George Wheeler Roark (October 7, 1898 – March 31, 1993) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player and coach of football, basketball, and track. He served as the head football coach at Westminster College of

New Wilmington, Pennsylvania New Wilmington is a borough in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States, first platted in 1824 and established as a borough on April 9, 1863. The population was 2,097 at the 2020 census. It is home to Westminster College and serves the Old O ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

and at

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries t ...

from 1937 to 1940, compiling a career college football record of 18–18–3. Roark also coached basketball and track at Westminster. Roark was a native of

Altavista, Virginia Altavista is an incorporated town in Campbell County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,450 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area. History A new town on a new railroad The town of Altavista ...

. He attended Bethany College in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

, where he lettered in football, basketball, and baseball, and graduated with the class of 1925. He played

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

on the baseball team with pitcher Ed Wells, who went on to play

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. Roarke resigned from his post at Washington & Jefferson in December 1940 to coach football at

New Brighton, Pennsylvania New Brighton is a borough in north-central Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, located along the Beaver River northwest of Pittsburgh. The population was 5,719 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Histor ...

's high school, where he had coached football and basketball from 1930 to 1935. In his first stint at New Brighton, his football teams tallied a mark of 33–9–3.

Head coaching record

College

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roark, George 1898 births 1993 deaths American men's basketball players Baseball catchers Basketball coaches from Virginia Basketball players from Virginia Forwards (basketball) Bethany Bison baseball players Bethany Bison football players Bethany Bison men's basketball players Washington & Jefferson Presidents football coaches Westminster Titans football coaches Westminster Titans men's basketball coaches College track and field coaches in the United States High school basketball coaches in the United States High school football coaches in Pennsylvania High school football coaches in West Virginia People from Altavista, Virginia