ALUMNI NEWS
Sam DeBone '64
Sam DeBone ’64 was a 2022 inductee into the Maryland Soccer Hall of Fame for his exceptional career at UMBC spanning more than 20 years. He was part of five NCAA appearances for the UMBC Retrievers and was a member of the 2014 Final Four Coaching Staff of the Year.
DeBone was credited with molding some of the best goalkeepers in UMBC history. He was also inducted into the inaugural class of the Walt Whitman High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. For 15 years, he coached club boys’ soccer, and his teams gained eight State Cup finals, winning five.
DeBone has been named Maryland State Coach of the Year twice and Montgomery County Coach of the Year four times. In 1994 he was named All South Region Coach of the Year. DeBone is also one of the founding fathers of Maryland Coaches of Soccer.
“My time at Frostburg was very important to me,” recalled DeBone. “I was very lucky to have been coached by a great gentleman in Ken Babcock. Also, I had great teammates in Roy Sigler '62, Butch Young '61, Roy Beard '64 and Dick Hesterberg '64, just to name a few.” DeBone continued, “I started my career in soccer at Frostburg, which is very late in life. I owe a great deal to Frostburg.”