UMKC Hall of Fame Spotlight - Larry Scheller
12/18/2008 11:00:00 AM | General, Athletics
by Elyssa Brogdon
Once Larry Scheller, a former forward on the UMKC soccer team, discovered the soccer ball it was all over for him; he had to play.
“I got started in soccer when I was really young, I'd say probably four or five, and there are pictures of me kicking a soccer ball well before that,” Scheller said.
While Scheller can't remember the exact age when he began kicking the ball around the pitch, the passion he had and still has for the sport will never escape his mind.
“I really enjoyed going out on the soccer field all the time, Scheller said. "It was really special and it's something that I'll never forget."
But not everything came easily for Scheller, and like all athletes he had to work for everything he was able to achieve.
“When I first got to UMKC I struggled a little bit,” Scheller said. “I wasn't getting too much playing time, but I continued to work hard, talked to family, and listened to my coaches.
“They really gave me support and talked me through it and let me know that I could play. They said I needed to work a little bit harder and by the end of the season, I was playing a lot more.”
The hard work paid off not just with playing time. Scheller was heavily lauded for an outstanding 2001 season as a College Soccer News all-American, a second team NSCAA all-Midwest Region and a first team all-Mid-Con selection. He was also chosen as the Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year.
All of these accolades helped him make his mark in Kangaroo soccer, along with UMKC Athletics history as a whole. As a result, Scheller was named as a member of the inaugural class of the UMKC Athletics Hall of Fame.
“It feels pretty good,” Scheller said of being inducted. “I think it is a pretty neat program they are putting together, it's really exciting.”
Scheller was a junior college transfer who was lured to UMKC by the words of head soccer coach Rick Benben.
“I really liked what Coach Benben said, what his beliefs in soccer were and what he could offer,” Scheller recalled. “I really think I learned a lot from him and Coach Schlichting while I was at UMKC.”
Upon graduation, Scheller put up his playing cleats and picked up a whistle, as he is now a soccer and basketball coach as well as a biology teacher at Francis Howell North High School in St. Charles, Mo. He teaches his players what his former coaches taught him about athletics, and a few life lessons lessons along the way.
“Every team that you play for you take something away from," said Scheller. "You need to cherish the time you have with all of your teammates because you take different pieces of the team with you everywhere you go."
(This is the fourth of a nine-part series featuring the inaugural UMKC Athletics Hall of Fame class.)
Hall of Fame Features
- Bill Frerking - Men's Basketball- Katie Houlehan - Women's Basketball- Robert Russell - Men's Golf