March 26, 2012
UCF Athletics Social Media Directory
By Jenna Marina
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Fresh off her trip to Argentina to promote women's soccer, UCF head coach Amanda Cromwell was featured in the March 23 edition of the Buenos Aires Herald. A Q&A column by Gabriela Padín Losada focuses on Cromwell's time spent in South America on behalf of the U.S. Embassy and the Sports Envoy program.
Over the past week, Cromwell and her former coach Lauren Gregg traveled in Buenos Aires, Salta and to Tilcara to help run clinics for female players and met with local coaches and community leaders.
As two of women's soccer pioneers in the United States, Gregg and Cromwell provided on field and off field examples of valuable football skills but also life lessons.
"I have been blessed with my experiences playing football in the United States with the U.S. Women's National Team and the professional league," Cromwell said. "I feel honored to give back to the young girls in Argentina. Our hope is that their passion for football translates into growth of the game on the women's side."
Players traveled for hours to participate in the clinic and have the opportunity to meet and work with Gregg and Cromwell. The Mayor of Tilcara personally accompanied the women throughout their stay in the city. Hundreds of women and girls, from ages six to sixty, participated in the clinics.
Because soccer in Argentina is considered a "men's sport," Cromwell believes it is important for the players who were touched by the clinics to give back.
"It is important for players no matter what their experience to give back," she said. "It will be especially important here in Argentina where there are few female role models. I am confident that if they can do this. In the not-so-distant future, Argentina's Women's Soccer Program will become an international force."