The Cal 100: No. 93 -- Joy Biefield Fawcett
We count down the top 100 individuals associated with Cal athletics, based on their impact in sports or in the world at large – a wide-open category. See if you agree.
No. 93: Joy Biefield Fawcett
Cal Sports Connection: Fawcett twice earned national collegiate player of the year honors while powering Cal to a pair of third-place finishes in the NCAA tournament.
Claim to Fame: A national team member for 17 years, Fawcett twice won gold medals at the Olympics and twice was a Women's World Cup champion.
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How’s this for versatility: Joy Biefield Fawcett scored 55 goals and dished a school-record 23 assists during her career on the Cal women’s soccer team from 1986-89. But she made her living as a defender on four U.S. World Cup teams and in three Olympics — winning gold medals twice in each of those.
Without a doubt, Fawcett was an elite player at both levels and any place on the field.
Joy Biefield Fawcett clears the ball for the U.S. team
Photo by Robert Hanashiro, USA Today
In college, she led the Bears to consecutive third-place finishes in the NCAA tournament in 1987 and ’88. Fawcett was voted national Player of the Year both seasons, and she was named Soccer America’s MVP in 1988 and ’89. Her 23 goals as a sophomore in 1987 set a program record, and her 55 career scores are just one shy of the Cal standard.
Fawcett joined the U.S. national team in 1987 and remained a part of the program through 2004. Over that span, she played in 239 games, starting in all but five of them. Fawcett won Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004 with a silver in 2000, to go with with World Cup crowns in 1991 and ’99. In five of those seven international events, Fawcett played every minute of every game.
Fawcett was part of a golden age of women's soccer in the United States, teammates with such luminaries as Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, Julie Foudy and Kristine Lilly. All five have been voted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.
As a member of the 1991 US national team that outscored six opponents 33-5 on the way to winning the inaugural Women's World Cup, Fawcett also has been awarded the Hall of Fame's Medal of Honor.
While in the heart of her playing career, Fawcett also became the first head coach for the UCLA women’s soccer team, compiling a record of 65-24-7 from 1993-97, including a Pac-12 title her final season.
She played herself in the 2008 comedy film “Soccer Mom," which sadly received only 46-percent audience approval score from Rotten Tomatoes. A rare setback for Fawcett.
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Cover photo by Jack Gruber, USA Today of Joy Fawcett, second from left, along with teammates Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Brandi Chastain at the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympics.
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo