Along with the 23 women who captured the hearts of people all over the U.S. by beating Japan 5-2 in the World Cup final Sunday night was MU student Ryan Dell.
The senior landed the position of assistant equipment manager for the U.S. Women’s National Team in January of this year after spending his collegiate career managing the Mizzou soccer squad. Dell spent the whole tournament with the team in Canada, where his duties included setting up drills and readying the fields for practices.
“There’s no feeling that can adequately describe what it’s like to win a World Cup,” Dell said. “When all of your work, all of your dreams, everything you’ve done comes together to win what is the ultimate goal for soccer. Everything kind of went on hold. It didn’t matter about all the work that we still had to do. We were just going to celebrate.”
The 22-year-old has always had an interest in soccer, playing since he was a preschooler and continuing through high school. As soon as he got on campus his freshman year, he did his best to get involved with the sport, finding a manager position on Mizzou coach Bryan Blitz’s team.
“He came into the program a very shy high school kid and grew into a great young man,” Blitz said. “He was more concerned about helping them be successful than about his own success.”
The summer after his freshman year, Dell interned with Real Salt Lake, a professional soccer club in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was there he met Tim Ryder, General Manager for the U.S. Soccer Federation, and a year later, he landed a spot as an equipment manager for a youth camp in Florida.
“There’s a lot more hype around the World Cup,” Dell said. “There’s always a lot more visibility, just with fans and all that travelling up here. It’s such a big event and the world is always watching. You try to minimize it because at the end of the day, it’s just a soccer game. It’s just like any other game we play as a team. Everyday is just another training session. You try to get into that kind of mindset. It’s the same, but at the same time it’s different. It’s special.”
Being able to be there for the USWNT game against New Zealand in Busch Stadium is a memory that stands out most to Dell, a St. Louis native and Cardinals fan. With friends and family, along with the Mizzou soccer team, in the stands, Dell said the largest USWNT game on U.S. soil was “just a really special moment.”
Blitz has worked with Dell the past four years and has seen him grow into the person he is today.
“He’s successful because he puts everybody he works with first,” he said. “He wants to help them succeed. That’s his best quality “
Graduating this December, Dell plans on returning to the Tigers for a fifth season. He said he learned to be proactive when it came to his goals, which is what helped him get to where he is today.
“Opportunities come up everywhere,” Dell said. “Especially when you least expect it. I think people should go out and chase what they want. I hope people are proactive. Things don’t just come to you. Things don’t just land on your lap. You have to work for them.”