Soccer in Cottage Grove had its beginning in spring of 1985. Ed O'Brien and his
children had been involved with soccer in Madison and sought to introduce the
sport to the community of Cottage Grove. His daughter Sheila began by offering
soccer practices to any interested third grader. They met at Meadow Grove Park
and began learning how to play soccer. Soon, Jean Gascho, seeing her son's
enthusiasm for the sport, set out to organize a soccer program in Cottage Grove.
She recruited parents as coaches, convinced the school district to provide space
for two fields at Cottage Grove School, brought in UW's Jim Lauder to do a
clinic, and ordered T-shirts for uniforms. The club started with five teams in
1985 and grew to 25 by 1995.
Eventually, additional fields were developed at Ravenwood, American Heritage,
Town Hall, Arrowood, and Taylor Prairie. Dave Walhovd was instrumental in
creating and marketing new fields. In the early years, each team found a sponsor
to help pay for their uniforms, but eventually the club decided on T-shirts for
the younger teams and a distinctive black and silver jersey for the older teams.
The first teams were all coeds, but soon the club began forming all-girl and
all-boy teams beginning at the U-10 level. In 1987, the first Cottage Grove
teams played at Badger State Games and traveled to Neenah, WI for a competitive
tournament. They were beat soundly, but later teams enjoyed much success at
various tournaments.
Jean Gascho ran the organization single-handedly, but she had much help from a
large number of community members. In 1993, Jean turned the reins over. Before
leaving, she helped develop a Constitution and By-laws for the Cottage Grove
Soccer Club. A Board of Director was appointed and Bruce Kramer became
president. He initiated the K-1 soccer program in cooperation with the Monona
Soccer Club. In 1997, Jim Hanson succeeded Bruce as president of the club, and
the organization has continued to grow.
The Cottage Grove Soccer Club was organized to promote youth soccer and to
encourage sportsmanship, teamwork, and the participation of all interested youth
in Cottage Grove. Many former club players have been successful playing at the
high school and college level. However, the real success of the organization
lies in the great many parents and youth who have enjoyed playing and watching
the great game of soccer.