The sun was shining onto Holloway Field at Pioneer High School on May 24, 2025, and the women’s AFC Ann Arbor was preparing for their game against Midwest United.
Katie Zucker, the team’s director of soccer operations, stands on the side of the field watching the team warm up. In an interview, Zucker was asked what her role entails. “It kind of is all encompassing. I do the logistics, the player personnel paperwork. I do a lot of just getting the players registered, getting them set with the league. I communicate with the league, but I also get to pick up the girls from the airport,” Zuker said, “When they come in, I get them set for housing. I do some of the grocery shopping for them. I do the laundry of all the kits after games, I’ve kind of become like a team mom to all 30 kids who are coming in and then on game days, I’m the person who kind of runs the entire sporting side of everything.”
When recruiting players, the coaches use many different techniques. For example, the head coach for the women’s team Victor Plasse goes to many of the in person games to scout talent, but as they get many international players it can be quite difficult to go in person to find new players for the team, so they try to watch as many tapes as they can as well as talking to coaches and networking via old players and word of mouth.
The AFC Ann Arbor soccer team has people come in from all around the world to play for the team. On the women’s team specifically, they have players coming in from South Africa, Finland, Australia, Canada, England, Italy, Venezuela, Colombia, Portugal and more.
“I think every year you can definitely see the growth and the progression of even just the roster building,” Zucker said, “This year, I think the team has gelled much quicker than in years past. And I think that’s something that we worked really hard to make sure happened quickly.” The team has 15 international players who live in housing. “There’s this disconnect between the kids who are in housing and the players who are living locally, because the ones in housing, they’re gonna bond quickly,” Zuker said, “The ones in housing don’t have that. So we try to do whatever we can to make sure they’re blending and meshing.”
The schedule for the team is regulated, and Zucker shared a little glimpse into the women’s weekly routine to prepare for games. Monday through Friday, they typically have practice from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. However, this changes if there’s a game during the week. They have a fair amount of downtime after the practice in the morning, but they try to fill that time with community events and doing things as a team.
“They go to school, helping out, meeting little kids, inspiring them and all that,” Zucker said.
On game days, their schedules look much different. They arrive at the field they are playing at about two hours before game time. Then they get settled and warm up together as a team and head off onto the field to start playing.
Players from the team have gone off to accomplish great things, such as playing professionally in Europe and even the National Women’s Soccer League. Some older players have also played for the women’s Man United team, but the players don’t always go into professional soccer.
“We also have people become lawyers, people become doctors, you know, it’s more than just soccer,” Zucker said, “It’s the path of them growing older and doing things with their lives. So we encourage it, no matter what it is.”
