Photo by: Sue Moss
David Floeck has won his 300th game at Whitman-Hanson Regional High.
After the dust settled, the final whistle was blown and the score final, Whitman-Hanson Regional High girls’ soccer head coach David Floeck had recorded his 300th career victory on the sidelines for the Panthers.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have great players,” Floeck said. “Year in and year out, great players come to us, and that’s a credit to the youth leagues.”
It was a hard-fought game for the W-H on Tuesday, Oct. 18, but its 2-0 win over Plymouth North was enough to secure the milestone for Floeck.
After W-H athletic director Bob Rodgers alerted fans Floeck, who also serves as the school’s assistant principal, was on the verge of the 300 mark, more emphasis was put on W-H’s Saturday tilt versus Hingham as he sat at 299. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Floeck was turned back after a 2-1 loss, so he had to wait until Tuesday’s game.
Besides the constant infusion of talented players into the system, Floeck credits the consistency of his coaching staff as a large piece of his success. Tom Zamagni has been with Floeck since he started coaching at W-H 21 years ago, Brandon Dineen has guided the Panthers’ JV team for 13 years and Glenn Ward, who Floeck replaced in 1996, is now the head coach of the freshman team.
“When you try to implement a philosophy in the program, in terms of our core values and things that we stand for, it’s nice when we have a coaching staff that knows what we’re trying to do at all three levels,” Floeck said.
Floeck’s coaching career began in 1990, when he was hired to head the East Bridgewater boys’ soccer team, where he worked until 1995. Ironically for Floeck, he said he actually never thought about coaching girls.
“It was a difficult switch,” Floeck said. “But, I took the leap and I couldn’t be happier.”
One of the most influential figures in Floeck’s life he said was his father. Josef Floeck, born in Germany, played an instrumental role in getting his son involved in the game and also played a key role in helping establish soccer at East Bridgewater High School and was one of the founding members of the South Shore League.
“Soccer has always been a huge part of our family and it still is today,” Floeck said. “As soon as we could walk in the house, we were kicking a soccer ball.”
The girls’ soccer team will be back on the field Saturday at 6 p.m. when it hosts Weymouth.