture has changed," Tracy said. "People are accepting and embracing the sport. Women my age will be out relating to the players and watching this sport.
"The opportunity I cherish most as a professional athlete is we can have a positive influence on young people who see us as role models. It's the easiest part of the job and the part I like most. It's nice to provide that. I didn't have women playing my sport professionally when I was young."
The distance between the Ducars might have been greater if WUSA hadn't been born.
"Nothing ever became firm but I did talk to teams in Japan and Germany around 1996," Tracy said. "I wanted to see what was out there. Nothing became serious. Japan was paying well, but in Germany, I would have had to take another job just to have a living income. It wouldn't have been worth it."
Prior to WUSA, pickings were slim for women who wished to pursue soccer as a career.
"In the past, for me, I would have to make appearances, do camps and coach for a living," Tracy said. "Come tax time, I would have 20 different 1099s. It's nice to focus on being a professional. WUSA gives opportunities for so many women to play. Before, if you weren't in the top 25 players in the country and playing on the U.S. team, that was it. You didn't have any options."
Chris is devoted to Tracy's growth as an athlete, role model and founding player in WUSA. He didn't rule out someday pursuing a coaching position in the new league.
"Right now, we're letting Tracy do her thing," Chris said. "My coaching career can last for years and years, but her playing career won't. When her professional career is over, then I might consider pursuing coaching."
Chris clearly sees the importance of WUSA and his wife's role in it.
"We're already impacting women's sports and the way women are being treated internationally," Chris said. "England, the Netherlands, Norway -- places like that see that women can make money. They see that they're getting positive press. They're starting to put money in their teams. Worldwide, women are empowered by what we're doing here in the United States."