Championship WPIAL soccer coach to follow father into AK Valley Sports Hall of Fame

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Saturday, March 30, 2024 | 11:01am

Mark Perry has followed in his father's footsteps all his life.

On May 4, he will be inducted into the Ale Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame alongside his father.

“My dad was coaching soccer at Fox Chapel when I was in high school,” Perry said. “As a kid, I followed in his footsteps when he started coaching. I always knew I wanted to be a coach someday. It's pretty special to be in the Hall of Fame with my dad.”

Perry, who grew up in Springdale, was a three-year starter and two-time captain on his high school soccer team as a center midfielder.

“I watched his captaincy as a coach on the field,” Perry said. “I took being chosen to be my high school coach seriously. I was proud to be named captain.”

His favorite memories from his time in Springdale include long bus rides to schools that no longer exist.

“At that time, Route 28 hadn't been completed yet, so we had a long way to go to compete against teams like Worthington, Dayton, St. Fidelis and Elderton,” Perry recalled. “One time I was coming back from a game and the bus ran out of gas near Brackenridge Golf Club.”

“Also, in our game in Dayton, we had to stop the game for 30 minutes because there was a mine explosion going on nearby,” Perry added.

In each of Perry's three years on the varsity, Springdale teams advanced to the WPIAL playoffs.

In his second year, he lost in the final to Scherer, and in the semifinals to North Allegheny, a junior, and Upper St. Clair, a senior.

“It was disappointing not to at least win once,” Perry said. “Because we were a small school, we accepted the role of underdog against those big schools.”

He was named to the All-WPIAL team both as a junior and senior, but tore his ACL in the summer between those two seasons and played in the final five games of his senior season.

“It was a great honor because it’s the competition we played against,” Perry said. “We were in the same standings as teams like North Allegheny, Fox Chapel, Upper St. Clair and Mount Lebanon. I think the only time I ever earned this honor was my senior year. ​I think it's because my team and I played so well in my third year.”

Perry was worried that his injury would cost him his chance to play in college, but he was able to earn a guaranteed four-year scholarship to play at Wheeling Jesuit College in the NAIA. He was a fourth-year starter.

NAIA had no age limit, so he had to grow up fast when he got to Wheeling Jesuit. That meant Perry not only played against, but alongside, soccer players older than him.

“I was playing with guys who were 24, 25, sometimes 26 and had families,” Perry said. “I was a center back in college and the other center back I played with was a 24-year-old guy from Trinidad and Tobago.”

The Wheeling Jesuits played in the West Virginia Conference, which consisted of just five or six teams. Each team had international players, some of whom were good enough to play for their country's national team.

“It really opened my eyes,” Perry said. “They were very good and had skills that I haven't seen in players here in the United States. One of my teammates was called up to represent Trinidad and Tobago in St. Louis to play against the United States. ” The whole team gathered to cheer him on. ”

With such a high level of talent around him, Perry was named team captain during his time at Wheeling and earned all-conference honors.

After graduating in 1986, Perry went straight into coaching, taking a job as North Allegheny Middle School's soccer coach under Bruno Schwartz.

In 1987, he was hired as the head coach of Hampton's men's varsity team. He coached there until 1990, compiling a record of 71-12-3.

“We were the first sports team in Hampton to win a WPIAL or state title,” Perry recalled.

After his father retired, he coached Fox Chapel for the 1991 season. From 1991 to his 2005 season, he was very successful with a record of 257 wins, 63 wins, and 14 losses.

“The 1995 boys team I coached was the best team I've ever had,” Perry said. “We lost to Erie Prep in the state semifinals at North Allegheny. When we left Fox Chapel, the weather was 60 degrees. Suddenly there was two inches of snow on the ground and high winds. They didn't postpone the game, but we lost on penalties.”

He moved to Center/Central Valley in 2006 and served as the men's head coach until 2010.

During her tenure there, she also served as the head coach for women's soccer from 2009 to 2015. She said Perry coached the men's and women's soccer teams simultaneously for two years.

“When I suggested coaching both teams, a lot of people looked at me like, 'Really? You want to do that?'” Perry said. . “But I'm grateful to the Central Valley for giving me the opportunity. Youth was on my side at the time, so it was fun, even though there were some tough times.”

