"the champions way" WITH ANSON DORRANCE & special guests
Hosted by The Soccer Fund founders Gary & Carine Ireland
Contact: Gary Ireland garyjamesireland@gmail.com (650) 387 4128
April 11, 2026
Bedford Square (near London Museum)
9:30 am-12 (9 am for morning tea)
ADMISSION:
This free Invitation only RSVP limited seating only event is suited for professional club owners, investors, federation directors, club directors, national team and professional coaches and players, high performing emerging player talent, media/entertainment industry leaders
PRESENTERS & SPEAKERS:
Gary Ireland will present and moderate this event which will feature some of the games leading figures including special guest Anson Dorrance, the most successful and influential women's football coach in US history who has made significant impact on the development on the women's game in the USA and globally. Winner of a record 22 NCAA Championships and inaugural FIFA Women's World Cup he rivals Michel Jordan in status in Chapel Hill, the home of UNC.
“This is a women’s soccer school. We’re just trying to keep up with them" Dean Smith, Jordan's UNC basketball coach
"He’s one of the most brilliant men I have met. He blew my mind with his boldness and intuition" (Emma Hayes USA coach & former Chelsea FC manager))
AGENDA:
- Past, Present, Future of Women's Global Football
- The Growth Of Women's Global Football
- Identifying, Developing & Training Champions: Dorrance created the 'Competitive Cauldron' culture of recording performance in practice, the foundation for UNC women's players performing at their best not only in games but in practice, adopted by many coaches in other sports
- Architecting & Embedding Culture: Developing Core Values of Nobility, Respect and Positivity. Discover what made UNC one of the most successful sports teams in history
- Anson describes excerpts from his books 'The Man Watching' & The 'Vision Of A Champion'
- Outside The Comfort Zone' & 'Never Ending Ascensions' Anson describes his quest for his coaching staff and players to transcend ordinary effort and avoid mediocrity. Anson and Gary discuss player ownership of performance and importance of self practice
Over 60 UNC players have represented the USA , 12 UNC players playing over 100 games each for the USA, more than any other team in college soccer history, all of them coached by Dorrance at UNC, including Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Lori Chalupny, Cat Reddick, Tisha Venturini, Ashlyn Harris, Jessica McDonald. UNC players Anson has coached include England Manager Sarina Wiegman who called UNC a ‘football paradise’, Yael Averbuch GM of NWSL 2025 National Champions Gotham FC, President of US Soccer Federation Cindy Parlow, former USA Women's National Team coach April Heinrichs (now FIFA). Current USA Women's National team players include
Crystal Dunn (PSG), Sam Meza (Seattle), Ally Sentnor (Utah), Emily Fox (Arsenal), Claudia Dickey (Seattle), Avery Patterson (Houston), Olivia Thomas (Denver) : UNC players who play/have played in England include England "Lioness" players Alessia Russo (Arsenal), Lotte Wubben Moy (Arsenal), ex-FIFA World Player of Year Lucy Bronze (ex-Barcelona & Manchester City/current Chelsea), Bronze being given the opportunity to start her England career. See BBC story https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/soccer/lucy-bronze-the-making-of-england-s-most-decorated-player/ar-AA1HPDIL and USA national team players Emily Fox (Arsenal) Crystal Dunn (Chelsea-now PSG), Tobin Heath (Arsenal), Heather O’Reilly (Arsenal), Whitney Engen (Liverpool), Lorrie Fair (Chelsea), Heather O'Reilly (ex-Arsenal/coaching at FC Como), Whitney Engen (ex-Liverpool)
"Anson and I met for the first time in 2005. I had been an admirer of his for years and read his book. Dorrance is one of the true legends in sports. I adopted Dorrance’s approach for an number of reasons. As a motivational tool it helped us make sure the players were practicing at a very high level". Superbowl and NCAA champion coach Former USC coach and NFL coach of Seattle Seahawks Pete Carroll (Las Vegas Raiders NFL coach). Carroll dedicated a training day "Competitive Wednesday" day in Anson's honor based on his "The Competitive Cauldron"
"The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion when no one else is watching"
"What you do when no one else is looking will determine how good you’ll be."
"It isn’t a talent we are born with. Competitive drive is not governed by innate ability, but by self-discipline and desire"
"It is critical for you as a young player to understand that vision and great tactical minds are built on a complete foundation of skill, so that you can problem-solve individually and hurt the other team tactically. Knowing what to do is easily compromised by being unable to do it."
Donations can me made to TSF for Anson Dorrance game, coach and player development speaking engagements. The Soccer Fund Tax ID #82-4089217 is a 501(c)3 Federal Income tax exempt Nonprofit Corporation under section 170 of the IRS code. Donations are tax deductible info@thesoccerfund.org
