Hendershott ahead of game in preparing for soccer debut

Steve Carp

Monday, April 13, 1998 | 11:08 a.m.

Given how quickly time has passed since she took charge of UNLV's women's soccer program, one would imagine Staci Hendershott's world to be chaotic.

Far from it. Everything in her office at the Robert J. Miller Soccer Building is in order, and the former Michigan State assistant has everything under control. That's not to say her life isn't frenzied, what with recruiting, scheduling, paper work and other minutiae that would bog down any coach. It's just that she seems to have a handle on things.

As the months dwindle to weeks and the weeks dwindle to days for the debut of the Rebel women at Pepperdine Sept. 1, Hendershott remains busy. She still has to sign a few more players. She has fund-raising responsibilities. She's still getting adjusted to living in Southern Nevada and meeting the people who will ultimately support her and her program.

"I can't believe it's April, but I can't wait for August to get here," she said. "I still feel blessed that I'm here and things have gone well so far."

Nineteen players have committed to UNLV, either verbally or by signing letters of intent. Hendershott will likely field 22-23 players come the Sept. 1 opener and it will be an interesting blend of youth and experience, local talent combined with several out-of-state players.

Ten players with Las Vegas ties are in the fold, and Hendershott is particularly proud of that.

"There are obviously some very good players from this area and my goal is to keep as many of them home as possible," she said.

That will be important because she is not blessed with a large recruiting budget. Hendershott's total budget is just $65,000 and out of that comes game travel. One trip, a WAC game at Hawaii Oct. 18, will cost approximately $18,000, though she has been promised by the UNLV administration that expense will not come out of her already-stretched budget.

She will have a part-time assistant on board in July when Damon Rensing joins her. The two worked together at Michigan State and Rensing should know something about Las Vegas. His brother Darek played for Barry Barto's Rebels the past couple of years.

"Having Damon will be a big help," Hendershott said. "Right now, I'm trying to do everything myself and sometimes it's not easy."

But a lot has already been accomplished.

The team, with Barto's help, has an equipment deal with Fila. The schedule is already done. The home debut for the UNLV women will be Sunday, Sept. 13 against Hendershott's alma mater, Michigan State. Seven home matches are slated for Peter Johann Field, including Boise State and Idaho State Sept. 18 and 20 respectively, Wyoming and Sacramento State on Oct. 1-2 and Fresno State and San Jose State Oct. 9 and 11.

UNLV will also meet nationally ranked Brigham Young and Minnesota, both on the road. The WAC women's championships will be played Nov. 4-7 in Provo, Utah.

Even though it will be UNLV's first go-round, Hendershott believes this team is capable of playing .500 soccer or better.

"That's the goal," she said. "I think the girls we have coming in are hard workers and I think the talent is there to be competitive.

"We won't be deep. That's obviously going to take some time. But I think we're going to have a talented team and we're going to be competitive right away."