NOTEBOOK / SEAN WATERS : Pepperdine to Fund Women’s Soccer Team

Pepperdine will add women’s soccer to its athletic program in the 1993-94 school year, Athletic Director Wayne Wright said Tuesday.

Pepperdine currently sponsors 13 intercollegiate sports--seven for men and six for women. The school will add women’s soccer to abide by NCAA rules, which require member schools to sponsor a minimum of seven men’s and women’s programs to maintain Division I status.

“We looked down a list of sports, and women’s soccer seemed like a natural for us,” Wright said. “Our conference plays women’s soccer, and we have a lot of interest in the sport on campus.”

The Waves already have a club team and the West Coast Conference sponsors league competition. Portland, Santa Clara and the University of San Francisco are among conference powers.

Wright said he hopes women’s soccer can maintain its independent status before joining the conference. He is unsure whether the school will be able to offer scholarships or grants-in-aid.

Wright indicated that a search for a coach will begin next summer, although he already has received inquiries.

Coach hired: Rick McLaughlin, an assistant volleyball coach at Pepperdine the past two seasons, has been named coach at Loyola Marymount.

McLaughlin, 24, succeeds Mike Normand, who resigned in April after coaching the Lions for four seasons.

McLaughlin played at Loyola from 1987-1990 before becoming an assistant for the Waves.

“We are excited to welcome Rick back to LMU,” Loyola Athletic Director Brian Quinn said. “He was an outstanding player for us and has proven to be an excellent coach on the collegiate level. I feel confident he will do a fine job with our program.”

Summer shootout: Some of the nation’s top basketball recruits will begin competing today in the Fairfax High basketball tournament.

Point guard Jacque Vaughn (Muir High), center Richard Mandeville (La Canada), forward Jason Sanders (Westchester) and guard Robert Foster (Fairfax) will be competing in the tournament. They are among the top Division I prospects in the country.

Not surprisingly, Muir, La Canada, Westchester and Fairfax are the top-seeded teams in the tournament.

Going for gold: Pepperdine will have nine present and former athletes and coaches participating in the Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Among the top participants are volleyball players Bob Ctvtlik and Jeff Stork, water polo player Terry Schroeder and distance runner Suzy Favor-Hamilton.

Ctvtlik and Stork, both gold-medalists for the 1988 U.S. men’s volleyball team, will try to help the United States win an unprecedented third consecutive gold medal.

Schroeder, the longtime captain of the U.S water polo, will try to add a gold to his medal collection after winning silvers in 1984 and 1988. He has been the school’s water polo coach for the past two seasons.

Hamilton, a volunteer cross-country assistant, will be one of the favorites in the 1,500 meters.

Shrine Classic: Lineman Luke Davis of Santa Monica High and quarterback/receiver Dameron Ricketts of Culver City will be among 62 players reporting today for the 41st Shrine California all-star football game.

Players for the North and South teams will undergo a physical examination and an orientation session before attending a luncheon at the Shrine Auditorium. At 1 p.m., they will visit some of the patients at the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children.

The festivities also include trips to Universal Studios on Sunday and Knott’s Berry Farm on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The game will played at Long Beach Veterans Stadium July 25 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $8.