Walter Bahr

The late Walt Chyzowych, one of the Philadelphia area's most prominent coaches in recent decades, was inducted last week into the Hall of Fame of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. He was one of two coaches, both with Eastern Pennsylvania connections, inducted at the NSCAA's annual convention in Nashville. The other was Ray Buss, coach for several decades at Fleetwood High School in Berks County. Chyzowych had a 122-37-14 record in his 10 seasons as coach of Philadelphia Textile.

Walt Chyzowych, a former all-America soccer player at Temple University and coach of Philadelphia Textile and the United States national team, died yesterday after collapsing during a tennis match in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he coached the Wake Forest soccer team. Mr. Chyzowych, 57, died of an apparent heart attack. He was pronounced dead at North Carolina Baptist Hospital about an hour after collapsing on the Wake Forest campus. Mr. Chyzowych had been at Wake Forest since 1986.

Just one reminder of soccer remains at what was once the crossroads of the sport in Philadelphia: the vast Lighthouse Boys Club fields at Front Street and Erie Avenue in Kensington. In the far corner, right up against a cemetery, are some stone bleachers. In their day, they could have held a few hundred people. But the last five rows have buckled and collapsed, and a huge tree is growing right through the middle of the stands. A fence surrounds the whole thing, but even the fence has holes big enough to walk through.

Bob Gansler, the head coach of the first American World Cup soccer squad in 40 years, described it as "the sporting challenge of our lives. " The players all talk with confidence as they approach Sunday's game with Czechoslovakia (TNT coverage begins at 10:55 a.m. EDT) in the Stadio Comunale. "Going into that last game (June 19 with Austria), we won't need a win to reach the second round," forward Peter Vermes said. That's open to several interpretations. Some say this team's World Cup visit will be as good as over after two games, or a tie's as good as a win, which is what the first round of the World Cup is all about.

Walter Bahr has finally gotten his name back. For years, it was Walter Bahr, father of Chris and Matt, the Penn State and NFL placekickers. His sons' names were always attached, like a tail to a kite. Now he is simply Walter Bahr again. In 1950, a kick by Bahr produced the biggest upset in World Cup history. Some call it the biggest upset in the history of soccer. Given the placid surface of soccer in this country, that 1-0 victory over England hardly caused a ripple in the United States.

Ernest Adolph was the first, but about 150,000 Philadelphians have followed him through the doors of Northeast High School during the past 100 years. Because his last name started with "A," 13-year-old Ernie was the first student registered in September 1890 when Northeast Manual Training School opened its doors on Girard Avenue near Howard Street. The school's name eventually was changed to Northeast High School, and it moved twice. And during a century of existence it built a rah-rah tradition, a loyalty and devotion among graduates that few schools anywhere can match.