DR. FRANK DINKA
Soccer Coach, 1967-1986
Inducted February 6, 2010

Dr. Frank Dinka is the father of the current Missouri State soccer program as he pioneered the sport on the MSU campus more than a decade before it joined intercollegiate athletics. A native of Skalica, Slovakia, and an avid soccer player as a youth, Dinka played and coached soccer with the U.S. Army's First Infantry Division in Germany. He graduated from the University of Bridgeport in 1956 and joined the MSU faculty in 1958. He received his master's degree from Southern Illinois University and his doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis and was a Professor of Political Science at MSU. Operating with limited  resources from the university for travel, equipment and officiating, he began MSU men's soccer as a club sport in 1967. Dinka found competition against nearby colleges and gradually expanded the base of the team's schedule over more than a decade on the club level. With no scholarship assistance and with players whose recruitment to compete in soccer at MSU all came through word-of-mouth from other Missouri State players, Dinka coached the club through practices and matches while still maintaining his full teaching load. His teams posted winning records 12 of 14 seasons on the club level. He guided the club team through 1980 and stayed on as head coach when soccer was elevated by Director of Athletics Aldo Sebben to intercollegiate status in 1981. Dinka was at the helm the following year when soccer joined the rest of MSU intercollegiate athletics in moving to NCAA Division I status. Dinka coached the Bears through 1986 when he turned the reins over to former assistant Jan Stahle and resumed full-time teaching after a total of 20 seasons with soccer. At the varsity level, Dinka's teams saw their win totals increase five of his six campaigns and finished with a 33-60-6 varsity record. Dinka, who also helped start Springfield's YMCA Youth Soccer Program, taught at MSU until his retirement in 1996. He passed away Oct. 6, 2005.