KANSAS CITY, Mo. – United Soccer Coaches announced former William & Mary men's soccer standout and 2014 graduate William Smith will be honored with the 2018 Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service on Wednesday. Smith is currently the Executive Director of LEAD Africa and co-founder of the Monrovia Football Academy.
 
"From the time Will enrolled at William & Mary we knew he was going to be a special person someday," former W&M head coach and United Soccer Coaches Past President, Al Albert, who nominated Smith for the honor, said. "His natural leadership abilities have helped him achieve more at his age than many people do in a lifetime. And I think the best is yet to come."
 
The Jerry Yeagley Award for Exceptional Personal Service is presented annually to a former collegiate soccer student-athlete who has demonstrated extraordinary accomplishments beyond the sport itself. The award is named in honor of the legendary Indiana University soccer coach and will be presented at the All-America Ceremony & Reception on Jan. 12, 2019 at McCormick Place West in Chicago in conjunction with the 2019 United Soccer Coaches Convention.
 
"We are extremely proud of Will. He is a remarkable young man and one of the finest leaders I've ever been around," William & Mary Head Coach Chris Norris said. "In addition, he has always exhibited the courage and determination to dream big and accomplish goals. It is amazing to witness his achievements thus far, particularly the positive impact he's had on the lives of countless Liberian children through the mediums of education and soccer."
 
In 2018, Smith worked with several prominent African leaders to establish LEAD Africa, a network of progressive leadership academies that are founded and run by local champions. Each academy is based on the model of LEAD's flagship, Monrovia Football Academy in Liberia, which Smith co-founded with former Liberian international Sekou Dgeorges Manubah in 2015.
 
In addition to his work at LEAD and the Monrovia Football Academy, Smith has consulted for sport for social change organizations in Côte d'Ivoire, Rwanda, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. As a social entrepreneur from the United States, he advocates for a radical rethinking of international development, with a focus on increased investment in locally-driven, evidence-based solutions. 

During his playing career at W&M, Smith started 74 of 75 matches along the back line and concluded his career as the CAA Defensive Player of the Year in 2013. He was a three-time All-CAA selection. Smith was an All-CAA and All-South Atlantic Region First Team pick as a senior. In 2013, Smith, a two-time team MVP, captained the Tribe to an NCAA Tournament at-large berth and a home game against George Mason. He was a starter for the Tribe's 2010 CAA Championship team that advanced to the NCAA Round of 16.
 
Smith was just as successful in the classroom during his time in Williamsburg. He twice received CoSIDA Academic All-District accolades and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with from W&M with a double major in Government and French. Smith also received a degree in social entrepreneurship from Santa Clara University and holds an MSc in African studies from Oxford University. He is a 2018 Cordes Fellow and one of 40 global leaders on the Barça Foundation and UNICEF's Working Group on Sport for Development.