This summer, we'll be taking a look back at our 2022 Hall of Fame inductees through the lens of The Justice, Brandeis's student newspaper.

We hope you can join us for the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Gosman Sports Center on October 8, 2022. Discounted early registration tickets are now available for purchase! 

First off, Denise Dallamora from 1996!

TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1996

The Justice Sports

DALLAMORA WATCHES WOMEN'S SOCCER GROW

By JULIE OBERHAND

Sometimes we do not choose our careers, but rather, they choose us. Just ask women's soccer head coach Denise Dallamora.

"I went to school to be a trainer," Dallamora said. Although Dallamora was a trainer for a few years, her career path soon took a different direction. In 1980, she was working as a part-time trainer at Brandeis, and was asked to coach the women's soccer team which was working to change its status from club to varsity.

While this was Dallamora's first experience coaching on the collegiate level, she had previously ben the soccer coach at Framingham High School North for only a couple of years.

It only took one year for women's soccer to become a varsity sport, as opposed to the four or five years it takes most teams. The women soccer players spoke to the university president, fought for a practice field (by the commuter rail), and soon received the varsity status for which they were looking.

"It's different than walking into a program that was already established," Dallamora said. "It's a challenge."

In the beginning, coaching was tough for Dallamora. "Just starting we didn't have the numbers or the strength," Dallamora said. "It was a little frustrating because we were not real strong."

In their first season, the Brandeis women only won one or two of its 10 games. There were also very few women's soccer conferences and few opportunities for women's soccer in general.

The only place for women's soccer teams to compete was the New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association, which [was] the only state tournament for women at the time.

Soon after the National Collegiate Athletic Association held an open tournament for Divisions I, II and III to compete against each other, which was frustrating for teams like Brandeis which lacked the experience and strength of the Division I and II schools.

Dallamora then started the Massachusetts Athletic Intercollegiate Association for Women, which allowed teams to play against other schools of the same caliber.

It was not until eight or nine years ago that the NCAA divided its tournament into three divisions, so women's soccer games could be competitive.

At the same time, the New England Women's Eight (NEW 8) was established, which was the league in which the Brandeis women first played.

Seven years ago, the team joined the University Athletic Association (UAA), in which it now plays. Dallamora said that due to conflicts between the two conferences (NEW 8 and the UAA), the program decided to compete in the UAA, due to the high level of competition.

"(The team) has gotten stronger and stronger every year. We've plateaued the last six or eight years," Dallamora said.

Since the "beginning", Dallamora has had the chance to see the team that she built develop into a strong program. "When I look back now it's (starting a soccer program) not something I would want to do at another school," Dallamora said. "It takes a lot of energy to do that.

"Initially we had more players because the level of competition was not that strong," Dallamora said. Now because of the tough UAA schedule, she is more selective in her choice of players. Dallamora does a lot of recruiting and said, "I am not surprised to have 50 kids trying out for soccer."

"I think that coaching is a very rewarding profession for people to be in. I've enjoyed it. I've grownd from it. I've probably learned as much as the kids," Dallamora said.

This past season, the Judges qualified for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference and finished sixth in New England.

Looking to the future, Dallamora said she is working towards "making the national tournament, or at least to be in the top ten in the region."