THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 1, 1996 TAG: 9607300130
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 19 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, COMPASS SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 83 lines
HONORS ON TOP of honors fill the scrapbooks Allison Ankerson has maintained since she was a kid.
The highlights:
Winner of two Eastern District tennis titles at Maury, where she played No. 1 singles three of her four years.
First team all-district in basketball as a senior, and all-region in soccer her junior and senior years.
The South Atlantic Conference Women's Soccer Player of the Year for Division II as a sweeper at Catawba College.
Two-time Division II All-American.
Save another page for the Hampton Roads Piranhas, the area's semi-pro women's soccer team in its second year of existence. Last week Ankerson became part of franchise history when the Piranhas notched their first-ever victory, beating Maryland 3-1.
``Well, first real victory,'' Ankerson, 22, explains in a raspy voice much unlike the clean diction of her dad, Jack, the voice of the Norfolk Tides on WTAR. ``We beat Philadelphia earlier this year, but that was by forfeit.''
Ankerson's waited for this one. After graduating from Catawba last year, she remained in North Carolina to set up recreational programs for the handicapped and mentally retarded. She was part of the inaugural season of the Piranhas also, making the five-hour drive from Salisbury, N.C., to play in as many games as she could. But the team, put together in a matter of weeks, struggled offensively and went winless.
``It was a trying year,'' Ankerson admits. Some games were canceled because of funding problems and support was minimal. When she told friends she played for the Piranhas, most had never heard of the Hampton Roads team.
None of that deterred Ankerson, having since moved back to Norfolk, from adding her name to the roster this summer for a second year.
``We were promised from the owners that it would be a better team and things would be better,'' she says. ``I don't think we're quite there yet, but we're on our way.''
The team's first win, followed by another last Saturday against Philadelphia, are good starting points. This season has had its frustrations - the Piranhas have let a couple of leads slip away in the waning seconds - but Ankerson sees potential. These Piranhas sport better talent, practice three days a week, have a new coach in Granby's Pat McStay and even a mascot - a fish named Bite Me.
But even in leaner times, Ankerson had little problem mustering the intensity to play hard.
``I motivate myself. I go out and play the same way I did in college,'' says Ankerson, who has rotated from sweeper to right fullback. ``I get a lot of glory from taking the ball away from somebody and being able to get around someone.''
The Piranhas take advantage of her 5-foot-9 height and her muscled physique. She's frequently called on during corner kicks to head in the kick, and on 35-yard kick-ins, a league rule that allows a ball that goes out of bounds on the attacking 35 yards to be thrown in or kicked in. Ankerson, nicknamed Bigfoot as a kid, can generate a lot of power.
``I was always aware she was an outstanding athlete,'' said McStay, who remembers Ankerson from her tennis playing days in high school. ``She's our enforcer on the field, a tackler who makes no bones about it.''
Ankerson, a former ballerina, tap dancer and ``skateboard rat,'' has never produced the kind of offensive numbers befitting many soccer standouts in college. That made it all the more gratifying that she won player of the year honors her senior year. In her 69 starts at Catawba, she scored only 10 goals. But she plays with aggression, speed and a vision of the field that allows her to be in the critical spot.
``I knew I had reached my goal, my potential, when I was named conference player of the year,'' she says. ``I never would have thought I'd get it because I never had a year with really mega stats. I think my senior year I had something like three goals and four assists.''
She wants to encourage other players to reach their goals, too. Having recently completed certification to be a physical education teacher, she is applying like crazy to find a teaching job that includes coaching. Last spring she coached jayvee soccer at Norfolk Collegiate and now coaches a Norfolk youth under-13 team. Ankerson, in Atlanta today to watch the U.S. National team go for the soccer gold medal, also works with several area soccer camps.
She would love to coach high school soccer or tennis and she'd work on motivation, which she says young girls lack. ``Winning isn't everything. If we'd go out there and have a good game, I'd be satisfied. But,'' Ankerson adds, ``I hate to lose.''
She rarely has. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by L. TODD SPENCER by CNB