Rampone's Last World Cup Journey Starts Today

There were coaches and other players' parents who told Christie Pearce Rampone she'd never make it in soccer.

Today the longtime Point Borough resident starts competing in her fourth World Cup, after winning three Olympic medals, a national championship and becoming captain of the US Women's National Soccer Team.

"You have to believe in yourself, no matter what people say to you or about you," said Rampone in a recent interview, when asked what message she would send to young athletes.

Rampone spoke recently about the coaches who supported her, as well as the naysayers, just before jetting off to Europe with her team.

Rampone, who had won two gold Olympic medals and one silver, celebrated her 36th birthday with her teammates in Austria last week and then traveled to Germany for the World Cup.

ESPN is televising the team's match with North Korea in Dresden, Germany today. Half time started just after 1 p.m. EST.

"A lot of people, a combination of coaches and other parents, told me I would never get to where I am today," said the Point Borough High School graduate.

"As an athlete, you cannot pay attention to negativity from outside sources. Having thick skin is a necessity and you shouldn't let anyone distract you from accomplishing your goals and staying positive," Rampone said.

"Most of the girls on the US Women's National Soccer Team have experienced coaches who didn't think they were good enough or communicated that point out of jealousy.

"Sports and life in general are competitive," she continued. "Unfortunately, competition gets the best of some people.

"Losing creates bad feelings and people can be reactionary," said Rampone. "We need to see more parents and coaches pointing out the positive things that come from a game and move forward. We need to be less results-driven at the lower levels. 

"Kids know who won or lost," said Rampone, who had coached New Jersey's Sky Blue team to a national championship in 2009. "You're not going to fool them. We need to encourage them regarding unselfish moments, resilient moments and when they handle adversity the right way."

When asked if the negativity came from coaches and parents from her own teams or opposing teams, she replied, "Both! I played three or four sports, always. So I had coaches and parents in different sports point out any flaws in my other sports. And coaches and parents from other teams in the same sport criticized my game.

"Again, this kind of jealousy or envy is something that kids can't worry about," Rampone insisted. "You can even have coaches not be honest with you, regarding your talents, as they want to make an excuse for not playing you.

"Parents struggle when their child is the best on his or her own team and they run into a kid who is better on another team," she added.  "They might say negative things about that player.

"But kids need to realize that in the moment, emotions and competition can get the best of some people," Rampone said. "It is a tough lesson, but the more you experience it, the easier it becomes to ignore."

She said some criticized her choice to attend Monmouth University.

"But it was a good fit for me because I could play two sports," she said. "And I was quiet. I had been quiet in high school. So Monmouth was good for me because I was away, but not too far away."

Rampone is also quick to credit the coaches who gave her the foundation she needed while she played soccer, basketball, field hockey and track at the borough high school. Those coaches included Bob Kulessa, her soccer coach, as well as Judy Goldstein, Peter Cook and William Moore.

"Each of them influenced me in a different way," she said. "Some were more vocal, some would talk to me on the side.

"The borough was good for me, it kept me grounded and honest," she said. "I think my coaches saw something in me, but they didn't treat me like a superstar. They made sure I worked on my weaknesses."

Now all that work gets put to the World Cup test one last time.

"This is my last World Cup, then I'll go into the Olympics and then I'll leave international soccer, but still play in the US," Rampone said.

This morning, she said on Twitter, "It's finally here! Opening game for Team USA!"

She said she's looking forward to spending more time at home with her family, especially now that Rylie will be starting kindergarten in September.

Leaving the international stage will cut down the days away, which have usually been about 250 days a year.

While soccer has brought Rampone all over the world, she still comes home to the borough to visit her parents who live on Claridge Court, off Herbertsville Road, in the same house where she grew up.

Rampone, her husband, Chris, and their oldest daughter, Rylie, 5, have lived in Manasquan since November 2008. Since moving there, they had a second daughter, Reece, who is now 15 months old.

Before moving to Manasquan, Rampone lived in California for three years prior and, before that, Wall Township, Point Borough and Long Island.

She tries to have her family travel with her everywhere. But this time, as she announced on Twitter, her girls stayed home and she won't see them for five weeks "except for Skype."

They also have a condominium in West Palm Beach, FL, the home base of Magic Jack, the  Women's Professional Soccer team she went to after leaving New Jersey's Sky Blue.

In 2009, Rampone, as Sky Blue's captain, led the team to a national championship and was honored at the White House last year by President and Mrs. Obama.

"It was awesome," Rampone said. "He (Obama) spoke about me and my daughter (Reece). He definitely personalized it.

"They were very gracious, very nice," she said. "The president had a nice press conference, where he spoke about the team and we had a tour of the White House."

It's been a long journey of peaks and valleys for the defender who has battled injuries and even played and coached during the early part of a pregnancy when Sky Blue was vying for the championship.

Rampone started playing soccer when she was 5 years old, started competing when she was 10 and has been playing at the highest level since 1997.

After the World Cup is over, Rampone will fly back to New Jersey where she will coach a girls' soccer camp. The Third Annual Christie Rampone and K. Hovnanian Children's Hospital Girls' Soccer Camp will be held from July 18 to 21 at Sunshine Village Park Fields in Neptune.

A camp for high school girls will follow in August.

And she's trying to promote women's professional soccer, which took a hit when the WUSA league failed three years ago. The Women's Professional Soccer league started in its place.

"But it's having a tough time getting sponsorships," Rampone said. "I'm doing as much as I can to promote women's soccer and women's sports in general. It's not easy. A lot of young people play soccer, but they don't come out and watch professional games."

Rampone said hopefully when her daughters are old enough to play professional soccer, it will be a much more popular spectator sport.

"That's the goal, to keep it growing and in the right direction," said their mom.