Shares Florida soccer’s four season ascent from program start to NCAA champs
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The remarkable tale of Florida soccer’s four-season rise from program start to NCAA champions is the focus of the upcoming SEC Storied: “Kick Start”. The debut airs Tuesday, Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. on the SEC Network.
Directed by Erin Leyden, “Kick Start” was created in recognition of Florida claiming the SEC’s first and only national championship for soccer in just season four for the Gators.
“Making films about women’s sports is always a joy, knowing that you are shining a light on stories that historically have not gotten enough coverage,” said Leyden. “I loved having this opportunity to revisit this formative era in women’s collegiate sports and give a little shine to a team that came together and made something that seemed impossible, possible.”
SEC Storied: “Kick Start” re-lives Florida’s trek to the program’s first national championship in 1998, coming up against soccer juggernaut North Carolina. To build a national championship program from the ground up is no easy task and given the landscape of women’s collegiate soccer in the mid-1990s, Becky Burleigh’s charge was even more difficult.
Burleigh was just 26 when she was named as the first head coach of the University of Florida soccer team in advance of the 1995 season. At the start of her tenure, just two programs in the history of NCAA women’s soccer had ever won the national title, which was first contested in 1982. George Mason hoisted the trophy in 1985, but the remaining 14 titles belong to the Tar Heels.
With a diverse team led by gritty veteran players like captain All-Americans Erin Baxter, Danielle Fotopoulos, plus freshman phenom Abby Wambach, the Gators homed in on the underdog mentality and raised the 1998 NCAA Championship trophy.
“To me, the story of the ’98 championship team is a testament to what can happen when a bold idea is backed up with great passion, smart planning and a whole lot of heart,” said Leyden. “It is really stunning to realize just how quickly Becky Burleigh was able to establish a winning tradition for Florida soccer.”
Filmmaker Bio
Erin Leyden is an independent documentary producer and director. Leyden previously worked at ESPN, where she was part of the original production team of the Emmy and Peabody-Award winning 30 for 30 series. Past directing credits include This Magic Moment, Tommy, and The 99ers. Her recent projects include supervising producer duties on Apple TV+’s Super League: The War for Football and producing Open Heart, a portrait of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
About SEC Network
The Southeastern Conference and ESPN launched SEC Network on August 14, 2014. The network televises hundreds of games across the SEC’s 21 sports annually. Programming includes in-depth analysis and storytelling in studio shows such as SEC Nation, Marty & McGee, Out Of Pocket, Read & React and Rally Cap, daily news and information with The Paul Finebaum Show and SEC Now, original content such as the Emmy Award-winning TrueSouth, SEC Storied and SEC Inside, and more. Hundreds of additional live events are available for streaming exclusively on SEC Network’s digital companion, SEC Network+, via the ESPN App and SECNetwork.com<http://www.secnetwork.com/>. Follow SEC Network on Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/secnetwork/>, TikTok<https://www.tiktok.com/@secnetwork>, Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/SECNetwork> and Twitter/X<https://twitter.com/secnetwork>.
