Knox College Athletics

Jorge Prats came to Knox in 1962 as a faculty member of the modern languages department. He devoted his time outside the classroom to soccer and in the mid 1960s, started the men’s soccer club. When soccer became a varsity sport in 1970, Jorge was the team’s first coach and led the team to the first of two Midwest Conference championships in 1973. Jorge started the women’s soccer club in the 1980s and was instrumental in seeing it become a varsity sport soon after.
           
If not for Professor Prats guidance and ability to show the importance of the programs to the College, generations of Knox students would have missed the opportunity to participate in soccer, and, more important, missed out on the experience of knowing one of the finest faculty members at Knox.
           
Former soccer team manager David Schultz said Jorge “typified everything that I believe the Knox athletic program should stand for: openness of the program to all who wanted to play, a right mix of encouragement and criticism to bring out the best in the players, a sense of fairness and ethics in his approach to competition, and an expert knowledge of the sport that produced a championship team.”
           
He taught his players more than just soccer. Former player David Bauman said of Jorge, “What I remember most about Jorge was his warm-hearted nature and his caring about other people. He showed us, through his actions, how to be an engaged person interested in and caring for those around him.  He modeled for us how to be a good person.”
           
Jorge is also known for establishing and maintaining the Barcelona study abroad program. According to former player, Ed Brown, “In 1972, [Jorge] showed me a part of the world I would never have experienced otherwise. I loved every minute of our trip to Spain . . . so much that last fall I returned with my wife to Barcelona and the Catalan area.” Jorge continues to be invaluable in helping other College groups, such as the Knox Choir, plan trips to Spain.