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Show WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 Sports WWW.WSUSIGNP0ST.COM Soccer begins Big Sky play 1-1 By Nick Wood sports editor I The Signpost The Weber State University soccer team split a pair of away games last weekend to open its Big Sky Conference play. The Wildcats fought a defensive battle against Eastern Washington University on Friday afternoon and left Cheney, Wash., with a win under their belts. WSU defeated the Eagles due to a late second- half goal in the 79th minute from forward Mackenzie Hanison, a freshman from Kaysville, Utah, to put the Wildcats up 1-0. Hanison's goal came from an assist from WSU midfielder Chansi Crompton, a freshman from Plain City, Utah. Crompton leads the 'Cats with four assists on the season. The goal Hanison scored gave her a team- See Soccer page 7 SOURCE: WEBERSTATESPORTS.COM Weber State University's Ari Aki traps the ball in the game last week. The Wildcats split a weekend on the road, beating Eastern Washington University 1-0 and falling to the University of Montana 0-1. The Wildcats will play at home on Friday against Northern Arizona University. Nathan's Notations The development of soccer culture in Utah, Part 1 One of the first things that I loved about soccer when I started watching the English Premier League over 10 years ago was the fans. I've written in the past about my love for the sport, how I've been a fan of Tottenham Hotspur since I was 13 and how I recently got into Real Salt Lake. One of the first things that peaked my interest in being an RSL fan was the "Believe" video that took off on YouTube last year. Since becoming a fan, I have enjoyed seeing how fans have developed a culture that's different from most sports in America. When I started watching soccer, I loved hearing fans sing, chant and show their passion. It was something so refreshing to me after only having seen the bottled, prepackaged, cheer-when-the-Jum- botron-tells-you culture of American sports fans. I've spent countless hours on YouTube watching videos of fans, listening to their chants and songs, wishing I was there. While in other countries the culture of fans has been established for decades, here in the USA, where soccer is just coming into the big picture, fan culture is still developing. lake Simons, a Utah native who has been attending RSL games since 2006, said he has seen the growth of fans in Utah and the development of the fan base. "We're develop ing chants," Simons said. "We're developing songs. Different things are going on in different sections. People are making flags. This Nathan Davis • 7"/7e Signpost columnist Saturday we're organizing a streamer toss and scarves up (where fans are encouraged to hold their team scarf above their head at the start of the match)." Simons said he has seen the culture of fans develop since he first started attending matches. Back then, he said, games were held at Rice-Eccles Stadium, and a lot of gimmicky things were pushed on the fan base. He also said Rice-Eccles was too big for the amount of fans RSL was attracting at the time. Since RSL has moved to Rio Tinto Stadium, Simons said he has seen the fan base grow and come into its own. "Now that we have our own place and the supporter groups are starting to develop a little bit more," Simons said, "it's becoming more our own." One major step that has helped the atmosphere at Rio Tinto this year was the creation of the "Believe" chant by Branden Steineckert. Steineckert, a native of Utah and former drummer for The Used, created a short chant for fans during the offseason. When the video debuted online, it spread fast. Simons said having a song or chant that fans could call their own was something supporter groups have wanted for a long time, but didn't know how to go about accomplishing it themselves. See Notations page 7 Tennis hosts home tournament By Nathan Davis asst. sports editor I The Signpost The Weber State University men's tennis team finished off the WSU Fall Invitational on Saturday, placing six players in the top three across the four brackets. "I thought this was a fantastic tournament for us," said WSU Head Coach Brad Ferreira. "We were very competitive across all four draws, and we saw some great play out of a couple of freshmen. I'm very pleased with the effort of all of our guys, and this is a great way to open up the fall season." The fall season is a short season before winter to prepare the team for the conference season in the spring. Three schools took part in the tournament held at WSU over the weekend. Idaho State University and Utah State University competed against the Wildcats. The Wildcats' doubles team of freshmen Todd Fought and Sanjay Gos- wani kicked off the day with a 9-7 win over ISU's Charles Norman and Nate Gross in the championship match of the "A" doubles bracket. Ryan Garner, a senior from Kaysville, Utah, then earned the second of two Wildcat wins as he won two matches to close out the "B" singles bracket. Garner defeated ISU's Andres Coello in a three-set semifinal (4-6, 6-3, 7-6), then won the bracket with a 7-5, 6-1 win over ISU's Austin Miller. Fought advanced to the "A" singles title match by defeating Norman of ISU 6-4, 6-2, but he eventually fell after battling Utah State University's Sven Poslusny, finishing as runner-up after a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 three-set loss. Oliver Good was upended in the semis by Poslusny, but came back to capture third place in the bracket by defeating Norman in an 8-3 pro-set match. Ben Rode, who lost to the Bengals' Miller in the "B" semis, also came back to take third place. He defeated Coello in a See Tennis page 7 Player profile: Chansi Crompton By Emily Freshman correspondent I The Signpost Chansi Crompton, a starting freshman for the Weber State University women's soccer team, has been playing soccer since she was 5 years old. Since then, her father, Tim, has been her coach, and he is now her coach for her college career. Crompton said she has enjoyed playing for her dad throughout her career and is glad she gets the opportunity to play for him in college. "I really like my dad as a coach," she said. "I couldn't imagine it any other way." Crompton, who went to Freemont High School, has played for competitive league teams like Advantage and La Roca. While playing for La Roca, Crompton and her team took five state titles and went to regionals and then nationals. During the time spent at nationals, Crompton had a strong performance for La Roca and was voted into the best 11 of the tournament. Her father coached her at La Roca. The only time Crompton didn't play for her father was during her high-school career at Fremont. She < 2 played center midfield and forward for the Silver Wolves. While at Fremont, Crompton had a successful career. She made First-Team All-State and First-Team All- Region during high school. Crompton said it was a change , for her ^ to play J^ for someone other than her dad. "It was a lot different from having my dad as a coach, for sure, but was a good experience," she said. Crompton said she chose to come to WSU because many of her former teammates from La Roca chose to, and she wanted to play with them. She said she also wanted her fa ther to continue coaching her. "I like that my dad is really close to everything," she said. "I can just go hang out with him." Different schools tried recruiting See Profile page 7 PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TYLER BROWN | THE SIGNPOST Crompton (right) has been playing soccer for her father, Head Coach Tim Crompton, since she was 5 years old. & ' |