IU names soccer field after coach Yeagley

For the first time ever, the Hoosier soccer team will take the field next year without coach Jerry Yeagley, but beginning next season, the Hoosiers will play on newly-named Yeagley Field, in honor of the team's former coach.\nAthletics Director Terry Clapacs made the announcement at the IU board of trustees meeting Friday.\n"This comes from the All-University Committee on Names, which unanimously approved a request from the athletic department," Clapacs said. "This honors an outstanding man's career as a coach and teacher. What more can you say?"\nAfter a career that began with a club team scrapping for practice jerseys and ended with Yeagley retiring as college soccer's all-time winningest coach, the announcement came as a surprise to Yeagley. \n"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."\nAfter 544 victories under Yeagley, the Hoosiers are now under the regime of IU coach Mike Freitag.\nFreitag is excited to begin the new era and is pleased with the decision to name the field after the former coach.\n"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." \nBill Armstrong Stadium, which was financed entirely by private contributions. has been home to the Hoosiers since 1981. Yeagley feels honored to share the name of Hoosiers' home with a man without whom the program would not exist at the same level it does today. \n"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." \n-- Contact staff writer Daniel Cohen at djcohen@indiana.edu.