Berkeley’s Heaberlin lauded for sportsmanship after Haiti game

Posted Mar 12, 2010 by Nick Murray

Updated Mar 12, 2010 at 04:15 PM

The United States Women’s Under-17 team easily defeated Haiti 9-0 on Wednesday in its opening game of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament, but a moment after the game led by Berkeley Prep goalkeeper Bryane Heaberlin has become the central focus of the game.

At the conclusion of the contest, Haitian goalkeeper Alexandra Coby fell to the ground in tears after the heavy defeat, no doubt in part due to the tragic occurences in her home country over the past months. While her coach helped her off the ground, Coby saw her opposite number, Heaberlin, walking towards her, and the two shared a long hug. So long, in fact, that all of the other U.S. players joined in, surrounding Heaberlin and Coby in a group hug that lasted over 90 seconds.

After the hug broke up, the entire U.S. team left the field in tears themselves.

“I saw her crying and that was pretty hard for me to see,” Heaberlin told USSoccer.com after the game. “She’s a ‘keeper and we have that bond. I knew that she had probably lost people close to her, and when she goes home she might not have anywhere to go. I gave her a big hug and told her she did great. She came to compete in this tournament despite all that she’s been through and I have tremendous respect for her.”

For more, including a link to the American Red Cross website to donate to the Haitian relief fund, click here.

Berkeley coach Ken Roberts said the actions were typical of Heaberlin.

“She’s more than just the athlete,” Roberts said. “She a kid we’ve known for two years, and she’s a special kid.

“She would never even have thought about getting some attention. To see that it got the attention makes me think that with everything going on with Haiti, I think sometimes in the State we don’t realize what impact the game has and I think that game itself, just getting a national team of any level from Haiti back on the field probably meant a lot all over the world, not just for the Haitians, and I think Bryane and her team, they were very much aware of the meaning of that game, moreso than just the U.S. playing Haiti.”

The story has also been picked up at numerous sources around the web, with Yahoo! featuring the story from its soccer blog on the front page of its website, and other outlets like the Washington Post and England’s Guardian also picking up the story.