Michael Lewis honored for lifetime of soccer coverage

If you’ve been to a high school soccer game on the North Fork in the last 15 years, you’ve probably seen Michael Lewis prowl the sideline, notebook in hand.

Now, after five decades covering the sport at every level — from Mattituck championships to World Cups — the longtime Suffolk Times sportswriter is being recognized with one of soccer journalism’s highest honors.

United Soccer Coaches named Mr. Lewis the sixth recipient of the Clay Berling Media Career of Excellence Award, which honors distinguished careers in soccer coverage. The award, named for Soccer America founder Clay Berling, was established in 2020.

“I think there are a lot of writers out there that deserve recognition for their work,” he said. “It was an honor to be recognized by United Soccer Coaches. I’m humbled by it.”

Mr. Lewis grew up loving sports but felt he wasn’t quite on the level to play competitively in high school. So he found the next best thing: writing about them.

He landed a part-time job with Newsday taking sports scores during his senior year of high school, then worked his way up from sportswriter to managing editor at Nassau Community College’s newspaper.

An internship at Newsday between his junior and senior years at Syracuse University gave him what he still calls “the best summer ever” — including a formative encounter in the tunnel at the old Yankee Stadium.

There, covering an old-timers game, he spotted his hero: Mickey Mantle. He ran the fastest he’s ever run to get next to him.

“I kept my composure. I was a journalist, I wasn’t a fan. It was my first true test of whether or not I could be a journalist,” he recalled. “I tell kids now when I cover high schools and colleges, be prepared to meet your heroes, and be professional.”

After graduating from college, Mr. Lewis spent more than 50 years covering soccer at every level.

He began his career at the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in upstate New York in 1974, spending a decade as a beat writer covering the Rochester Lancers of the North American Soccer League, along with local and regional soccer.

Mr. Lewis witnessed Pele’s first NASL goal for the New York Cosmos in 1975 and the Brazilian legend’s final professional match at the 1977 Soccer Bowl.

He went on to join the New York Daily News as a soccer columnist and spent 22 years there. He also spent time as the editor and publisher of Soccer Week from 1987 to 1993 and editor of Soccer Magazine from 1993 to 2000. 

Mr. Lewis launched several of his own soccer sites long before the beautiful game got traction in the U.S. He co-founded bigapplesoccer.com in 2004, and has been the editor of frontrowsoccer.com since 2017.

Throughout his career, he has had bylines in Soccer America, The Guardian, The Athletic, ESPN, CBS, World Soccer, FourFourTwo, Forbes and the Washington Post, just to name a few.

He has covered 13 World Cups, seven Olympic Games and all but one of the 29 previous MLS Cups.

“We’re very fortunate to have someone like Michael covering sports for us on the North Fork,” Suffolk Times editor Eddie Glazarev said.

Mr. Lewis has published nine books on soccer and is currently working on another, “Autumn Dreams: When leaves fall, champions rise.” The book is the story of Mattituck soccer’s 2014 championship run.

He was inducted into the Long Island Soccer/Football League Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Eastern New York State Soccer Association Hall of Fame in 2022. He was also recognized by United Soccer Coaches with a Letter of Commendation in 2007.

Mr. Lewis will be presented with his latest award on Friday, Jan. 16, during the United Soccer Coaches annual awards ceremony in conjunction with its 86th annual convention, from Jan. 13 through 17 in Philadelphia.

“On behalf of our association, we extend our gratitude to Michael and his commitment to the sport through his longtime contributions to the game at every level,” said Paul Payne, United Soccer Coaches president.

Despite the accolades, Mr. Lewis said he has no plans on stopping anytime soon. 

“One of the best things about soccer was that I learned about the world,” he said. “It’s given me a greater appreciation of the world, and I want to see more of it.”