By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
Until 1999, the only connection Tom Duffy had to William & Mary was that his family often vacationed in Williamsburg. Now, he's in his 24^th season as a volunteer assistant with the men's soccer program.
 
On Aug. 20, a breakfast was held in the Wightman Cup Room to recognize Duffy being named an honorary alumnus. If that wasn't enough, it was announced that the Tribe's locker room would be named after him.
 
Nothing could have prepared Duffy for that moment.
 
"I was kind of stunned but also very pleased," Duffy said. "Along with the honorary degree, the naming of the locker room has to be one of the most gratifying achievements of my professional and personal career.
 
"I had no idea they were going to do that. My daughters did, but I did not, nor did my wife. We thought it was just a ceremony to recognize the honorary alumnus award."
 
Al Albert, who hired Duffy as a volunteer assistant in 1999, said it was only appropriate.
 
"He's like having a full-time equipment manager," said Albert, now W&M's associate director of athletics advancement. "He likes doing that and he's very good at it. He basically owns that locker room.
 
"He's in there with the kids all the time straightening up, hanging up uniforms, that kind of stuff. And he's never been paid a dime for what he's done for 24 years."
 
Duffy, 79, came to Williamsburg with his wife, Peggy Natoli Duffy, after retiring from his job as a teacher and school administrator in Oneonta, N.Y. He coached Oneonta High boys' soccer from 1972-87 and compiled a record of 226-71-25.
 
He then coached four seasons at Oneonta State, then a non-scholarship Division I program, and went 39-33-3. He later was an assistant at Hartwick College.
 
Then came retirement and looking for the ideal setting.
 
"We wanted a college town," Duffy said. "We looked at some places in North Carolina, but we always vacationed here with our kids when they were smaller. And I said to my wife, 'Why are we looking all over when we always come back to Williamsburg?'"
 
Duffy planned to step away from soccer in retirement, but that lasted all of three days. Itching to get back in the game, he telephoned Albert to ask if he could volunteer his time. They had never met, at least not officially.
 
"Whether he remembers it or not, I actually sat at a table at the coaches' convention with him years before," Duffy said. "He took a chance on me, and my William & Mary journey started."
 
Tribe coach Chris Norris appreciates Duffy's many contributions to his program.
 
"He's performed a lot of different roles for us, and he's invaluable with the experience he brings," he said. "He's very good at taking things off my plate and the associate head coach's ( Brendan Bourdage) plate, especially when it comes to player-related things in the locker room or equipment room.
 
"He also brings a wealth of knowledge and coaching experience and also life experience. He's great at passing that along to us as younger coaches but, more importantly, the student athletes."
 
Duffy has a special appreciation for William & Mary.
 
"I'm a life-long educator, and I take great satisfaction that our soccer players at William & Mary are student athletes," he said. "I've had a great opportunity with our student athletes, and I find that immensely satisfying. Plus, I'm still involved with the sport I love."
 
As for when he finally will step away from the sport he loves, Duffy has a timetable.
 
"My goal is that I'd like to make it to at last 1,000 games," he said. "I've got 957 now, so I've got a couple more seasons."