PHILADELPHIA – Announcements came by email on Tuesday, August 30 from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame. Included in the list of inductees and award winners was one of our very own, Werner Fricker III who will be receiving the Paul Stilley/Little Club Administrator of the Year Award.
The full list of inductees for the class of 2022 and other award winners is available at sepasoccerhall.com
The Hall of Fame is celebrating its 75th Anniversary this year having been founded in 1947 as the Philadelphia Oldtimers Soccer Association.
The award Fricker III will be receiving is named for Paul Stilley and Little Club. Stilley was a player, a coach and an administrator in the game in Eastern Pennsylvania and is associated with clubs like Kensington Hearts, Midway, Lighthouse, Fox Roc, Fox Chase and of course Little Club. He held many positions within the United Soccer League of Pennsylvania and was president of the league at the time of his passing in 2006. He was also over the years honored with a variety of awards from the SEPA Hall of Fame including induction in 1997. He was inducted into the Eastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame in 2017.
Werner Fricker III, began as a staff assistant for our club Major Team in 2007. By 2009 he was named General Manager a title he holds to this date. Over his administrative career in soccer at our club Fricker III has been the Adult Program Coordinator, the Facility and Fields Schedule Coordinator and chaired the hosting of the National Donauschwaben Tournaments in 2011 and 2018. In 2014 he was named the Assistant to the National Sports Director of the Landesverband der Donauschwaben. He has also served on the US Adult Soccer Association Elite Amateur Leagues Committee and the Standards Committee.
In 2008 he served the United Soccer League of Pennsylvania as a Trustee. The next year 2009 he was elected General Secretary and served in that role until 2016. In 2016 Fricker III was elected President of the League and still holds the position to date. Within the USLPA his accomplishments are many but include expanding the divisions and teams within the league (Major, Women, Major II, Over-30, and Under-23). He has expanded the use of technology to aid the administration and visibility of the amateur game utilizing online registration and social media. He has also worked with referees and their administrators to resolve issues as well as recruit, train and retain referees in our state. Perhaps most importantly Fricker has recruited more young men and women to be administrators in the league and the game.
The United German Hungarians were proud to nominate Werner Fricker III for this award and are happy and excited to see that the Hall of Fame accepted the nomination! SEPA has always been at the forefront of recognizing the men and women in our area for their work and play in our great amateur game.
The submission to nominate Werner for this award included the below facts which are the true and immediate reason we know he is the Administrator of the Year:
Fricker held the United Soccer League together through the disaster of COVID-19 juggling the role of President along with that of Games Commissioner. In the period from 2020 through the present, all elite amateur soccer played in Eastern Pennsylvania was played because of Werner Fricker III.
With shortages in referees, Fricker has worked tirelessly with clubs, referees, assignor, and field managers to get as many USLPA League, and State Cup matches played as possible.
Congratulations Werner! Thank you for all you do for the German Hungarians, the United Soccer League of Pennsylvania, its clubs, teams, referees, and players, and for the game of soccer itself.
The 75th Anniversary Banquet will take place on Saturday, October 15 from 5pm to 10pm at the Cannstatter V.V. Tickets are $50. (Includes dinner and beer, wine, soda). Any member of our club wishing to attend with our group can contact Steve Paul (spaul@delucahomes.com) to reserve.
The above downloadable spreadsheet lists individuals inducted into the Southeastern Pennsylvania Soccer Hall of Fame who have played, coached, refereed, or managed soccer programs at the German Hungarians or have been members of the United German Hungarians.
