Goal-Oriented : Former Area Soccer Standout Is Building Women’s Program at Santa Monica College

Carla Zeitlin is a Santa Monica soccer pioneer.

As a 15-year-old at Santa Monica High School, she played on the boys’ soccer team--the only girl in the California Interscholastic Federation to do so.

In 1980, during her junior year, she started--and played in--the women’s soccer program at Santa Monica High. And the next year, she was named most valuable player.

All this she accomplished while wearing hearing aids in both ears to correct a serious hearing loss that started in early childhood. Last month, Zeitlin, now 29, was named coach of the new women’s soccer team at Santa Monica College. With only two months before the season begins, she has been busy looking at talent, much of which is on display at a summer co-ed soccer class she is teaching along with assistant coach Paul Churchyard.

“We have a list of 20 women who have expressed interest in the team, and 15 have enrolled in the summer class,” she said. While they are enthusiastic, she said, “there are not a lot of skilled players. But this first year, I’ll take anyone who is interested.”

While women’s soccer is well established at a few Southern California community colleges, Santa Monica is a latecomer. The Corsairs will be playing women’s teams from Mt. San Antonio, El Camino, Moorpark, Oxnard, Long Beach City and Santa Barbara City colleges.

Lack of interest, said Avie Bridges, Santa Monica’s athletic director, is one reason why a women’s soccer program was not started sooner.

But a recent evaluation of the college’s compliance with federal gender-equity rules raised the issue of fairness and prompted swift action, she said.

“We found we had 73% male and 27% female participation in sports programs,” Bridges said. “Our college president thought that was unacceptable in a place where the male-female ratio was 50-50.”

So the college suspended the men’s tennis and baseball programs and Bridges began looking into what women’s sports could be added. Men’s soccer was suspended two years ago for disciplinary reasons, including fighting during a game, and there are no plans to restore it, although intramural soccer continues at the college.

While other candidates had more coaching experience, Bridges said that Zeitlin knows the community and “has the energy and personality to start a new program.”

After high school, Zeitlin played soccer for the women’s team at the University of California at Berkeley, which was ranked second in the nation during her senior year.

She later earned a master’s degree in marriage, family and child counseling from Cal State Northridge. Zeitlin also has a black belt in karate. In her last job, she was assistant soccer coach at Crossroads School in Santa Monica.

Recruiting, she said, is her biggest concern. According to the rules of the California Commission on Athletics, a community college cannot recruit athletes from outside its district. So Zeitlin can only seek out soccer players from Santa Monica High School, St. Monica’s High School and Crossroads School.

Given the time element and the recruiting restrictions, she is relying heavily on word of mouth to build the new team.

Luckily for the new coach, Anya Bohler was already attending Santa Monica College. Bohler learned soccer in her native Norway and played with Santa Monica College’s men’s intramural team last year--its only female.

“You learn a tougher game, playing with men,” Bohler said. At 25, she said, she’s old for the game, but the new team is giving her another chance to excel in a game she loves.

Mary Marks played soccer at Herkimer College, near Utica, N.Y. She recently moved to Santa Monica with her brother, but was planning to leave until she heard about the new program.

“The coaches are talented, and involved,” said Marks, 19. “They take the time, they get right in there with us. At Herkimer, we had the talent but no coaching. You can have all the talent in the world, but without good coaching you’ll go nowhere.”

The women will share Corsair Field with the football team this fall. When the field is occupied, the women will practice and play at Clover Park in Santa Monica. The first home game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Oct. 7.

Zeitlin said she hopes to draw 24 women to compete on the team this fall. But aspiring soccer players, she said, should be warned in advance. “I’m a tough coach. I expect people to be committed, and I want women who can work hard.”