Elizabethtown College is welcoming a new face to its athletics program. Moving forward, Evan Scheffey will be leading the program’s men’s soccer team. Scheffey takes over for former head coach Skip Roderick, who retired following the 2023 campaign in his 39th year as the College’s head coach.
Scheffey enters as Etown’s seventh men’s soccer head coach in school history. A Pennsylvania native, he comes over to Etown after a long winding journey with various coaching jobs. It all started with a passion for the game, and this passion for soccer stems from an early age during his own playing career. Now, he can’t wait to bring his passion to the team.
“Soccer was the first sport I ever played, and I fell in love with it from a young age,” Sheffey said. Soccer was always his passion and following his playing career, he found his passion for coaching. “After I graduated from York, I got into coaching and learned about different opportunities to get into college coaching as a career path,” he added.
Through various assistant coaching gigs, he found a spot as a head coach at his alma mater, York College, for nine years.
As the new leader of the program, Scheffey has seen the successes, but thinks there’s much more to achieve. He highlighted how these past few years, it has felt like the men’s soccer team has been on the doorstep of taking the Landmark Conference Championship, but falling short each time they reach the postseason. This past season, the Blue Jays finished 5-3-1, good enough for third in the conference following the regular season. However, they fell victim to a first-round exit in a quarterfinals loss. Etown’s new coach hopes to change this, as the new coaching opportunity offers a chance to reach the mountaintop of their conference.
“We have a group that’s been in the conversation with the top teams in the Landmark, but hasn’t broken through,” Scheffey said. “There’s a hunger within them, so the reality is there’s a lot of work to be done, but the goal is to always be competing and winning a Landmark Conference Championship each fall.”
To achieve this, it’s essential to connect with the players, and Scheffey has already done this. Whether it’s meetings or practices, he has been able to introduce himself as a person, as well as the coaching style he hopes to implement.
“We’ve had just over four weeks of practices throughout the spring, so it’s been a great opportunity for me to get to know [the players] and them getting to know me and my coaching style,” Scheffey said. “The guys have been incredibly hardworking, very coachable and very receptive. I’ve shared that I’m not trying to bring these revolutionary ideas, but we want to create a clear playing identity on the field, while also sharing the vision for what I think this program can be.”
So far, players are satisfied with what they have seen from him in these interactions. The leadership he has shown, and coaching tactics seen on the field have impressed players, as they anticipate the upcoming season. Third-year midfielder and business administration major Matt Miller offered his insight into the new hire.
“Coach Scheffey seems like he operates in a very positive manner, but he’s not going to take on a cheerleader role,” Miller said. “He wants to push us to new levels but keep it fun enough, so we want to be there and work for him and each other.”
Of course, as the offseason gets rolling, anticipation for the next season is already building. With a new coach coming in for the first time in 39 years, students, athletes and fans in the Elizabethtown area are excited to see the new product on the field. While highlighting the prominence of Roderick and the program, Scheffey emphasized his excitement to attack the offseason and challenges that lie ahead in his own way.
“With coaching, you have to coach through your personality. Skip is a legend in his own right, so for me it’s trying to coach through my own personality and how I view the game and creating a clear playing identity,” Scheffey said. “We want to try and disrupt teams, play high up the field and make them uncomfortable for 90 minutes … and our guys have done well to embrace that so far.”
While the 2024 season is still a long way away, the men’s soccer team is certainly headed in the right direction with Scheffey at the helm. The way he’s attacking this opportunity speaks volumes. His hard working attitude and desire to make the team one of the best in the country should prove that the sky is the limit for the future of the Etown soccer program.
