By Ryan Rogers
LSUsports.net
The LSU Women’s Soccer team heads into a new era next fall. New head coach George Fotopoulos comes to Baton Rouge with aspirations of turning around aprogram searching for an identity.
Fotopoulos, the third head coach in LSU’s five years of existence, comes to Baton Rouge with an impressive resume. Born in Hartford, Conn., his parents sent him to Greece to live with relatives because they were not financially secure enough to support him.
Fotopoulos’ exposure to the Europeans passion for the game of soccer interested him in the sport. Eventually, he moved back to Florida to live with his father. There he played many sports, but primarily he played soccer.
“I almost left to pursue a professional (soccer) career in Europe after high school,” said Fotopoulos. “Instead I decided to go to college.”
He spent two years at Old Dominion University before transferring to Tampa University. There he earned his degree. Shortly after college he had brief stints playing professional soccer. During that time he became familiar with Louisiana while playing for the New Orleans Gamblers soccer team (that franchise has since changed their name to the N.O. Storm).
“After playing I started my coaching career as an assistant in the pros. I loved it, and I’ve never looked back since.”
Fotopoulos started the Tampa University women’s program from scratch. In just two years he built the program into a very successful one.
“I think that was a big factor in LSU hiring me. They knew I had experience and success in building a program.”
Now Fotopoulos resides in Baton Rouge with plans to overhaul a struggling program.
“I knew before I got here that the program was in trouble just from what I had heard. The players were both physically and mentally out of shape,” according to Fotopoulos. “I learned quickly that in Baton Rouge, if you’re not a winner it’s a tough thing to deal with,” he said. “We need to develop a mentality for toughness, discipline and winning.”
The team will also start off-season conditioning programs, which is something that was not in place in previous years at LSU, he said.
“I’m going to break every player down, but I will build every player back up after.”
Fotopoulos remains confident in his philosophies. As it is with all new coaches trying to rebuild programs, sometimes it has to get worse before it gets better.
“I’m very enthusiastic about getting things started. I wish today was August 9th (reporting day).”
Fotopoulos managed to recruit a very strong class in 2000. He has brought lots of high quality players into the program. Although Fotopoulos was disappointed that he wasn’t able to recruit a top-notch forward, his
class will make an immediate impact, he said.
“I’m an offensive minded coach and I like having my best athletes at forward.”
Robyn DesOrmeaux is one of the best goalkeepers in the south. Fotopoulos likes DesOrmeaux’s chances of making an immediate impact, he said.
“Katie Calvin is a high school all-American from Florida. She will bring lots of assets to the team,” he said. “Our team will be better simply because we will have better athletes with more speed in the lineup next year. Some of them may not be the best soccer players, but hopefully with our coaching and their raw talent we can
become a better team.”
Another player that he likes a lot is Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year, Rachel Cohen. “I think she can surprise a lot of people,” he said. Elizabeth Marschall, a native of Baton Rouge, is a strong player who can
make an impact also.
Lots of the success that Coach Fotopoulos had in recruiting players involves the prestige that his wife brings to the program. His wife, Danielle Fotopoulos, was a member of the World Cup Champion U.S. Women’s
National Team last summer. Any girl growing up with dreams of a fame-filled soccer career knows who she is. Danielle also was an outstanding collegiate player at Florida. She also works as a color analysis for ESPN.
Along with other members of the national team whom may lend Coach Fotopoulos a hand in coaching camps with him, he has the potential to bring in top quality players.
The LSU women’s soccer team finished last season with a 4-15-1 record. They will look to improve on that record as they work toward a brighter future.