By James Spiller '03

After gracing the sidelines at Deerfield Academy for more than thirty years, Roland Young has finally decided to retire.

His first steps on the meadows of Deerfield came in 1964, when he was hired by Art Williams to coach senior soccer. He casually worked through the ranks of the soccer hierarchy until 1970, when he reached the pinnacle and was named the head coach of varsity soccer.

Any coach's first season is by far the most difficult, but Mr. Young's proved most impressive with seven wins, two losses, and two ties, which was only the foundation of his amazing 21-year reign of varsty soccer that ended in the fall of 1993. He coached four Western New England Prep School Soccer Association Championship teams, including two undefeated squads.

"Give my players lots of credit," Coach Young said; and lots of credit they should receive considering his players produced an astounding over-all record of 151 wins, 78 losses, and 52 ties.

The statistics are mind-boggling, but with such a devoted coach, no team could resist giving maximum effort with high class, a philosophy highly stressed by Coach Young. "I sought to build teams which had respect for each other and for the opponent. With continued reminders, the team was admonished to be conscious of their behavior even in the heat of a game and to keep sportsmanship high on the list of goals."

Mr. Young has not only left an unprecendented mark upon Deerfield soccer, but also on the players, with his undying generosity, compassion, and desire to teach. "Coach Young was always thoughtful, calm, curious, fair, and clearly very kind," Mr. Young's former standout turned English teacher Jamie Kapteyn said.

Although soccer received the most attention during his coaching career, he also instructed freshman-sophomore basketball, recreational squash, girls' junior varsity soccer, and even the first girls' junior varsity softball team. All of these teams now look back to their benevolent, understanding, and caring coach with respect and appreciation for all of his instruciotn on and off the field.

As published in the April 17, 2002 issue of the Deerfield Scroll, the monthly newspaper of Deerfield Academy.