Induction Ceremony Presentation Script

“Roger Levesque is one of the few soccer players from Maine to play at the professional level. He is best known for his 10-year professional career with the Seattle Sounders organization. His career began in 2003 when he was drafted by the San Jose Earthquakes, but he ultimately played his entire career with the Seattle Sounders. He played for the Seattle Sounders in the United Soccer League First Division, scoring 34 goals and leading the team to two USL First Division Championships. In 2009 he moved with the club to Major League Soccer with Seattle Sounders FC. The high point of his professional experience was scoring the winning goal in the 2009 U.S. Open Cup Final, propelling the Sounders to the first of three consecutive Open Cup Championships. Before becoming a Professional Player he attended Stanford University, where he was a 2001 and 2002 NCAA Division 1 All-American and the 2001 PAC 10 “Player of the Year”. In his teens while playing for Falmouth High School he led his high school team to two consecutive Class C State Championships. In his senior year he set the State Record with 106 career goals. After retiring in 2012, he continued to work with youngsters through youth clinics. His dedication to giving back included spending two months in Zimbabwe with the non-profit Grassroot Soccer. He secured his MBA from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and later became the Director of Outreach for the Seattle Sounders and is presently the Executive Director of Washington Youth Soccer.”

Bio

Roger Levesque is one of the few soccer players from Maine to play at the professional level during his soccer career. From 2009 – 2012 he played for the Seattle Sounders in the MLS. The high point of his professional experience occurred when he scored the winning goal in the 2009 U.S. Open Cup Final to propel the Sounders to their first of three consecutive Open Cup Championships. From 2004 – 2008 he played for the Seattle Sounders in the United Soccer League First Division, scoring 34 goals and leading the team to two USL First Division Championships during that stretch. In 2007 he helped Seattle win the Division Championship with a 4 – 0 over the Atlanta Silverbacks.

Similarly, while playing for Falmouth High School from 1995 – 1998 awards came in abundance from local high school coaches, the Maine Soccer Coaches, and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America:

• 2000 – Portland Press Herald Male Athlete of the Year
• 2000 – United States U-19 Regional Select Team
• 1998 – National Soccer Coaches Association of America All America (Maine’s One Selection)
• 1997, 1998 – National Soccer Coaches Association of America All New England (Maine’s Selection of Four)
• 1997 and 1998 – Maine’s Male Gatorade “Player of the Year”
• 1998 – Set State Record for Career Goals – 106
• 1996, 1997 – Falmouth High School Class C State Champions
• 1996, 1997 – Falmouth High School Class C Western Maine Champions
• 1996, 1997, 1998 – Maine Soccer Coaches Western Maine State Team
• 1996, 1997, 1998 – Maine Soccer Coaches Class C Western Maine Regional All-Star

In 2012 Roger retired from professional soccer, but he realized that giving back to the game of soccer was a noble pursuit. During his early years with the Sounders, he supplemented his income by doing youth clinics. Even after it was no longer an economic necessity, he continued to work with youngsters as a coach and was among the Sounders’ most eager community volunteers. That experience was part of what inspired him spend two months in Zimbabwe working with a nonprofit organization called Grassroot Soccer, whose mission is using the game as a way to promote HIV and AIDS education and prevention in Africa. He later became the Director of Outreach for the Seattle Sounders and presently is the Executive Director of Washington Youth Soccer, and during the last several years he has been working in business development in athletics and has secured his MBA from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington.