It was a special weekend for West Virginia Wesleyan men’s soccer as the program held its All-Years Soccer Reunion on Friday, April 16 through Sunday, April 18. The three-day reunion attracted over 100 former players from as far back as 1963. Among the guests were former head coaches George Klebez, Tom Martin and Derrick Leeson as well as current head coach Gavin Donaldson.
The event began on Friday with a golf outing at Riverbend Golf Course. Following the outing, there was an alumni dinner and reception for all guests in attendance. The MC for the dinner was Ken Klenk from the Class of 1985. On Saturday, the alumni participated in six-on-six games and held a cook-out prior to the current team’s Spring game with Alderson-Broaddus.
“It was outstanding for all of the guys to make an effort to come back from all over the country and the world,” head coach Gavin Donaldson said. “It meant a lot to everyone involved and it really was a tremendous event.”
As an illustration to the importance of the event Dr. Maurice Soremekun, from the Class of 1963 and one of the founding members of the Wesleyan men’s soccer club program, made it a priority to drive down from his Cleveland home to be in attendance at Friday’s banquet. Soremekun left Cleveland after performing surgery on Friday afternoon, made it to the banquet in time to speak to the alumni, and then returned home the same night following the dinner to visit with patients on Saturday morning.
“The fact that Dr. Soremekun found it necessary to drive down from Cleveland just to be a part of the dinner shows how much our alumni care about this program,” Donaldson commented. “In addition to Dr. Soremekun, we had players fly in from as far as England, Norway Japan, and the Caribbean just to name a few.”
The event was also held as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the 1984 and 1985 National Championship teams. Many members from both teams were in attendance and were presented with a scarf bearing a replica of the National Championship banners on one side and the men’s soccer badge on the other.
“We felt that it was important to recognize the members of the 1984 and 1985 teams for their accomplishments and all that they have done for Wesleyan,” added Donaldson. “It was really a special moment and something that these guys will never forget.”
To cap off the weekend, the current Wesleyan team took to the field to battle long-time rival Alderson-Broaddus in a home Spring match. Though the game resulted in a 0-0 tie, it was not the score that mattered.
“The game provided an opportunity for our current guys to play in front of the alums,” said Donaldson. “It added to the overall event and was really a nice way to build that connection between the current team and teams of the past.
This was one of the neatest things that I have seen in a long time. I challenge every team to hold a reunion of this size and scale at some point in the future. I believe it was a great success for the College as a whole.”