August 15, 2007
The following article is posted with permission from the Potomac News and the Manassas Journal Messenger.
Everyone in Melissa Cary's family has been to Italy to visit the ancestral home of her father, John. Everyone except Melissa.
But that's about to change courtesy of her soccer abilities.
Cary, a 2002 Brentsville High School graduate, is returning to her roots later this month when she joins a professional women's soccer team near Naples, Italy.
The former Longwood University standout (2002-05) and graduate has been offered an invitation to play for Vomina Neapolis in the Italian League Serie B. Serie B is the second highest-ranked league in Italy.
"I thought about this and dreamed about it as a kid," Cary said. "It's every kid's dream to play professionally in their desired sport."
Cary received the invitation via e-mail. She has yet to sign an official contract.
Cary spent this past season as a student assistant for the women's soccer team. It was during this time that she realized she still wanted to play soccer.
Steve Brdarski, who is the assistant women's coach at Longwood and also an assistant for FC Indiana of the Women's Premier Soccer League, contacted Vomina Neapolis about the possibility of signing Cary.
At Longwood, Cary was a four-year starter on defense. During her playing career, Cary earned numerous honors, including being a Division I All-Independent selection in 2005.
"[FC Indiana] is partnered with a team in Italy," Brdarski said. "I went to Italy last summer and talked to them about possibly signing Melissa."
Clubs move up in the Serie League by winning their respective division, so any kind of player acquisition is welcomed.
Brdarski said Vomina Neapolis is taking a chance with Cary considering she will be an American in a predominantly Italian league.
"They're taking a big risk because there isn't an Italian team with an American player," Brdarski said. "It's a big risk but a risk they are willing to take because they want to keep advancing in the league."
Even with the league consisting of mostly Italian players, Brdarski doesn't think it will take long for Cary to be accepted.
"She has an advantage because of who she is," Brdarski said. "She has a tremendous competitive drive, which will allow her to be accepted faster. If I had to pick one player to start a team with I would pick Melissa."
Serie B is made up of 22 teams with each team playing every team in the league twice for a total of 42 games. The regular season begins August 25 and concludes next June. A 10-month season is significantly longer then any soccer season Cary has ever participated in, but she is not worried about it.
"[The length of the season] is exciting," said Cary, who has been playing in the W-League in the U.S. "Most seasons for travel or club have breaks so it's hard to do stuff on your own to keep your skills up, so to keep playing is nice because you stay in shape and keep your skills up."
Brdarski doesn't anticipate Cary having any problems adjusting to the length of the season because of her love for soccer.
"Melissa's a soccer nut, she eats, sleeps and breathes soccer," Brdarski said. "She needs to be in an environment where they play soccer all year long. She'll enjoy that."
One other adjustment Cary will face is overcoming the language barrier.
"Going by myself should help because I'll be around my teammates all the time which will force me to learn the language," Cary said.
