Collectively, they have 11 children under the age of 5. On average, they are nearly twice as old as their opponents. And in any given game, their legs might find it hard to run the length of the field. And yet, when the pressure is on, the 18 members of the staff-faculty intramural soccer team know how to win. Entering the playoffs this season with a 3-0 record, their united strategy (“get out in front and stay in front!”) seems to be working some wonders against their more youthful opponents.

Fashioned about five years ago by an admissions employee at neighboring Harvey Mudd, the staff-faculty soccer team is a loose collection of employees from The Claremont Colleges, and is likely the only such team that participates in intramurals, says goalkeeper and CMC Dean of Students Jeff Huang, who's been managing the team for three years. “Some of us played soccer in college, and others just enjoy playing,” Huang says. “It’s a lot of fun to get out and play soccer with the students. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard students from the sidelines yell to one of their friends in jest, ‘Don’t hack that professor or you’ll fail their class!’”

Continued advances into playoff action dispel any notions that this team is just a gaggle of legends-in-their-own-minds. What the team may lack in youth, it gains in knowledge. While the veteran players in their mid-30s can connect “terrific passes and make great plays, the younger players can make faster sprints, and thus make more sprints in the course of a game,” Huang says of the team’s field approach.

CMS head women’s soccer coach Jennifer Morgan joined the team this year “to have a little fun and to see some of the faculty and students in a different environment.” Managing a 9-month-old baby on the sidelines makes it difficult to attend all of the games, “but when I can find someone to babysit, I play,” she said. “It’s a great way to release lots of energy.”

Carrie Chorba-Fross, CMC assistant professor of Spanish, says she joined the team because it’s “hard to find co-ed leagues that aren’t too competitive or hostile.” Plus, she says, "Who can resist the challenge of being part of the faculty-staff-geezer team, facing the threat of players half our ages? We like interacting with our students, and sports is a really fun way to do that.

“I’m just surprised there aren’t more intramural opportunities for faculty and staff,” Chorba-Fross said. “I just love the fact that the students are so relaxed in their element. As nice as it is to see them at the Athenaeum---the other place I usually see students outside of class---it’s a bit more formal and requires conversation. On a sports field, there is joking, and tempers flare. Plus, the students get to see us in a real-life setting. Our own kids are on the sidelines playing or crying. Our hamstrings and lungs are giving out. And, well, it may not be glamorous, but it’s a good example of how life doesn’t end after college.”

Final score? The staff-faculty team lost in the semifinals to Berger Hall by a score of 3-0, says Huang. (Berger ended up winning the championship in penalty kicks over Phillips Hall.)

The staff-faculty team ended its season with a 4-1 record, and serious parting words from Huang: “We'll be back next year, older and meaner!”

An average season for the faculty-staff intramural soccer team (wearing red jerseys) is 3-6 games, "depending on field availability," says Jeff Huang, CMC dean of students/goalkeeper.

Not all present, but certainly accounted for. Faculty-staff intramural soccer players who showed up for a recent pick-up game inlcuded, from left: Mike Gaumer, (parent, The Children's School); Tom Donnelly, (HMC physics); Tridi Kidambi '02, Robert Day 4+1 Program CMC/Drucker MBA); Tim McPheron, (CMC development); Jeff Huang, (CMC dean of students); Brad Fross, (faculty spouse); Ben Fay, (HMC lighting contractor); Nate Hearn, (CMC development); and Jim Groome, (HMC biology).

"We might not have the athleticism to run as long as our 20-year-old opponents, but some of our players have terrific skills," Huang says.