Women's Soccer 12/3/2012 1:23:00 PM

Schroeder Leaves Lasting Impact on Women’s Soccer Team

By Kirsten Jennings

LAREDO, Texas (December 3) - As the TAMIU women’s soccer program continues to grow and flourish, 2012 will no doubt go down as the turning point.

A vital reason for their success stems from the contributions of first year assistant coach Felicia Schroeder. Schroeder came to TAMIU from Ohio with a wealth of experience not just on the field, but with plenty to teach about life as well. Schroeder was born without the ability to hear, but said she never had a hard time fitting in because of her ability to play sports.

“I have never considered myself disabled,” said Schroeder. “I wish that we could change the word “disabled” to “inspiring” because I think that is a better fit for what I would like to accomplish.”

Schroder played collegiate soccer at Purdue University, helping the Boilermakers capture the Big Ten Tournament title in 2007. She then played professionally in Finland in 2011, finishing as the team’s top goal scorer which led to her receiving a contract to play in Sweden in 2012. She also received two gold medals playing in the Deaf Olympics in 2009 (Taipei, Taiwan) and in the Deaf World Cup for the Women’s US Deaf National Team in 2012 (Ankara, Turkey). Recently she was nominated and received the Disability Player of the Year Award, which pitted her against top players from around the country.

Her Fiancé was relocated to Laredo for a work position over the summer and she decided TAMIU would be a good place to start her coaching career. Schroeder then contacted Head Coach Claudio Arias and asked if she could help out with the team and gain experience working at the college level.

“One of my biggest challenges comes when I apply for jobs,” said Schroeder, “many times potential employers will look at my resume and see that I am deaf then toss my application aside, but that wasn’t the case with Claudio.”

“Her impact on the girls this year was tremendous,” said Arias. “Her humble spirit was an asset to our team and the fact that she has overcome her lack of hearing I believe was a big inspiration for the girls”.

Her leadership helped the team realize that even with all the odds against you, anything is possible. Prior to 2012, the Dustdevils had finished last in the conference standings for six consecutive years and had never qualified for the conference tournament. This season the team broke down nearly every barrier in their way, setting school records for wins in a single season, conference wins in a season, consecutive games won, and set team records for goals, assists, and points in a single season.

The team also qualified for the conference tournament for the first time in program history, where they fell to ninth ranked Dallas Baptist University, a team that went on to upset host St. Edward’s to take the conference title. Additionally four players were selected to the All-Conference team, an honor no TAMIU women’s player had received prior to this season.
“My time at TAMIU has been unbelievable,” said Schroeder. “I really enjoyed being here to witness firsthand the team breaking every single team record and see each individual player improving dramatically from the start of the season to the finish.”

The women’s team all has an enormous amount of respect for Schroeder as a person and a coach.

“She has played at the highest level of soccer and is truly someone to look up to for more than one reason,” said goalkeeper Katelin Jennings. “She was always someone we could get advice from. She had no problems communicating with us during practice and we loved to listen to what she had to say.”

Although TAMIU will be saying goodbye to Schroeder at the end of the school year, her impact on the team will forever be with the girls she helped coach on their historic run. Schroeder will be moving with her fiancé this coming May back to Ohio. She says she is planning on continuing to play in Kansas City for the Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPSL) this coming year and if an eight team league comes back to the US this next year, she plans on playing in 2014.

In addition Schroeder will be married next October and says she wants to start a family in the near future. One thing is certain - no matter where life takes her there will be little that can stand in her way. The TAMIU women’s soccer team, Coach Arias, Assistant Coach Felipe Munoz and Assistant Coach Luis Rincon all wish her the best of luck as player, wife and a coach. Although here time here was short, she gave this team a role model not only on the field but in life.

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