Raymond Paul "Ray" Beckman (June 30, 1925 – July 13, 2011) was an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who was a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic soccer team. He also earned two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the U.S. national team that year. Born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, Beckman joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He served as an electrician aboard the hospital ship USS Comfort, and survived a 1945 kamikaze attack that killed 30 and wounded 48. After the war, he returned to St. Louis where he worked as a firefighter for 18 years until he was injured while fighting a fire. He also played soccer in the St. Louis leagues. In 1948, Beckman was playing for De Andries in the St. Louis Major League when he was selected for the U.S. soccer team that competed at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

. He played all 90 minutes in the 9–0 loss to Italy that eliminated the U.S. from the tournament. After the Olympics, the U.S. played two full internationals, an 11–0 loss to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, followed by a 5–0 loss to

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on August 11, 1948. In 1949, he began coaching high school soccer at

John Burroughs School John Burroughs School (JBS) is a private, non-sectarian college-preparatory school with 631 students in grades 7– 12. Its 49-acre () campus is located in Ladue, Missouri (US), a suburb of St. Louis. Founded in 1923, it is named for U.S. natur ...

. He was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 1980. He retired from JBS in 2000 after 51 years of coaching. A soccer tournament and stadium are named for Beckman, honoring his contributions to soccer in St. Louis.

References

External links

* * * 1925 births 2011 deaths American men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players for the United States Footballers at the 1948 Summer Olympics Soccer players from St. Louis Men's association football forwards United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy sailors {{US-footy-forward-stub