Aly Wagner's skill and vision are unsurpassed in the college game and rivaled only rarely internationally. They're the product of years of toil and a singular approach to the game.
Jerry Smith first came across Aly Wagner when she was 9 years old.
She was the same as she is now,'' the Santa Clara coach reports. ''Driven, competitive, passionate. A little moody. So intense she would be in another world. I've not met many 9-year-olds with that intensity and focus about excelling and learning.''
There was, obviously, something quite special about Wagner. She had skills older players would have killed for, and her appetite for the ball, for the game – for the details that add up to so much on the field – was boundless. The Aly Wagner that today dictates play – for reigning NCAA champion Santa Clara and, increasingly, in the international game – was already doing so back then.
''Relatively speaking,'' Smith says, ''she was able to do the same things: dominate games, dribble by everyone, score lots of goals. All the things you see now, there were glimpses and flashes, even at that young age.''
What we see these days is magical. Wagner possesses rare flair, exquisite touch, unrivaled vision and tactical know-how, all honed by years of hard work and an unceasing fanaticism for being the best she can possibly be. It's paid off in her rise to a starting job with the U.S. national team and with a series of championships, the latest (and greatest) being the Broncos' triumph last fall at the College Cup, their first title in eight final-four appearances.
She's been a known quantity since her early teens, always the player most likely. Such promise afforded her great opportunity: Wagner was among the final cuts from the United States' 1999 Women's World Cup roster and was an alternate for the Sydney Olympics. In the past year, that promise has been playing out.
''She was in the picture, with plenty of opportunity to make the team,'' U.S. national team coach April Heinrichs says of Wagner, pre-Olympics. ''But she hadn't yet realized the difference between being talented and being impactful.''
Heinrichs has seen a phenomenal improvement in Wagner since January.
''She is one of the most focused players we have on the national team right now,'' says Heinrichs.
Such focus has been Wagner's calling card all along. She grew up with great affinity for the ball, which constantly was on one foot or the other, and she quickly developed into a master juggler, always learning new tricks to perform – not because they'd make her the player she wanted to be, but because it was so much fun. It still is.
''I still really love all the details,'' Wagner says. ''The spin of the ball, the weight of the pass – all those little things that can make the game or make other people's play look better, or make it easier for them. I love that part of it.
''I think it's extremely important to balance that with the defensive-minded toughness, the getting stuck in, the making a tackle, winning air balls. Doing all the hard work. And then when it's time, controlling the pace of the game. Slow it down, speed it up – depending on what's called for. If I could see the game, I see it that way: getting stuck in, then having the composure to slow it down and make that pass, you know?''
She's a marvelous passer, always has been.
''She's got the best vision of any player I've ever played with,'' says Penn State striker Christie Welsh, last year's Hermann/MAC awards winner and a fellow U.S. national-teamer.
Heinrichs concurs.
''Aly is, in my view, the best final passer in the women's game today,'' Heinrichs says. ''She puts the ball right on your foot … perfect pace on all balls: over the top, through the seam, the backdoor ball that's all purpose and pace and bend, that makes wonderful things happen behind the defense. The texture, pace, accuracy, timing of delivery is phenomenal.
''Watch [Wagner in the Americans' win in July over] Norway, create a videotape on passing and sell it for $49.95, and you'll make good money.''
The foundation for all of this was laid way back when, when Wagner was playing for Central Valley Mercury, the San Jose club team that won three national titles and produced WUSA players Danielle Slaton, Anna Kraus and Brooke O'Hanley and several other Division I college standouts. Philippe Blin, then an assistant to Smith at Santa Clara who coached Mercury with Vicky Wagner, Aly's mom, took an unorthodox approach to teaching the game to young girls.
''He took the exact same training session we did with the university team and applied to the youth team,'' Smith says. ''The thing we learned was the whole idea of age-specific drills and tactics and techniques was a bunch of baloney. Young players were able to do the exact same things as university players do, only more slowly. Their ability to comprehend or learn the skills was no different. In some cases, they were better able to learn, like teaching a young child a foreign language.''
The Mercury team, Wagner says, was ''way ahead of everyone in terms of being patient and building an attack. That was unheard of at under-12s, which is kick it and run – and we didn't do that.''
Santa Clara always, under Smith and particularly with Wagner running the show, plays beautiful, articulate soccer unmatched by any other team in this country. The Broncos' approach has attracted a fair share of devotees but, until last December, no NCAA hardware.
by Soccer America Senior Editor Scott French