Hurricane Soccer - From the Beginning
July 18, 1997: Athletic Director Paul Dee announces the addition of women’s soccer as a fully funded varsity sport at the University of Miami. The program will be allocated 12 scholarships to be distributed three per season over the first four years. Miami will start play in the BIG EAST Conference for the 1999 season.
December 22, 1997: Five-time NAIA Coach of the Year Jim Blankenship is named head coach at Miami. He comes to UM from Lynn University in Boca Raton where he captured national titles in 1992, ’94 and ’96 and coached 21 All-Americans and 40 Academic All-Americans.
February 24, 1998: UM signs it’s first soccer player to a national letter of intent – Jennifer Sanchez, a midfielder from MAST Academy in Key Biscayne.
March 5, 1998: Dee and Blankenship hire Melissa Durham-Starman as assistant coach. Starman, who attended nearby Killian High School, had played under Blankenship as a child at the K-Land Sports Park in Kendall. Starman came to UM after serving as an assistant coach at Oklahoma for two seasons, following a stellar collegiate playing career at Duke.
March 18, 1998: UM announces its inaugural women’s soccer schedule, which features nine opponents from the state of Florida.
March 31, 1998: The University receives a major gift from Ambassador and Mrs. Charles E. Cobb and family to be used as the leadership gift for the building of the Cobb Stadium for Soccer, Track and Field on the Coral Gables campus.
April 21, 1998: A groundbreaking ceremony is held at the site of the Cobb Stadium for Soccer, Track and Field.
June 5-August 13, 1998: The rest of UM’s roster is filled with the addition of signees Deidre Bass (Coral Springs), Jana Escribano (Tampa), Katherine Sund and Nina Wathne (Norway) and Lene Ostergard-Hansen (Denmark). The remaining players are recruited from UM’s existing club-level team. Wathne was a two-time All-American and National Player of the Year for the 1997 NAIA National Champions – University of Mobile.
August 14, 1998: The Hurricanes practice for the first time as a varsity squad at nearby Gulliver Preparatory Academy.
September 1, 1998: In its inaugural game, UM falls on the road to Jacksonville, 3-0.
September 4, 1998: Miami records win No. 1 with a 2-0 shutout over Tampa at Gulliver Prep Academy. A week later, UM would record its first road win, 2-0, at Stetson.
November 7, 1998: The Hurricanes inaugural season comes to a close with a 1-0 loss to Florida International. Despite the loss, UM would finish its rookie season with an impressive 11-7-1 overall record.
December 18, 1998: Soccer Buzz names Wathne as National Player of the Year for “First-Year” programs. She finished the season with 23 points and a team leading 11 assists. In addition to Wathne, Sanchez also earns All-National first-team honors. Bass and Ostergard-Hansen earn second-team recognition.
June 24, 1999: Soccer Buzz lists UM’s second-ever recruit signing class as No. 10 nationally and No. 3 in the southeast region behind North Carolina and Florida.
