Underkoffler’s southeastern PA soccer roots bring his 500th career win

By Chris Mackowiak
DelmarvaNow Correspondent
@cmackowiakSGSN
For Worcester Prep boys’ soccer, when the head boys’ soccer varsity coach decided to step away from the
program seven years ago, the team needed a new leader.
In stepped Terry Underkoffler, generally new to the Delmarva Peninsula and especially the Eastern Shore.
It was a coincidence that the later Mallards head coach was even there at all. One day those seven years
ago, the question was posed to him if he knew of anyone for the open position.
“I said, ‘not many but yes I do,” Underkoffler said.
From there it is history as to what happened.
“Ironically, I get this full-time job. When I put my resume in, they had no idea that I was a coach. They
had no idea of my coaching background whatsoever. I was an elementary school teacher and I taught, and
I was a technology staff developer when I left Pennsylvania,” Underkoffler said.
Little did Worcester Prep know of the high school soccer coaching experience that they were bringing in,
over 400 career wins. After six seasons, the number has now grown to 500 with the Mallards’ recent win
on Oct. 9 vs. Holly Grove.
“It’s unbelievable, just to know that he’s been doing this for 30 years. Honestly it’s just an honor to be
here for the three years that I had, watching him everyday,” Worcester Prep junior midfielder Colin Miller
said
The total is sure to increase for a high school coach that has learned from some of the greats of United
States soccer history, embraced lower tier teams and grew them into league winning sides, and loved each
second of it meeting new people and doing it for the kids.
Encountering the greats in his early years
Underkoffler’s love of soccer began in a rural community north of the Philadelphia suburbs, Souderton,
Pa. Starting play at the age of 14, the head coach remembers early local soccer in the 1960’s and 1970’s
as a focus on athleticism and speed instead of true soccer tactics.
“There was no club soccer really where I grew up, so your exposure to soccer for the first time would
have been middle school or high school. I played a little bit in middle school, went out and played high
school soccer,” Underkoffler said.
The Pennsylvania-native initial found time as a left winger with the forwards in his high school years,
sporting a unique left foot. It was not until his time at Montgomery County Community College that he
saw soccer as a real calling.
Due to his father working at a factory, not making too much money, Underkoffler initially went the
community college route, where he encountered a large amount of forward depth. There were eight
forwards on the team, but only one goalkeeper, so he saw an opportunity.
“So they asked if anyone would want to train as a goalkeeper, serve as the back-up, play and learn the
position. There I would be the number two, not the eighth or ninth, so that’s how I got into soccer,”
Underkoffler said.
While his playing time fostered a learning on the field, off-the-field he developed a close relationship
with his head coach Shelly Chamberlain. Considered one of the founders of Eastern Pennsylvania soccer
at the time, Chamberlain worked with figures like Al Miller of the NASL and also worked with the pro-
soccer New York Cosmos, familiarizing himself with players like Pele.
“His soccer background was rich. He was an A-license coach. So I learned playing and the nuances of the
game from him,” Underkoffler said.
After community college, Underkoffler moved on to graduate at near-by Kutztown University. On
Kutztown, he encountered head coach Lee Hill who was part of the first class of A-licensed head coaches
in the United States.
Later on in the early 1980’s, the future head coach gained experience working with former L.A. Galaxy
and U.S. national team head coach Bruce Arena, with some other future big names sprinkled in along the
way
“If you think about a who’s who of soccer, I was working for Bruce Arena; I was living in (former U.S.
national team head coach) Bob Bradley’s condo…so I was on the ground swell of what Bruce Arena and
Bob Bradley were doing at the University of Virginia and eventually coming through [afterwards],”
Underkoffler said.
His proximity to high-profile coaches allowed Underkoffler to learn on the job and take in key lessons
along the way.
“Be creative. Be excited. If you’re excited about them and what they’re doing, excited about the team, it
carries through. Be calm and prepared,” Underkoffler said.
One thing the coach points to is his adapted and developed ability to stay calm on the field in pressured
situations. He sees no point in getting angry at the referees for calls. It is all about adapting to the situation
at hand.
“I don’t think I’ve once seen him lose his temper. He’s exceptionally calm. He’s intense, but he’s calm. It
really translates into our relationships and play. He gets us going but doesn’t yell at us which is nice,”
Worcester Prep senior midfielder Brenner Maul said.
During this, Underkoffler saw his first coaching opportunities begin to unfold, initially based on his
choices back at the community college level. He became a goalkeeping coach in 1977, which paved the
way for more afterwards.
The Montgomery County, Pa. high school Methacton was the first to claim Underkoffler as a head coach,
of their junior varsity team in 1978 where he spent seven seasons. It was his first real soccer leadership
position, but it certainly was not his last.
“That was actually the first time I was in charge of a group of people and putting them out onto the field.
At the same time, I started coaching a youth under-10 team (in Audobon, Pa.),” Underkoffler said.
Deep southeastern Pennsylvania roots
His first head coaching job came at the same spot that his love of soccer began, Souderton Area High
School. In 1984, Underkoffler was encouraged to apply for the head boys’ soccer varsity position at his
alma mater, and he was offered the job.
The new position came with a new mission that set-in motion the basis of his coaching career.
“I’m really proud of the fact that for 20 years from 1963 to 1983, Souderton had one winning season.
