Ted Woodbrey’s passion for soccer was reflected in his play during his time at the University of Maine.
“I think he had a good time and he loved the sport,” said Woodbrey’s mother, Helen. “He was a very good soccer player and he enjoyed it.”
The late Woodbrey, a four-year letter winner for the Black Bears who graduated in 1976, will be posthumously inducted into UMaine’s Sports Hall of Fame on Friday.
Fellow inductees include football standout Jake Eaton, field hockey player Margaret Henrick, baseball player Andrew Hartung, track and field standout Johanna Riley Evans, and wrestler and longtime sportswriter and coach Bob McPhee.
Woodbrey, who died in 2009 at age 54, got his introduction to the game as a youth growing up in Gorham, and played four years of high school soccer for the Rams before going to UMaine.
A two-time All-New England selection, Woodbrey was the only player in the history of UMaine’s men’s soccer program to garner All-Yankee Conference honors on two occasions.
Woodbrey led the Black Bears in scoring during three of his four seasons, and he is also in Gorham High’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
He also played basketball and baseball in high school, and the Rams garnered a pair of state championships in 1970 and 1971.
Woodbrey’s family has quite a history at UMaine. His father, Ed Woodbrey, and uncles Vic and Hank, all played baseball at the school. His uncles played basketball, too.
The University honored the Woodbrey family with the UMaine Alumni Association Fogler Legacy Award last year.
“His father would be so proud of him,” said Helen Woodbrey, who also noted her son would be very happy with the honor of being inducted into UMaine’s Sports Hall of Fame.
Helen also said that even though the family lived two hours from campus in Gorham, they attended as many of Ted’s games as they could.
In 2009, UMaine suspended its men’s soccer program, along with its women’s volleyball program, as part of an effort to cut the school’s budget by nearly $9 million.
Tickets to Friday’s hall ceremony are on sale now and are $50 per person, $25 for children 10 and under. The evening starts with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m, followed by dinner at 7 p.m.
Tickets can be ordered online. Names will be placed on a guest list at the door.
Follow Ryan McLaughlin on Twitter at rmclaughlin23.
