WPIAL inducts several local stars into Hall of Fame
Chartiers Valley's Anderson gets call
When George Anderson signed on as a member of the WPIAL’s soccer committee in 1967, the sport wasn’t that popular. In fact, there were only eight sanctioned teams in the entire district. At that time, the WPIAL champion was determined by season record and there were no playoffs.
“Soccer didn’t catch on because it didn’t have professional teams here until the Pittsburgh Spirit,” Anderson said, “and also it had to share the field with football and everybody knows that football has always been king in this area.”
Despite those obstacles, Anderson worked together with then WPIAL executive director Charles “Ace” Heberling to initiate a playoff system and entice more member schools to begin programs. They promoted soccer as a friendly addition to a school’s budget.
“Buy a pair of shorts. Buy a T-shirt. Put a number on it. Get some soccer balls and a net and you could play the sport relatively inexpensively,” Anderson said. “So we sold that to a lot of schools because the expense of soccer was relatively cheap.”
Under Anderson’s leadership as chairman of the soccer committee from 1975 through 2017, the sport expanded to 108 boys soccer teams and nearly that many girls programs.
“I was on the ground floor and watched it develop,” said Anderson, who coached soccer at Chartiers Valley High School where he also taught for 35 years. “It’s been a real pleasure to serve on the WPIAL soccer committee.”
Anderson remains proud of his accomplishments. In addition to instituting the sudden-death rules, he championed girls soccer and helped coordinate the changes from a spring activity to a fall game, complete with state championships.
“The nicest thing was that we got girls’ soccer in there and that was really important to me,” he said. “We also got the season changed. We were able to pry the state into playing in the fall their playoffs and combining them with the boys and it really made the sport and the championships great. We have some really good talent.
“And while I’m kind of embarrassed to be among all these great athletes, I am very, very proud to be inducted into the Hall because I feel our committee has accomplished much,” Anderson added.
https://thealmanac.net/sports/wpial-inducts-several-local-stars-into-hall-of-fame/article_c462a0d4-86d8-11e9-8dd0-df519b426a95.html
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