Indiana University Athletics
Soccer Field Named for Yeagley (4-02-04)
4/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Bloomington, Ind. -- The Indiana University soccer field at Bill Armstrong Stadium will be named after recently retired Hoosier men's soccer coach Jerry Yeagley, director of athletics Terry Clapacs announced today. Official name of the venue is Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium.
"This comes from the all-university committee on names, which unanimously approved a request from the athletic department," Clapacs stated. "This honors an outstanding man's career as a coach and teacher. What more can you say?"
Beginning in 1963, Yeagley directed the IU soccer club team for 10 years before guiding the program to varsity status in 1973. Over the next 31 seasons, Indiana competed in 16 College Cups (soccer's equivalent of the Final Four) and captured six national championships under Yeagley's tuteage. The Hoosiers' six titles rank second all-time and are the most in the 31 seasons IU has competed in varsity soccer. In addition, Yeagley is only the second coach ever to win six NCAA Champioships and is only coach to win all six at one school.
The announcement came as a total surprise to Yeagley, who retired as the NCAA Division I soccer's all-time wins leader with 544 victories.
"That blew me away. I had no idea. I thought maybe some day (they would rename the field Yeagley Field)," Yeagley said. "In the back of my mind, some day. Without question, this (announcement) is a complete surprise and knocked me off my feet. This is one of my most cherished honors. I have been fortunate to have a lot of good things come my way, and this ranks near the top."
New Indiana head soccer coach Mike Freitag could not be more pleased with the decision.
"This is a fitting tribute to Jerry Yeagley and the tradition of excellence he built in Indiana Soccer, " Freitag said. "To have his legacy live on at Indiana by attaching his name to the field at Armstrong Stadium will hopefully instill his sense of pride in IU in every player that comes through the program."
Bill Armstrong Stadium, which was financed entirely by private contributions, has served as the home of Indiana soccer since 1981. Yeagley has high praise for the man whose name adorns the stadium complex.
"Without Bill Armstrong, we wouldn't have the soccer program we have today," Yeagley said. "Bill made it all possible to not only be a varsity sport, but to also be a championship-caliber program. To share this naming with him makes it special. Bill was like my big brother. Whenever I was having a bad day, I would go see Bill and he would always point out the silver lining."
