Coach Jeremiah Mattingly has given much of his time to the boys’ varsity soccer team, but it’s time he just doesn’t have anymore.
Between coaching both boys’ and girls’ soccer as well as teaching AP classes, Mattingly has been in “such a time crunch over the past two years.”
“It’s not that I’m giving up the boys. I’m giving up the fall, having the entire summer off, and making the start of school a little less hectic and crazy. If the girls were in the fall, I would be giving up the girls,” Mattingly said.
Mattingly is confident that he is leaving the team in the good hands of Mike Atkinson, saying that “he’s younger, very motivated. He will come in with energy, and I think he’ll come in very gung-ho and ready to rebuild the program and take it to another level.”
He won’t be leaving the team entirely, since Mattingly will still be the assistant boys’ coach. He will still come to games and bring his intense passion.
Mattingly reminisced about some of his favorite memories from coaching the boys.
“My first year, we had a lot of great memories, the first time in school history we beat Broughton. It’s not about the wins and losses. It’s the kids. Obviously, we went through some hard times the second year when we lost Lane, but what I’ll miss the most is the special bond between a coach and his players,” Mattingly said.
Along with beating some tough teams, Mattingly also coached the team into the 2013-14 state playoffs where the Cougars lost by an overtime goal. Other stats of his tenure include a total of 37 wins and 4 ties.
Mattingly has not announced publicly that he will not be coaching the boys’ next year, but he has talked to a few players and feels they will adjust well.
“The fact that I’m still going to be around at least for this next year makes them more comfortable,” Mattingly said.