Soccer
It takes a long time to discover greatness for some and, for others, it just finds them.
Nine years ago, when Oregon senior Robi Thayer looked up into the stands, she realized just how many eyes were on her.
It was the Dana Cup, the world’s largest soccer tournament, and Thayer’s club team had advanced to the championship game. At just 13 years old, Thayer came face to face with greatness.
And she answered the challenge.
Her moment of glory came that day in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the Washington native scored her team’s only two goals, and the Eastside FC club team went on to win the championship, 2-0.
Thayer was just a kid in those days, and now, at age 22, has plenty of her own kids to deal with. She is the “soccer mom,” as her teammates call her, of the Oregon women’s soccer team and, as a co-captain, Thayer takes it upon herself to take over the motherly duties.
“I just take care of everyone, and if anyone has a problem then I take care of them,” Thayer said.
In just her second year with Oregon, Thayer has established herself as both a strong presence on defense and as a team leader.
Senior defender Robi Thayer has been a strong presence, and will lead her 145;kids146; one more time against Oregon State tomorrow night in her final game with the Oregon soccer team.
Prior to being a Duck, Thayer spent her early college years at the University of Texas-El Paso. Thayer started every game for UTEP in her freshman and sophomore years, and in 1998 she helped her team to the WAC Mountain Division Championship.
But two years in Texas were enough, and Thayer soon returned to the Northwest to join Oregon, the team that recruited her in her senior year of high school but lost the battle to UTEP.
“When she came here, she came with a pretty good understanding of Division 1 soccer and was a more mature, experienced player than entering as a freshman,” Oregon head coach Bill Steffen said. “Her leadership in the back has been really helpful because she has been a better presence both physically and psychologically for us.”
Thayer made an immediate impact on Oregon’s defense in 2001 but battled injuries at the start of the season, causing her to miss three of the first four games.
And now, after her college career has flown by, Thayer will step on the field one last time Friday night against Oregon State in her final game as a Duck.
Her partner in crime, sophomore defender Christine Mintz, knows Thayer will be missed and isn’t looking forward to losing a friend.
“It’s always hard to lose a natural leader,” Mintz said. “She has definitely been one of the main personalities on the team. It will be hard for me because I have become great friends with her and she is a great player.”
Thayer will be remembered by her younger teammates as a friend and a leader, but most of all as the “mama” who knows how to hit people.
The 5-foot-10-inch native of Auburn, Wash., loves to hit people. This comes from a woman who did ballet for ten years as a child.
The defensive position seems to fit Thayer well, but there is more to her past than her aggressive tactics at UTEP.
“I would not trade it for the glory of being a forward, I would rather play defense,” said
Thayer, who played forward until her junior year of high school. “I have always played with boys since I was little, and I played with boys until they told me I couldn’t anymore and I had to play with girls.”
Soccer has been the sport of choice for Thayer since she was five years old. She was told she was too big to be a ballerina and the team aspect of the game is what drives her to play, as individual sports are not her style.
Thayer has learned a lot in 17 years of playing soccer. And her days in El Paso have helped to shape her into the defender she is today for Oregon. The aggressive, in-your-face, I’ll-take-you-out-if-I-get-the-chance style has made her who she is.
“She is a very intelligent player and uses her abilities really well,” Steffen said. “She doesn’t get caught in difficult situations because she is smart enough to prevent them beforehand.”
Soccer has brought Thayer through her entire adolescence, and she is now figuring out where she will go from here. Thayer is a fifth-year senior and plans to continue her schooling to earn a double major in sociology and business.
The soccer mom will be gone soon enough, and when she is, hopefully her troops can find a way to fill in the gap, as Thayer had a large impact on her little Ducks.
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