Leading by Example : Garden Grove’s Foster Tries to Improve Her Environment, Athletes

The basketball season ended too soon for Marcia Foster.

Even though her Garden Grove High girls’ varsity basketball tied Pacifica for the Garden Grove league title, it was quickly ousted from the playoffs by Ocean View in the first round. Still, Foster was practical. “I wanted that miracle win, but that’s what it would have been against Ocean View. They are very talented,” she said.

Her season over, Foster returns to her other battle--and we’re not talking about the painful herniated disc in her lower back that almost kept her from coaching this season.

No, what can be hard at times for Foster is the burden she must carry through no fault of her own. She is black and female in an area where she doesn’t have much company. She understands the unwritten rule--wearying as it may be--that whatever she says and does is always magnified.

Foster doesn’t know if she is the only black woman coaching basketball at the high school varsity level in the county. She can say, however, that she has not faced another one in her four years at Garden Grove.

“But the problem starts before that,” Foster said. “I look around Orange County and I don’t see a lot of black people period. So am I surprised when I don’t see them in the coaching arena? No.

“I do feel I’m fighting a battle. I’ve had to learn to look at things objectively, not take them so personally. But I know I’m treated differently than a white male coach by the officials. Other women--black or white--feel the same way.

“A guy’s team can be more aggressive. They don’t get told ‘Young lady, sit down,’ as I have. Men don’t like to be yelled at by women--even if they are right--and they certainly don’t like to yelled at by me. So I’ve learned a lot.”

Instead of complaining, Foster channels her energies into making her team competitive. She feels an added responsibility to aid in their development as people.

“It’s more than just basketball,” Foster said. “It’s about the kids, the interaction I have with them. It’s the opportunity to influence people’s lives.”

A native of Plainfield, N.J., Foster received a basketball scholarship to Seton Hall in 1980. She graduated in 1984 with a degree in communications, and is working on a master’s in sports psychology at Cal State Fullerton.

She remains the college’s fifth all-time leading scorer, fifth all-time leading rebounder and fifth all-time shot blocker.

Foster had wanted to come to California since she was 15. She had an uncle in San Diego, whom she had visited on cross-country trips with her family growing up, and felt the climate was too good to pass up.

Foster got her first coaching break in 1989 with the girls’ junior varsity team at Mater Dei. Two years later at a coaching clinic, she learned Garden Grove was looking for a varsity coach.

Boys’ Coach Dewey Van Cleave had gone to the clinic to interview another candidate, who decided not to take the job. The next thing he knew, Foster was making her pitch.

“She’s very likable and knowledgeable of the game,” Van Cleave said. “We have coordinated both our programs well. If she was not coaching girls, she might be one of my assistants.”

Garden Grove Principal Peggy Mahfood doesn’t consider herself any more enlightened or crusading than the next high school administrator. So she is certain race was no factor in hiring Foster. Mahfood was, however, interested in finding a woman for the girls’ team.

“I know in many schools the men tend to be coaches for the girls’ program,” Mahfood said. “And they do a wonderful job. But I also feel young ladies need to see some role models who can help them understand they can be successful and do things. (Foster) qualifies on all fronts.

“The black population at the school is not significant. But Marcia was hired because she was a good role model. She had the sensitivity but also the aggressiveness I felt was important.”

How long Foster stays depends on what other opportunities become available. Foster, who is a substitute teacher at Garden Grove and also works for Nike, believes there are still more trails to be blazed.

“You look at Division I women’s college basketball and you still don’t see many blacks,” Foster said. “I think that’s a level I’d like to try at some point.”