Our History

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It all began around November of 1971 when the Suburban Philadelphia Soccer Coaches Association had as its officers, President Bob Robinson; President Elect, Jim Baxter; Secretary, Bob Urban and Treasurer, Hal Heffelfinger.

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At the annual meeting of the NSCAA held in New York, the Suburban Philadelphia Soccer Coaches Association was asked by Mr. Lee Kenworthy, the high school representative to the executive committee of the NSCAA to investigate the possibility of forming a state wide soccer coaches association. There was already some discussion across the state about such an organization. The men were after an organization which would function completely within the existing framework of the PIAA by-laws and the NSCAA by-laws.

One of the main reasons for pursuing such an organization was the idea of having a state wide playoff organized for Pennsylvania and naming players to the high school All-American team. The Suburban Soccer Coaches Association was already participating in sending in names of boys for the high school All-American team.

 

Eventually a letter was sent out to the coaches in the state and it read as follows:

 

The Suburban Philadelphia Soccer Coaches Association has been charged by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America to form a Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association. The major purpose at present is to provide a vehicle for choosing an All-State soccer team for secondary schools. For the past two years the NSCAA has awarded certificates to six All-Regional teams. Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania make up region three.

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A team from Pennsylvania was selected but not through direct contact with the coaches in the state. The NSCAA secondary school council would introduce an All-American team during the coming year and Pennsylvania wanted to be able to institute a method of selection that is fair and representative.

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So, to this end, an organizational meeting to be held at West Chester State College on May 13th, was called for by sending out a questionnaire to all schools in Pennsylvania, asking also if the schools would be interested in a PIAA state championship in soccer. This organizational meeting was in addition to the Suburban Coaches Association's third soccer clinic. The results of the survey to determine a state soccer championship were overwhelmingly in favor of this move. Mr. Theodore R. Wagner, executive director of the PIAA indicated that in order to establish a state championship in soccer, a sufficient number of districts should declare a district champion and express a desire to advance to a state wide playoff. With this in mind, the organization started on the road of getting support in the different districts throughout the state, getting the item placed on the proper agendas, going through the steering committees and subsequently having the matter brought before the PIAA Board of Control. Letters were sent to the district chairpersons to determine the district's position and to get this person to account for the soccer teams in that district. The board of control meeting was to be on May 24th and 25th, 1972. At the last board of control meeting only one district voted favorably for a soccer championship. It was brought to the attention of everyone that the results of the recent survey did not represent the vote that was expressed at this meeting.

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As an outgrowth of all of this labor, finally, on May 13, 1972, the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association was established. Bob Robinson was elected executive secretary. A charter, which the Suburban Philadelphia Soccer Coaches Association's executive committee drew up, was accepted by the Pennsylvania coaches. A mailing list was put together and a letter of application to the new organization was sent out to the high schools. Dues were set at $1 for the year. Robinson also took it upon himself to serve as statistician for the District #1 soccer schools, sending out forms and noting deadline dates to be followed.

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In November of 1972, Robinson sent out information to all soccer schools for the purpose of selecting an All-State soccer team and gathering won-loss-tied statistics from the high schools. Each school was to select two or three top players in the league but they had to make the first team of their All-League team. Other information was asked for also such as their 1972 won-lost-tied records, league champion and district champion. A target date of having a championship in soccer by 1972 did not pan out. It got held up by red tape and the like.

 

The best that could be done for 1972 was to declare an inter-district champion between District #'s 1 and3. Districts 1 and 3 had been playing each other since 1952.

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It should be mentioned the unique situation the state of Pennsylvania has as far as soccer is concerned. There is the governing body of the PIAA; the Philadelphia area has the Philadelphia City Public School league and the Catholic School League and then there are the private schools throughout the state. The city of Philadelphia names a city champion and a playoff between the Public League champ and the Philadelphia Catholic League champ is played each year. The private schools declare a champion in their own leagues.

 

On December 11, 1972, the first All-State high school soccer team chosen by the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association went to press. The following week, the first Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches stat sheet came out. Additional schools were added to this list on January 20, 1973. A total of 19 leagues (140 schools) reported stats.

 

In May of 1973, a letter went out to the leagues across the state asking for a rep from each league to assume the responsibility of gathering information and helping in the communication between the league and the association.

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The 1973 Suburban Philadelphia Soccer Coaches clinic held at West Chester State College on May 19, 1973 was co-sponsored by the association and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

 

The years of 1972 and 1973 saw a concerted effort made to establish a soccer playoff in Pennsylvania. Robinson worked hard to try to influence the PIAA in this matter. Up to July 9, 1973, nothing official had occurred in this area. On July 19, 1973, after a series of letters had been sent to PIAA officials, a letter was written to Art Richardson indicating a letter was composed and said letter ended up on Governor Shapp's desk. No official reply was made by the Governor's office but maybe the letter was helpful in getting someone to take notice. Robinson felt there was a total neglect of responsibility on the part of the PIAA. He also suggested that if a state playoff was not set up in the fall, a possible state champion could be determined anyway. District #1 always played district #3 in years past. District #11 plays District #12. If District # 7 would play any other district that has a champion, then it could be narrowed down to a single champion. However, there was no need for that route to be followed. Shortly after Robinson visited the PIAA office, Robinson received official word that the PIAA was sponsoring a state championship. The dates were set for November 10th, 12th, 14th, and the finals on November 17th, 1973.

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The site of the first state championship was the Reading Municipal Stadium. West Snyder of District #4 defeated Upper Moreland of District #1, 2-1. No consolation game was played. The other two teams making the final four were Bethlehem-Freedom of District # 11 and Springdale of District #7.