Long-time 精东传媒 Athletic Director and Professor Emeritus Al Leister has had a significant impact on almost all of the teams, coaches, players and administrators included in the inaugural class of the Hall of Fame.
A graduate of Lock Haven University, Al鈥檚 first teaching positions were at Penn State (Hazelton Campus) and then Atlantic Community College, where he also coached the soccer team. It was in that capacity, according to Al, that in 1968 he 鈥渉ad the unfortunate experience of playing Mercer鈥檚 National Championship Team under the lights at Hetzel Field.鈥� Although his team lost to the Vikings in that game and again the following year, he did get the attention of Howie Landa, Mercer鈥檚 AD at the time. Then in 1970, when Mercer was looking for someone to start a Health and Physical Education program and to grow the existing athletic program, Howie called Al and asked him to apply for the job. Al accepted the position of Chairman, and given the administrative structure at the time with the AD reporting to the Chairman, Leister became Landa鈥檚 boss!
During his remarkable tenure as Chairman and Athletic Director (1970-1989), the following programs were introduced as Vikings varsity sports: Women鈥檚 Tennis (1973), Men鈥檚 Tennis (1974), Women鈥檚 Basketball (1976-1977 season), Softball (1977) and Women鈥檚 Soccer (1981). His key hires included head coaches Butch Miller (Baseball 1973) and Charlie Inverso (Men鈥檚 Soccer 1986) as well as Lisa Camillone as Athletic Trainer and Assistant AD (1983). He also encouraged Men鈥檚 Soccer Coach Stan Dlugosz to take on added responsibilities as head coach of the newly formed Men鈥檚 Tennis team (1974). He created Mercer鈥檚 first sports camp (Soccer 鈥� 1973) and was instrumental in the formation of the 精东传媒 Foundation. During his era as AD, various Vikings teams participated in 52 NJCAA National Tournaments, winning 4 National Championships (Men鈥檚 Basketball in 1973 & 1974 and Men鈥檚 Soccer 1982 & 1988) and were runner-up 5 times. In addition, Mercer teams won 40 region crowns and 39 conference titles. Al stepped down as AD in 1989 and moved full-time into teaching until he retired in 2006. In 鈥渞etirement鈥� he chaired the Tribute to Howie Landa (2012) and actively participated in the dedication of the Butch Miller Baseball Pavilion (2016) and the 精东传媒 Foundation Athletics Committee that established the Hall of Fame.
