USA loses World Cup final: Ind. natives provide inspiration for youth soccer players

Though the U.S. Women’s Team came just short of celebrating World Cup glory for a would-be record-breaking third time, the squad including Indianapolis natives Lauren Cheney and Lori Lindsey were able to spark excitement in a nation and inspire an entire generation of young Hoosier soccer players.

Cheney, who graduated from Ben Davis High School and was awarded the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2006, has 48 lifetime appearances for the United States and 16 goals, including two in this World Cup.

Lindsey graduated from Pike High School in 1998 as the all-time leading scorer in Indiana high school history and has 23 appearances for the U.S. at midfield.
Pike girls soccer head coach Warner Moses said he stresses Lindsey’s legacy with his current squad by unofficially retiring her number at the school.

“With the girls that are around, they’ve begun to see that here is a girl that wore the Pike jersey and is doing things on the big stage,” Moses said. “Their eyes are wide.”
Moses is also hoping the excitement from this World Cup will trickle down to womens’ games in his area.

“The next two seasons, the fall and the spring, are going to be huge for our girls program here in the Pike community,” he said.

Both Indianapolis natives, along with U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx, also played for Carmel United during their youth careers and club leaders are expecting to see new excitement in their players.


“It gives inspiration and hope and desire that maybe they can possibly be the next Lauren Cheney or Lori Lindsey,” Carmel United director Gene Lindley said. “When you see kids that come from our program that have been able to reach that goal, the girls around here are looking up to those two and definitely aspiring to try to emulate them
moving forward.”

Having local women take their game to the highest level shows girls in the same soccer programs they can achieve similar levels of success.

“It can happen and they’ve shown that,” Carmel High School girls soccer coach Frank Dixon said. “Kids can look at that and say, ‘hey, I can be like that.’ They come back here and they talk to kids to promote the sport. It’s just good kids and I think it’s
going to have a big time effect on the sport.”

Just like 1999, the last time the U.S. Women’s National Team played in the World Cup finals, the sport is sure to see a raise in popularity.

“When you’ve got people like Dan Dakich talking on his radio show all week about this, it can’t help but do something good for the sport,” Dixon said. “You get casual fans that are just pretty excited.”

The women’s success is also a bright spot in a summer of sports that has been buzzing with scandal, work stoppages and other negative headlines, Moses said.

“The country is having so many different problems with professional basketball and professional football, and it’s a joy to watch the way our ladies have come together as a unit and are doing things as a team,” Moses said.

The main objective for American soccer moving forward is to sustain the excitement generated by the World Cup throughout the year.

 “I think it’s a gradual process and I think it’s growing. MLS just continues to grow gradually and get better,” Dixon said. “The women have had a little less success, but this may give them a boost. “Every time we have one of these big events, it just gets more and more popular.”