SEC: Community_Broadsheet
UC Irvine 4 Monday, Nov. 11, 2013
DT: 11-11-2013
ZN: UCI ED: 1
PG #: 4
PG: PageC
BY: pdavenport
TI: 11-06-2013 22:06
Orange County Register
UCI SPORTS
J. MASSEY
Will college
football ever
reach UCI?
CLR: C
K
Y
M
MIGUEL VASCONCELLOS, FOR THE REGISTER
Like many colleges in Orange
County, Irvine faces challenges
in funding a football program
UC Irvine’s sports programs have enjoyed a wide
range of success over the
last several years.
The men’s volleyball
team won back-to-back
NCAA Division I national championships in
2012
and
2013. The
women’s
MIRIN
water polo
FADER
team won
REGISTER
four consecWRITER
utive
Big
West Conference Tournament titles
from 2009-12. The baseball
team reached the College
World Series in 2007. And
this season, the men’s basketball team has been
picked to finish first in the
Big West with the chance of
landing the school’s first
chance to compete in the
NCAA Tournament.
But something is missing. UC Irvine has never
had a football program in
its 48-year history. Football
has been missing from other Orange County colleges
for quite some time as well.
Cal State Fullerton dismantled its program after
the 1992 season, citing budget constraints and poor attendance. A string of other
California football programs were slashed around
that time as well, including
at Cal State Long Beach.
Of the remaining fouryear colleges in the county,
Chapman, a Division III
school, is the only surviving
program.
According to UC Irvine
associate athletic director
Bob Olson, UCI does not
plan on adding football to
the university.
“I have worked at UCI for
32 years and the idea of a
football team at the university has never been seriously discussed,” Olson said.
“Our entire focus is on
the 18 intercollegiate teams
we currently sponsor and
providing as many resources as we possibly can
to enhance the collegiate
experience for our studentathletes.
“The cost factor alone to
start a football program is
extremely
substantial
when you consider the expenses for scholarships,
salaries for coaches and
support staff, equipment,
facilities, recruiting, travel,
etc.,” he said.
For UCI, it’s hard to miss
something it has never had.
But for many former Cal
State Fullerton football
players and alumni, restoring their former program is
a priority.
The road to bringing
back Titan football, however, is steep. As with UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton
FOOTBALL
“Our entire focus is on the
1 8 intercollegiate teams we
currently sponsor and
providing as many resources
as we possibly can to
enhance the collegiate
experience for our
student-athletes.”
BOB OLSON
U C I R V I N E A S S O C I AT E
AT H L E T I C D I R E C T O R
faces substantial fiscal
challenges.
When asked about the likelihood of bringing back a
Division I FBS (Football
Bowl Subdivision) team to
Fullerton, CSUF director of
athletics Jim Donovan said:
“I’ve never ruled it out. I
just don’t see it happening
in the near future.”
It costs about $4 million
to $5 million a year to start
a Division I football program, Donovan said. It
could generate $3 million to
$4 million in support, so it
would have a net deficit of
$1 million to $2 million, he
said.
Though Cal State Fullerton fans seek a Division I
team, Chapman University
has thrived in Division III.
Football returned to
Chapman University in
1994 after a 62-year absence.
Chapman director of athletics David Currey said the
university’s football program costs about $300,000
annually. Unlike its Division
I counterparts, Division III
Chapman does not provide
athletic scholarships.
“By having a Division III
program, we don’t have to
fund the scholarship dollars, so we can take that
kind of revenue and put it
into the football program,”
Currey said. “We can buy
equipment, we can build a
field, pay our coaches and
pay for travel. We haven’t
lived beyond our means.
“We think we’re one of
the best kept secrets in
football,” he said.
UC Irvine may not have a
football program, but it is
content with the accomplishments of the rest of its
sports programs.
“UCI is committed to remaining a strong, competitive member of NCAA Division I-AAA (non-football
schools),” Olson said. “We
have finished in the top
eight of the Division I-AAA
Athletic Directors Association All-Sports rankings
each of the past seven
years, including first in
2007 and second in three of
the last five years.
“UCI has consistently
been the highest-ranked
Big West Conference school
in these national rankings
over the past seven years
and we are extremely
proud of that,” he said.
