{"id":15738,"date":"2023-11-10T10:05:47","date_gmt":"2023-11-10T15:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/?p=15738"},"modified":"2023-11-10T10:06:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-10T15:06:04","slug":"elizabethtown-college-mens-soccer-coach-skip-roderick-announces-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/2023\/11\/10\/elizabethtown-college-mens-soccer-coach-skip-roderick-announces-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabethtown College Men\u2019s Soccer Coach Skip Roderick Announces Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following a 39-year career, Roderick retires with the sixth-most victories amongst all NCAA Men\u2019s Soccer Coaches<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Elizabethtown College men\u2019s soccer head coach Arthur \u201cSkip\u201d Roderick \u201974 announced his retirement from coaching after 39 seasons with the Blue Jays and compiling a 573-181-78 record.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel it is the right time,\u201d Roderick said. \u201cWhile I still have good health, I look forward to traveling, visiting many former players and friends throughout the country and around the world, and of course, having the energy to spend time with my three young granddaughters.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Roderick\u2019s 573 victories are sixth-most across all NCAA divisions of men\u2019s soccer and fourth in Division III. He led Etown to a NCAA Division III National Championship in 1989 and guided the Blue Jays to the NCAA\u2019s Division III Tournament 19 times, including 14 straight trips from 1983-96.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Skip has set an unmatched standard of excellence for student-athletes at Elizabethtown College, most specifically, building our Men’s Soccer program into one of the most storied across all collegiate athletics,” Elizabethtown College President Betty Rider said. “Through his tremendous mentorship of student-athletes and colleagues at Etown, Skip has imprinted an indelible mark of success not only on the record books but in the hearts and minds of countless Blue Jays. We thank him for his selfless service to our College and commend him on an incredible career.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>With Roderick at the helm, Etown claimed 11 conference titles: eight Middle Atlantic Conference, two Commonwealth Conference, and a Landmark Conference title in 2018. Roderick\u2019s final career victory on Oct. 26 will be memorable for many reasons as Etown defeated Pratt Institute, 10-0 to mark the program\u2019s 900<\/span>th<\/span> win in team history. The Blue Jays became only the third men\u2019s soccer program in NCAA history across all divisions to reach 900 victories, joining Ohio Wesleyan (Division III) and UCLA (Division I).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you think about the 40 years of service Skip has provided to the College and our students, it\u2019s truly amazing to realize the number of lives he has influenced,\u201d Elizabethtown College Director of Athletics, Chris Morgan \u201991 said. \u201cWhile his coaching record is unparalleled, so is the positive impact he has had on countless students, coaches, staff, and the entire soccer community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Players flourished under Roderick\u2019s guidance during his tenure at Etown. Blue Jay student-athletes earned 24 All-America honors, 85 All-Region selections, 217 All-Conference selections, and 20 Conference Player of the Year Awards. Roderick has also been awarded Conference Coach of the Year seven times and Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Coach of the Year four times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you tell people you went to Etown and played soccer, the first question was always, ‘Did you play for Skip?\u201d Elizabethtown College alumnus and former men\u2019s soccer player, David Jones \u201986 said. \u201cAnd it is a badge of honor to tell them, \u2018Yes, I played for Skip, and he changed my life.\u2019 Skip embodied Etown\u2019s Educate for Service motto. He was our coach, but so much more. Skip became our friend, brother, leader, and mentor. He was the center of a large family of lifelong friendships both on and off the field.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Roderick-led teams won 20 or more games in a season five times, with the 1988 and 1990 squads going undefeated in the regular season. The Blue Jays advanced to the quarterfinals of the national tournament on nine occasions under his watch.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2021, Roderick reached yet another milestone, earning his 550th career win, a 1-0 victory over Bridgewater on Sept. 5, becoming only the eighth men’s soccer coach across all divisions to claim the feat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roderick began his career on the sidelines in 1983 and immediately led the Blue Jays to success with a 12-6-5 record\u2013the first of 25 consecutive winning seasons to begin his tenure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cForty years have flown by so quickly,\u201d Roderick said. \u201cHow many people can say they love their job and can\u2019t wait to start their day as a Blue Jay? I have been extremely blessed given the opportunity to coach and teach at Elizabethtown College with such a caring group of administrators, colleagues, professors, knowledgeable assistant coaches (especially Graham Small), and over 500 amazing soccer players. I have loved my players and the sacrifices they made for me and my staff, but now, with a full but heavy heart, it\u2019s time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Springfield, Pa. native got his start with the Blue Jays as a player in the early 1970\u2019s. Roderick was a three-time MAC Northern Division All-Star, and he captured All-East Region honors as a senior in 1973.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Roderick went on to compete professionally with teams in England (Everton and Brentford), Ireland (Sligo Rovers, League of Ireland Champions ’76), and the U.S. (NASL, ASL, GASL, and MISL).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was inducted into the Elizabethtown College Ira R. Herr Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been an incredible journey where we have developed so many friendships and memories that have provided my twins, Lois, and me with a lifetime of happiness, pride, and honor,\u201d Roderick said. \u201cThis May, I am looking forward to celebrating the 50<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0anniversary of my graduation from Elizabethtown College with my senior players and with many of my teammates from the 1974 Etown Men\u2019s Soccer team.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A national search for Etown\u2019s next men\u2019s soccer head coach will begin immediately.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following a 39-year career, Roderick retires with the sixth-most victories amongst all NCAA Men\u2019s Soccer Coaches Elizabethtown College men\u2019s soccer head coach Arthur \u201cSkip\u201d Roderick \u201974 announced his retirement from coaching after 39 seasons with the Blue Jays and compiling a 573-181-78 record.\u00a0 \u201cI feel it is the right time,\u201d Roderick said. \u201cWhile I still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":15739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[775],"tags":[197,2045,1350,2044,2046],"class_list":["post-15738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus","tag-elizabethtown-college","tag-elizabethtown-college-athletics","tag-etown","tag-mens-soccer","tag-skip-roderick","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15738"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15922,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15738\/revisions\/15922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}