This is the Los Angeles Sol: Keri Sanchez

Part 21 in a series of articles on the players that make up the 2009 Los Angeles Sol.

Today's generation of women footballers form the bulk of Women's Professional Soccer. But there are some famous names from the past that are plying their trade in this league.

No, I am not talking about your Brandi Chastains, or Abby Wambachs and Sissis of the WPStratosphere. There is one player in particular that has been building her legacy in years gone by, and is grateful for the chance to once again play the game she loves.

Defender Keri Sanchez was an important pioneer in the development of the women's game. From 1991 through 1994, Sanchez played a key role as a member of the USA national team, winners of the first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup.

In those days, it was known as the FIFA Women's World Championship.

There is a reason why the USA Women's National Team has been one of the strongest in the world. The head coach of the national team at the time of her stint was a gentleman by the name of Anson Dorrance.

You probably are familiar with this name if you have heard of the dynasties he has forged as the coach of the North Carolina women's program; and she has been a part of that, too.

For nearly a couple of decades, Sanchez blazed her own trail as a footballer...and also as a coach. She currently coaches the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).

And now she is a member of one of the strongest teams in the WPS, the Los Angeles Sol.

Keri Sanchez was born on Christmas Day—December 25, 1972, in San Jose, California. Sanchez's accomplishments on the West Coast got her the nod the play for one of the finest college programs on the East Coast—or any other coast for that matter—in the North California Tar Heels.

Throughout her college career, Sanchez would earn the privilege of winning a national championship in each of her four seasons.

It's not very often that a player has such a privilege of being part of a team that obtains plaque after plaque after plaque, as if it were divine right.

But Sanchez took advantage of it like a buggy horse eating the carrot dangling from the stick.

While Sanchez was not seriously considered as a strong player in the pool of talent that included greats such as Michelle Akers, Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Chastain, and Kristine Lilly, she bore witness to a sort of transformation happening before her eyes.

You see, during 1991—the year Sanchez signed with North Carolina—soccer in the United States was slowly recovering from the disarray that dominated the 1980's.

A year removed from the "Shot Heard Round The World" on the men's side, the creation of the FIFA Women's World Cup was a godsend to the development of soccer on the women's side. While the USA triumph over European powerhouse Norway did not receive much attention outside of host nation China, the US soccer community knew the foundation had been laid.

Sanchez would play for the USA women on 11 occasions, with her debut against Yugoslavia in 1991.

As the USA dominated on the world stage, North Carolina dominated on the collegiate stage.

In 1991, Sanchez played a supporting role to Tisha Venturini, Lilly and Pam Kalinoski. On their way to the national championship, the Heels won 24 straight matches. Sanchez earned All-ACC honors that season.

The Tar Heels of 1992, however, were a fearsome bunch of athletes, and Sanchez was one of them.

The numbers are staggering. A 25-0 record. Their seventh consecutive NCAA championship. 58 consecutive wins by the end of the season. Led by Hamm, the Tar Heels outscored their opponents 132-11, trailing only twice.

In Sanchez's junior season, North Carolina finished with a 23-0 season to go with another national championship. She would earn her only All-American honor: a second-team selection by Soccer News.

In her senior season, Sanchez helped the Tar Heels to a 25-1-1 season, and another championship. Once again, she would earn All-ACC honors.

After her contributions to the North Carolina women's soccer dynasty under Dorrance, years would pass before Sanchez would get her first taste of professional play in the now-defunct Women's United Soccer Association.

In 2001, Sanchez was selected by the Boston Breakers in the WUSA Inaugural Draft. Apart from playing for Boston, Sanchez also played for the San Jose CyberRays before the league folded in 2003.

Still she longed to be on the pitch. In 2004, she took on a new role: the head coach of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas.

Her most recent season as head coach will go down as perhaps her greatest thus far. In 2008, the Athenas won the SCIAC Tournament with a 1-0 victory over the Redlands Bulldogs.

Eventually, their season would end at the hands of the Carleton College Knights in an NCAA Sectional match by the same score, but the Athenas would finish the season ranked 23rd in the country by the NSCAA.

It was the first-ever time in the program's history that the Athena women's soccer team were ranked in any poll.

Keri Sanchez, like many of her footballing peers, has come a long way.

A national champion, a college coach sowing her own seeds of success, a witness of the USA's rise in women's soccer...and now a member of the Los Angeles Sol, Sanchez's journey continues on.

As for us, we are invited to come along for the ride. Hop aboard.