Anson Dorrance is coach of the most successful college sports program ever. That sounds like a bold statement until you look at the facts. The NCAA began holding national championships in women’s soccer in 1982. Dorrance’s UNC Tar Heels captured the inaugural title. They repeated in 1983. And 1984. They lost in the 1985 title game to George Mason. They would not lose another college match for the remainder of the decade.
North Carolina would win an astonishing nine consecutive NCAA titles before losing, coming up short in 1995. The Heels were back on top in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2003. Through the 2004 season, North Carolina has won 17 of the 24 NCAA women’s soccer championships contested. They also won the 1981 AIAW title and finished second in the NCAA Tournament four times.
Anson Dorrance was born in Bombay, India on April 9, 1951. His father was an international businessman in the oil business who traveled widely. Dorrance began playing soccer in Ethiopia. He also lived in such exotic locales as Kenya, Singapore, Belgium, and Switzerland.
Dorrance’s father was transferred every three years but got to spend three months in the United States before moving to a new assignment. Dorrance spent most of that time on his grandparents' farm in Louisburg, cropping tobacco.
Dorrance earned a spot on the soccer team at the University of North Carolina, where he played forward and center and was selected All-ACC three times. He graduated in 1974 with degrees in English and Philosophy. He says, “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do but I knew where I wanted to be. I never wanted to leave Chapel Hill.”
Dorrance got his wish. He took over as head coach of the UNC men’s team in 1976. He held that spot for 12 seasons, compiling a 172-65-21 mark and taking the Tar Heels to the 1987 Final Four.
UNC decided to start a women’s team in 1979 and asked Dorrance to do double duty, a responsibility he accepted until the school could afford to hire a separate men’s coach. His second women’s team, 1980, went 21-5, a pretty good record in any league but the worst season of his women’s career. In fact, the UNC women would lose only five games over the following nine seasons. Dorrance also was coach of the United States National Team from 1986 through 1994 and coached the U.S. to the Women’s World Cup Championship in 1991. He says that coaching three teams at once kept him “extraordinarily busy but it was a great opportunity to learn.”
The number of women who have achieved All-America honors under Dorrance is approaching triple figures. Mia Hamm, arguably the most famous female athlete on the planet, starred for Dorrance at UNC, as did such notables as April Heinrichs, Kristine Lilly, Tish Venturini, Cindy Parlow, Lorrie Fair, Catherine Reddick, and countless others. Thirteen of his women have been honored by the NCAA as National Player of the Year. Dorrance’s record as coach of the UNC women is 580-26-17.
Dorrance says, “I’ve always felt like North Carolina was my home. I’m incredibly flattered, overjoyed, and touched to be honored by the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.”
by Jim Sumner
May 19, 2005
