Tracy (Noonan) Ducar has
been named head women’s soccer coach at Greensboro College, announced Pride
Athletics Director Kim Strable.
Ducar spent the past three seasons
playing in the WUSA for the Boston Breakers. A founding member of that
league, she earned the team’s “Shield Award” following the 2001 season.
Ducar played with USA National Soccer team from 1996-99, and was a member
of the 1999 World Cup championship team.
Prior to that, Ducar was a student-athlete
at the University of North Carolina--the nation’s most successful women’s
soccer program. As a Tar Heel, she played on three national championship
teams under Head Coach Anson Dorrance.
In her senior season, Ducar recorded
a 0.39 goals against average, posted 13 shutouts, and helped UNC to a 25-0
regular season. She was named All-American following the year. She graduated
Phi Beta Kappa from UNC in 1995, earning a BS in biology and minoring in
chemistry.
“Tracy has ‘lived the dream’ as an
athlete and has been exposed to the highest levels of coaching for many,
many years,” Strable said. “She’s excited about the opportunity to parlay
those experiences into a championship women’s soccer program at Greensboro
College.”
A native of North Andover, Mass.,
Ducar will lead a GC program that has won two straight conference titles
and qualified for the last two NCAA Division III Tournaments. She replaces
Doug Shank, who coached The Pride to a 40-27-7 (.587) record the past four
years. The 2003 team compiled a program best 13-3-4 mark.
"Unlike most other professional athletes,
Tracy has spent much of the past 13 years coaching," said Dorrance. "She
is organized, hard-working, and attentive to detail. While she may not
have college head coaching experience, I’m confident she will do a fine
job. I was in the same position when UNC hired me in 1976."
Greensboro College will be the host
institution at the 2004 NCAA Division III men’s and women’s national championships.
The event will take place at Macpherson Stadium at Bryan Park, on November
26 and 27th.
No stranger to the Gate City, Ducar
was the goalkeeper coach and recruiting coordinator at UNC Greensboro in
1999 and 2000. She is married to Chris Ducar, the current women’s goalkeeper
coach at UNC. The couple lives in Durham.
Ducar, who holds a NSCAA National
Diploma, has been active in the Smoke Free Kids Program since 1996. As
part of the program, she lectures kids, parents, and teachers about the
benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle.
In her spare time, she enjoys backpacking,
snowboarding and rock climbing. |
