Steve Baumann ’70 Named WSA U-16 Coach
Last spring, the Westport Soccer Association U-15 team roared to the finals of the U-16 Connecticut Cup. Only a controversial penalty kick — in the final 2 minutes — gave Wethersfield the win.
Most of those players were on the Staples varsity or junior varsity this past fall. A year older, more experienced and confident, they’re ready to challenge again for that U-16 state crown.
And the WSA has added a superb high-level coach to help.
Steve Baumann — the new head coach — has a storied pedigree.
He’s a former soccer captain at Staples and All-American at the University of Pennsylvania. He is still Penn’s leading scorer — and in 2005 was named to Penn’s All-Century Team.
Steve played professionally for 3 years in the North American Soccer League, with the Miami Toros.
After his playing career ended, he coached Robinson High School in Virginia to the state championship match. For 6 years he was the head coach at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania.
Steve — who has always been an educator — is now the executive director of the Discovery Museum and Planetarium in Bridgeport. Prior to that, he led the Starfinder Foundation in Philadelphia, a youth development program for inner-city youngsters focused on soccer for social change and leadership beyond the game. During his tenure there he participated in Staples’ “High School and Academy Soccer” forum, providing an urban soccer perspective.
He also served as president of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum in Oneonta, executive director of Kidspace Children’s Museum in Pasadena, California, and led the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey.
Steve — who also starred in basketball and baseball at Staples — began his soccer career in the Westport Recreation League.
He holds a master’s in science education from the University of Virginia. He and his wife Karen — a Staples classmate and former cheerleader, and a longtime teacher — live in Fairfield.
Steve Baumann
Steve Baumann, in his professional days with the Miami Toros.
