Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

DES MOINES, Iowa (June 8, 2005) – On June 11th, the Iowa Soccer Association will induct its inaugural Hall of Fame class in a ceremony at The Suites of 800 Locust. The tribute continues later that evening at the Des Moines Menace soccer game at Waukee Stadium, where the honorees will be introduced at halftime of the 7:30pm match.

Being recognized for their numerous achievements, accomplishments and contributions to soccer in the state of Iowa are: Ramona Barber, Harry Berting, Jim Cownie, Bonnie Larson, Aaron Leventhal, Michael Nemmers, David Proctor and Bob Wood.

Ramona Barber
Barber started as a soccer mom in Omaha and has since founded three pioneering soccer ventures. In 1990, she launched and presided over the Iowa United Soccer Club, establishing a higher-level option for both competitive players and professional coaches alike. Four years later, Barber started “CollegeInfo” a soccer-specialty service for student-athletes seeking guidance in selecting a college. She may be best known as the Founder and Director of the “College Search Kickoff” (CSK). The CSK has evolved into the Midwest’s premier showcase at which high school senior players can be seen and evaluated by several-hundred college coaches during the four-day event.

Harry Berting
A longtime youth coach wherever he has lived, Berting’s mark on Iowa soccer was made as an administrative leader. In conjunction with the West Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department in 1974, he started the 10-team West Des Moines Junior Soccer League. In year two of the project, he helped the program expand to the Greater Des Moines area, which eventually included eight clubs and over 250 teams and became the Greater Des Moines Junior Soccer League. From 1975-1980, he served as the League’s president. Following that leadership role, he founded and led both the Iowa State Youth Soccer Association (ISYSA) from 1980-83 and the Iowa State Senior Soccer Association from 1981-83.

Jim Cownie
Cownie’s influence can be both felt and seen in the Greater Des Moines area. Through his philanthropic efforts, he has focused on projects that improve Iowa’s environment and provide recreational options for its citizens. Cownie led a major project that youth and adult players and teams from across the state have benefited from. Thanks to his fundraising efforts and personal financial commitment, hundreds of youth and adult teams are drawn to the James W. Cownie Soccer Park in Des Moines every year. Named in honor of Cownie’s late father, the facility features 12 fields, two with lights, and has a stadium which seats 1,000 spectators. In 2006, Cownie Soccer Park will be the site of the US Youth Soccer National Championships.

Bonnie Larson
A familiar behind-the-scenes presence, Larson’s reach exceeds her Urbandale roots. In 1977 she was a founding member of the Urbandale Soccer Club and still serves on its Board. Since that time, she has coached youth teams of all ages. Larson is also a certified referee instructor, assessor and assignor, instructing and mentoring hundreds of new referees. She serves on the Board of the Greater Des Moines Junior Soccer League as Referee Director and is on the Mid-Iowa Soccer Officials Association Board. Larson continues to assign referees to Iowa Premier Soccer League games, the Just for Girls, Urbandale, Iowa State Cup and College Search Kickoff tournaments, as well as area high school games.

Aaron Leventhal
An All-Missouri Valley Conference selection and four-year starter for Drake University, the homegrown Leventhal built an impressive resume leading up to and following his collegiate career. He played with the Urbandale Soccer Club, eventually joining the Premier team and doing extensive travel as a youth player. As a member of Iowa’s Olympic Development (ODP) team, Leventhal was in the Region II team pool three times, once being named as a team alternate. He continued his exploits at Urbandale High School where he was named team Most Valuable Player (MVP) four times, and at the competitive Indiana University Soccer Camp, where he was named camp MVP. For seven seasons following college Leventhal played professionally with the United Soccer League’s Minnesota Thunder.

Michael S. Nemmers
Nemmers has influenced the game in an administrative capacity. While starting out as a coach for his children's teams, he eventually became a member of the West Des Moines Soccer Club Board. He served as the Iowa Soccer Association (ISA) President from 1990-93 and again from 1996-2001, with a year between tenures spent as ISA Vice President. In 1993, Nemmers chaired the United States Soccer Federation’s (USSF) Risk-Management Committee. Since that time, he has also been a member of US Youth Soccer’s Risk-Management Committee. Nemmers holds a "D" coaching license from the USSF.

David Proctor
Proctor became involved in soccer first as a parent and then coach of a youth player. In the early 1980’s, he became the Secretary for what was then the Iowa State Youth Soccer Association (ISYSA). A devoted Board member who traveled the state to attend countless meetings, his charge in that role was to take and distribute meeting minutes, which he did meticulously. Proctor’s motivation was to make sure every child in Iowa had the opportunity to play recreational soccer in their community.

Bob Wood
Wood began coaching a U10 team for Soccer West Soccer Club in the late 1970’s, eventually earning USSF and Brazilian Futebol coaching credentials. In the mid-80’s he started the U16 and U19 Iowa Olympic Development girls' teams and coached Soccer West and West Des Moines U19 boys' club teams to state championships. He established the men’s program at Grand View College, winning the District and being named District Coach of the Year in the first season (’83). After a winning stint at Valley High School and being named ISYSA’s Coach of the Year in 1985, Wood was tabbed to lead Iowa’s first Division I men’s program at Drake University. As the Bulldogs’ coach he was voted Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 1994 and had an All-American go on to start in the MLS.

#IOWA SOCCER#

About the Iowa Soccer Association – Over 33,000 youth and 2,000 adult players are registered with the Iowa Soccer Association. The purpose of the ISA is to further and promote the sport of soccer through organization, training, and education; to aid, administer, assist and teach the sport of soccer for pleasure, recreational and other nonprofitable purposes to and for the citizens of the State of Iowa; to organize soccer teams to compete and participate in soccer; and to promote the sport of soccer through the establishment and development of soccer programs. IOWA SOCCER ASSOCIATION: Education, Development, Competition, Sportsmanship

www.iowasoccer.org