For two days last summer, World Cup mania descended upon Pomona College.
World Cup Close-ups
As the U.S. women's soccer team wound up its final practice on Pomona's soccer field last summer just prior to winning the World Cup, a Los Angeles newscaster breathlessly proclaimed, "Who can believe all this is happening in this small, rural town of Claremont!"
While Claremont isn't quite rural, and isn't exactly small, the U.S. team's practices on campus did bring the national spotlight to Pomona College. Network anchors, writers, photographers, and a multitude of appreciative fans, including Pomona grandparent Karl Malden, converged for three days to watch the U.S. women's team's preparations before its thrilling, shootout win over China on July 10 in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Women's soccer coach Kris Martini and men's soccer coach Bill Swartz were instrumental in bringing the U.S. and Chinese teams to campus, as well as the two teams playing for third place: Brazil and Norway. The four teams stayed in Pasadena hotels, but held practices on Pomona's two soccer fields Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday before playing on Saturday.
The Women's World Cup Organizing Committee (WWCOC) originally intended to use Azusa Pacific University's fields, but found Pomona's more to its liking despite being farther from the Rose Bowl. Germany and North Korea had already utilized Pomona's fields in the opening rounds of the World Cup in June and had raved about the quality and setting.
"They wanted to use our field," said Martini of the WWCOC, "but we didn't have a stadium. But then it was easier for the organizers to use both our fields and have all four teams here--easier for the media. So it worked out. We planned it in about two days."
Athletic groundskeeper Raye Calderón mowed and lined the fields, and the goals and nets were already on the field from a just-finished soccer camp. Each team brought all the equipment they needed, and the WWCOC supplied drinks and coolers, as well as temporary fencing around the lower soccer field to keep spectators off the field.
"The World Cup people said, 'Hey, don't tell anybody!' said Swartz. "So I didn't call anyone--even my assistant coach. And then it was in the Los Angeles Times that morning! They said they were going to be closed practices, but they were always publicizing in the newspaper."
On Tuesday, about 200 people showed up. On Wednesday about 500 came. On Thursday about 2,000 fans ringed the lower field, and parking on campus was impossible to find. Physical Education Department secretaries recorded hundreds of phone calls daily during the week seeking directions.
On Wednesday, NBC anchor Tom Brokaw appeared. "This guy came to me in a van and asks how he can get his camera equipment in to the field," remembers Swartz. "So I'm real nice to him and say he can drive it in as long as you drive back out quickly since no cars are allowed down in that part of the Wash. Next thing I know there are five [NBC] vans down there!"
Martini had the chance to meet TV superstar Brokaw. "He was nice. His niece used to play for Harvard, so we were chatting. But he said, 'Hi, I'm Tom Brokaw.' No kidding!"
Swartz also chauffeured team stars Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy to an important destination. "Foudy couldn't believe there weren't bathrooms by the field. She asked, 'Do you think we can make it back to Pasadena?' I said that's a long way, so I drove them in a car all the way up the sidewalk to the tennis courts telling them there's nothing like field-to-door service. And here comes a Campus Security guy on his bike wondering what's going on!"
On Swartz's recommendation, Hamm and Foudy also went to 42nd Street Bagels in the Village to get a quick bite to eat after a media session following practice.
"We brought a couple others up to shower in the gym, and we were chatting," remembers Martini. "And they didn't know this was an NCAA Division III facility. They saw the gym and the fields. The field's nice. You can't tear it up! It got good use. They liked it, and it was similar to how the Rose Bowl was."
On Thursday, with the overflow crowd of 2,000, U.S. team officials asked for some help in getting the players to their bus quickly.
Martini, Sagehen football coach Roger Caron and men's aquatics coach Gary Troyer lined up vans just beyond the edge of the lower soccer field to rush players with a Claremont police escort to their team bus, which was stationed five blocks away.
"The crowd had built to the point where they couldn't actually exit without taking two hours to sign autographs," said Troyer. "And that's why we drove--to avoid that obligation just two days before the big game. Or they'd be forced to just blow by fans and receive some bad press. And it was complicated by the fact that the Chinese were there waiting to run their workout.
"The thing that stays with me the longest was their genuine enthusiasm and utter joy in being there," continued Troyer. "They were arguably the most-noted athletes of America that week or so. And with these players, it was just like hauling around the water polo team. They weren't pretentious at all, and were as engaging and charming as they seemed to be. And I had some of the stars in my van, and they were just regular kids."
Martini remembers the disbelief of the players that last day: "In the van, Cindy Parlow said, 'We never used to get this many people to watch us play. Now we need police to drive us through town!'"
Both Sagehen soccer coaches Martini and Swartz picked up some pointers while watching the world's best.
"Like the Brazilian defender who does exactly what she's supposed to do," recalls Swartz. "I'm going to ask my players, 'Why are you telling me you can't do this when she does it?' It was definitely cool for Pomona to have World Cup teams here, and for both soccer programs."
--Kirk Reynolds
