It’s been a few months since the World Cup, but we committed to telling the stories of the entire first USWNT, so we tracked down one of the two outstanding players. Here she is!
Tara Buckley O’Sullivan, grew up doing everything with her twin sister, Moira. The duo would go to their older brother’s soccer games, and then their younger brother’s games. When Tara and Moira were watching younger brother, Danny play, his coach asked Mrs. Buckley, “why don’t you dress your girls up like cheerleaders and they can cheer for their younger brother?”
Tara’s response? “Heck no! We wanna play!” So Mrs. Buckley stepped up and became their coach. She didn’t really know soccer, but she knew playing was important to the girls, so she made sure they could.
Fast forward and Tara became UConn’s first 4x All-American in women’s soccer. Throughout it all, she describes her teams as “in it for the love of the game,” a love she imparted to her children in whatever sports they chose to pursue be it lacrosse, taekwondo, or more recently golf.
“We didn’t have any rooms booked to sleep in for the night, so we slept on the fields because we didn’t have any place to go”
Tara O’Sullivan
1985 USWNT
Since retiring from soccer, Tara credits her family as being her rock… and the feeling is mutual as we hear from husband Mike, son Timothy, and daughter, Caitlin.
“Mom, you are the most amazing Role model I could have”
Caitlin O’Sullivan
Daughter, Tara O’Sullivan
