Gene Orbaker invented women's soccer at SUNY Brockport. Here's what a news release from the college says:The College at Brockport Women’s Soccer team is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2008 and will have a special ceremony Saturday at halftime of the home opener against Buffalo State. The game is scheduled to start at 1 pm and the ceremony honoring the first head coach of Brockport Women’s Soccer, Eugene Orbaker, will take place at the end of the halftime intermission.
Orbaker led the Golden Eagles from 1983–1985, compiling 30 wins and just 12 losses. In 1983 –- the first season of Brockport Women’s Soccer -– Orbaker led the Golden Eagles to the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championship with a 12-1-1 record.
Orbaker coached the team for the first three seasons before Connie Werner took over for a two-season stint during the 1985 and 1986 seasons. Current head coach Joan Schockow took over the head coaching reins in 1987 and has been the head coach every season since. The 20-year coaching veteran won her 200th career game last year with an overtime victory over St. John Fisher and became the all-time winningest soccer coach (men or women) in Brockport history in 2003 with a 1-0 victory over SUNY Cortland in the first round of the SUNYAC Tournament. Under Schockow, the Golden Eagles won the SUNYAC championship in 2006 advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
In the 25 years of women’s soccer at Brockport, there have been 77 players named to All-SUNYAC squads, 40 players to All-State honors and seven named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas All-Region team for the Northeast Region.
From The Stylus, which I'm guessing is the student newspaper of SUNY at Brockport, comes this news story, which is in part about the honor conferred on Gene, who, with his wife Mary, and two sons, spent many summers at Frost Valley in the 70s and 80s. Gene did various jobs at camp, including, for many years, coaching our soccer programs. For a few years there was a two-week "soccer camp" (soccer village, really) during the first session, and Gene was the coach for those kids. Mark Gottdenker, who learned his soccer from Gene at FV, directed me to this article. You'll probably want to skip directly to the italicized parts.
By George Banko
STAFF WRITER
Saturday, Sept. 20, The College at Brockport Golden Eagles women’s soccer team celebrated the 25th anniversary of their program. With the sidelines packed with fans and notable alumni, they did not disappoint. Brockport jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against SUNYAC rival Buffalo State, off a Jess VanAllen goal 11 minutes into the first half. From there, the Golden Eagles offense did not look back as Brockport scored two more goals by senior Ashley Broadhurst and sophomore Jessica Bush, which gave Brockport a 3-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, Brockport put their offense in neutral, but still maintained their strong defensive presence, shutting out the Bengals en route to their second win of the season. Brockport coach Joan Schockow, now in her 20th season, credited the team’s commitment to work ethic as the main reason for the win. “We had an amazing week in practice,” Schockow said. “We’re not used to losing the way we have been recently, and our girls showed a great amount of toughness all week long, and I think that carried over into the game.” The women’s soccer team has had their struggles early on in the season, dropping their last two games to opponents Nazareth and Walsh. “It’s a huge lift to get this win,” Schockow said. “On a day like today, against a division rival with so many people here, it’s a big positive for us.” Determination has always been a focal point in Schockow’s coaching philosophy. “I don’t like to talk about the things we do well and the things we don’t do well,” Schockow said. “The biggest thing is that we outwork the other team, if we can do that, then we feel that we can win any time.” Schockow’s statements have proven true. The Golden Eagles looked like the team from last year, out shooting their opponents 21-11 while committing few penalties and scoring with a variety of players.
The win for Brockport came on a special day. At halftime, there man by the name of Eugene Orbaker, who many consider the father of women’s soccer in Brockport.
“Eugene is a great man,” Schockow said. “When people say that he’s the biggest asset to the Brockport soccer program, it’s true. Eugene always supported the male soccer program here and with his support we were able to start the women’s program as well. I am glad we got to honor him today.”
Orbaker was a 1953 graduate of SUNY Brockport. He was named All American in soccer and served on the faculty from 1958 to 1995 in the department of physical education and sport.
The Brockport women’s soccer team will play two home games on Friday and Saturday against SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Plattsburgh. Game times are 4 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m on Saturday.
Mark Gottdenker says: "Gene is one of the classiest people I have had the privilege of knowing and working with at FV. His contributions to the Tokyo-FV sports program were amazing and should/need to be recognized."
