If all goes well, Julie Foudy will be back on campus for a special summer session. Foudy, '93, is co-captain of the U.S. national women's soccer team, which will host the women's World Cup matches this year. Competitors from 16 nations will play 32 games at six venues across the country -- and the semifinals will take place July 4 at Stanford Stadium.
Foudy's team stands a good chance of making it to Stanford and, perhaps, to the finals at the Rose Bowl in Los Angeles. After all, with her help, the U.S. squad won the quadrennial World Cup championship in 1991, played in the semifinals in 1995 and took Olympic gold in 1996. Tony DiCicco, who coached that Olympic team, has praised Foudy for "the highest work rate of any central midfielder in the world."
Off the field, Foudy has turned down a medical school scholarship and is pursuing a career in broadcasting. She made her TV debut as ESPN's in-studio analyst for the men's World Cup last summer. Television, she says, "is what I'm going to go after." But first, she's hoping for a glorious Fourth on the Farm.
