Finding Full-Ride in Soccer Is No Easy Task for Women : College athletics: Despite high interest in high school girls’ soccer, it’s often impossible to get Division I scholarships.

Julie Foudy was Orange County’s Player of the Year in her sport for three consecutive seasons. She joined the U.S. national team as a 16-year-old high school junior. Her Mission Viejo High team once won 84 consecutive games, including three Southern Section championships. And she carried a 4.0 grade-point average.

By the end of her senior season in 1989, there was little question that Foudy was one of the best and brightest high school recruits the country had to offer.

If Foudy was a basketball, softball or volleyball player, college recruiters would undoubtedly have been beating down her door to offer scholarships.

But Foudy’s sport was soccer, and the response was less than overwhelming.

North Carolina made a generous scholarship offer, but Foudy had her heart set on Stanford, a school that annually ranks among the nation’s best on the field and in the classroom.

In order to attend Stanford, however, it meant Foudy and her parents would have to foot the bill themselves. Although the school offers a limited number of scholarships for its men’s team, it doesn’t offer any to women’s soccer players.

“The top 20 teams all have scholarships except for Stanford and Brown,” Foudy said. “They can’t (because the Ivy League does not offer athletic scholarships in any sport). We don’t have an excuse.”

Although she could have accepted a scholarship and chose not to, Foudy’s experience is not unusual for outstanding women’s soccer players.

Despite a high level of interest and participation at the age-group and high school levels in Orange County, it’s often impossible for talented players to land a “full-ride,” an all-expenses-paid scholarship to an NCAA Division I school.

In fact, they’re nonexistent at the county’s two Division I schools. Cal State Fullerton does not field a women’s soccer team and UC Irvine’s team raised its own funds to continue offering two partial scholarships this past season.

According to Ed Carroll, Irvine assistant athletic director in charge of finance, those two partial scholarships total $1,500; one full scholarship costs $8,000. In contrast, the men’s team offers nine players partial scholarships totaling $15,000. Although less than two full-rides, it’s still far more than the women’s team can offer.

What’s more, there are few opportunities simply to play Division I women’s soccer at one of the California State University or University of California campuses. Of the 10 schools classified as Division I, only four--Irvine, California, UC Santa Barbara and San Diego State--have women’s teams. Nine of the 10 have men’s teams, however.

These kinds of inequities seem certain to come under scrutiny by the federal government, which is taking an increased interest in Title IX, the 20-year-old law that requires men and women to be treated equally in all areas of education.

“Hey, if you want to get a scholarship, play volleyball,” said Kerry Krause, El Toro girls’ soccer coach. “For a female to get a scholarship is a big accomplishment.”

Krause figures there will be four El Toro players on next season’s team capable of earning Division I scholarships. And how many will actually get one?

“I don’t know if one will make it,” Krause said.

Some players, such as Jill Florey, a senior at Mission Viejo who was a member of The Times’ All-County team last season and is expected to be chosen again this year, take matters into their own hands.

Disappointed with a lack of attention from colleges after her junior season, but determined to land one of the few available scholarships, Florey sent resumes to about 20 Division I schools.

Some called Florey asking for a videotaped highlight reel of her games that season. She sent nine tapes to schools, some of which later asked her to come for a recruiting visit.

Her labor finally paid off when she accepted the University of Portland’s offer of a full scholarship.

Asked if it bothered her to go to such lengths to get a scholarship, Florey said, “Oh yes, definitely. (But) I knew it was going to happen that way.”

Once soccer players reach college, they begin to notice a wide gulf between their sport and revenue-producing sports such as football and basketball.

“Like at Santa Clara,” said Laura Brun, a freshman member of the Bronco soccer team from Los Alamitos. “Some of the football players don’t even play a game, and they’re still getting full-rides. I mean, I could probably outrun most of them in a race.”

Despite leading Los Alamitos to the section 4-A semifinals in 1991, Brun said only about six schools actively recruited her, a fact that didn’t not surprise her.

“Obviously, it would have been nice if it would have been 30,” said Brun, who accepted a partial scholarship that covers only her tuition at Santa Clara.

At Stanford, Foudy said she is still hoping to get at least a partial scholarship for her final season.

“Every year they say they’re going to get us some (scholarships),” she said. “It’s a constant battle.”

While she waits, she also notices the disparity between sports.

“Couldn’t they give five of those 95 football scholarships to soccer?” she asked. “A lot of times they’re just giving them (football scholarships) so people won’t go other places. Ten players probably don’t step on the field and they get four free years of schooling. That’s a waste.

“I had a choice and just didn’t take it. For a lot of people who have the talent but can’t get a scholarship, that’s just not right.”