A new documentary is telling the story of how women’s soccer started and grew at Quincy University. The film, “Chasing Legacy, Women’s Soccer at QU” shows how a group of female athletes worked hard to create a team when there was not one before.

The documentary begins in the late 1970s, when women at QU could only play intramural soccer. The games were not very competitive, with some wins being by huge scores like 16–0 or 20–0.

Linda Moore, PhD., now the Mayor of Quincy and a former player, explains that they wanted more of a challenge and something more serious.

At the same time, the men’s soccer team at QU was very successful, even winning national championships. This inspired the women to push for their own team. In 1979, they started as a small club team and played just four games, including two in the snow. From there, the program slowly grew into what it is today.

“We also followed the men’s program closely, and they were national champions all four years that I was here. Because of that, a group of us came together and decided we wanted the same opportunity, and they had a successful program, and we wanted a women’s soccer team too,” Moore said.

“Julie White, now Julie Regner, was a great striker. she grew up playing with the boys and had a brother who played for McMurray and was an All-American, so athletic talent definitely ran in her family,” Moore said.

The documentary also shares stories like Regner’s, who didn’t have the chance to play on girls’ teams when she was younger. She actually started playing on a boys’ team at just nine years old. Her experience shows how different things were for women in sports back then and how much they had to fight for opportunities.

“I started playing soccer when I was young, at a time when there were no girls’ teams available. Coach Mackenzie noticed me standing on the sideline when I was nine years old while the boys were playing and asked if I wanted to join, and I said yes immediately,  it was like Christmas morning. He allowed me to play on the boys’ team, and later I played girls sports in high school,” Regner said.

By combining interviews, past stories, and clips from today’s team, QU women’s soccer legacy shows how the past and present are connected. It highlights how current players are continuing the legacy that those first athletes started.

“I did not get the chance to play college women’s soccer until I came to Quincy University. Eventually, a group of players met with Dr. Postiglione and asked them to please start a women’s soccer team, which became an important step in building the program,” Regner said.

The goal of the documentary is to bring more attention to women’s sports at QU and show how far the program has come. It also hopes to inspire future athletes to keep pushing for equal opportunities.

A current player of the women’s soccer team at QU, Daniella Segall, who plays midfielder and attacking midfielder explains why it is important to carry on the hard work the woman before them put in to create equality for the women in soccer.

“Them trying to play a male-dominated sport back in that time when it was seen as wrong and not okay is another reason for us to just keep going because if they were able to defy these odds, you know, push through those kind of barriers and those gender stereotypes, what is stopping us from doing that now,” Segall said.

You can watch the documentary “Chasing Legacy, Women’s Soccer at QU” here.