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Soccer Standout Bishop Makes Another Pitch

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By EDDIE DANIELS

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 25, 2008

LAND O' LAKES - Nope. The party's not over.

If you thought Stacy Bishop was going to hang up her cleats after earning All-America status and being a semifinalist for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy (soccer's equivalent to the Heisman Trophy) to finally pursue a career outside the sport, you'd be wrong.

The former Land O' Lakes and University of Florida standout earned her degree in health education and was named UF's Tracy Caulkins Award winner as the top graduating female athlete.

After a semester of graduate school to gain her master's degree in family youth and community sciences, she knew her time on the pitch wasn't quite finished.

"If it doesn't work out or if I end up playing, I'll go back at some point," Bishop said. "I just realized after the season that I wasn't done playing, and also I could always go back to school."

In hopes of joining Women's Professional Soccer for the league's 2009 debut, she has been playing with the Tampa Bay Hellenic of the United Soccer Leagues' W-League.

Bishop, who is tied for the team lead in goals (three) and is second in assists (three), was named to the W-League Team of the Week for her play in Week 5. The Hellenic are 6-3 and contending for a playoff spot in their inaugural season.

"For a first-year franchise, we are ecstatic that we are past the midway point of the season and still in the playoff hunt," Hellenic coach George Fotopoulos said. "The reality is, when we first decided to put this team together, our main goal - and it has always been our main goal - is to get every girl we possibly can an opportunity to compete at the highest level in the country and at the same time possibly the world. The W-League is one of the best leagues in the world."

The team - and league, for that matter - has an interesting dynamic. Players are attracted from all over the world and have varying levels of experience.

Some team members are high school soccer players preparing for college, others are college players, some are former college players or even former professional players. Additionally, Fotopoulos is assisted by his wife Danielle, a former U.S. national team member.

"I correlate it a lot to baseball a little bit," George Fotopoulos said, "in that you're in a Double-A, Triple-A or Single-A baseball environment and you have guys who have played in the bigs, you have guys who have gone up and down, you have guys who have just been in 1-A ball or some of them are coming out of high school or just finished college.

"It's just great because you have players helping each other. You have older players helping younger, you have younger helping older."

The Hellenic, who are owned by Bishop's mother, Maryann Bishop, next play the Carolina Dynamo on Saturday at their home field at Ed Radice Park.

Despite having an impressive trophy case, Stacy Bishop, who owns Pasco County's prep record for career goals (192), has one regret.

"I really wanted to win a college national championship," she said. "Any way I could have helped in doing that; I just think about that. Oh, well."

Now it's on to chase other championships.

"She's been successful everywhere," Land O' Lakes girls coach Vicky King said recently. "She probably is the most humble team player you ever want to coach. Nothing is for herself, everything is for the team. She is a total team player. She just really wants to win the game."

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 948-4214 or edaniels@tampatrib.com.

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