C O N TA C T T H E W R I T E R :
[email protected]
Anteater soccer standout gets to do it all at UCI
Ledezma finds a
well-rounded
sports experience
since transferring
from UCLA.
B y M I R I N FA D E R
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Every player on the UC
Irvine women’s soccer
team knows the program’s
five priorities.
Head coach Scott Juniper constantly reminds the
team of them. Ranked in order of importance, first
comes health, followed by
family, academics/careers,
soccer, and finally the last,
summed up as “everything
else.”
UCI, a mid-major program, has a different set of
expectations for its players
than major Division I programs that place sports,
training and winning above
everything else.
Natalia Ledezma knows
that firsthand. The senior
team captain and firstteam All-Big West Conference midfielder played her
freshman season at powerhouse UCLA eating, sleeping and breathing soccer.
That would seem like
heaven for someone as passionate about the game as
Ledezma. She has dreamed
of playing big-time soccer
since she was 10.
But she craved balance.
And since transferring to
UCI her sophomore year in
2011, Ledezma has been
able to enjoy the best of
both worlds: competitive
soccer and an engaging
academic experience.
As one of the top players
in the nation out of La Mirada High School, however,
she had tunnel vision.
“I was all about soccer,
soccer, soccer,” Ledezma
said. “That’s just always
UCI’s Natalia Ledezma goes after the ball against Long
Beach at Anteater Stadium.
PHOTOS: KYUSUNG GONG, FOR THE REGISTER
UCI’s Natalia Ledezma enjoys the best of both worlds: competitive soccer and an engaging academic experience.
how it was for me.”
As a sophomore, she was
named CIF Southern Section Defensive Player of the
Year.
She played for the United
States U-15 and U-17 National teams, and was a
starter on U-18. She was also a starter on the Olympic
Development
Program
state team and won a national championship with
Irvine Strikers club team.
When UCLA, the thirdranked team in the nation
at the time, recruited Ledezma, she couldn’t pass
the opportunity up.
But once she got to campus in 2010, the sport consumed her life. School and a
demanding travel, game
and practice schedule left
little time for anything else.
“I was dedicated to soccer but wanted to be dedicated to other things too,”
Ledezma said. “I missed
spending time with family
and friends. We didn’t have
much down time, and when
we did, everyone would be
talking about the game. It
was like you couldn’t get
away from it.”
Making the most of any
spare minute she had, she
often studied at odd hours,
either staying up late or
waking up early to finish all
of her assignments. She
was burning it at both ends.
Ledezma
competed
against some of the best
players in the country, playing in 18 matches for the
Bruins, who advanced to
the NCAA Division I Tournament Round of 16.
She didn’t want to give
up soccer, but needed a
fresh start. She knew coach
Juniper from the Olympic
Development
Program,
where he had coached an
older team. Closer to home,
she felt UCI would be a
good fit.
Ledezma quickly made
her mark as one of the top
players in the Big West
Conference as a sophomore
for UCI in 2011. She netted a
hat trick in a 4-0 win
against Cal State Northridge, just the second UCI
women’s player to do so in
15 years. She led the squad
with 12 goals, three gamewinners, eight assists and
32 points.
Last season, in 2012, she
tallied a team-high six assists, leading the Anteaters
with 45 shots and 20 shots
on goal.
“Natalia has a vision and
understanding for the
game that is so far ahead of
most other players,” Juniper said. “She sees the
game very quickly and so
she finds opportunities and
exposes them quickly.”
Now a senior, Ledezma is
once again leading the Anteaters.
She scored the gamewinning goal with 31 seconds remaining to upset
6th-ranked Brigham Young
University on the road in
front of 4,672 fans, despite
taking an elbow to the face
earlier in the match that
would require stitches.
It was just the second
time in two years BYU was
defeated. BYU was also the
highest-ranked opponent
UCI has ever beaten. The
Anteaters made a statement that night.
“Teams will think twice
before
underestimating
us,” Ledezma said. “If we
can beat the No. 6 team,
that says a lot. Especially in
the last few seconds, it
shows we’re not going to
give up and we’re going to
put up a fight.”
Now, Ledezma has time
to pursue not only soccer,
but her other passions as
well, including her social
ecology major.
“Coming to UCI was
freeing,” she said. “It’s a different atmosphere, and I’m
a lot happier here.”