My dream for Season 5 of Conversations with Sports Fans was to have regular Conversations with fans of the so-called non-revenue college sports. Broadly speaking, this means (for most programs) something other than fooball and men’s (and women’s in some instances) basketball.
Admittedly, it’s been slow to launch, but I was joined by Northwestern University Women’s Field Hockey fan, Perry Nigro, in Episode 7 (find it here) and I’m pleased to share the second installment with you in this episode that focuses on the University of Washington Men’s Soccer Team which won the 2025 National Championship in thrilling fashion (see the video below).
Thanks in large part to UW Men’s Soccer Sports Information Director, Jack Larkin, I was able to have some discussion with a quartet of Husky soccer (men’s and women’s, it turns out) fans that span three generations.
Listeners will first hear from the Patchin family, mother Katie and children Caroline and Charlie, as they discuss how they became interested in UW soccer and how attending soccer camps, various team events where they were able to interact with players, and Caroline and Charlie serving as ball retrievers, has helped create likely fans for life.
Then listeners will hear from Marty Rood who played soccer for the Coach Mike Ryan over 50 years ago. While the Patchins have only known of the recent successes of the program, Marty shares the long view, looking back to his era when the school won it’s first league title, how it’s evolved through the years, the disappointment of the National Championship loss in 2021, and the euphoric feeling he had sitting in the small UW section in Cary, NC, WakeMed Soccer Park, site of December’s victory over nearby North Carolina State.