The Walt Chyzowych Fund Announces 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award and Distinguished Playing Career Award Recipients

KANSAS CITY, MO. (Nov. 8, 2022) – The Walt Chyzowych Fund (WCF), a charitable fund of the United Soccer Coaches Foundation, announced today, Ralph Lundy, former Head Coach of the College of Charleston and Erskine College will receive the Walt Chyzowych Fund Lifetime Achievement Award and members of the 1973 NASL Championship Team Philadelphia Atoms will be honored with Walt Chyzowych Distinguished Playing Career Awards.

All recipients will be honored on January 14, 2023, as part of the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia, Pa. The association’s 83rd annual convention falls on the 50th Anniversary of the Philadelphia Atoms 1973 NASL Championship.

Coach Lundy amassed 473 wins in a 46-year college coaching career highlighted with appearances in three NAIA and five NCAA Tournaments. Lundy will be honored alongside former members of the original 1973 Philadelphia Atoms, winners of the first NASL Championship, coached by previous Walt Chyzowych Fund honoree Al Miller.

The Walt Chyzowych Fund was founded after his passing in 1994 to honor his memory and promulgate his legacy as US National Team Coach and Director of Coaching. The fund helps provide coaching education, convention scholarships and grants to aspiring young coaches and developing soccer organizations through its fund-raising efforts in partnership with the United Soccer Coaches Foundation.

After graduating from Allegheny High School in Sparta, NC, lettering in three sports and being named Most Outstanding Athlete, Lundy attended Brevard College for two years where he played soccer and baseball. As Captain of the 1969 soccer team, he led Brevard to a sixth-place finish in the National Junior College Tournament.

Lundy transferred to Western Carolina where he was a three-sport athlete competing in soccer, wrestling and baseball for the Catamounts. In 1970, he helped lead the soccer team to an 8-2 record and a trip to the NAIA District V playoffs. He graduated in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and then accepted the position as Assistant Coach at Brevard for the Fall ’72 semester, helping the team reach the Regional Finals. In Feb. 1973, Lundy entered the US Marine Corps Officer Training Program and after a two-and-a-half-year stint returned to Western Carolina as a Graduate Assistant receiving his master’s degree.

In 2006, Lundy was enshrined in both the Brevard College and Western Carolina Halls of Fame.

In 1976 Ralph Lundy accepted the head coaching position at Erskine College. Over 11 years he compiled a 131-71-13 record with 10 winning seasons. He led the Flying Fleet to seven district titles and three NAIA National Tournaments. He also established the first women’s intercollegiate soccer program in South Carolina, coaching that team to a 15-6-2 record while at the same time leading the men’s team to the NAIA national tournament. Lundy was inducted into the Erskine College Athletics Hall of Fame where an annual award is given in his honor.

In 1978 Lundy earned his USSF “A” license and became a national staff coach in 1981.

Named Head Soccer Coach at the College of Charleston (CofC) in 1987, Lundy led the Cougars to 19 winning seasons and since the transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division I status in 1991, he led the CofC to five conference Championships and five appearances in the NCAA Tournament. In 1994 the Cougars had a perfect 8-0 TAAC record, earning its first NCAA Tournament bid advancing all the way to the QFs before losing to UCLA, 3-2. This was followed by four more trips to the NCAA Tournament with second round losses in 2004 and 2010.

In 1995, CofC earned its first national ranking, debuting as No. 17 in the Soccer America poll, qualifying again for the NCAA Tournament, losing to Clemson 2-0 and finishing the season nationally ranked at No. 19.

Upon retirement after the 2019 season, Lundy had amassed a record of 323-279-53 with the Cougars, bringing his lifetime college coaching record to 469-356-68, ranking Lundy 25th amongst Division I Coaches in wins at the time and 4th among active Division I coaches.

Lundy resides in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. with his wife Elizabeth, where he is currently Technical Director of the South Carolina Surf Soccer Club. They have three children: Harper, Ralph III and Lettie. Ralph III played for his father at CofC from 2009-12. In 1991 Ralph Lundy was inducted into the South Carolina Youth Soccer Hall of Fame in its very first class.

The Philadelphia Atoms were founded by Philadelphia construction giant Thomas McCloskey in 1973. Playing a largely American line-up they won the NASL title in their expansion season by defeating the host Dallas Tornado 2-0. After this Championship match, Philadelphia goalkeeper and Delaware Valley native Bob Rigby became the first soccer player to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

The Atoms, coached by Al Miller, formerly of Hartwick College, were also part of what is considered the birth of indoor soccer in the US. On Feb. 11, 1974, they hosted the Soviet Red Army team at the Philadelphia Spectrum attended by 11,700 spectators and Philadelphia sport mogul Ed Tepper. The following year the NASL staged its first league wide indoor tournament and in December of 1978 Tepper and Earl Foreman started the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL).

Walter Chyzowych was hired as a Consultant to the MISL in all areas soccer and hired Dr. Joe Machnik as its first Referee-in Chief.

The first Philadelphia Atoms roster included many players who went on to play significant roles in the growth and development of soccer in America. Each player will receive a Walt Chyzowych Distinguished Playing Career Award.

Players from the US included Bob Rigby, Barry Barto, Bobby Smith (National Soccer Hall of Fame), Lew Meehl, Casey Bahr, Charles Ducilli, Bill Straub, Norm Wingert, Stan Startzell, Manny Schellscheidt (National Soccer Hall of Fame -Germany/USA) and George O’Neill (Scotland/USA). The line-up also included England’s Roy Evans, Chris Dunleavy, Jim Fryatt, Derek Trevis; Scotland’s Andy Provan, Jamaica’s Raymond Parris, and Germany/Australia’s Karl Minor. Coach Al Miller was recognized as the 1973 NASL Coach of the Year, received the 2019 Walt Chyzowych Lifetime Achievement Award, and was a 1995 inductee into the National Soccer Hall of Fame!

The Walt Chyzowych Fund Award Ceremony and Reception is supported by its principal donor Capelli Sport. The event will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023, as part of the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia at the Convention Center Marriott Liberty Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public.

To learn more about the Walt Chyzowych Fund and the United Soccer Coaches Foundation and/or to donate please see www.waltslegacy.com or www.unitedsoccercoaches.org/CoachesGIVE. 

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