Black soccer coaches are very rare in the world’s most popular sport. Especially true in U.S. college soccer.
Brent Leiba in his 15th season at Howard, achieved a historic trifecta in a remarkable season just completed. He was among seven Bison receiving Northeast Conference (NEC) individual season honors with the 2024 NEC Coach of the Year, led the team to its first NEC regular season crown (8-1-1) and won the league tournament as the top seed, then reached the NCAAs for the fourth time.
Although HU’s season ended in a first round loss to No. 1 Duke, the Bison finished 11-5-5.
The other Bison honored: Rachel Suttle (Defensive Player of the Year), Samantha James (Midfielder of the Year), Trinity Knox (Goalfielder of the Year), Gabriella Garcia-Terrell (Rookie of the Year), and seniors Melea Earley and Zoe Moore both named second-team All-NEC.
Melea Earley’s story
Earley, the 5-3 forward from La Mirida, Calif. grew up seemingly destined one day to head east and attend Howard, the school her father also attended and graduated from. She remembers wearing a HU sweater when she was five or six.
“Being here at Howard has allowed me to broaden my horizons, think critically, enjoy positive experiences, advocate for myself and be independent while keeping myself accountable,” said Earley to Rob Knox, Howard Athletics consultant. “My dad is proud that he got one of his kids to attend Howard. I saw the lifelong connections that my dad made at Howard.
“I trusted where God was going to put me. The transition was difficult initially but now I love it here,” reaffirmed Earley, who have a passion of making a difference in the lives of others and is active in several campus activities and organizations.
She is Howard’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president, a member of the Reformed University Fellowship Bible Study, and volunteers with Grassroots Health, an organization that relies on collegiate athletes to educate middle school students on nutritional, sexual and mental health.
On the field, Earley scored four goals but her contributions on the team goes beyond the stat sheet as team captain, using her role to find her voice and unite the Bison.
The environmental science major, minoring in sociology and policy work, Earley said she wants to be a future global influencer. “I want to see where that takes me,” she pointed out. “I am interested in the environment, especially regarding climate change and its impact on nature. Now, I want to take that next step in terms of the environmental changes I can make.”
Finally …
Brooklyn Park, Minn. native Joshua Strong had a career-high 15 points and combined with senior guard Marcus Dockery, who had a game-high 23 points, for 22 of the team’s points in the first half en route to Howard’s first win of the season, a 91-73 non-conference triumph over Dilliard (La.) on Nov. 11.
Dockery, a returning member of Howard’s back-to-back MEAC Tournament title teams and Strong, who is the only Division I basketball player in law school, helped led a balanced attack with 10 players scoring, and four in double figures.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.