COURTESY PHOTO
Mark Ierardi was named the new girls soccer coach for the Lynn Classical Rams.
By KATIE MORRISON
There has been some turnover at the head coach position for the Classical girls soccer team over the past few years. But a familiar face will be taking over the program this fall. Classical announced that Lynn native Mark Ierardi is the new head coach of the Rams.
Ierardi is no stranger to the Lynn soccer scene, having served as a coach in the Lynn Youth Soccer program for 17 years. The jump to high school won’t be too foreign to Ierardi, as he’s volunteered as the coach of the Classical girls soccer summer league program for the past three years. Ierardi, a 1979 Classical grad who played football, soccer and ran track for the Rams, said he’d been thinking he’d throw his hat in the ring if the coaching position opened up.
“I’ve been following the team for a number of years,” Ierardi said. “I thought if the job ever opened up, I’d see if I could get it. I think I can do good things with this group of girls.”
Having that youth coaching experience means that Ierardi has already coached the vast majority of the returning Rams in the past.
“I’m on a first-name basis with just about all of them, and vice versa,” Ierardi said of the returning players.
He also has another personal connection to the team. He’ll get to coach his niece, Abbey, who will be a junior. His other niece, Abbey’s sister Jenn, graduated from Classical in 2015 and was a key member of the Rams’ soccer team during her high school years.
Having a great deal of familiarity with the team already gives Ierardi and the Rams a jump start.
“Whenever you have a new coach, it takes a while to develop a rapport and a comfort level,” Ierardi said. “But I coached a lot of these girls in youth league, so there’s not that initial break-in, getting to know you period. They know my coaching style already.”
Ierardi says that coaching style consists of being proactive rather than reactive during the games.
“I’m the type of coach who likes to set the tempo,” Ierardi said. “I’d like to set the tone first. I like to play strong defense and use everyone on the bench. If you have three, four, five girls who never see the field, it’s not benefitting them or the team.”
Ierardi’s coaching philosophy includes taking every team, regardless of record, seriously, and not underestimating his team’s ability to compete in any game. That will come in handy as the Rams try to navigate the revamped Northeastern Conference, which now includes Everett, Somerville, Medford and Malden.
“We can’t control who we play, so we’ll play the schedule the way it’s laid out,” Ierardi said. “I say don’t look past any team; my motto is ‘fear nobody, respect everybody.’”
Ierardi comes into an interesting situation at Classical. The team will graduate four players this spring, and will have no returning seniors in the fall. While the lack of veterans might present a challenge, it also gives Ierardi the opportunity to keep the same group intact for two years.
“I think that’s very exciting,” Ierardi said. “We won’t have to start over after next year. There are a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and I’ll have them for at least a couple of years, so I hope we can get something done with this group. There’s a lot of talent.”
As of right now, Ierardi’s sights are set on making the tournament this fall.
“First and foremost, we want to get into the playoffs,” Ierardi said. “I think we have the talent to do that, but we have to stay healthy and play to our potential.”