O.C. Families Call Big Crowd a Goal in Itself
For 12 years, Jim and Judy Foudy of Mission Viejo have been loyal soccer parents, and at times it has been a lonely undertaking. At some games in the early going they’d be among only a couple dozen parents watching their daughter and other children scurry up and down the field after a spinning ball.
On Saturday, the Foudys had company. More than 90,000 fans--including President Clinton--jammed into the Rose Bowl as their daughter, Julie Foudy, and her teammates on the U.S. Women’s National Team won the 1999 Women’s World Cup.
The size of the audience, as well as the victory, brought feelings of triumph. “This is hard to believe,” said Jim Foudy. “It’s just so gratifying to see this crowd.”
In a sense, Saturday’s match marked the full arrival of women’s soccer, shrouded as it was in all the trappings of American sports events. Major corporations had hospitality tents. The lines at souvenir booths ran a dozen deep. Parking was near-gridlock and men in multicolored Afro-style wigs wandered around as a blimp circled overhead.
Beyond the considerable skills at ball-handling, soccer also is a game of stamina and endurance, traits that even fans had to draw on as they broiled beneath the hot summer sun.
Although the women’s team has become a national favorite over the past month, the individual players have had their own rooting sections for years. Saturday, three of Foudy’s former coaches--including her husband, Ian Sawyers--sat together near one of the end lines in a group that included at least one former teammate.
It was the ultimate home game.
“It’s pretty incredible for me to be here,” said Nikki Charrette, 24, a former teammate of Foudy who, during her high school and college careers, played against or with half of the national team before a career-ending knee injury. “A lot of girls who played with them or against were pretty much at that same level. But they have the drive. This is obviously what they wanted to do in life.”
For Terry and Beverly Bielfeld of Huntington Beach, the game carried a deep sense of satisfaction even before the opening kickoff. Their daughter Joy Fawcett has played more than 100 games for the national team, and like the Foudys, they’ve sat through their share of sparsely attended events.
The previous two World Cups, which they attended, drew light crowds in China in 1991 and in Sweden four years ago. The Olympic final three years ago, in which the United States beat China 2-1, drew about 76,000. But the Olympics, Beverly Bielfeld pointed out, have their own aura.
Saturday’s turnout was purely for the soccer.
“It’s just kind of snowballed and grown and taken on a life of its own,” Beverly Bielfeld said. “I didn’t expect this crowd. But they deserve it.”
An added benefit: Saturday was Terry Bielfeld’s 59th birthday.
“This is the biggest party I’ve ever had,” he said.
Longtime fans said they were heartened by the sophistication of the crowd. The stands weren’t packed with the curious, drawn by Los Angeles’ famous infatuation with “The Event.” They were packed with fans who knew what was going on down there on the field.
A through ball toward the goal was met with a roar of anticipation. A dangerous cross was followed as closely as a Hail Mary pass--the kind of pass Rose Bowl crowds are more accustomed to seeing. One vendor asked in shock while play went on around a downed player writhing in pain, “Don’t they stop?” No, they don’t, she was told by several people around her, none of whom took their eyes off the play as they talked.
Jim Dutton, who with Nick Xiros coached Foudy from her early years in soccer through her days on the Mission Viejo High School team, said he wasn’t surprised.
“Most of these people have grown up with soccer, so they understand the game,” he said. “They have some knowledge about what’s going on, and they enjoy it. That’s why there’s so much crowd enthusiasm.”
The lure of the Cup Final extended far beyond Southern California. One girls’ soccer team, the Maple Valley Marauders from near Seattle, entered a Long Beach tournament during the week primarily so they could attend Saturday’s Cup final.
The team placed second in the five-team tournament. Four of the Marauders wandered around the Rose Bowl on Saturday, three of them wearing boys’ underwear on their heads.
“It’s our fashion statement,” said Michelle Rolsma, 15, who was hobbling on crutches after straining a knee ligament in the tournament.
Bill Kalter, 59, drove up from Irvine with his two sons, Michael, 13, and Scott, 10. They attend soccer games regularly, particularly to watch the Zodiac team in Santa Ana, because Michael’s soccer coach, Mark Foster, plays on the team.
The Women’s World Cup, though, carried an extra resonance with its international flair and sense of history in the making. It magnified on a grand stage the small dramas that have made the sport Michael’s favorite over such traditional American games as baseball and basketball.
“I like all the excitement, just being on the field and scoring,” he said. “It’s always an amazing game. It can be so exciting. Baseball, you go out on the field and you bat, or you wait for a ball to catch.”
Paige Morgan, 15, and Chelsea Davis, 14, of Huntington Beach, came with Paige’s older brother, Blaine, 22, and a family friend, Jeff Bradbury, 12. Both girls are avid soccer players, both at Marina High School and at the club level.
As they watched the second half--seesaw action of rushes and surges by both teams, only to be smothered by tight defense--they talked about what they hope will come.
“It’s great what they’re doing for women’s sports,” Paige said. “This [World Cup] wasn’t even on television last time. They’re just making it easier for youths of our age and younger. . . . They’ve tried their hardest to get to this point in their lives.”
Both girls are defenders, and they said being able to watch female athletes play at the level of the national team not only gives them hope about their own abilities, but gives them a sense of the future.
“It’s just so impressive,” Chelsea said. “This helps all sports for women, and I think that’s great.”
