Pine-Richland soccer coach Wiegand doubles up with girls gig

By: Jerin Steele
Saturday, June 22, 2024 | 10:22 AM

There’s little doubt Jordan Wiegand loves soccer.

So much so that he’s willing to tackle a rare coaching double.

Already established as a WPIAL champion boys soccer coach at Pine-Richland, Wiegand now will lead the Rams’ girls program as well.

He was hired as girls soccer coach at Pine-Richland’s school board meeting June 11.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Wiegand said about coaching a boys and girls program at the same time. “I thought I could do it as long as the logistics worked out, and that’s the case. We were in need of a (girls soccer) coach, so it became a perfect fit. It’s double duty for me, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Wiegand takes over for Alessandro Moreira, who spent one season at Pine-Richland.

This wasn’t a snap decision for Wiegand. In fact, he contemplated doing it last year before Moreira took the job.

“When the opportunity presented itself again this year, I made them aware that I’d be more than willing to do it,” Wiegand said. “I don’t know if this has been done before at a big school. I know it was done at Freedom in the past and maybe some other smaller schools too. For me it’s all about the challenge. I love to compete. High school soccer is everything to me, and once we figured out nothing conflicts, it was a no-brainer for me.”

Wiegand has mapped out a plan for how the season will go with practices and games. There aren’t any dates when Pine-Richland boys and girls play on the same day, so he won’t have to worry about being at two games at once.

“Girls games are typically Monday and Wednesday, and boys are Tuesday and Thursday,” Wiegand said. “Sprinkle in some Saturdays as well, but luckily none of the weekend games conflicted at all. Once we figured out the practice times, we were able to make it work. My personality in general is super over-the-top schedule oriented. That task was actually fun for me to get that organized. There will be separate training sessions and separate games. For me it’ll be a training session followed by a game most nights.”

Wiegand will have separate assistant coaching staffs for each program.

He led Pine-Richland to a 1-0 upset over Seneca Valley in the 2022 WPIAL Class 4A final. It was the first boys soccer title in school history.

Wiegand inherits a fairly young girls team that graduated only four seniors.

The first impressions in his brief time with the girls was that there is plenty of talent and potential for 2024.

“I’m only a few days in, but I would say the expectations will be pretty high for them just based on what I’ve seen,” Wiegand said. “Obviously I haven’t seen the competition, and we know that there’s a lot of powerhouses in the north, but these girls are fantastic. I’d argue that in any situation that I’ve come into as a high school coach on the boys side they weren’t quite ready, and it took time. But these girls have a lot of upside to them and some experience as well. Hopefully that will make the transition a little easier.

“Both parties are excited. I know I’m excited. I want to give the boys and girls soccer players at Pine-Richland the best possible program they could have.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland