Opportunities & Dreams: An Interview with Huracán Azul’s Madison Cox
This article is adapted from a podcast interview and edited for length and clarity.
At RBLR Sports, we usually cover the Tampa Bay Rowdies each week. However, during the offseason, we have a little more leeway to see what we can fit in. That led to us getting a Puerto Rican women’s national team player on for an interview! Madison Cox is a Tampa Bay native and has, in recent years, taken advantage of her heritage to play for the Huracan Azul, who are now one game against Haiti away from their first ever tournament. She sat down to talk with us about connecting with the team, their qualification process, and her memories from the different places it’s taken her.
Before she could represent Puerto Rico, Cox grew up playing in the local youth circuit in the Tampa Bay Area. She got involved with one of the larger youth clubs before, for her first year in college, going to the University of Tampa.
“Yeah. I grew up – born and raised in the Tampa Bay Area. I played at Tampa Bay United – formerly Hillsborough County United – my whole career. So, [I] actually played for your father (Jim Knowles). He was one of my coaches and then I went to University of Tampa because I was doing track and soccer for my first year, my freshman year. And then I transferred to Grand Canyon University and that was in Arizona. I just did soccer there – a little bit too much with the track and soccer at UT. So, up until then I wasn’t doing any of the national team.”
After a few years out of the sport in an organized fashion – though always playing – Cox found a connection to the national team that had reached out to her before she’d even graduated: “After college I was a little burnt out, so I decided to take some gap years. But, I found myself just back in Tampa playing soccer almost every night still. So after that little break for about a few years, the [University of South Florida] assistant coach actually became the Puerto Rican National team coach. So, I reached out to him as soon as he became the coach because they had recruited me a few times while I was in college. So, I reached out to him; I told him that I was of the nationality and he had me come out to a local practice – one of his older teams. And that was essentially my tryout and he brought me on – and my first game was in Uruguay.”
She knew Puerto Rico from prior trips there; but, this would be her first regular exposure, especially to the language: “I went there with my family a few times growing up because I had some family members there [on] my mom’s side. I can understand Spanish a lot better than I can speak it; but, I’m getting there for sure. My teammates will tell you that I’ve definitely improved from my first visit and they’re great. They all speak Spanish and English, too, [the] majority of them. So, it works out great.”
Based on Puerto Rico’s ranking as the eleventh best team on the women’s side in CONCACAF, they were drawn into a group alongside Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago. The top place finisher of the three would automatically get a spot in the first ever W Gold Cup. “Yeah, we played four qualification games and now we have one more qualification against Haiti in kind of their, like, wild card-ish bracket, you could say. Mexico was the winner of [our] group; but, we played Mexico twice, home and away, and we played Trinidad and Tobago twice, home and away. We started off strong: we went to Mexico in Estadio Azteca – and playing at the Azteca is incredible. It’s huge and that was great – and we actually were up 1-0 for 35 minutes, so that was a huge accomplishment for us.”
Despite coming up short, Cox still saw it as a benchmark of progress: “We ended up losing the game 2-1; but, when I first joined this team about three years ago, our first time we played the World Cup qualifiers, we were playing Mexico and we lost 6-0 to them. So, going from 6-0 to 2-1 at their home turf was a great accomplishment for us and it shows the improvement of our team.”
This also set them up for further success over the rest of the Group A campaign: “So, [we] played them and then we went to Trinidad Tobago and we won there. I believe it was 2-1 as well and then we came back to our home turf and we played Trinidad and Tobago again and Mexico – and that was in, I believe, it was October, November, and two games in December of 2023. So, it’s been a great qualification process. I’m so happy that CONCACAF has finally made this for the woman’s side. It’s been great to, like, get together and be so constant with the national team and it’s really, like, helped improve our federation.”
That regularity she mentioned extends beyond the calendar as determined by CONCACAF. There is newfound stability with regards to the federation as well. “When I first joined I think the federation was slowly making moves and we were gathering new people and searching for new talent, trying out new coaches. Yeah, Nat Gonzalez has been our coach now for about two years and it’s been nice to have a constant coach and constant, like, about the same core group of people – different people in and out with college and some pro teams and stuff like that. But yeah, just being able to practice together regularly with those games has been phenomenal for our team.”
The biggest test for this team lies just over the horizon, though. On February 17th in Carson, California, Puerto Rico will play in what is possibly the biggest game of their women’s program’s history. “We are definitely very excited. We’re so excited that we did scoot into this game and have the opportunity to be in the Gold Cup still. Haiti did make it to the World Cup and we know that they’re a strong force. We just think of that as, like, more game film on them to watch. Yeah, they’re strong, they’re fast, they’re a bigger squad. So, we know it’s going to be a physical battle. But, I think we do well under physical games. I think we have the correct players for that, so we’re really excited. A bunch of people are on break, as it’s winter break. Some in Europe aren’t. But, we’re all just getting ready with our collective teams, or collective trainers at our home bases right now. And we should meet one time before our game against Haiti and we’re excited. We’re ready.”
Regardless of the outcome in that match, playing for the Huracan Azul has provided Cox with opportunities most people can only dream about. “Yeah, Azteca for sure was one that was incredible. Just the Mexican fan base is amazing and they were so generous to us as well. That was one. My first debut in Uruguay in their home stadium, which has lots of heritage and history there. That was incredible. Another one: we went to El Salvador this past year and did an Olympic event for our Olympic Committee and it had – essentially it was like [an] Olympic Village. We had all the sports there. Yeah, it was amazing and we got to play – once again we played Mexico as well. We play them often. Yeah, that was an incredible experience. I’m just grateful for the Puerto Rican national team because it’s led me to all these countries and all these great memories.”
Fans of this team across the world will be hoping for their success on the international stage as well, as this could turn into prize money for the federation to put back into the sport at home. A domestic division is providing women a chance to play the game locally and, hopefully, inspire more girls to take up the sport for the future. “Yes, there is a professional league there. I don’t know how long it’s been; but, it’s been up and running. They had about, I think, four to five teams this past season. Puerto Rico Sol was a team that I was on. They didn’t play in this past season in the league. They have about two seasons per year. But, we went to a tournament in August in Panama for the champions of the Caribbean. They invited all the champion clubs from Guatemala, from Puerto Rico, and we played in a little tournament there and that was a great experience as well.”
We at RBLR Sports will be watching this game and all of those from the W Gold Cup to follow, hoping that Puerto Rico will get the chance to shine once again: “We like to say that we’re the best in the Caribbean, and that’s something that we, like, hold very close to our hearts.”
