DISTRICT NEWS & PR |
Teacher recognized for her time on SIUE's soccer team
October 22, 2008
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David Sudholt
Collinsville Herald
October 22, 2008 |
Deana Wallace inducted into hall of fame this week.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has a new hall-of-famer, and she's one of Collinsville's own.
Deana Wallace was inducted Saturday into the SIUE Hall of Fame for her time with the university women's soccer team during from 1984 to 1988.
"It was wonderful," she said. "I had great experiences, fond memories of SIUE."
Wallace is now a teacher at Dorris Intermediate School in Collinsville, where she coaches boys and girls basketball. She was the head coach for Collinsville High School's girl's soccer team for 18 years before retiring in 2006.
Wallace's time spent on SIUE's women's soccer team helped fire up an interest in her for a career in school athletics, she said.
"Basically, going through their soccer program made me think about teaching," she said.
While a student at SIUE, Wallace received a full scholarship covering her tuition because of her performances on the soccer field. Such scholarships were uncommon at the time, she said.
She had 10 career game-winning goals, with 38 total goals and 28 assists while on the field. She broke nearly every record the school had at the time, including becoming the first player to record more than 100 shots against the goal in a single season.
Wallace said that her favorite memory of playing for the Cougars was a game against University of Missouri-St. Louis, when they were up by one as the other team made a push to tie the game.
"My teammates gave me the ball and I got it around the goal keeper. She was able to keep me out but I still scored anyway," she said.
Her colleagues agreed that she had a great deal to offer her students with her experiences.
"I feel our kids need to know that they can have a good role model in their life like Deana," said Sara Doherty, a fifth-grade teacher at DIS.
Wallace received a plaque from SIUE.
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