User:Vchimpanzee/Nick Lefko

Nicholas Eric "Nick" Lefko was a coach and physical education teacher at Pfeiffer College in Misenheimer, North Carolina from 1939 to 1979. He is credited with making soccer a popular sport on the college level and was named to the NAIA Soccer Hall of Fame for "meritorious service" in 1979.

After graduating from Pfeiffer Junior College and receiving a Bachelor of Physical Education from American College of Health and Physical Education in Chicago, he returned to Pfeiffer to teach and coach different sports. Lefko also served as the college's first athletic director.

In 1957 soccer began at Pfeiffer, and Lefko encouraged other colleges to start soccer programs. At first Pfeiffer had so few opponents that the college played some teams twice.

Lefko was named to the NAIA Sports Hall of Fame in 1979. N.E. Lefko Field, used by the men's and women's soccer teams, was named for him in 1994.