Ridgewood Soccer Coach Jeff Yearing Continues To Battle Cancer

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — Jeff Yearing wants one more year on the sidelines. Just one.

Yearing continues to battle multiple myeloma. He was diagnosed last year and had to step down from his job as head coach of the Ridgewood High School girls' soccer team, a position he held for 31 years.

"My ambition is to get back and get as close to normal as I can," Yearing, a Ridgewood native, said from his hospital bed at Hackensack University Medical Center. "Everything is manageable and my markers are good."

Yearing began his treatment almost exactly a year ago this week. He went through chemotherapy during the season. He got through it, with a lot of help from his family, friends, and assistant coaches.

But Yearing has been in and out of the hospital. He received a stem cell transplant Feb. 2 and had to spend 15 days in isolation due to not having an immune system. He battled two serious infections, including one that was septic, and, most recently, a partially collapsed lung.

"I was hoping to come back for one more year and coach and then retire," Yearing said.

Yearing has deep Ridgewood roots.

He grew up in Ridgewood and played soccer and baseball for Ridgewood High School. He married his high school sweetheart, Barbara. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve, but eventually received a medical deferment because of concussions he suffered playing sports.

Yearing managed Graydon Pool from 1980 to 2004 and worked there in college and high school.

But through all that was his love of soccer and coaching.

"It has been one of the best experiences of my life. I've made tremendous friendships throughout the years," Yearing said.

Yearing saw the implementation of Title IX and saw women's sports rise up to a level equal to the male counterparts.

"I'm a big proponent of women's rights and to be able to use soccer to teach women to be independent and strong and to achieve the things they want to achieve," Yearing said, who noted he tries to make the most of what he said are teachable moments. That includes never cutting a player.

"I felt like I became a much better coach that way. That's how European coaches coach and it's a much less consequential way of doing it. Using those teachable moments helps them become not just better players, but better members of our community," Yearing said. "I tried to get every kid one moment they could remember for the rest of their lives and be proud of."

That philosophy has paid tremendous dividends.

"I've had a number of girls who have written me telling me they were so glad for the opportunity to compete because it made them very successful professionals," Yearing said. "That is very rewarding and nice to hear."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photos: Former Ridgewood girls' soccer coach Jeff Yearing with his grandson, Grant, and some of his former players. (Courtesy of Jeff Yearing)