Howard University Men's Soccer Program
In 1939, the Howard University men’s soccer team played the first interracial soccer game in the United States. The program became the first university to win both the NAIA and NCAA championship titles (NAIA – 1961; NCAA – 1971, 197 4 ). Howard is the first historically black college or university (HBCU) to win an NCAA soccer title (or any Division I national title).
Coach Phillip Gyau
Since 1998, Coach Gyau has placed more than 20 players on Youth National teams. He had 4 players in Residency in the same class( U17 National team). He has played in six National Championships and won four of them. 1990 APSL Champion, 1990 APSL MVP, US National team 1989-93. Gyau has several years of coaching experience. Coach in Bethesda soccer club since 1996, USA Beach soccer national team coach for 10 years, Head coach at Howard University. In 2007 and 2011, the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) named him Coach of the Year. In 2007, Gyau was inducted into the Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame.
Coach Lincoln Phillips
In 1967 at the Pan Am Games in Winnipeg Canada, Phillips led his national team to a Bronze medal and was recruited to play for the Baltimore Bays of the fledgling professional North American Soccer League (NASL} in 1968.The Bays folded at the end of the season and Phillips was transferred to the Washington Darts of the American Soccer League (ASL) as the Player Coach making him the “First” Black man to coach pro soccer team in the U.S .. Phillips, with 9 black starting players brought to DC its first major sports championship when he led the Darts to 2 ASL championships and a finalist in the NASL. He was named to the All-Star teams as a player and coach all three of his years at the helm of the team.
In 1970, at the age of 29, Coach Phillips became the Head Coach of Howard University soccer Program and led the team to two NCAA Championships making it the first time that any Historically Black College or University (HBCU) has ever won an NCAA championship in any sport. He ended his 10-year career at Howard with an impressive 116 wins, 17 losses and 20 ties.
Coach Phillips is also a graduate of Howard U with a Masters degree in Physical Education. He is married with four sons and five grandchildren. He is also the proud author of two books: Goalkeeping: The Last Line of Defense: the First line of Attack and Rising Above and Beyond the Crossbar: The Autobiography of Lincoln “Tiger” Phillips.
Coach Phillips’ fifty-five-year career ( 1968-2023) has yielded many hall of fame citations and developed numerous players and coaches who have gone on to lead very productive careers in the DC metropolitan area.
Coach Keith Tucker
For forty years Coach Keith Tucker has nurtured and grown the game of Soccer in the District of Columbia at every level from the Division 1 college to US coed recreational youth soccer.
Born in Bermuda, Coach Tucker came to the United States to attend Howard University as an undergraduate, and to play varsity soccer for the Division 1 Howard University Bison under Lincoln Phillips. In 1981, Coach Tucker became the Head Coach of Howard University’s Men’s Soccer where he remained for the following 27 seasons. In 1988, he was named Division 1 Men’s Coach of the year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Working with the DC Department of Parks and Recreation, Soccer ’94 and the US Soccer Foundation, Coach Tucker brought soccer programming to Recreation Centers in every ward in DC. At the club level, he coached and inspired a legendary group of young players, both boys and girls, at the Takoma DC Recreation field. As a result, most of these players went on to attend college and graduate school. Since 2011 Coach Tucker has continued to coach soccer for DC Scores and now with DC Eleven football club still based in Takoma recreation center alongside aforementioned proteges bringing his career full circle.
