Dec 17, 2018 2 min read

After 14 seasons as the head coach of the Monessen High School boys soccer team, Sam Perry announced that he was resigning during the team’s banquet Sunday night.

The decision comes after a “lack of communication” over the past season that forced Perry and Greyhounds girls soccer head coach Bill Halinka to serve as assistant coaches on the other’s staff. Complaints were made that the conflicting schedules of both teams created neglect to of the programs.

Perry settled on his decision to resign after an evaluation with school officials Nov. 7.

“There really wasn’t anything nice about it,” Perry said of the evaluation. “It really threw me. Even having that evaluation shows a lack of support. If I don’t have support, then how can I work for this district? It’s very disheartening. This is not what I wanted by any means.”

Both Perry and Halinka, though both head coaches, also served as an assistant coach for the other for the past five seasons. After being told prior to last season that would no longer be allowed, they volunteered their time instead, which was also denied, according to Perry.

“(School officials) said they were splitting us up for the better of the kids,” Perry said. “Depending on who was playing, we always made time for both teams and had success doing it.”

Perry led the Greyhounds’ boys team to the WPIAL playoffs 11 times, won a pair of section titles and was named the coach of the year in the section four times in 14 seasons. Monessen went 9-5-2 and finished in fourth place in Section 4-A last season before losing to Sewickley Academy, 5-2, in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs.

Perry, 55, said he would be “absolutely open” to coaching somewhere else.

“We were very competitive,” Perry said of having to play against numerous private schools in Class A. “It’s been a great run and I’m truly going to miss it. At a certain point, when you feel like you aren’t being backed by the school, then it’s time. I felt I wasn’t being treated properly or being supported.”