The "Mr. Ed" Story

Mr. Ed

It was an ordinary day. Was reading in the newspaper about my friend and fellow teacher, Ed Journey who was just recently inducted, along with fellow coach Al Shuss from another local high school, into the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame. The announcement came at the recent PSCA Awards Banquet. There are now 43 members in the prestigious Hall of Fame. The current coach, Dave Ammon, was asked to come up with a few words that would describe Ed, who he replaced. Easy for Dave; words such as Professionalism, respect, integrity, dignity, passion, and serious but reasonable. And, Dave should know, since he played four years of high school soccer for Ed in the 1980s and was his assistant after graduating from college and returning to Manheim Township High School to teach. I got to know Dave years ago when I coached him in little league baseball. He was the same age as my son Derek and they were probably the two best players on the team. When Derek was pitching, Dave played shortstop and when Dave pitched, Derek played first base. I can remember one game when Derek was on the mound and Dave was at short early in the game and it seemed that almost every ball that was hit came to him. He was a slick fielder for 10 years old and he made all the plays. Partway through the game I had to make changes to get everyone in the game, so I used another pitcher, put Derek at first and Dave at second. Every ball that was hit went to second base. After the game a fellow came up to me and said that it was great coaching moving that guy from short to second. Dave made me look good. I was sad to see him abandon baseball for soccer, but he was a star on the soccer team as a high school player. And, Ed was responsible for that. Ed was the head coach for 34 years before retiring from coaching as well as teaching. During that time he had compiled a record of 303 wins, 198 losses and46 ties. His teams won two Lancaster-Lebanon League Section One titles, four L-L League crowns and the first District III championship in program history. Ed coached six League MVPs, six All-State players and one All-American. After he retired, and at Dave's request, they named the soccer field after him. Big board above the scoreboard bears the name of : Journey Field. Dave said of Ed, "He always wanted to win, but he found a way to balance winning and what was best for his players. Today there is a Journey-Shuss award that goes to the winner of the Manheim Township-Hempfield series each fall. You better believe both teams play their hearts out for to keep this award at their respective school. I know Ed as the soft-spoken gym teacher who loved to talk about almost anything. Had breakfast just last week with the retired teachers from our high school and got to sit next to Ed at the table. Still the same as he was years ago, but I'll add a couple of words to Dave's list; gracious and gentle. Yep, that's Ed. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.