50 Years of Women's Varsity Athletics: Women's Soccer

Photo by: Duke Athletics

50 Years of Women's Varsity Athletics: Women's Soccer

12/20/2021 3:28:00 PM | Women's Soccer, Athletics

Legacy Talk with Kelly Walbert Cagle

By: GoDuke The Magazine

Duke is celebrating 50 years of varsity women's athletics in 2021-22. This is the third installment of a year-long GoDuke The Magazine series reflecting on the Blue Devils' 13 women's sports programs. For more from the university, see dukengwsd.com/dukewomens50 or #DukeWomens50 on social media.

Kelly Cagle (Walbert during her Duke career) was a three-time All-America selection and the first player from the Duke program to earn first-team All-America honors (twice). She was ACC player of the year as a senior in 1995 and later was selected to the ACC's 50th Anniversary women's soccer team. In 2016 she became the first women's soccer player to be inducted in the Duke Athletics Hall of Fame. Kelly coached collegiately for more than a decade, including eight years as the head coach at Virginia Tech. She now resides in Phoenix, Ariz., where she runs her own leadership development business and coaches the U-19 and U-15 girls teams for the Phoenix Rising FC.

WOMEN'S SOCCER FILE

» The Duke women’s soccer program played its first season in the fall of 1988. The Blue Devils have had just two head coaches in
their 34 years of existence — Bill Hempen for the first 13 seasons and Robbie Church for the last 21 seasons.
» Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion Carla Overbeck has been a Duke assistant coach for 30 years. In her first year with the program, 1992, the Blue Devils made the NCAA Tournament for the first time and reached the national championship match.
» Duke has made 26 trips to the NCAA Tournament and reached the College Cup four times (1992, 2011, 2015, 2017). The Blue Devils
played in the title match in all but one of those trips (2017).
» Duke has had two ACC players of the year: Kelly (Walbert) Cagle in 1994 and Andi Melde in 1997. Those two were joined on the ACC’s
50th Anniversary team by Thora Helgadottir, Sherrill Kester and Kristy Whelchel.
» The program has had two Olympians: Rebecca Smith (New Zealand 2 times) and Quinn (Canada 2 times).

It's been about 25 years since you played at Duke and most of your career records still stand. What things mean the most to you looking back on your playing career?

I think those records will be beat any moment. There's an awesome young woman at Duke right now who's a freshman who I think will be an incredible player (Michelle Cooper, 2021 ACC Freshman of the Year). I think it's time. For me, I'm really prideful of those records. I think a lot of people deflect, but it's something I have pride in for sure.

Two things stand out for me now. One is that I started every game I played. That's a stat that says a lot about the position I was in to be able to affect the team, but also mentally that I was able to play regardless of how I felt on any given day. The rest were team awards. The class that came in with me was an incredible program-changing class, on the backs of some amazing women that started the program. My class was really a neat, pivotal class that came in and those records sustain what a great class that was. That's what means the most to me.

You mentioned the team culture. How would you describe the culture around Duke women’s golf?

We had a lot of fun, and we worked really hard. It was super competitive but we did have a lot of fun. Jenny being a senior when we were freshmen, she really set the tone for what Duke women’s golf was. She really highlighted the fact that we were there for golf and that was important, but that Duke was so much more. She always forced us to hang out with students that we didn’t know, to make sure we embraced all that Duke had to offer, like that full experience. I think that was part of the culture when I was there. We embraced the full experience of Duke as much outside our team as we did with our team. But it was a competitive team, a team that really respected one another, so I think that was also the culture. But we had a lot of fun.

Dan Brooks, your head coach, has been there a long time now, 38 years, with incredible success. Why do you think the program has been able to sustain such a high level of excellence over such a prolonged period of time?

First of all I think the world of Coach Brooks. I have a close relationship with him still. I just really enjoy speaking with him whenever we get together, which is not often enough. I think he really respects his players. He’s able to understand what his team brings to the table, he understands the personalities and brings them together. He also embraces the Duke experience and allows his student-athletes to truly be student-athletes and enjoy Duke and prioritize academics when needed. But he is also as competitive as anyone you’ve ever met. So that combination of being a super incredible guy, very competitive, and understanding the dynamics it takes to bring a team together really makes him a wonderful coach.

When you talk about experiencing all Duke has to offer, you were back on campus recently for your 20-year reunion. Now 20 years removed from your undergraduate days, how do you think being a Duke student and a Duke student-athlete impacted your life overall?

Tremendously! I always go back, and I still feel like Duke is home for me so whenever I go back it gives me so many good memories. Duke really taught me to have that balance between my golf and understanding that there is this world where everybody is incredibly talented and everybody brings something to the table. I love that culture about Duke. It’s such a warm place for me. The staff does an incredible job. Our athletic department is full of really great people that care deeply about student-athletes. So I think that’s what I’ve taken away — caring for the community and understanding that everybody is talented in their own way. And just really having a feeling of incredible pride in being part of the Duke athletic program.

When you were named to the board of directors for the American Junior Golf Association last year, you commented on how important it was to provide opportunities for women in golf, women of color in golf and in sports in general. You had the opportunity to go to Duke, but what were opportunities like when you were growing up and how do you see that now?

I was a little blinded by it when I was growing up. I just really wanted to get on the golf course and play great golf. I didn’t hear any of the noise or really understand it. I think now looking back, understanding the sport a little better, I understand that we still have a long way to go when it comes to diversity within golf. I see that my ability to play really good golf enabled me to break some barriers and I want to make sure that the road is easier for the people who come behind us. Golf needs diversity, sports needs diversity. We’re only better when we have an inclusive environment where we have diverse perspectives. I don’t think growing up I thought of it that much, but now looking back, how do we make sure we build a great road or path for the youth coming behind us?

What is your personal and professional life like today, 20 years after college?

Life is crazy, life is very different. I don’t play as much golf as I would like to, but being part of the American Junior Golf Association brings me so much joy because I feel like I’m able to relive so many great memories on the golf course through them. Golf is not as big a part of my life any more. I work in the marketing department of UnitedHealth Group, I love what I do and enjoy being in health care but definitely miss golf and try to get involved as much as I can. I have an unbelievable family — two girls, Stella (9) and Luiza (7), and my husband Adam who I adore dearly, who works for the Red Sox, so I get a lot of sports through him. The kids I think are bigger baseball fans than golf fans. I’m trying, but the hot dogs and all the fun activities at a baseball game are killing my golf! But I’m trying.

50 YEARS OF WOMEN'S VARSITY ATHLETICS

“I am very proud of the support and opportunity that Duke University provides for its female athletes. It is one of the best in the country. Duke has been a leader in Title IX over the years. Because of Duke’s commitment to the female athlete, Duke women’s soccer has been able to provide many young female athletes the ability to compete at the highest level for the past 34 years. The memories and relationships that Duke women’s soccer provides will last a lifetime. Duke women’s soccer is excited for this year-long celebration and looks forward to participating in the event.”