FARMINGTON — The public is invited to a daytime field dedication and an evening celebration in honor of longtime University of Maine at Farmington and community soccer coach Robert Leib Saturday.
The University and UMF Athletics will dedicate the soccer field at Prescott Field to Coach Leib, Saturday at 1 p.m., between soccer alumni games. Stewart Durrell and Seth Woodcock, former UMF athletes and co-chairs of the Campaign for Leib Field, will speak at the dedication ceremony.
In addition, a festive celebration of Coach Leib’s career, including sentiments from former players and a video tribute, will take place at 7 p.m., in North Dining Hall in the Olsen Student Center. Both events are free and open to the public with the request that individuals interested in attending either event contact Lisa Gallant, at lisagall@maine.edu or 207-778-7090 or RSVP on the UMF Athletics website at www.goUMFbeavers.com.
Leib coached UMF men’s soccer from 1977 to 2001 and UMF women’s soccer from 1996 to 2007. The men’s soccer teams tallied a program-best 15 wins in 1982 and again in 1996. The 1986 men’s soccer team and the 2002 women’s soccer team both advanced to the NAIA National Tournament. In 2007 in his final season coaching women’s soccer, UMF went undefeated through North Atlantic Conference play with a 9-0-1 mark.
Leib also guided the UMF baseball (1978-88, 1990-93) and softball (1994-2008) teams, including a North Atlantic Conference and NCAA Division III Softball tournament berth in 2005.
From 1978 to 2007, Leib ran a summer sports camp, including mainly soccer and some baseball and basketball, for youngsters in the Farmington and neighboring communities. It is estimated that during the nearly 30 years they were held more than 2,700 area children participated in the camps.
His coaching resume includes 85 All-Conference selections, 34 All-State recipients, 29 All-NAIA District #5 players, 23 All-New England Region honorees, 17 All-Americans, 13 Academic All-Americans, and a nine-time Coach of the Year winner at the conference, state, and regional level.
For more information about the dedication to Coach Leib, please contact Dustin Parker, UMF director of athletics communications, at dustin.parker@maine.edu or 207-778-7535.
