WOOSTER -- When soccer
debuted as a varsity sport in 1979, Wooster parent and booster Ted Crawford
said the biggest hurdle was finding a place to play.
"We played at
Schellin, Freedlander -- anywhere we could find around here that was
level," Crawford joked. As the Generals unveiled their sparkling new turf
field on Tuesday, that's certainly not an issue anymore.
Boys soccer was the first
sport to hold an event at the renovated Follis Field and as the Generals broke
in the new turf, they also celebrated the program's 35th anniversary before the
game. Crawford was one of the main honorees. Crawford, who is now retired but
worked as a dentist in town for many years, helped soccer become approved by
the Wooster board of education as a club sport at Wooster in 1977 and then
becoming a varsity sport in 1979. Crawford's son Mike, a 1982 WHS grad, played
on the first varsity team in 1979 and now serves as the boys JV coach.
"It's amazing with
this new turf field," said the elder Crawford. "If you go by Burbank
Road on any night in the summer or fall, you can see what soccer is in this
town."
After helping the sport
get off the ground in the late 1970s, Crawford was also instrumental in getting
the Wooster Rotary Club to give $50,000 to build McConnell Field as the
Generals' playing field in 1981. That field is still used as the Generals'
practice field. The program's greatest highlights are a pair of Final Four finishes
in 1984 and 1988.
"It's been a lot of
fun watching it grow in Wooster," Crawford said. "I didn't think it'd
be anything like this."
This story re-printed here with permission from the Daily
Record
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