This weekend, Howard College will commemorate the exceptional achievements of its 1974 males’s soccer group, which accomplished a flawless season and clinched the NCAA championship fifty years in the past. A collection of festivities are deliberate to honor the group’s legacy and affect on the college and the game.
The celebration begins on Friday with the group’s induction into the Howard College Athletics Corridor of Fame. Members of the historic group, together with their head coach, Lincoln Phillips, will collect for the ceremony, which runs from 4 to 7 p.m. on the Armour J. Blackburn Middle Ballroom. Howard alumnus Rock Newman will emcee the occasion, with remarks from Shaka Hislop (BS ’92), a former Howard soccer participant and present ESPN soccer analyst who performed for the Bison from 1987 to 1991.
Phillips, who coached the Bison from 1970 to 1980, expressed immense satisfaction within the group’s achievements. “To win a championship was one factor, however to do it with out dropping a recreation is one thing fairly superb,” he mentioned. “It’s an accomplishment that has by no means been equaled, and for that, I’m each humbled and immensely proud.”
The Soccer Staff’s Unmatched Legacy
The 1974 group’s excellent 19-0 file stays unmatched in school soccer historical past, solidifying its place within the annals of sports activities. In 2016, the documentary “Redemption Tune” was launched, which chronicled the journey of the 1971 championship group—the primary traditionally Black school or college squad to win an NCAA nationwide title. Though their title was later revoked on account of participant eligibility violations, the 1974 group’s triumph restored this system’s status and demonstrated resilience within the face of adversity.
Phillips emphasised the broader significance of the Nineteen Seventies groups in selling soccer inside the D.C. group. Throughout his tenure, he organized clinics that offered younger individuals with alternatives to interact with the game. His efforts cultivated a love for soccer at a time when it was not broadly fashionable amongst Black communities.
“Again then, soccer was actually a minor sport,” Phillips famous, reflecting on the sport’s evolution since that period. “However now, it has grown a lot, and so many individuals, together with Black individuals, admire the sport. What we had been doing again within the Nineteen Seventies was actually setting the groundwork for the sport to turn into what it’s for our individuals.”
The weekend culminates on Sunday with a particular dinner honoring the group. This dinner will reinforce the lasting legacy of probably the most acclaimed groups in collegiate athletics.
