Bruins mourn Fitzgerald
Former UCLA soccer coach killed on eve of women's final
By Ramona Shelburne
Staff Writer
Tom Fitzgerald, who coached UCLA to the 2002 national championship in men's soccer, was killed Saturday morning in a motorcycle accident just south of Tampa, Fla.
Fitzgerald's death came on the eve of the Bruins' clash with Notre Dame in the NCAA Division I women's soccer championship game today in Cary, N.C.
"It's just devastating," said UCLA women's coach Jillian Ellis, a close friend of Fitzgerald's for 10 years. "Tom was such a kind soul in the soccer world, but he was also very proud to be a Bruin, and I know he'd want us to go out there and compete and do our best. ... The team all knew him, and the thing about Tom was he was the type who knew everybody's names and faces."
Fitzgerald, 53, was 38-5-4 in two seasons at UCLA, earning acclaim as the NSCAA/Adidas national coach of the year in 2002 and Pacific-10 Conference coach of the year in 2003. He resigned after the 2003 season to return to the University of Tampa, which he had led to the Division II title in 1994, to be closer to his two sons and two grandchildren in Tampa. The Spartans were 6-9-1 this season.
Tampa athletic director Larry Marfise said Fitzgerald was en route to a tournament in Brandenton, Fla., when his motorcycle was hit by a sport-utility vehicle around 10 a.m. EST. He was taken to Tampa General Hospital and died early Saturday afternoon.
"We were ecstatic to have him back, and he'd just turned the corner on the program and had it back on the right track," Marfise said. "I can't say enough good things about him. He had this charisma that would light up a room. You only meet people like Tom a few times in your life ... I'm really going to miss him."
UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo had known Fitzgerald since 1990, when he played for the coach on a U.S. youth national team. Salcedo played in 1997 for Fitzgerald with the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer and was Fitzgerald's top assistant at UCLA in 2002-03 before succeeding him as head coach this season.
"It's very sad right now," Salcedo said. "But the thing Tom always brought to everyone's lives was a lot of laughter and happiness and good, and I hope that once everyone gets over the sadness, hopefully, that's what they remember of Tom because he was a very good man."
Fitzgerald had a 97-97-11 record was head coach of the Crew from 1996 to 2001, and he was 176-46-16 in 12 years as a college head coach. He guided the Crew to three consecutive Eastern Conference finals (1997-99) and to the 1998 U.S. Open Cup final.
UCLA's women (18-6) are making their second NCAA title appearance, after losing in 2000. The Bruins have not surrendered a goal in five playoff matches and are led by forwards Bristyn Davis and Iris Mora, a Mexican national-teamer, midfielder Jill Oakes and defender Kendal Billingsley.
Notre Dame (24-1-1), seeking its first title since 1995, is led by Canadians Katie Thorlakson and Candace Chapman on attack and Melissa Tancredi on defense. American Jen Buczkowski runs things in the midfield.
Ramona Shelburne, (818) 713-3617 ramona.shelburne@dailynews.com