Since 1992, the Cal Poly women’s soccer team and the community have known one coach— Alex Crozier— who recently coached his final game on the Mustang Memorial Field.
“Again, it still hasn't hit me yet. It will at some point, I think,” Crozier said.
At the conclusion of the Mustangs final home game of the season on Sunday against UC Davis, the team walked Mustang Memorial Field for the final time this season. For head coach Alex Crozier, it was his last game after 33 years at the helm of the program.
Former player Cathie Conner, was on the inaugural Division 1 Team in 1992 when Crozier took over, told KSBY that she was "super emotional, but super special and so thankful and grateful to be part of it all.”
A video played with countless players ranging decades, all there to show Coach Crozier how much they meant to him in their time as a Mustang.
“It kind of dawned on me that, I guess at some level, I've affected a lot of people's lives and hopefully, for the most part, in a good way," Crozier said.
Conner said that the coach was excellent at "creating that culture where we were a family together, but really teaching us to appreciate the opportunities that we had.”
That opportunity would later present itself to Conner’s daughter, Aynsley, who also took her final steps at Spanos Stadium as a member of the soccer team on Sunday— making it a full-circle moment.
“This is something we'll keep with us for the rest of our lives. I don't think many people can say that they've had this journey and that they have some sort of connection like this that my mom and I have,” Aynsley said.
“I was able to be his first captain and it's really cool that my daughter was [his] last captain. It's a good feeling," Conner said.
Despite the numbers he boasts, like the 10 regular season Conference Championships, six NCAA tournament appearances, and three Big West Tournament titles he’s earned over his career, what Cozier says he will miss most is cultivating the relationships he made with the people that came through his program.
“It's true with sports and soccer especially [that] if it's about anything, it's about relationships. And so the people I've met, being able to work with, work alongside, those are the things that I will miss the most," Crozier said.
The coach is leaving those in the program from the past, present, and future with one last reminder.
“Be your best self," he said. "You don't need to compete with others. Just be with yourself.”
For more than three decades, Crozier has been able to do what he loves. He cites his wife, Judy King, as the main factor for being able to do it for so many years.
Now, with his kids all graduated from college, it is unknown what his next adventure will be but he does plan to travel more and enjoy the view from the stands.
