SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – One of the most accomplished figures in Santa Clara Athletics history, Julie Ertz is the Broncos inductee into the West Coast Conference Hall of Honor as part of the class of 2024.
 
Ertz burst on the scene and made an impact immediately for the Broncos as a freshman in 2010, being named the West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-WCC in addition to WCC All-Freshman honors. That year she was also named Second Team All-West Region.
 
For the next three seasons, Ertz cemented herself as one of the best players in the nation. She was a First Team All-American and MAC Hermann Trophy Semifinalist her sophomore, junior, and senior years. Those years she was also First Team All-WCC and was named the 2013 WCC Player of the Year. During her senior campaign, she had a career-high 12 goals and eight assists to help Santa Clara finish as the second-highest scoring offense in the country and a final ranking of No. 7 in the nation.
 
In her time with the Broncos, Ertz appeared in 79 games and scored 31 goals and added 22 assists while helping the team to four NCAA Tournament appearances.
 
Ertz then went on to international fame with the US National Team where she earned 123 caps and scored 20 goals. She helped the team capture the 2015 and 2019 World Cup, and played in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. She was named the 2017 and 2019 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year and won the CONCACAF Women's Championship Golden Ball in 2018. She was also a FIFA FIFPro Women's World 11 selection in both 2015 and 2019 and was IFFHS Women's World Team in 2019.
 
Prior to her debut with the National Team, Ertz captained the U20 National Team to a U20 World Cup title in Japan in 2012 where she won the Bronze Ball.
 
The third overall pick in the 2014 NWSL draft by the Chicago Red Stars, Ertz played nine seasons in the NWSL, the first eight with Chicago and the last with Angel City, where she appeared in 112 matches.
 
Ertz announced her retirement from professional soccer on August 31, 2023, and on September 21, 2023 played her farewell match with the US.
 
The 14th Hall of Honor class will feature Ertz along with Gonzaga's Cheska Fairbanks (women's cross country), LMU's Anthony Ireland (men's basketball), Pacific's John Dunning (women's volleyball head coach), Pepperdine's Dwayne Polee (men's basketball), Portland's Rob Conner (men's cross country head coach), Saint Mary's Omar Samhan (men's basketball), San Diego's Stan Washington (men's basketball), and San Francisco's Luis Sagastume (men's soccer).
 
The class will be inducted Saturday, March 9 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas with a special ceremony as part of the 2024 Credit Union 1 West Coast Conference Basketball Championship.
 
A full list of past honorees can be found here.