Bobby Howe of Washington honored at Awards Gala in Baltimore
VIDEO: Watch Howe's acceptance speech
BALTIMORE (Jan. 15, 2016) — US Youth Soccer honored Bobby Howe, of Bellevue, Wash., as the recipient of the Dr. Thomas Fleck, US Youth Soccer Excellence in Coaching Education Award at the US Youth Soccer Awards Gala Friday in Baltimore. The Awards Gala was held in conjunction with the 2016 US Youth Soccer Workshop at the NSCAA Convention.
The Excellence in Youth Coaching Education award is also known as the Dr. Thomas Fleck award. It is designed to honor a lifetime of dedication where one has led with integrity, honor, humor and humility and has made extensive and far reaching contributions to the process by which youth soccer coaches are educated in America.
Hilary Kennedy, host of The US Youth Soccer Show, set the stage for the night as the master of ceremonies for the more than 1,000 in attendance. Boys and Girls Recreation and Competitive Coaches of the Year, Young Referees of the Year, Administrator of the Year, Volunteer of the Year, Goal and Save of the Year and the TOPSoccer Buddy and Coach of the Year were also presented during the Gala, and the US Youth Soccer Hall of Fame inductees were honored.
Howe, currently a director emeritus for Emerald City FC in Seattle, Wash., has devoted much of his life to the game of soccer as a player, coach and educator.
Howe was born in England, where he played professionally for West Ham United and AFC Bournemouth. He began his professional coaching career for Bournemouth’s youth teams and eventually worked as an assistant coach for the Seattle Sounders from 1977-83 and acted as the head coach of the Portland Timbers from 2000-05. In 2004, Howe was named the USL A-League Coach of the Year while helping the Timbers to a first-place finish in the Western Conference.
Howe was also an assistant coach for the U.S. Soccer Under-17 Men’s National Team from 1986-89, and he guided the U.S. Soccer Under-20 Men’s National Team as the head coach from 1989-93.
From 1984-96, Howe was the director of coaching for the Washington State Youth Soccer Association, and he was inducted as a member of the WSYSA Hall of Fame in 1995. He went on to hold the position of director of coaching for U.S. Soccer from 1996-2000.
Howe earned his FA Full Badge in 1968 and the USSF “A” License in 1985. Howe has been an author, co-author and contributor for numerous publications on coaching educations for soccer, and he was a presenter in the Let the Game be the Teacher videos for coaching youth soccer players ages 6-to-8 and 9-to-11.
He and his wife, Sheri, have two children, John and Kimberly, and four grandchildren: Ian, Evan, Olivia and Charlie.
Past winners:
2015 Dr. Lewis Atkinson - Dover, Del.
2014 Bob Gansler - Brookfield, Wisc.
2013 Bill Buren - Satellite Beach, Fla.
2012 Gary Allen - Manassas, Va.
2011 Jimmy Conway - Portland, Ore.
2010 Virgil Stringfield II - Orlando, Fla.
2009 Dr. David Carr - Barboursville, W.Va.
2008 James "Jay" Hoffman - Virginia Beach, Va.
2007 Dr. Ron Quinn - Cincinnati, Ohio
2006 Dean Conway - Jamaica Plain, Mass.
2005 Dr. Thomas Fleck - Philadelphia, Pa., Inaugural Recipient