Springdale graduate Dave Fortun has attended plenty of hall of fame induction ceremonies, mostly to support a “fellow Dynamo.”
On May 16, Fortun will find himself on the other side of the dais, being honored among eight individuals and two teams at the Alle-Kiski Sports Hall of Fame’s 55th induction banquet at Pittsburgh Shriner Center, Harmar.
“I’ve been going to a lot of these banquets to see great athletes and coaches get in,” the 77-year-old Fortun said. “It will be humbling to become one of them.”
Fortun was a standout on the soccer, baseball and softball fields, winning two WPIAL titles on the soccer pitch with the Dynamos. He added multiple state and WPIAL medals in soccer and baseball during a 55-year coaching career.
A 1966 Springdale graduate, Fortun played high school and American Legion baseball. He was a Western Pennsylvania Legion All-Star and recalls being the fastest player at a Pirates tryout conducted by Hall of Fame third baseman Pie Traynor.
However, Fortun had never played in a soccer game until legendary Dynamo coach Dave Meloni, a 1981 A-K Hall inductee, recruited him.
“Coach Meloni was my gym teacher,” Fortun said. “He knew I was a good athlete and said the soccer team needed a goalkeeper.”
Fortun blossomed under Meloni’s tutelage.
“I had good hand-eye coordination and good players in front of me,” he said. “Goalkeeper was the only position on the field that I was qualified to play. If I had to use my feet, instead of my hands, I would have been in big trouble.”
Fortun holds a unique record: He’s the only goalkeeper in WPIAL history to win two soccer titles in the same calendar year.
In 1965, soccer was a spring sport and Springdale captured the championship. But the PIAA made soccer a fall sport that year, and the Dynamos repeated as champs.
“Things happened so fast,” Fortun said. “We finished in the spring, and then five or six weeks later we were back at it. We won another WPIAL championship. It was crazy. It will never be done again.”
After graduating from IUP, Fortun played for the Harmarville Hurricanes men’s soccer team.
But he made a bigger impact as a speedy outfielder on the powerhouse Edna Hotel men’s softball teams. Besides numerous tournament MVP honors, he was named to the All-World team at world series tourneys in St. Louis and Tullahoma, Tenn.
“I got to play with some hall of fame players,” Fortun said. “We traveled around the east coast and played some great softball teams with great athletes.”
As a teacher at Shaler, Fortun broke into the coaching ranks, thanks to Meloni.
“The school didn’t have a soccer team. Dave told the school board that he knew someone to start the program,” Fortun said.
Within three years, Fortun had the Titans in the WPIAL playoffs.
Fortun also served as Deer Lakes boys soccer coach for five seasons. However, he spent most of his coaching career as an assistant in baseball (Shaler) and soccer (Fox Chapel and Springdale).
“I was lucky to have people who asked me to help out. I was a better Indian than a chief,” the Dorseyville resident said.
Overall, Fortun coached 10 teams to either a gold or silver medal in the PIAA or WPIAL playoffs.
At Shaler, Fortun helped the Titans to three WPIAL baseball titles and the 1980 state championship. In soccer, he was part of WPIAL championship teams at Fox Chapel (1995 boys) and Springdale (2024 girls).
“What’s better than to work with kids and try to get them to be the best that they can be?” said Fortun, who stepped away from coaching last season.
Besides mentoring countless student-athletes over the years, Fortun did a pretty good job passing along his goalkeeping skills within the family.
His son, Ben, was the goalkeeper on Fox Chapel’s 1995 WPIAL champion team, setting a state record with 15 consecutive shutouts.
Fortun’s grandson, Max, guarded the net for the Foxes’ 2024 and 2025 WPIAL champs.
“We’ve had three generations of goalkeepers with (WPIAL gold) medals hung around our neck,” said Fortun, with a laugh.
Tickets for the banquet are $40 and can be purchased by visiting akhof.com.