THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 28, 1995 TAG: 9510280458
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Not only does Virginia Wesleyan's men's soccer team have the coach, players and defense to make a serious run at this season's Division III national title, it's got a little something extra.
Umbro.
Say it with feeling. Umbro! More than $4,000 worth, actually, and the Marlins are properly proud.
Umbro, a leading manufacturer of soccer gear, chose coach Sonny Travis' team to carry its banner this year. The Marlins are one of two Division III teams to be blessed with free Umbro uniforms and equipment.
Clearly, somebody at Umbro has faith in Virginia Wesleyan. As well they should, Travis says.
``I think this is my best all-around team, and that's saying a lot,'' says Travis, whose squad will play for the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship today at home at 2 p.m. against Emory & Henry.
Win or lose, the Marlins will learn Sunday where and when they will begin the 32-team NCAA playoffs. Their spot in the tournament is a certainty. The Marlins have made it so by going 16-0-1 and allowing but three goals all season.
This is Travis' seventh team at Virginia Wesleyan and fifth in a row that will play in the NCAAs. The last two, neither of which dropped a regular-season ODAC game, lost in the South Region final, making them the only teams in school history to advance that far in NCAA playoffs.
As you might expect, just duplicating that effort isn't going to cut it for this bunch. They're in this to make some real noise, if not win it all.
Year in and year out, champions ``have a strong goalkeeper, a go-to guy up top and they play strong defense,'' Travis says. ``Those are reasons why we have a shot. We have all those things.''
Which is not to overlook a coach who has mastered all the frustrating things, niggling and large, that comprise the profile of a successful Division III coach.
It probably doesn't have to be this way for Travis. You'd think the 40-year-old Pennsylvanian, with degrees from Slippery Rock and North Carolina, could ditch Division III whenever his heart says so. Particularly now that his resume includes two years of pro coaching with the Hurricanes/Mariners, a post he recently resigned.
It can't be easy scouring high schools for many of the same kids Division I programs want, then revealing that not only can't you offer them an athletic scholarship, but it's going to cost them $16,900 a year for tuition, room and board to attend Wesleyan.
``You have to get them over the initial shock sometimes,'' Travis says. ``You have to say, `Don't let the price tag scare you away. You have to apply for (need-based) aid, and a lot of times you'll get more from a private school than a state school.' ''
Consistently, Travis gets past that, gets enough of the kids he seeks - most stay four years, another miracle - and gets it done on the field. All the while talking nobly of the balance between sports and academics at Wesleyan, and how that helps keep him there.
Then, too, the planned soccer stadium isn't going to hurt. With any luck, in a year or two the men's and women's soccer teams and the lacrosse team will move into a facility that, like Travis' equipment deal, will set the Marlins farther apart from the crowd in Division III.
``Forever's a long time,'' Travis says, ``but I'm pretty content here.''
Still, there's plenty of room in Travis' comfort zone for an NCAA trophy. And as good coaches know, one of those can get you a lot of Umbro. by CNB