On September 6, 2018 longtime Dallastown field hockey coach Jeri Myers earned her 500 career win. The team played at Dover with a final score of 6-0.
Immediately after the win, the players surrounded Myers and put on matching blue t-shirts that read “500 wins, tradition never graduates.”
Following the win, former player’s hugged Myers and showed their love for her and the program she has established.
Myers told the York Daily Record, “I didn’t know if people were going to show up, so it’s nice [they] came.”
Coaching field hockey for Dallastown since 1981, Myers has won the most games compared to any other coach in Dallastown Athletics history.
Some of Myers’ other accomplishments include winning 8 straight division titles from 2003 to 2010 and reaching the state semifinals in 1998.
Additionally, 81 percent of the field hockey’s program wins can be attributed to Myers.
But, to the players and Myers, the numbers are not what really matters. Throughout the game Thursday, Myers continued to emphasize that the night was not about her but about the game.
Yet her players still understood the historic victory this would be for their coach. “We know how much this meant to her, so we were right there with her. It shows how long she’s been a part of the program and worked to get to this point,” senior captain Madi Strayer told YDR.
What’s next for Myers? After this season, Myers will be retiring from coaching after almost 40 years. She is relieved to not have people keep talking about the win count, and instead focus back on the game.
Her goals for the season are to win another league title and make it back to the District III playoffs.
“We’re a family. [500 wins] means it’s tradition,” Myers said.