Publication Date: 02/03/2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Saturday, January 31, the Wheaton Park District honored longtime soccer coach Jerry Fajkus with an indoor turf field dedication and naming at Central Athletic Center on Naperville Road in Wheaton.

Mr. Fajkus, aka Jerry “Champion” Fajkus, has had a huge impact on the Wheaton Park District’s soccer program during the past 40 years. He moved from the Czechoslovakia to the United States in 1956. In 1973, he started the Wheaton Park District’s indoor and outdoor soccer program when no such program was available anywhere else in DuPage County. “I was trying to keep the kids out of trouble. That’s why I began the program,” said Mr. Fajkus.

The impact he’s had on those kids has been broadly successful: After years of coaching both boys’ and girls’ soccer in Wheaton and building a successful soccer program from the ground up, he was asked to catalyze similar programs in Naperville, Batavia, Geneva, and Saint Charles.

Furthermore, Mr. Fajkus started Wheaton’s first travel team for girls in 1975 (the Wheaton Rebels). This team went on to represent the state of Illinois in the prestigious “Robbie Tournament” in Ontario. Jerry’s students and players now can be found still involved in soccer all over the world.

All of these tangible successes combine to create one significant gift Mr. Fajkus has given to our community: a love for soccer. “When I got to [the United States],” says Jerry, “not a lot of people knew how to play soccer.” Now, of course, the Wheaton Park District welcomes over 2,500 soccer players through programming and leagues each year, a direct and obvious result of Jerry’s influence.

For a video of Jerry Fajkus’ dedication, visit You Tube here.