UW Athletic Hall of Fame: Mark LaPorte

BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider

MADISON, Wis. — When Mark LaPorte was first introduced to soccer, it was the equivalent of love at first sight.

“We had some neighbors whose father was an Italian immigrant,” he explained. “They were part of this new Milwaukee Kickers soccer club. They said, ‘You should play soccer.’

“So, there I was at 9 years old and soccer kind of bit me. I was reasonably good, but I loved playing it. So, soccer, at a very young age, became my focus.”

Almost immediately, that focus became one-dimensional.

“There was a kid who was a goaltender that moved away, so that was the only position that was open,” LaPorte said. “They usually put the new kid in the goal.

“At 9 years old and the new kid on the team, I was happy to do whatever the coach wanted me to. It didn’t matter to me.”

Since then, LaPorte has always been the goalkeeper and his resume has always been impressive. His time as a standout player on the Wisconsin men’s soccer team helps define that reality.

LaPorte was arguably the first great performer for the Badgers. He starred from 1979 to ’82, which meant his career predated the inclusion of soccer in Big Ten Conference as well as scholarships and, in the case of UW, funding of any reasonable sort.

“We became a very good team when Mark was here,” said Jim Launder, a Wisconsin Soccer Hall of Famer who was an assistant coach at the time. “He was literally the first person I recruited when I was here.”

LaPorte said Launder, who spent 15 seasons as UW coach and led the Badgers to the NCAA title in 1995, was his first coach growing up.

“His specialty was goaltender training and he was my youth coach and really helped me,” LaPorte said. “When I was 17, Jim was hired by Bill Reddan to be the associate coach at Wisconsin.

“One year later, Jim recruits me to come to Madison. We actually had three incoming goalkeepers in the fall of 1979. I was fortunate to be the No. 1 from my freshman year on.”

In addition to starting all four seasons, LaPorte was a three-time Most Valuable Player, a two-time all-Mideast first-team pick and team…