Gary Hall inducted into N.C. Soccer Hall of Fame

January 27, 2008

GREENSBORO – Gary W. Hall put North Carolina high school soccer players first on his recruiting lists for 23 years as a college head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne, Campbell and Barton.

On Saturday night in the Koury Convention Center, that unfailing allegiance to his home state’s talent, his passion for the development of young players and a lifetime of devotion to the sport earned him an induction into the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame.

Enshrined alongside Hall were Mia Hamm, easily the most decorated women’s soccer player in the history of the sport, and Paul M. James III, a referee of 30-plus years and 25-year member of the N.C. Youth Soccer Association board. N.C. Hall of Famer and legendary University of North Carolina women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance accepted on behalf of Hamm, already a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Membership in the N.C. Soccer Hall of Fame, which began in 1997, rose to 32. Fourteen of the Hall’s members are native North Carolinians.

“Thank you to the Hall of Fame selection committee,” Hall, a Winston-Salem native, said as he was concluding his remarks. “I am so proud to join this elite group. It is special because it includes so many friends and colleagues. Also, I offer my congratulations to Mia Hamm and Paul James. Soccer is a team sport. I have been blessed to share my journey with so many wonderful people in North Carolina. Thank You.”

Hall, who was introduced by long-time friend and former Atlantic Christian College teammate Rhine Sharp, started his ascent up the soccer ladder at Kernersville Wesleyan Academy, where he and his teammates only lost five games during his career. He was a two-time All-Dixie Conference performer and MVP at Methodist College, then transferred to Atlantic Christian (now Barton), where he served as captain for teams that won the school’s first NAIA Carolinas Conference championship in 1978 and first District 26 Championship in 1979. Hall, who was primarily a central defender at AC, was the Bulldogs’ MVP as a junior and the school’s Male Athlete of the Year as a senior.

He graduated magna cum laude with majors in English and Physical Education in 1980 and completed his Master of Arts in Sports Psychology at Wake Forest in 1981.

Hall served as an assistant coach at Wake Forest from 1980-83, then as head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne from 1984-86. He spent the next two years as head coach at Campbell University, leading the Camels to a 17-3 record and No. 14 national ranking in 1988, when they won the conference championship. In 1989, Hall was persuaded by Atlantic Christian College President Jim Hemby, trustee Bobby Dunn and Sharp to return to his alma mater as head men’s soccer coach and director of athletics.

“If you live in Wilson, you know that you cannot get by with telling Jim Hemby, Bobby Dunn and Rhine Sharp “no” about anything,” Hall told the audience of some 250 people. “With prayerful consideration, I reached one of the biggest decisions of my life…and decided I would take a leap of faith and return to Wilson. I had a sense that in following this calling, that something special was in store for me.”

Something special was in store for the Wilson soccer scene as well.

Not only did Hall lead his alma mater to conference titles in 1991, ’93 and ’98, he was also instrumental in impacting the lives of thousands of youngsters through clinics and summer camps, as Director of Coaching for the Wilson Youth Soccer Association for 15 years and as a member of the Board of Directors for the highly successful Brittany Willis Memorial Soccer Showcase at Gillette Park.

Hall retired from coaching men’s soccer at Barton after the 2006-07 season, but still serves as the school’s director of athletics. He finished his coaching career with a 188-176-35 record, ranking him 33rd nationally for career wins among NCAA D-II coaches, and coached seven players that continued their soccer careers professionally. He led Barton squads that, as promised, were comprised primarily of North Carolina residents, to 11 winning seasons over a 12-year period.

“Aside from his astonishing record as a coach, coaching numerous All-Americans, being named Coach of the Year many times over and winning championships, I think that Gary (the professor, as we affectionately called him), would be most proud of the fact that every senior that went through his program graduated, and that 70 percent were Dean’s List,” Sharp said. “They are now doctors, lawyers, ministers, teachers, coaches and businessmen…all of whom have been touched by Gary. They will continue on in the tradition of a long line of young men who will rise to the standards that this man has set before them.”

Upon his return to Wilson in 1989, Hall became reacquainted with Jean Daughtrey, who returned to AC that same year to finish her degree. They were married a year later and have two children, Andrew and Ashley.

“The three of them inspire and uplift me every day, and I thank them for doing so,” Hall said.

Both Sharp and Hall saluted the coach’s parents, Wayne and Sue Hall.

“When we were at AC,” Sharp recalled, “there was never a game that Mr. and Mrs. Hall were not there, and they continued that through Gary’s coaching career.”

Hall thanked some 40 family members, colleagues, former players and teammates who were present to watch him be inducted.

With his voice breaking up, Hall recognized his sister, Dr. Betty Jean Crosby, for all her support over the years, and “my mother, Sue Hall, who now lives with us in Wilson and has been there for anything I have ever needed. Then, there’s my father, Wayne Hall, deceased just under three years ago. His physical presence is missed here tonight, but what he invested in me and others will never be lost.”

Neither will the contributions of Gary W. Hall to the Wilson soccer landscape.

As Sharp said in concluding his remarks: “Yes, Gary has retired from college coaching, but he continues to teach young kids this wonderful game through his involvement with the Wilson Youth Soccer Association. What a blessing for Wilson!”

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