When Bobby Clark took over as men's soccer coach three years ago, he knew he needed another talented player to help him turn around the team. What he didn't know was that his search would end when his youngest son, Jamie, decided to transfer to Stanford after his freshman year at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Jamie Clark always planned to play college soccer for his father, who coached at Dartmouth College during Jamie's high school years. But Bobby Clark left New Hampshire in 1994 to coach the New Zealand National Team. Jamie took a year off, then played a year at Chapel Hill. When Dad accepted the Stanford job in 1996, Jamie was itching to go with him.
It was a perfect match. "He knows exactly what I'm thinking and exactly how I want them to play," the elder Clark says. "We see things similarly."
Those family secrets helped take the Cardinal all the way to the national championship game this season. Although the team lost the NCAA final December 13 to Indiana, 3-1, they ended the season 18-5-2, Stanford's best record ever.
The Clarks' success should come as no surprise. Soccer is, after all, the family business. Bobby Clark played professionally in Scotland before starting his coaching career. Daughter Jennifer coaches the women's team at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. Older son Tommy played for Clark at Dartmouth. Even Clark's wife, Betty, pitches in, making pancake breakfasts for the team and hosting the players regularly in the family's Stanford home.
But Jamie and Bobby faced a few challenges at Stanford: Jamie had to remember not to slip up and say "Dad" instead of "Coach," and his father held off starting Jamie until it was clear that the team felt he had earned that right.
Jamie proved himself quickly enough, becoming Stanford's first All-American in men's soccer in more than a decade. He shifted from midfield to defense for his senior year, started in all but one game and scored five game-winning goals in the regular season. In February, he was drafted by Major League Soccer. He won't be going far: he'll play for the San Jose Clash.
The challenge for Bobby Clark next fall will be to repeat this year's magic after losing six seniors, including Jamie. It's a situation the coach will find familiar. In 1992, he fielded a Dartmouth team after seven players -- including son Tommy -- graduated: "Nobody gave us a chance that year, and we made it all the way to the quarterfinals of the NCAAs."
