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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congresswoman Lois Capps celebrated the passage of H. Res.70, legislation she introduced to honor the UCSB men’s soccer team Division I National Championship. The team beat UCLA in early December to capture UCSB’s second national title. Capps delivered the following remarks in support of the resolution:
Statement of the Honorable Lois Capps
January 29, 2007
Madame Speaker, today I am honored to support this Resolution congratulating the University of California, Santa Barbara men’s soccer team for winning the NCAA Division I National Championship.
Along with my colleague Elton Gallegly, I am thrilled to have this opportunity to congratulate every player, coach, alumnus, faculty member and supporter of UCSB.
On December 3rd 2006, the UCSB Gauchos captured the National Championship by scoring two goals against the University of California, Los Angeles. This is UCSB’s second national title in school history.
While all the gauchos played their hearts out, I’d like to acknowledge two stand-out performances.
Sophomore Nick Perera scored a goal and assisted on Eric Avila’s game-winner on his way to earning All-College Cup Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the Tournament honors.
Junior Andy Iro, despite playing through an injury, helped keep UCLA at bay and was named the All-College Cup Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
While the beginning UCSB’s season was plagued by inconsistent play, the Gauchos fought to recover, winning ten of their last eleven games, including six straight in the tournament.
Coach Tim Vom Steeg, a UCSB alum, and his staff, Greg Wilson, Neil Jones and Erick Foss, deserve tremendous praise not only for their impressive leadership in the 2006 season but also for leading the dominating Gauchos to their second NCAA National Championship game in three years.
Coach Vom Steeg’s colleagues were so impressed with his coaching abilities that they named him the National Soccer Coaches Association of America National Coach of the Year, the most prestigious award that a Division I soccer coach can receive, for the second time.
Madame Speaker, while the men’s soccer team is a great example of the excellence the University produces, there is much more to celebrate.
As many of you know, my husband Walter was a professor of Religious Studies for more than 30 years at UCSB.
Through his experiences as a professor, and my own as a graduate, I have watched the university rightfully gain national attention.
The university currently has five Nobel Laureates on faculty and was recently ranked in the top 15 best public schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
And with a breathtakingly beautiful campus, it’s no wonder that the men’s soccer team and the university can attract such notable talent from all over the world.
If any of my colleagues ever find themselves on California’s Central Coast, I encourage you to stop by this beautiful campus and see for yourself all that it has to offer.
And of course, don’t forget to catch a soccer game at Harder Stadium!
I hope all of my colleagues will join me in supporting this resolution.
Go Gauchos!
And I yield back the balance of my time.
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Pictured above: (center) Congresswoman Capps meets with Central Coast firefighters to discuss emergency preparedness.
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