Pilot Takes the Wheel
Megan Rapinoe returns from U.S. team ready to lead defending champs

By Jason Vondersmith
The Portland Tribune

Megan Rapinoe spent all summer with the U.S. national team and star Abby Wambach, learning a lot about “how to be a professional.” But she’s still a college student and only 21; she loves to strum her guitar and sing, she just tipped her first legal drink and she has a lot of projects on her plate.

This week, on one of her first days back at the University of Portland, she rode around on her funky old three-speed bike wearing Hawaiian shorts and sporting flecks of primer on her neck, arms, feet and eyelashes.

“I’m painting my room. The person who lived there before had this hideous orange color,” she says, while ironically proudly noting that her bike is burnt orange.

Rapinoe went shopping at Home Depot on Wednesday with her sister and teammate, Rachael. She decided on light green and went to work on the room.

“I live in the basement, with no windows,” she says. “It’s really dark — had to lighten it up.”

This week, the 5-7 sophomore midfielder and her teammates also got back to work on the field in defense of their NCAA soccer championship. With college player of the year Christine Sinclair gone, Megan Rapinoe figures to be the Pilots’ marquee player and biggest scoring threat. She scored 15 goals for UP last year.

Coach Garrett Smith says her personality and “complete game” stick out.

“I look at Christine and Megan as good all-around players,” he says. “They do everything well. Maybe I take their strengths for granted, because I see them every day. I enjoy Megan’s personality more than anything about her.”

Around the Pilots, it’s pretty obvious when game day is. Normally jovial and fun-loving, Rapinoe goes all businesslike on everybody before, during and after the team is on the field. She loves to play games but isn’t wild about practice.

“It’s been that way my whole life,” she says. “I like games a kajillion times better.”

Rapinoe hopes to play in more games with her fraternal twin sister this season. Rachael Rapinoe dealt with anemia the previous two years and rarely saw playing time, but in the spring she started at forward. “I’m healthy,” she says.

Sisters stick together

Rachael Rapinoe, a 5-4 junior, has watched her sister gain national acclaim.

“Some people just have it in them,” Rachael says. “She’s an incredible athlete and has an ability to learn the game. I admire her heart — she really loves the game, she doesn’t get burned out, whereas I can get burned out.”

From Redding, Calif., both spurned offers from Santa Clara, UCLA and Stanford — Megan, the prep All-American, and Rachael were a package deal. They grew up playing soccer and other sports but also enjoying tubing and jet skiing on Shasta Lake and snowboarding on Mount Shasta.

At first, the sisters weren’t considering Portland, but their mother insisted they visit out of respect for ailing coach Clive Charles (who later died from cancer). The “homey” feeling of Portland and the UP campus sold them on coming here.

It’ll be difficult to move on without Sinclair, but the Pilots have much talent. Smith says other players need to pick up their scoring.

“I like to score goals,” Megan Rapinoe says. “Being a forward my whole life, I’ve developed a love for it. It’s so exciting. There’s an element of selfishness that goes along with it. You have to have an inner arrogance. There’s a fine line to walk there — it tends to be crossed by big athletes.”

U.S. team provides intensity

Rapinoe got called up to the U.S. team in May, trained in San Diego and saw action in two of the three games the Yanks played. It was her first appearance with the national team.

“I was so excited to be in games, I was on Cloud Nine,” Rapinoe, says. “The intensity level … nobody takes a break. They’re so focused and good; you take time off on a play, and they’ll likely punish you.”

She says the great Wambach, Kristine Lilly and Shannon Boxx helped mentor her, as did coach Greg Ryan. She and Wambach traveled to Portland after the team broke camp, seeing sights in California and camping on the Oregon coast.

Rapinoe says “learning how to be a pro” meant understanding how to take care of your body, how to practice and how to train properly. “Our job is mostly physical, keeping our bodies ready,” she says. “It went pretty well.”

Her goal is to be on the U.S. team for the 2007 World Cup and 2008 Olympics. “I think my chances are good,” she says. “If I thought they were anything less than good, I wouldn’t have been there.”