SV soccer coach Perry joining Western Pa. HOF
JACKSON TWP — Thirty-four years ago, it was like son, like father.
Next month, it will be like father, like son.
Mark Perry, Seneca Valley’s girls soccer coach since 2016, is being inducted into the Western Pa. Sports Hall of Fame on April 27 at The Marriott at Station Square in Pittsburgh. His father, retired Fox Chapel soccer coach Jim Perry, is a member of that Hall of Fame and now serves on its executive board.
“Going into a Hall of Fame that my father is already in only adds to the experience for me,” Mark Perry, 59, said. “I remember going to the banquet when he was inducted. It was a wonderful affair.”
Mark was a young boys soccer coach at Hampton when the Talbots won the state championship. Two hours later, Jim Perry, now 82, guided Fox Chapel to the state crown.
“Both of us winning state titles on the same day like that ... It was one of the greatest days of my life,” the elder Perry said.
While there are 700 Western Pa. Sports Hall of Fame inductees, Mark will be only the sixth high school soccer coach to go in.
“There’s only six of us and two of us are from the same family,” Jim Perry said. “We’re pretty proud of that.”
The Western Pa. Sports Hall of Fame has existed since 1963. Baseball Hall of Famer Stan Musial, from Donora, was one of the charter inductees.
Mark Perry’s overall high school soccer coaching record — boys and girls included — is 626 wins, 150 losses and 36 ties. He coached boys and girls soccer in the same season twice and has guided 37 of his 39 teams into the WPIAL playoffs.
His teams have won 26 section titles, four WPIAL championships, been WPIAL runner-up five times and won two state titles. Besides 1990 with the Hampton boys, he guided Central Valley’s girls to the 2013 PIAA crown.
Mark Perry has coached at Hampton, Fox Chapel, Central Valley and Seneca Valley.
“I’ve been treated well at all four schools I’ve coached at and all four schools treated the soccer programs well,” he said. “That doesn’t happen very often. I’ve been very fortunate.”
After beginning his coaching career at Hampton, Perry succeeded his father as coach at Fox Chapel. He moved on to Central Valley before opting for the Seneca Valley job.
“When we won the state title at Hampton, I was only in my third or fourth year of coaching,” he said. “At that time, I figured I’d win a few more championships like that. I didn’t realize how hard it was to get there.
“The Central Valley championship meant a lot because the school was only about three years into the merger. It helped bring a lot of people together.”
Perry said he opted to apply for the open Seneca Valley girls coaching position because “it was a bigger school and my club soccer team, FCS United, was located in Cranberry. It all just tied together.
“At Central Valley, we scramble to get 25 kids out for soccer. At Seneca Valley, we had 60. That makes a difference.”
His favorite Seneca Valley memory so far was the 2018 team that won the WPIAL championship by tying the game with three seconds left in regulation, then winning it with two minutes left in overtime.
His toughest loss occurred with Fox Chapel’s boys, who lost a state semifinal game on penalty kicks at North Allegheny.
“That game was played in a driving snowstorm ... and never should have been played,” Perry said.
“I’ve enjoyed every team I’ve ever coached,” He added. “I’m 24-7, 365 days a year soccer. This is my first Hall of Fame induction and it’s very special to me.”
Perry was a three-year starter, two-year captain and two-time All-WPIAL soccer player at Springdale High School. He played college soccer at Wheeling Jesuit and became a four-year starter, three-year captain and all-conference player there.
Perry will be one of 10 people to be inducted at the banquet that night. Visit westernpasportshof.org for more information.
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