Jeff Yearing – Maroons Online

RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame

Jeff Yearing “Coach Years”

When Jeff Yearing was asked:

How did it come about that you implemented the no cut soccer program at the high school? I would like to encourage my town to do something similar because I feel like sports are so important for kids mental and physical health. How did you fund it? There must have been additional expenses with more kids. Any information you can give me about how it came about is appreciated! Thanks! -Noe

His reply is outstanding and needs to be amplified for those who want to understand what sports mean to Jeff:

Hey Christina,

I always felt that interscholastic sports held so many benefits that as a part of the public school curriculum deserved the same attention to provide opportunities to any student that wanted the opportunity to participate. Ridgewood’s administration felt the same way and were all for an inclusionary approach to athletics.They actually included it as part of their philosophies statement for middle states evaluations done every ten years.From my end I welcomed that support and felt especially strong about finding a place for everyone to play and have the team experience in regards young girls coming into the high school setting, development of self confidence, positive self imagery, group cooperation and communication skills creative problem solving and critical thinking skills along with social skills and finding joy in physical activity etc.In that light the school at that time supported four coaches for 3 levels with approx 80 to 90 girls participating each year.The also supplied basic financial support.My feeling was if we wanted to continue to provide this opportunity correctly with the proper teacher/ coach to student/ player ratio we would need more help.We would develop our parents booster association which provided the extra funding necessary to build the program properly at each level. One aspect of the program that is essential is that all of the girls playing understand that even with inclusion it is still a competitive program and there is no guaranteed playing time.You were given the opportunity and it was up to each individual to take advantage of it.If a student stayed in the program we would guarantee them their sr.season on the varsity and if they participated properly they would get their varsity letter.We would obviously loose girls out of the program by Atkinson every year.The key is being honest with each girl and keeping the lines of communication open to minimize any misunderstandings about where a player would stand in the depth chart on each of the teams.There is more to it than that,but that is it in a modified explanation.We would always try to find opportunities for playing time for each player at an appropriate time for their skill level.It always helps to have a few teams on your schedule that you know you will be able to get the entire team playing time.Just another thought.If you want to speak more about this let me know and maybe we can set up a phone call or zoom.As you know I left RHS after 2017 because of my illness ,but have been able to get back into coaching as the head coach at Midland Park this past fall.We have implemented the same policy there and the school is all in with that approach.

Best always and good luck,

Years

Then he added a footnote:

Sorry about the typos etc. Just wanted to let you know that we ended up with 7-8 coaches each year after the school had budget cuts and took us down to 3 paid coaches. The boosters would pay for all of the extra coaches I needed including a GK coach for the program. They would also purchase extra uniform needs, equipment, filming etc. They would run the end of year banquet and they set up a girls soccer scholarship awards program. Each sport at RHS has their own independent booster organization which many schools do not have which also worked to our advantage.