A native of Oceanside, N.Y., Arthur R. Wright ’50 started the high school boys’ soccer program there and built it into a perennial Long Island powerhouse during his 27-year coaching career.
From 1953 until his retirement in 1980, Wright was one of the most respected, successful and influential high school soccer coaches on Long Island. His teams had a combined 315-80-40 record, won 18 divisional titles, 11 South Shore Athletic League crowns, 11 Nassau County and four Long Island championships. These figures are all the more impressive because Long Island did not offer championships for 14 years of Wright’s coaching career.
Between 1968-73, Wright’s Oceanside squads won every Nassau County title and a trio of Long Island championships. His undefeated 1973 unit outscored its opposition 99-4. In 1970, he received the New York State Coaches Honor Award.
A three-time president of the Nassau County Soccer Coaches Association, Wright is remembered for being an exceptional teacher of fundamentals and tactics who emphasized the highest ethical standards among his players.
Wright was an all-county basketball player and championship football competitor at Oceanside High School in the early 1940's. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served aboard the USS Massachusetts in the Pacific for two years.
In 1946, Wright enrolled in physical education at Cortland. He played soccer for T. Fred “Prof” Holloway and was an All-New York State selection in 1947, 1948 and 1949. He played football as a freshman and basketball for two seasons. He was the recording secretary for the Delta Kappa fraternity.
After earning his Cortland degree in 1950, Wright taught in the Oceanside Elementary School, where he started soccer and basketball programs for fifth and sixth graders that would become the foundation for the district’s future success. He was also one of the co-founders of the Oceanside Little League program that became a model for other communities.
In addition to coaching soccer, Wright was the freshman and junior varsity basketball coach for 27 years at Oceanside High, where he also helped direct the junior high track and baseball teams.
The community’s respect for Wright, who was inducted into the Oceanside High School Sports Hall of Fame, can be further measured by his inclusion among the charter inductees into Oceanside High’s Circle of Pride. The members include NBA star Ernie Vanderweigh, who played alongside Wright at Oceanside High, and NCAA Player of the Year Art Heyman, who Wright coached as an Oceanside athlete.
Wright died on Feb. 1, 2005, at the age of 78. He is survived by his daughter, Jeryl Israel. He was pre-deceased by his wife, Dorothy, and stepson, Fearing Ames.
