Colleges

Bulls band together to deal with death

By GREG AUMAN
Published September 21, 2005

TAMPA - Logan Fleck will face tougher opponents, will send his women's soccer team into games much harder to win, but Sunday's game against North Florida always will stand out in his memory.

"That's the hardest game I've ever coached in my life," he said. "Sports can bring out the best in you, and in a tragedy like this, you're so astonished at how well a group of young people can handle these things and support each other. I've never been prouder of a team."

On Friday night, the Bulls all lost a friend in Mark Dafeldecker, 49, whose daughter Erin is a junior on the soccer team. A longtime youth soccer coach and elementary school principal, Dafeldecker suffered a stroke and died while in Wisconsin with his wife, Cheryl, to watch USF's Big East debut at Marquette.

To deal with such a sudden loss is difficult, but to have to step back onto a soccer field two days later? Fleck said his players may never lean on each other the way they did Sunday.

"The amount of love we have on this team, I can't describe it," he said.

Erin played Sunday, believing it's what her father would have wanted, and the team embraced Dafeldecker's 12-year-old son, Colin, who watched from the sideline as an honorary assistant coach.

After the 1-0 victory, the team presented a game ball to Cheryl, Erin and Colin, a close group of friends coming closer for a hug and a prayer.

The players will again balance their sport and their grief this weekend, and the family has scheduled services so the team can be present. After playing Friday at Providence, they'll attend a viewing Saturday. After a home match with Connecticut on Sunday, they'll attend Dafeldecker's funeral Monday.

"Cheryl knew that soccer was a great part of their lives," Fleck said. "For Mark, it was never just about soccer. It was about people."

NEWEST BULL: Reggie Jefferson enjoyed his first season as a hitting coach for the Florida Marlins' top farm team in Albuquerque, N.M., this year, but not enough to spend so much of another year away from his wife, Kay, and their four children.

"I traveled so much as a player for 15 years, and that lifestyle wasn't something I wanted to continue," said USF's new hitting coach, who carried a .300 average in nine major-league seasons, most with the Boston Red Sox.

Jefferson's favorite baseball memory is a three-run walkoff home run he hit to lift the Red Sox past the Texas Rangers on Father's Day 1996.

"Fenway was crazy that day," said Jefferson, who turns 37 on Sunday.

Jefferson has held a few workouts with the Bulls and is eager to start recruiting, recalling how he signed with Florida State out of Tallahassee's Lincoln High before being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the third round in 1986.

"That's the lifeline of any good program," Jefferson said.

PROMISING START: Men's soccer has hit the Big East running, with two big wins against ranked opponents in Seton Hall and Georgetown last weekend.

Freshman Jordan Seabrook is second in the conference with five goals, and if the Bulls win at West Virginia (4-3) on Friday, they have an easier challenge at Pittsburgh (1-4-1) on Sunday. How tough is playing on the road in the Big East? Connecticut, ranked No. 1 in one poll, lost at Louisville and Cincinnati, both unranked.

THIS AND THAT: Former Bulls basketball star Terrence Leather, the team's leading scorer and rebounder for the past two seasons, has signed to play professionally in Germany with the Giessen 46ers of the Basketball Bundesliga. ... USF set a Nov. 17 deadline for proposals for outside companies to take over management of the university's golf course, the Claw at USF. The Bulls could continue running the course, but a new company could be in place by February, potentially closing the course temporarily for upgrades.

Greg Auman covers USF athletics. He can be reached at auman@sptimes.com Check out his "USF Bulletin" blog online at sptimes.com/blogs/usf.

[Last modified September 21, 2005, 00:24:18]