- NUMBER OF PENN STATERS COMPETING: 6
- NUMBER OF PENN STATERS IN ALL ROLES: 8
- NUMBER OF OLYMPIC ALTERNATES: 1
After the gold-medal glories of Barney Ewell in 1948 and Horace Ashenfelter in 1952, the 1956 Melbourne Olympics proved less fruitful for Penn State athletes than previous editions. While six Penn State athletes and a pair of coaches traveled with the United States to Australia, none returned from the sojourn across the Pacific with any medals. Five sports were represented among the Nittany Lions contingent, including two players on the last U.S. team to play in the Olympic soccer tournament for nearly two decades.
Profiles: Ron Coder and Dick Packer
Ron Coder was the older of the two Nittany Lions soccer stars on the U.S. national team in Melbourne. Coder came to Penn State as a track star, but became a two-time All American after legendary coach Bill Jeffrey brought him onto the team from 1949 to 1951.
During his time starting in goal for the Nittany Lions, Coder won a share of the national championship in 1949 and traveled with the Penn State team on its landmark 1951 tour of Iran. Serving as a pilot in the Air Force after graduation in 1951, Coder played goalkeeper for the All-Forces Team in 1955 before his selection as the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. Olympic team.
Dick Packer’s career at Penn State bookended Jeffrey’s 1953 retirement as head coach of the Nittany Lions soccer team. Packer was a prolific goalscorer in Happy Valley, as he scored 53 career goals and set a single-season record with 24 goals in 1955 that still stands more than a half-century later.
Penn State won the national championship in 1954 and a share of the title in 1955 with Packer leading the front line during a pair of All-American seasons. Packer was still completing his degree at Penn State when he was named to the 1956 Olympic squad.
Neither Coder nor Packer suited up for the U.S. national team during their only match in Melbourne. Coder suffered a broken ankle when he collided with an opponent in a pre-Olympics friendly in Hong Kong, while Packer was left on the sidelines as the Americans bowed out in a 9-1 defeat to Yugoslavia in the quarterfinal match at Melbourne’s Olympic Park.
Both men continued in Air Force careers after their Olympic experience in Melbourne. Packer later went on to form a soccer camp in Connecticut after his retirement from the military, while Coder’s son played football at Penn State and for five seasons in the NFL.
SOURCES AND ADDITIONAL READING
- Will Pegler, “Two Penn State Soccer Legends Recall Their Journeys To The 1956 Olympics,” Onward State, August 28, 2019, https://onwardstate.com/2019/08/28/from-happy-valley-to-two-penn-state-soccer-legends-recall-their-journey-to-the-1956-summer-olympics/.
- Chris Rosenblum, “Soccer Player Was an Unlikely Olympian in 1956,” Centre Daily Times (State College, PA), August 12, 2008, A1.
- Bob Volkert, “Dick Packer – Men’s Soccer All-American,” Penn State Athletics, July 27, 2005, https://gopsusports.com/news/2005/7/27/dick_packer_men_s_soccer_all_american.aspx.