When I got there, my determination was to change that obviously. I wanted to return them not only to a
team that was good, but I wanted to turn them into a team that would play at the top of the high schools in
the area,” Underkoffler said.
The Souderton alumnus noted that the real change was not needed on the field, but instead in the heads of
the Souderton players. His focus was to alter their mentality away from expecting mistakes late in games
to finding ways to win.
“It was a huge task because they would always come up short, but they were close games. They were’nt
getting blown out, but they would lose 2-1 or 3-2,” Underkoffler said.
Still in his 20’s, Underkoffler felt the nerves in his first career game at the helm. It featured a match
against a Souderton rival in Central Bucks West (Pa.), a night game in the football stadium.
“Under the lights, the kids are all excited. It’s a September night. When I told my team in the locker room
before the game started, ‘We’re going to win tonight. We’re gonna beat these guys and we’re going to put
a stamp on ourselves out there that we’re different,” Underkoffler said.
They won that night 3-1. Today, 33 years later, Underkoffler still remembers that game vividly, the goals
scored and the crowd erupting on all three. Soudeton had not won vs. Central Bucks West in years, with
the opponent being a recent perennial league power.
From there, he led his first team to the doorstep of the playoffs the next few years, eventually breaking
through in 1987 with an undefeated season in league play for the school’s first ever league title in boys’
soccer. 1987, 30 years prior to 2017 when he achieved his 2017 victory; that time line has great
significance for Underkoffler.
“Here was this Souderton team that hadn’t won in 20 years or something and we were ranked first in all
of southeastern PA as a high school. We had gotten to the point where we climbed the ranks and we had
put our team into that,” Underkoffler said.
Five league titles and nine playoff appearances over 11 years, Underkoffler left more than an impact on
his alma mater. From there, he made his way to other stops around southeastern Pennsylvania with a stop
at nearby Upper Perkiomen when his old college roommate stepped down.
A similar scenario opened with Underkoffler leading the team to their first conference title.
“I guess the theme here is that I like to coach a team, try something new to get into something that’s never
been done,” Underkoffler said.
His success spanned over to girls’ varsity soccer too. Underkoffler had the opportunity to coach his
daughter in high school. The dual-season soccer with the girls playing in the spring and the boys in the
fall allowed the seasoned head coach to lead teams year-round.
Spanning a few different Philadelphia region schools, he could raise league championship teams out of
schools that did not see those achievements previously. Once he retired from coaching and looked to
move down to the quiet Delmarva Peninsula, Underkoffler had accumulated over 400 career wins.
Rejuvenation on the Eastern Shore
In 2009, Underkoffler made the move to the south, taking in the Eastern Shore. At the time, he had no
intention of continuing coaching since he did not want the responsibility anymore after coaching for so
long.
He spent time coaching at Sussex Central but not in the head job. But then after taking the full-time
technology position at Worcester Prep, his soccer roots caught back up with him in that conversation from
earlier.
“It’s kind of rejuvenated my love of high school coaching again because I really thought I was done.
When I left Pennsylvania, I thought that chapter was over. I’m not gonna get to 500. I’m not going to get
anywhere close,” Underkoffler said.
Little did he know that he was right on the doorstep of history. After all these decades of coaching, at the
core of Underkoffler’s success is his love of coaching the kids. He enjoys seeing the impacts that he can
make on the lives of youth in the hope that they will enjoy life as much as he has.
“You’re hoping that you make a positive impact. You’re hoping that they look back and say ‘I really
enjoyed playing for that guy. I really liked playing soccer for that guy. It was fun. Soccer was fun in high
school.’ That’s all you can ask,” Underkoffler said.
The coach has enjoyed the new age of social media, allowing him to stay in touch his former players and
colleagues to see them succeed in the soccer world, in their families and other career paths.
“It’s coming up with a concept of how you’re going to play and them buying in. Not only that, but buying
in with a bond not only with the style, but with each other, and myself with them and them with me. It
becomes a family almost,” Underkoffler said.
“You rejoice in their triumphs. You rejoice in their awards. You rejoice in every success they have.”
Today the mission is much the same. Whether in Pennsylvania or today in Maryland, Underkoffler uses
the same principles to rally his team each season. The Worcester Prep head coach is proud of where the
team has gone with opposing teams looking to play the Mallards each season.
“We’ve been successful. We’ve won the league five straight years. We won the tournament my first year,
so we’ve carried home a trophy in a sense each year. We also have a reputation of being a good soccer
team, comparely to anybody,” Underkoffler said.
His players today see the same adaptation strategies and game management that he has portrayed over his
many decades of coaching.
“I think it’s just crazy how he can adapt to all of the different teams we’ve had these last few years.
We’ve been really different and we always seem to adapt to get to our ending goal of the championship,”
Worcester Prep senior striker Tucker Brown said.
While the results speak for themselves, the true sign of the impact of his 500 career wins shines through
the experiences of his players. Five consecutive conference titles have come through the chemistry and
fun that Underkoffler shows himself.
That fun has lasted for three decades, from that first Souderton team to this Worcester Prep varsity squad.
“I just think that if you have fun with it they have fun with it, it’ll be successful. Then they’ll remember
the fun and not the record,” Underkoffler said.