When he was a superstar player at Atlantic Christian/Barton College from 1989-1992, he regularly carried a soccer ball in his backpack. Ten years after graduation, a ball still sits in his front yard, close enough that he can occasionally stop and juggle it on his way in from work.
Pat O’Boyle, at 6-3, 175 pounds, was a high-flying, head-ball guru who played sweeper like nobody ever has for the Bulldogs. He won nearly every award imaginable during his career here, including Carolinas Conference Player of the Year and NAIA First Team All-American in 1991, NAIA Academic All-American in 1992, and Kiwanis Male Athlete of the Year for Barton in 1992.
He was the youngest of 10 children born on October 16, 1970, to parents, Jerry and Joan O’Boyle of Charlotte.
O’Boyle dared to dream, and thus, was enshrined alongside Willie Diamond, Sharhabil Humieda, Chris and David Smallwood, Danny Wilkins and other soccer greats by his coach and presenter Gary Hall.
“I was actually recruited by Coach Hall to play at Campbell University,” O’Boyle said, “but when me and my dad met with Coach Hall, he told us he was going back to AC to coach where he went to school. We felt he was so honest about the situation that we should go check it out.”
O’Boyle liked AC because “it was a better environment, they had an art program and because there were about eight or nine freshmen coming in that year, so I felt I could play a lot of minutes.” Much to the dismay of opponents over the next four years, O’Boyle seldom left the field. The Bulldogs had a rough first season under Coach Hall at 3-12-1, but the program improved rapidly, going 7-10-2 O’Boyle’s sophomore year, then 12-3-2 in 1991, when the Bulldogs only allowed five goals in their first 14 matches and would up tying High Point for the Carolinas Conference title at 6-0-1.
“We went from last place to first place in three seasons, which was outstanding,” said O’Boyle, who resides with his wife, Sumer, daughter, Charlotte, and son Miller in Charlotte, where he and his brothers run the family business, Timeplanner Calendars Inc. & Journal Books.
O’Boyle helped West Charlotte win three conference championships each in tennis and soccer. He played forward, center midfield and sweeper in high school, scoring a phenomenal 66 goals. He takes great pride in what he and his teammates accomplished during their careers, and Coach Hall credits his former sweeper with helping him resurrect the program.
O’Boyle was All-Conference First Team and All-District in each of his final three seasons and was All-South Region in 1991 and 1992. He lists highlights of his career as his first goal and going unbeaten in the first 11 matches of 1991 (9-0-2) with a sensational nine shutouts. That 12-3-2 record is the best win percentage in Bulldogs history. During that season, Barton outscored its foes 44-14.
O’Boyle feels fortunate to have won so many awards, but credits goalie Warren Berman, fellow defenders Jon Kay, Mike Burleson and others for making his job easier. He realized a dream when he was named to the East roster for the Umbro NAIA East-West game in Illinois after the 1992 season.
Although he was a prolific scorer in high school, O’Boyle said, “I would have played anywhere in college, I always longed to move forward with the ball, but I would have given it 120 percent from any position on the field. It just worked out that we had a great defense, but it was team effort. Those other guys did as much as I did to prevent goals.”
He still keeps in touch with former teammates Bobby Scott and D.J. Grisewood, and has fond memories of his days in Wilson. “It was just a great atmosphere,” he said. “It’s what a small school should be: everybody knows you and you know everybody.”
