Vandi Ogden scored one goal, had one assist and played 90 minutes against the University of Buffalo. After the game, her teammates packed up their things to get back on the bus, but Ogden continued to be chased around the fiel-¡d -¡- by her son.
"After a 90 minute game [at Buffalo] I had played the whole 90 minutes and I assume Vandi also played the whole 90 minutes," Betsy Wilcek said. "I was exhausted. I turned to coach [Michelle Salmon] and was like, 'How does she have energy to [be a mother] after playing 90 minutes of soccer?' Coach said, 'She's a mother. She doesn't have a choice.'"
Ogden, the mother of a three-year-old son named Courtney, handles the heavy load of being a student-athlete while balancing the tasks of raising her son.
"My days are full," Ogden said. "I don't have very much extra time, but I like it that way. I go home and I have a son who welcomes me with open arms and tells me he misses me every day. I wouldn't want it any other way."
Salmon said she has experience in coaching players who have children. At her previous program, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Salmon had a similar situation.
"I wasn't familiar with [her] situation when I was hired," Salmon said, "But at my last university one of my players got married and had a baby, and she had to sit out a year after the pregnancy. So I'm familiar with it."
One would expect Ogden to also miss a year. However, that wasn't the case, she said. Instead, she was able to play throughout two-thirds of her pregnancy.
"I knew that I would get back to playing soccer," Ogden said. "I played soccer until I was seven months pregnant. After that it became painful so I stopped. After I had [Courtney] I waited six weeks and then I got back into summer conditioning."
Salmon said she's impressed with the way Ogden has handled her heavy load. Not only has Ogden been a good mother, but she has also been able to be successful on the field. To this point in her senior season, Ogden has managed 10 points on three goals and four assists.
"What Vandi does day in and day out is just amazing," Salmon said. "The most amazing part about Vandi is one, her son is unbelievable. That's a tribute to Vandi. She's just an incredible person. It just doesn't affect her. You can see that everything she does is in the best interest of the team, and it's great to see Courtney running onto the field after the game."
Ogden's son has become an integrated part of the Cardinals' soccer team. Everyone, from Salmon down to the players, has accepted Courtney as a part of the Cardinal following.
"It's not like a family, it is a family," Salmon said. "That's what makes this team special. You have teams out there who are like a family. This isn't like a family; this is a family. You should see how protective these girls are of Courtney. I'd hate to be in 10 years the girl who wants to date Courtney because she's going to have to deal with 24 girls first."
Wilcek, a close friend and teammate of Ogden both on and off the field, said it's hard for her to fathom the amount of energy and effort that goes into the things Ogden faces every day.
"I have a huge amount of respect [for Ogden]," Wilcek said. "I'm overwhelmed with my classes and soccer. That's about all I know I can handle. Being a student-athlete in addition to having a kid, I just couldn't imagine."
While Ogden is forced to spend the bulk of her time raising her son, the team's on-field chemistry seems to be strong. Wilcek said a reason why the team is strong is because the team understands that there are more important things than just having fun.
"It doesn't affect us at all," Salmon said. "The time that you spend building team bonding is outside of practice. But a lot of it takes place during practice and when you're traveling. We travel together, and we're probably with each other three to four hours a day. So that's where we build our friendships."
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