Perryville girls soccer coach Jerry Fulton thought it was something he would do for a few years and it turned into something that he would do for nearly two decades.
However, now he feels like it’s time to take a partial step back.
Fulton announced that he would be stepping down from the head coaching position of the girls’ program via the team’s Facebook page last week. Fulton will still be at the head of the boys’ team in the fall.
He said it was a tough decision.
“For 17 years, my family has come second to soccer. he said. “I have a grandson who is playing high school baseball, which is the same time as the soccer season. It’s time for me to slow down a little bit. It’s hard to walk away from something that you love, no matter what day that happens to be.”
Fulton started as an assistant with the girls program in 2008, and reached the state quarterfinals that season. A few years later, Fulton became the head coach and has seen great success in his 14 years as the head man.
Fulton went 173-86-6 during his tenure and won four district titles with one final four appearance, the only one in school history (2022).
“That record says a lot about Perryville and its commitment to soccer,” Fulton said. “I don’t see this program doing anything but continuing the success they have had. Soccer is in a great place here and will do nothing but get better. Maybe, one day they break through and win a state championship. That’s something I think is way overdue.”
Fulton has seen the program grow over the years, and the girls commit to club teams in the summer, which has in turn helped out the Pirates’ program when the spring season rolls around.
“If that continues I only see the program continuing to get stronger,” he said.
Fulton has won many accolades during his time with the girls’ program, but his main reason for getting involved with the girls program is to help the players earn a path to the college level.
“I think we have been doing a good job with that,” Fulton said. “About 50 percent of our senior athletes that want to play have an opportunity and that number keeps growing. We have constantly been in the top 10 in the state, which has made more college coaches pay attention to Perryville.”
All that success had humble beginnings many years ago when Fulton’s daughter started playing in first grade. Fulton was an assistant coach for her Perryville soccer league team. The next year, the league was short a few coaches and they gave him my own team.
“I didn’t know anything about soccer when I first started coaching,” Fulton said. “When they gave me my own team, I started studying and became an official trying to learn the game. I was able to pick it up quickly and I was very lucky that the team that my daughter was on started winning right off the bat. From there I was hooked.”
Once his children finished with the tournaments and leagues following their eighth-grade year, Fulton felt like he was missing something and was hired by Perryville to help with the soccer program and has been there ever since.
That longevity and continuity within the coaching staff is something he takes great pride in.
I wanted to do that so that the program would stay on the same path and be stable,” Fulton said. “Everyone knew what was going on and who the coaches were. I’m very fortunate that my family allowed me to do this for as long as I did. Believe me I thought it going to be something I would do for four or five years and be done, but here we are. It’s hard to walk away from something that you’re passionate about.”
