Lorrie & Ronnie Fair Star on Both Coasts

by: Larz Sherer (from www.collegesoccer.com)

As identical twin sisters, it is easy to figure that Lorrie & Ronnie Fair have a lot in common. They share an enthusiastic love for the game of soccer and a genuine love of life.

On the soccer field however, the two Fairs have taken diverging paths. As heavily recruited prep stars out of Los Altos (Calif.) High School and the Sunnyvale Roadrunners club, the opportunity was there for both of them to attend the same college. The closest the two came to continuing on together was an offer to attend Duke.

It didn�t work out that way. Lorrie decided on North Carolina while Ronnie chose to stay in northern California at Stanford. a brief stint together on the U.S. National Team during the 1997 Victory Tour made history as the only sisters to play together at the same time for the United States.

They also played together with the U.S. Under-20 national Team in 1996. Lorrie seems a shoe-in to make this year�s U.S. National Team. Ronnie, though still a member of the U.S. U-20s, is an outside contender to earn a roster spot for the U.S. squad.

To understand the Fair sisters, we must look back to their days as youths. As five year olds, their father Ben was their first coach. �He was a typical Dad coach,� Ronnie states. �He would read books and then try to run practices from what he read. He�s the reason we started playing. He got us into it and that�s a reason why I keep playing. I know that�s what he would have wanted because soccer makes me happy.�

Ben Fair coached his daughters until the two were in the sixth grade. He passed away in 1991 and through the Fair family emotionally, Ronnie and Lorrie continued their upward climb as elite athletes among their peers. The sisters were constantly playing in their neighborhood.

�It started on the garage door, and we had a field very close to our house,� says Lorrie. �We�d drag anyone we could find with us. There was also a tennis court near our house, and me and my sister an our best friends would go out until nine o�clock playing tennis soccer until our legs fell off. Then we�d bike home and find out our mom had been searching for us everywhere. By the time we got home, we�d be almost falling asleep.�

�I think those were the best times I�ve had with soccer. We had a great time. we were playing the sport we loved best and we didn�t have a worry in the world.�

At that time, soccer was a bit more important to Lorrie than it was to Ronnie.

� I always thought Lorrie was a more serious person,� may fair, the girls� mother, recalls. �when they were five years old, Ronnie was out there picking daisies while Lorrie was paying attention to the game.�

Adds Lorrie, �We�re very competitive. I love to compete with her athletically, always looking for the littlest edge. and Ronnie has such a creative mind. Not many people know it, but she is an awesome artist.�

As the two were progressing through the ranks of ODP, a turning point came.

"When they were in junior high school, Ronnie missed an opportunity to qualify for a team at nationals, but Lorrei was selected to go,� says May. � That was the turning point in there careers, I remember they went out on a walk and talked things out. Up to that point, Lorrie was totally focused on soccer while I thought Ronnie was paying more attention to social things. I don�t know what they said to each other, but I know that Lorrie wanted Ronnie to work harder. Not being selected for that team effected Ronnie because she almost quit the game.�

Ronnie remembers the frustration of being injured and unable to progress at the rate of her sister. �when you�re injured, you�re stuck. I was watching everyone else but me get their game up. I was disappointed being injured in junior high school and then in high school I got injured again, it really hurt me because I missed more chances to gain more exposure at the higher levels.�

� I had a broken leg, a dislocated ankle and two surgeries. I knew that al of my friends would be getting scholarships to play somewhere. I decided to rehab and focus for my senior season in high school and show coaches that I could play. I was committed to fighting through the hard times.�

Thirty-two minutes older, Lorrie is the big sister. �I act that way, but it doesn�t mean she always listens to me,� laughs Lorrie. �I use every second of that 32 minutes to my advantage and never let her forget it.�

As Lorrie�s style of play caught the attention of every top college program in the nation, Ronnie hung in there and showed that she, too, was for real. Playing in Lorrie�s shadow never entered Ronnie�s mind. �We never saw it that way,� Ronnie assures us.

Ronnie proved herself by having a stellar senior campaign in high school, earning the adulation of the local media and gaining All-Conference status.

May recalls, �That was the first time Ronnie stood out on her own. For the first time I read a newspaper article where Ronnie was the star and Lorrie�s name wasn�t even mentioned. If she had recognized her potential a little earlier and not been injured so much, I think things would have been much different for Ronnie�s career.�

When University of North Carolina head coach Anson Dorrance visited the Fir household to recruit Lorrie, Ronnie wanted it known that she was happy for her sister and did not feel slighted. �I walked right up to him and shook his hand. I wasn�t about to mope in the corner,� Ronnie recalls.

Things worked out for her too. She earned a scholarship at Stanford. �Duke would have been nice because I would have been closer to Lorrie, but when I went on my recruiting visit to Stanford, it just clicked. I don�t regret that decision at all. I feel lucky to be where I�m at. Earning a scholarship to play soccer is something I�ve always wanted. I�d love to play with Lorrie on the national team in the World Cup, but if it doesn�t work out that way, I�m still blessed for being so close to someone who is on the team.�

May Fair sums it up well, �Ronnie makes her mark by herself without Lorrie but it would be wonderful to see both of them on the national team. I think a lot of people are rooting for Ronnie. On the national team�s Victory Tour (1997) at Spartan Stadium when Ronnie came into the game, the whole crowd cheered even more than when Mia Hamm scored. Everyone knew Ronnie was the underdog. People were rooting for the both of them and it was so nice to see. It was one of my proudest moments as a parent.�

Love and emotion are an integral part of the Fair family. The game of soccer brings them even closer.

�I never feel like a single parent,� says May. �Ben�s spirit is always there guiding our daughters. I always feel he is there. When they play well I want to look up to the sky to make sure he saw that he saw his daughter�s accomplishment.