O'Shea earns soccer hall of fame designation

Just over three years after celebrating his 50th high school reunion as a Ryken High School alum, Tom O’Shea had another milestone moment in his life when the former Knights soccer star was inducted into the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame for his seasons at East Carolina University and his contributions to the sport beyond college.

O’Shea, who only recently sold his private consulting firm, became a part of the East Carolina University Hall of Fame when he was inducted in a ceremony at the North Carolina school last month.

O’Shea reflected on his playing days at Ryken when he was part of a small senior class before the school merged with neighboring St. Mary’s Academy to become the current St. Mary’s Ryken High School.

“Back when I was a student at Ryken, it was a very small school with a graduating class of only 42,” O’Shea said. “Our boys soccer team was very good, but we had to travel quite a bit to face good competition. But it was a special group of guys. When we had our 50th class reunion [in 2021] we had a lot of good memories to share.”

In his senior season at Ryken in 1970, O’Shea was the leading scorer for the Knights and part of a talented team that included goalie Tom Surface, wing Jim Braun, halfback Kevin Fleming and fullback Raymond Spicer. Their coach was Brother Romuald Stuedle who proved to be influential on O’Shea in numerous aspects of his life as a student-athlete at Ryken.

“I should emphasize how totally important Brother Romuald was in my life,” O’Shea said. “He was my soccer coach, pole vault coach and also my physics teacher. He helped me understand the art of heading by understanding how to bisect the angles. He was an extraordinary, intelligent, quiet, wise and influential person in the lives of many.”

One of six honorees for the 2023 North Carolina Hall of Fame class, O’Shea was not only recognized as an outstanding player at East Carolina, he was also instrumental in the building, development and leadership of the North Carolina Soccer League, a founder, manager and player of North Carolina Adult Soccer teams, a U.S. Veterans Cup regional and national leader with sponsorship roles with the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association as well as Greensboro United, which has won national championships in the over-40, over-50, over-55 and over-60 age groups since 1990.