Former Notre Dame great Monica Gonzalez captained Mexico to an historic appearance in the 2004 Olympic Games.

Monica Gonzalez Reflects On Olympic Experience

Sept. 23, 2004

Two former Notre Dame women’s soccer players – Kate Sobrero Markgraf and Shannon Boxx – helped the U.S. win the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games but one of their former teammates also had a memorable experience in Athens, as Monica Gonzalez served as the captain for the Mexican national team that made its historic appearance at the Olympic Games. Gonzalez turned in the rare All-America/Academic All-America double during her career with the Irish and was a founding member of the Mexican women’s national team in 1998, when the team was comprised mostly of U.S.-born players with Mexican ancestry.

Gonzalez – who has returned to her alma mater each of the past three springs for scrimmages between Mexico and Notre Dame – was matched up against another of her former teammates during Olympic qualifying, as Mexico upset Canada in a 2-1 battle. The loss prevented current Notre Dame standout Melisa Tancredi from reaching her own Olympic dream. Interestingly, both Gonzalez and Tancredi began their college careers as forwards, became All-Americans as defenders, and returned for a fifth year with the Irish after suffering ACL knee injuries earlier in their careers.

There were 36 players in the 2004 Olympic women’s soccer competition who are former or current U.S. college players, with Notre Dame (3) and North Carolina (5) being the only programs with more than two alums/current players among the 12 competing teams (Santa Clara, Florida, UConn and Cal State Fullerton were the only programs with two representatives).

A few weeks after returning to the U.S. from Athens, the ever-outgoing player known to her teammates as “Gonzo” took the time to share her throughts on the Olympic experience:

“Well, I got back from Greece a few weeks ago and my body crashed on me. It was a struggle to leave the couch. The past six months have been like an extended college preaseason. Luckily, our coach moved us around a lot and gave us many short breaks so that we wouldn’t get “cabin fever”.

“Our regular training mostly takes place in Mexico at Conade, which is a gated dormitory with cafeteria and gymnasium. We then bus to Pegaso, our training complex that includes three full-size fields, two half-fields, another gymnasium and some locker rooms. The fields are very nice and the Mexican men’s team trains there as well as some pro teams. Every now and then, Atlante (a pro team based in Mexico City) will throw a barbeque for us after training, which is nice of them.

“It is hard to say whether our trip to Greece was a success or failure, so I try to look at it as neither. We were pleased to tie China and come out of “The Group of Death” in second place. We were just plain disappointed by our performance against Brazil. We were blind-sided by their strength, speed and movement off the ball. We never knew what hit us. That Brazil team is hands down the best team that I have ever played against and I think you all saw that in the great game they gave the U.S. in the gold-medal game.

“The Olympic Village is a special, special place. It was very spread out, easily the size of Notre Dame’s campus (including athletics area). They had residential centers (which I kept calling the “student union center”) which had computer labs, pool tables, ping-pong and two rooms worth of Play Station arcades. It was fun, but, unfortunately, I had no down time to go play until the last night before coming home. You bet I went straight to the Play Stations and found myself two Egyptian boys to play Fifa Soccer against!

“I also got into pin trading. My goal was to get pins from the most random countries. I got one from Madagascar, the island of Tonga, Fiji, and Malta (reminds me of Brad Pitt in Troy).

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Monica Gonzalez is part of an elite group of 44 all-time Notre Dame student-athletes who have combined All-America and Academic All-America honors in the same season.

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“Anyway, support for our team has definitely picked up over the past few months. Besides fighting to become an internationally-respected team, we also have been struggling just to gain respect within our country. Our Federation still finds it unnecessary to sign us to contracts and there is little to no corporate sponsorships.

“This is where my Notre Dame business degree kicks in!!! I plan on spending the next few months taking advantage of our “positive press” from Greece (our country was very disappointed in our men and very pleased with us) in order to improve my team’s financial status.

“An important lesson I’ve learned is that life is a process. Patience is a virtue that goes hand-in-hand with hard work. For me, my Olympic experience was never about winning, it was about growing on a day-to-day basis.

“Since I’ve been back, all my friends ask me if it was so amazing and I tell them that amazing is not the word to I would choose to describe my Olympic experience. I would say it was challenging … it truly was.

“I was physically exhausted for five months straight. I was mentally and emotionally challenged to the capacity and beyond. But the thing about playing a team sport is that you’ve got to keep on truckin’. You have teammates to help lift you up when you are down – but you have to be humble enough to ask for help.

“I am sure that as more time goes by, I will appreciate more and more the wonderful experience I was blessed to have. I do feel that I have come home a different person. In many ways, my soccer career has just begun. I look forward to the challenges of the process to come.

“I hope to see many of you over the next few months and, as always, Go Irish!”

Monica “Gonzo” Gonzalez