Significant Honor
ADAMS TWP — When it comes to wins and championships, Mars girls soccer coach Blair Gerlach has a bushel full.
In terms of awards, one truly stands out. And he just received it Saturday.
Gerlach, 44, was the Pennsylvania recipient of The High School Coach of Significance Award. The fourth annual award, presented by the United Soccer Coaches, recognizes coaches who are making an impact within their schools and communities outside of wins and losses.
Forty states across the country had an award recipient, along with one coach leading a high school soccer program on a military base in Japan.
“Yeah, we've got wins and we've got championships,” Gerlach, 44, acknowledged. “And I was blessed to play soccer on some pretty big stages.“But this award has nothing to do with won-loss record. It's about coaching the right way, teaching the right things. That means the world to me.”Gerlach was nominated for the honor by a family living in the Mars Area School District. He coached daughters of the parents who nominated him.“I know who the family is and they wish to remain anonymous,” Gerlach said. “Just the fact they thought enough of me to even put my name put there means a lot.”Gerlach is a Hampton graduate. He played on a state championship boys soccer team with the Talbots. He was recruited by the University of Maryland — a national top 10 program — suffered an injury there, missed some time and finished his playing career at Slippery Rock University.At age 16, Gerlach played for a Pittsburgh Strikers team that reached the national finals. He also played for the U-20 United States national team.“I got to play against the U.S. 1994 World Cup team,” he recalled. “I got my degree in education from SRU and when my playing career ended, I didn't want my soccer career to end. That's when I decided to get into coaching.”Gerlach's record speaks for itself: 312 wins, 61 losses and 17 ties overall at Mars, six years coaching the boys, 14 coaching the girls. He is 238-46-4 coaching the Planet girls, including five WPIAL titles, three runner-up finishes, two state championships and 13 consecutive section crowns.“That's all well and good, but it's nice to get an award saying people on the outside recognize you're trying to do the right things for the right reasons,” Gerlach said.“You can win a bunch of games, but people might say, 'yeah, but he's a jerk.' It's nice that some people think I'm a good dude. It inspires me to want to keep on going.”The United Soccer Coaches rank this year's Mars girls soccer team third best in the nation, trailing only Houston High School in Germantown, Tenn., and Mount Notre Dame in Cincinnati, Ohio.United Soccer Coaches President Kevin Sims said in a prepared statement: “Among the various achievements and plaudits to which one may aspire as a coach, the loftiest is to be known as a coach who has touched lives and shaped people. This is the essence of the teacher-coach.”Gerlach said he's used his own soccer experiences to shape himself as a coach.“I've been fortunate to be around some great coaches, great colleagues,” he said. “I've taken bits and pieces from all of them to mold my own style.”His girls soccer teams have done fund-raisers for the Mars Home For the Youth and Lighthouse Foundation. He teaches his players “to use the sports platform to promote prosperity to others.“I'm not shy about sharing my faith with the kids. I teach them to be respectful, hold themselves and other people accountable, yet help pick them up when they fail.“I tell them them there's greatness in all of them, you just have to dig for it. I push them, challenge them to do that. This program is not about me, it's about we,” Gerlach added.Sims emphasized that “first, we are coaches of people. To develop responsible adults and contribuiting citizens through the beautiful game of soccer fulfills the calling of high school coaches.”Gerlach could not agree more.“I'm humbled by this whole thing,” he said. “It's a cool award.”
