Butler County soccer teams have won 7 state and multiple district titles since 2000. What’s behind the success?
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Players stretch before starting activity during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Van Matonak practices footwork during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Benat Fehr practices footwork during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Sydney Sub practices footwork during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Benat Fehr practices footwork during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Sydney Sub practices footwork during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Derek Phillips kicks the ball past Carson Hart during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Van Matonak attempts to redirect the ball past Benat Fehr during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Van Matonak stretches before starting activity during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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A camper attempts to score a goal during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Coach Marcelo Antonelli helps Benat Fehr with his footwork during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Carson Hart attempts to score a goal during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Coach Marcelo Antonelli answers questions after a footwork exercise during a kids soccer camp with the Butler County Soccer Association at the Butler Township Field on Thursday, July 10, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
The grand scenarios some young soccer players dream up have become realities for Butler County teams.
“Think about the stories that we would all come up with when we were younger,” Mars girls soccer coach Blair Gerlach said. “When you’re coming up with a story where you’re like, ‘Hey, state final, penalty kicks, stepping up for the game winner.’ You’re not coming up with that picture in your head without the stands filled with people getting ready to cheer.
“You want people there to see what it is that you’re doing. And you want the support of the community, and you want people to back you.”
Gerlach’s Planets teams have won four PIAA titles and seven WPIAL crowns. Mars’ boys soccer team, led by coach Chris Knauff, won state and district championships in 2020, while coach George Williams vaulted Seneca Valley’s boys team to similar accomplishments that same season.
Not to mention, Karns City’s girls and boys programs are annual District 9 contenders and Butler is competitive in its grouping, as well. Soccer has grown into perhaps Butler County’s best sport over the past quarter century.
Knauff credits community grassroots operations, which allow children to start young and develop skills early.
“As far as growth, the first thing that I would point to is the youth programs,” Knauff said. “Soccer is a early entry sport. You can start playing when you’re 4 years old. ... As high school coaches, we’re the beneficiaries of that, of players that have come up through maybe playing U6 or U8.”
Knauff, who’s heading into his 19th season in charge of the Planets, was part of one of the first groups to come through the Mars Area Soccer Club. His father, Dave, was one of the founding members of the program, which offers recreational and competitive settings along with introductory sessions for children as young as 2 years old.
The long runway feeds talented soccer players up to high school programs, which, in turn, are able to hone team-building and tactics rather than skill building.
“Most high school coaches in this area, I believe, are able to just take athletes and really just put them into situations to be successful,” Butler County Soccer Association president Colin Leyland said. “A lot of their time doesn’t have to be spent heavily focusing on technical ability ... because they’re getting players of a very high quality just basically showing up at the front door saying, ‘Let’s play.’”
Gerlach is entering his 25th year coaching at Mars and 19th as the girls’ team’s coach. He feels the key contributor to high school soccer success is travel programs, which are also growing. Gerlach is the executive director of Northern Steel Soccer, which will field a team for 6-year-olds during the upcoming season.
Such opportunities give children a highly-competitive environment to progress in by the time they dress in their high school team’s kit.
“It just seems like cup soccer is starting younger, younger, younger,” Gerlach said. “If they don’t get burnt out at a young age and they stay with it, those players are going to be pretty well-rounded by the time they get to middle school and high school. I think that’s a big reason for a lot of the success for teams in Butler County recently.”
A local socioeconomic shift has coincided with the flourishing travel landscape.
“If you look at the community development side of things, when I moved to Mars, there was one main stoplight in downtown Mars — and one gas station,” Gerlach said. “Now it’s Cranberry Jr. You’ve had a lot of money move into this area. A lot of the families and a good portion of people that live in Mars are able to put their kids in youth sports and competitive youth sports and get private training and do small groups and camps.”
Club soccer, Knauff said, is a higher level of competition, but there’s something about the high school scene that differentiates itself.
“Those memories of playing with your friends that you grew up with, that you probably played with when you were 6 years old, and then playing under the lights with your classmates there, those are special memories,” Knauff said. “Even if you play at a higher level, the emotions involved probably never get higher.”
Whereas a Friday night football game draws a crowd with the band, cheerleaders and game itself, soccer doesn’t have as much surrounding it.
“To get people there can be more of a challenge, and I think it says something when you really have a lot of people there,” Knauff said.
