As if Christie Rampone was not already one of the greatest human interest stories of the summer, now Sky Blue FC broke the word on Tuesday that she is already three months pregnant with her second child.
As Sky Blue FC completed its miracle run to the championship with Rampone at the helm as interim player/coach, they did so with a motherwho was expecting to add another child to her family but who still managed to coach and defend her way to the inaugural Women’s Professional Soccer Championship.
Rampone took over control of the team on July 30 when then Head Coach Kelly Lindsey suddenly resigned, and she never looked back.
Now, she is up for several awards, including Defender of the Year (alongside teammate Anita Asante), Coach of the Year and Sportswoman of the Year.
Don’t be surprised to see her win at least one of those, with the most obvious choice being Sportswoman of the Year for her stand-up character and upbeat attitude that helped drive her Sky Blue FC teammates to a championship.
The fact that she did so when she could have easily had so many moreimportant things on her mind in regards to her family only exemplifies her character.
“The icing on the cake was winning the inaugural WPS Championship,” Sky Blue FC General Manager Gerry Marrone said. “This is the cherry on top. As part of our Sky Blue FC family, we couldn’t be happier for Christie. She’s an amazing human being.”
Rampone really is an incredible story. She captains the United StatesWomen’s National Team and Sky Blue FC as well as temporarily serving her coaching duties for Sky Blue FC.
Combine that with an already large family – dubbed “Rampone’s Rowdies” at Sky Blue FC home games – and the addition of another child on the way, and the Point Pleasant, NJ, native has quite a bit of juggling to do.
Still, though, it does not phase her on the field.
“It’s been an eventful year to say the least, but the timing of this pregnancy is perfect because I was able to finish off this amazing first season and hopefully get back in time to make a major contribution to Sky Blue FC in 2010,” Rampone said.
Hands down, it would be ridiculous for WPS not to award Rampone with the Sportswoman of the Year Award. Her efforts are worthy of attention from all levels and divisions of media, though they will unfortunately be ignored by the majority and Rampone will remain unknown to those outside of the soccer world.
The real question is whether or not Rampone will win Defender of the Year and Coach of the Year.
She puts up a strong argument for Defender of the Year given thechampionship, and she will probably win some votes just from heraforementioned character.
But Coach of the Year?
It sounds crazy, but it is a very real possibility. Rampone willsurely get a lot of votes from fans who look at the way Sky Blue FC played once she took over, but exactly how much her coaching had to do with it may come into question.
Since Twitter is all the rage these days, we put this question out to anyone and everyone who had an opinion: Would it be justice or a mistake by the voters to select Christie Rampone as Coach of the Year?
You can share your thoughts by posting a comment below, or emailing me at jeff [at] womens.soccerly.com.