After retiring from coaching the boys team in 2010, Perry coached the Central Valley girls team to an undefeated season in 2013, winning both the WPIAL and PIAA titles.

His record at Central Valley was 72-25-4 as a boys coach and 119-18-6 as a girls coach.

Perry has been the head coach of the Seneca Valley girls soccer team since 2016, compiling a 107-32-9 record in eight seasons.

“We won the WPIAL championship in 2018 at Highmark Stadium,” Perry recalled. “We were trailing Peters Township the entire game, scored with three seconds left in regulation, and buried the winner in the first two minutes of overtime to get the win.”

During his coaching career, Perry has qualified for the WPIAL playoffs in 37 of 39 years, winning the WPIAL championship four times, finishing WPIAL runner-up five times and winning the PIAA championship twice (1990 Hampton Boys and 2013 Central Valley Girls).

He also won the WPIAL Coach of the Year Award in 1995 while coaching Fox Chapel. This award was won by his father in 1990 at the same school.

“That award is voted on by the coaches,” Perry said. “Winning the WPIAL and having the best team helped. I'm glad I was able to follow in my dad's footsteps.”

Perry has also been named Section Coach of the Year 17 times and was awarded the Western Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Honor Award in 2014.

Perry, who has never been married, said he is married to the sport of soccer and the evidence of that can be seen in the soccer clubs, camps and indoor stadiums he has been involved with since 1987.

He has been a soccer camp director since 1987 and oversees Fox Chapel Booster Camp, Seneca Valley Youth Soccer Camp, Stars United Soccer Camp, Tri-County Soccer Camps and Schools, and Central Valley Soccer Camp.

Since 1995, Perry has been the manager of the Tri-County Soccer & Sports Center. He is responsible for almost everything about the center, including day-to-day decision-making, game scheduling, referee assignments, accounting, and maintenance.

In 2006, Perry became Director of Soccer Operations and Player Development while coaching the Stars United Soccer Club. She currently serves as the head coach of the U-12 and U-14 girls teams.

“That seems like a big deal,” Perry said. “But in many cases, a club team's work can be done in an indoor arena. It takes a lot of time and dedication, but it's what I've chosen and preferred to do for the last 35 to 40 years. That’s what I’ve been doing.”

In his free time, Perry enjoys anything sports related. When he can find time away from his football duties, he likes to watch and participate in every sporting event possible.

On Monday, he and his father will go on a weeklong golf trip to Pinehurst.

As a man with a true passion for football, Perry has enjoyed many trips to England and Scotland and has attended matches at some of the UK's most famous stadiums, including Wembley and Liverpool, as well as Celtic and Newcastle in Scotland. .

“Gene Klein, who recently passed away, was a coach at Quaker Valley and always organized trips,” Perry said. “I was the youngest in a group of retired soccer coaches. We went for 10 days and watched six or seven professional games. The last time I went was during the 2020 coronavirus outbreak. It was before. I hope I can go at least one more time.”

Soccer has taught Perry a lot about life and has rewarded him with more than recognition.

“It taught me that if you work hard and put in the time, it will pay off,” Perry said. “The reward of coaching is winning, but the greatest reward for me was watching my players grow from young ninth graders to mature seniors who are successful in their respective lives.”

Prior to his induction into the Are Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame, Perry will be inducted into the Western Branch of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame on April 27.

But he considers the introduction of AK his first because they called him first.

“I was drafted years ago by Dave Meloni,” Perry said. “But they didn't want to put me in coaching at that time because I was still an active coach. I have done so.”

This is an exciting and special honor for Perry.

“This is part of my hometown and I follow all the schools in the Are Kiski Valley,” Perry said. “I can empathize with a lot of the people I've seen inducted into the Hall of Fame. It's a great honor and I think it means a little more to know that I'll be inducted into the same sports Hall of Fame as my father. ”

If you go

what: 53rd AK Volley Sports Hall of Fame Induction

when: May 4th 7pm

where: Pittsburgh Shriners Center (Harmar)

ticket: $40

contact: Larry Lutz, 724-822-3695; Fred Soiris, 412-736-1809; Bill Heasley, 724-882-3079

Tag: springdale