No Soccer Stars on San Pedro Sportswalk

Couldn't help noticing this week at the annual induction ceremony for San Pedro's Sportswalk - the Harbor Area's answer to the Hollywood Walk of Fame - that no representatives from the sport of soccer are listed among the 100 or so honorees.

(Kings and NHL fans will notice there are no hockey players on the induction list either, but since this is a soccer blog we'll gloss over that one for a moment).

That seemed a little strange given San Pedro's high Croatian population, the strength of that nation's soccer team and that Southern California in general,and the South Bay in particular, are hotbeds of soccer.

So I called up a couple of members of the board of directors to ask what was going on.

I got a frank answer from Bob Bradarich (a Croat, by the way) who is chair of the group's board of directors:

"I guess we're wearing blinders," he said. "We do not have enough soccer influence (on the board). We are mainly ex-football and baseball players. It's not that we wouldn't consider soccer, we just don't think in those terms."

It's hard to quibble with that sort of honesty, but board member Jack Baric (another Croat), a huge soccer fan who is a regular at Galaxy games, went even further.

Baric suggested the first Sportswalk inductee should be Galaxy great Cobi Jones, a native of Westlake Village who has spent his entire 12-year MLS career with L.A. and is retiring at season's end (although he recently indicated he may go one more season).

That would be a great first step for the SportsWalk, which exists to honor Southern California's great athletes.

There are plenty of other worthy local soccer notables, too, including former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid, who is now with the Columbus Crew and was raised in the South Bay; former U.S. Women's National Team striker Carin Gabarra (Jennings), a U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year and MVP of the first Women's World Cup in 1991 who grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula; former U.S. National Team goalkeeper David Vanole, a native of Redondo Beach who recently died; and current U.S. Women's National Team star Shannon Boxx, who was raised in Torrance and is widely considered the best holding midfielder in the world.

There are many others, too, but you get the idea.

By the way, it should be noted that soccer fans can head down to the Croatian American Club, 631 W. Ninth St., in San Pedro where the Croatia-Israel European Championship qualifier will be seen on close circuit television at 11 a.m. Saturday. The cost is $15 for non-members of the club.

Don't look for Bradarich though, who didn't even know the game was being shown there.

"I'm more worried about whether USC will beat Arizona this weekend," he said.