The late-afternoon sun pours over the thick green grass of the soccer practice field. Pulsating in the minds of all within earshot is “Hail to the Victors,” the Michigan fight song, blasting over the speakers at nearby Huskie Stadium.

Positioned in the middle of the field is the new NIU women’s soccer head coach, Marci Miller.

Her blonde hair is pinned up into a ponytail; she wears black cleats, and has the agile step of a soccer player. Her appearance and active participation in practice imply that she has been there, done that, and can still do it.

Miller looks the part of a traffic cop. She sends passes for players to shoot, claps her hands in approval, and directs the tempo of practice. Her voice battles the massive decibel level that engulfs her team.

There is a constant energy at the practice. The players look comfortable learning the various nuances Miller is teaching, and run exuberantly from station to station.

As the old adage goes, a team is a reflection of its coach. NIU happens to have a coach with a list of injuries that would make any hospital accountant drool.

“I’ve broken every bone in my face,” Miller conveys with a slight grin.

“My first year in the WUSA, I took a knee to the face from a bigger player, she shattered my chin, I had a compound-fracture, cracked my jaw in two places, and had it wired shut for two months.”

The serious injury required numerous follow-up surgeries, but didn’t keep Miller off the field for long. She continued to train, forced to find nourishment in protein shakes that she ‘ate’ through a straw. She made it back for the last few games, but the injuries returned.

“I came back, played in three or four games,” Miller said, “and just tore everything up in my knee.”

Miller’s long soccer odyssey began as the youngest of seven soccer-playing siblings. She attained All-State honors all four years at St. Charles High School, yet her demeanor is best described as humble.

“I made a lot of mistakes as a player,” Miller said. “I never saw myself as a great player, but as a player who needed to get better.”

Miller has a collegiate soccer resumé loaded with winning seasons and All-Conference accolades. She earned First-Team All-Big Ten performer at the University of Wisconsin and First-Team All-WAC at Southern Methodist University. Her frequent-flyer miles accumulated in 1999, as Miller traveled to Germany to play professionally.

Miller returned to the States after the season, and began a four-year stint with the Atlanta Beat of the WUSA women’s professional soccer league. The league had only 8 teams, and was loaded with top-shelf talent.

“Sun Yuen was the best player in the world: the Michael Jordan of soccer,” Miller said of her WUSA colleague, “I looked up to her as a kid.”

Miller was a coach for Atlanta U club soccer until this summer when NIU Athletic Director Jim Phillips called.

“Jim believes in what NIU soccer can be,” Miller said. “His enthusiasm and passion is contagious, his attitude convinced me this was a place I wanted to be.”

She played for the United States National Team shortly after taking the job at NIU, and broke her nose in action.

“It’s my first week on the job,” Miller remembered. “My nose is broke, I need surgery, and I am calling recruits.”

As she gave her team a water break, nose completely healed, Phillips stopped by to deliver a special message. The team caught its breath and attentively listened to the energetic AD.

“I’m proud of you,” Phillips told the team.

He talked about soccer for a few minutes, and then walked toward Miller who was steadying balls along the sideline. Silhouetted by Huskie Stadium, in the dwindling daylight, Miller and the AD conversed for a few seconds. He gave her a pat on the shoulder, a sign of a job well done and departed.

The simulated racket still engulfed practice, “All right ladies, let’s go,” Miller said, and the band played on.