JV Girls Soccer Coach Pearce Does It All

Coach Pearce is also a 4th grade teacher at JMES, a law school graduate, and soon to be an assistant basketball coach at the high school.

JV+Girls+Soccer+Coach+Pearce+Does+It+All

Zuleyka Trelles, staff writer

Mike Pearce, or as we girls on the team call him, “Coach”, tackled the role of the new JV girl’s soccer coach this season. In addition, he took on the role of a 4th-grade teacher at John Marshall Elementary School, this year being his first within the East Hampton School district. I had the pleasure of meeting him during soccer along with interviewing him for the paper. We conversed about many topics ranging from his favorite color to the reasoning behind his desire for teaching. 

 We started off with easy questions. I asked him about his favorite color, which is purple. He’s also decided to show support for Belgium in the World Cup. Then, I asked him what he thinks is the highlight of the JV girl’s soccer season this year. His answer was the very first game. Personally, I barely remember it because of all the nerves. But, he recalled, we had won 2-1 and scored during the last few minutes of the game against Riverhead. 

While we were on the topic of this year’s soccer season I asked him if there was anything he would change about it. He said he wouldn’t have changed anything about it, and I agree. He enjoyed all our “family dinners” at Panera. At the end of the season during his speech, he said “This is a special group, I’ve never had a team that truly cares for each other and cheers each other on as much as you girls. We had a lot of solid wins and competitive games against tough teams. East Hampton is no longer an easy win for other teams!”

Our focus then transitioned to his job or jobs. Pearce told me how he enjoys teaching and coaching because he finds it fulfilling to work with kids. He enjoys being a positive role model and influence on kids. He mentioned how some kids don’t have a role model in their life, let alone a positive one. So, he finds it to be great if he has the opportunity to have and be a positive influence on someone. He ties his coaching to his teaching and said that there’s no difference between them; he will always have your back! 

Although it was his first time coaching girls, it was not his first time coaching in general. He is also a coach for SUSA, a soccer team near Islip, where he coaches the boys. We talked about the differences between both teams, he said that since the girl’s season is shorter this means that the girls have to work harder during the off-season to catch up for the lost time. He also mentioned how he likes coaching girls more than boys since girls and women, in his opinion, are more emotionally intelligent, and women have the ability to carry a conversation than most men do. He stated, “You girls are more personable than the boys I coach. You say hello when you get to practice and don’t just walk away with your head down like my boys will do.” 

It might be his first year teaching at John Marshall Elementary School but it’s not his first year teaching in general. He taught at Middle Country for 3 years. He enjoys John Marshall and looks forward to staying there. 

During my interview, I discovered that he used to be a family lawyer. He graduated from Dowling college where he played soccer on a scholarship and majored in psychology. He also got his undergraduate degree from Dowling, then graduated from Brooklyn Law School to become a lawyer, and received his master’s for teaching from Long Island University. 

For my last set of questions, I asked him if he had learned anything from the soccer team during the season. He responded, “It’s important to be a positive influence because the way you are is infectious.” I then followed up by asking him if he had any advice for high school students, “Looking for a college, do something that suits who you really are. Not something that people expect of you,” he replied. Sound advice. 

 Keep an eye out for Coach Pearce during basketball season, when he also is taking on the role of Varsity Girls’ assistant coach. He told me he was very excited!