For Caprice Dydasco, soccer is truly the family sport
As children, we typically take up the hobbies or passions of our parents. For Sky Blue FC‘s Caprice Dydasco, she definitely inherited her parents’ love for the beautiful game. To say that Caprice grew up in a soccer household would be an understatement.
“Yes, my whole family played soccer. My mom and dad both played soccer in high school and college and that’s how they actually met,” Caprice told BGN. “My brother (Zane) played soccer throughout college and my younger sister (True) is currently playing at University of Oregon.”
“I have so many great memories playing soccer with my family like playing 1-v-1s in our house using the couches as our goals until we broke something, then we would go outside to our background which always ended up terribly because we were super competitive and fought. As a family, we spent most of our weekends at the soccer fields between all 5 of our games, and the kids usually had two games each day.”
The soccer-playing Dydasco family represents their native Hawaii well on the pitch. “One of the biggest misconceptions I hear about Hawaii soccer players is that we are too small to compete at the highest level and that we are too “chill” of players,” Cap explained. “I have many great memories growing up in Hawaii but a few that stick out to me is spending the whole weekend at Waipio Soccer complex with my family, having easy access to the ocean all around me, having perfect weather all the time, living close to both my grandparents and cousins and the hospitality that was so contagious.”
She would leave the Aloha State to join the UCLA Bruins. In 2013, Dydasco was a big part of the team that won the national championship, playing in 26 matches (25 starts) and registering six assists and two goals. “My junior year at UCLA when we won UCLA’s first women’s soccer national title was a year to remember,” she explained. “From spring season my sophomore year, we knew the upcoming season would be something special. Besides having a very talented roster, we were successful as a team because our camaraderie was like no other, every player was bought into #110 (if we won, it would be UCLA’s 110th championship), and everyone knew their role throughout the whole season.
Caprice isn’t the only NWSL star that was on that year’s UCLA roster. “Playing with big-time players like Sam Mewis and Abby Dahlkemper was, of course, so much fun. We were all best friends so looking back we were very fortunate to live with each other, train every day, and win a lot of games together. We definitely miss those days,” she reflected.
Dydasco went on to be the 19th selection in the 2015 NWSL College Draft and became a member of the Washington Spirit defense. She tallied two assists in 14 appearances during her rookie season with the Spirit. In 2019, she was traded to Sky Blue FC. She started 23 matches in her first season with the club, racking up 14 key passes, 42 clearances, and a 70% tackle success rate. Unfortunately, Sky Blue FC finished eighth out of nine teams on the NWSL table. But, Caprice is confident about the future of her club. “The club made many great changes going into this season. The first big change that gave me confidence (that) the club (is) moving into the right direction was making Red Bull Arena our home field,” she said. “Having a quality pitch to play on for the players and a cool atmosphere for the fans makes the whole experience more enjoyable and professional. I know our owners and GM have worked tirelessly to make this happen and we are forever grateful that they see we deserve that.”
“Another change that gives me confidence the club is moving in the right direction is having a competitive roster. Our club always had top-class players, but we never had the depth like we have today. This will make trainings more competitive which will give us the confidence we need on game days to compete against the best.”
Like all of the other NWSL players, Dydasco’s been waiting patiently for soccer to return. In her time off the pitch, the 26-year-old defender’s spent more time in the house creating tasty treats and meals. “It’s really funny because before this pandemic I barely cooked or baked for myself. Now that we have more time than usual, I have time to plan and prepare my meals and bake desserts to share with my roommates,” Cap said. “I would say I like to bake more than I like to cook because I have a huge sweet tooth. I need to have dessert every night. I know it’s a terrible habit. Sorry. The three recipes my roommates ask me to make on repeat are my chocolate chip blondies, banana bread, and my Twix bars. We are still training every day so there is not much time for other hobbies besides eating, cooking, sleeping, and binge-watching shows with my roomies.”
Soon, another hobby will be back on her and her teammates’ schedules as the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup kicks off later this month. Instead of delicious desserts, Dydasco will be serving up speed and skill from the Sky Blue FC backline as they face OL Reign in their opening match on June 30th, live on CBS All-Access.
