NHTI Athletic Hall of Fame
I often refer to Steve Ambra as the Renaissance man!
The Renaissance was a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic “rebirth” following the Middle Ages. Generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century, the Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art.
When I hired coach Steve Ambra to be our very first women’s soccer coach in December of 1999, I never knew what a worldly person he was.
Most people in this room are probably not aware of the many contributions to our beautiful college that coach Ambra has contributed to helping make NHTI a place to be. His work with the SNOB Film Festival (Somewhat North of Boston), Friday night films, our NHTI bowling team, the Landscape team and so many other contributions here to NHTI.
I handed Coach Ambra a very daunting task to start a women’s soccer team from scratch. Steve Ambra was up for the challenge. The task was tall meaning the word must be delivered to NH high schools and current NHTI students. Steve’s job was to create program to be proud of.
Steve sent letters, e-mails and called many perspectives to make this happen. He did so with vigor and energy excitingly informing anyone who would listen that NHTI would now have his favorite sport of sports….soccer for women as a choice for athletic competition.
A team was built, uniforms picked out, assistant coaches selected and the process continued with Steve zig zagging across NH and into Vt. often with his favorite sidekick the late Frank Mark chasing down leads for players. Suffice to say, Steve was everywhere.
Success followed with our soccer team attracting players and fitting in nicely to the NHTI sports scene. Trips to national tournaments, conference championships and many individual awards for players and coaches. Traditions like pizza after championship games and the collection of uniforms all became part of every season.
Steve was always happy about all of the team success but he may have been most proud of the USCAA Academic All-Americans (13) under his leadership. Balance of job, family and his pursuit of soccer blended nicely for Coach Ambra, a laid-back coach whose interest was helping guide his players to achieve personal success in the classroom and the real world of their chosen profession.
The love of arts, movies and being so well read as the NHTI Librarian was a most positive influence on all of his players over the 14 years of NHTI head coaching. The thrill of a victory like the OT win over Unity College in the old YSCAA championship game or the semi-final win over U-Maine Augusta in the hurricane weather on our old soccer field are memories he can recall with great pride.
The team success over the Ambra coached years with 8 conference titles along with 7 national tournament appearances are really only part of the story.
Now back to the Renaissance man. Steve constantly shares his many interests with whoever will listen at any moment. He especially took great pride in sharing information about books read, culture topics and the latest in current events with his team members. This sharing was and continues to be a huge part of Steve’s life.
His ability to exchange information and build dialogues with a different group of athletes every year was remarkable. Steve Ambra, head librarian, coach and educator continues to reinvent himself and share his many interests with our current students, faculty, staff and the Greater Concord Community.
A few years back as his coaching career was winding down, Steve’s son Stephen was able to coach alongside him for his last season with our Lynx soccer team. Another great memory created. And his daughter Megan teaches at NHTI as well.
Steve resides with his wife Lois here in Concord, NH.
On behalf of NHTI Athletics, let’s welcome coach Steve Ambra on stage for his induction to the NHTI Athletic Hall of Fame.
