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CHOCOWINITY, N.C. – Soccer is a big part of Southside High School coach Jay Petty’s family.

His daughter, Sarah, is helping coach the boys’ team this season. She will also be leading the girls’ program in the spring. In the past, Petty’s son, Caleb, has helped with coaching. Petty has also coached both while they went to Southside and through various recreation programs like Optimist Club and Pitt Greenville Soccer Association.
Even Petty’s wife, Tina, has helped out, primarily taking care of paperwork and other things off the field. She didn’t play sports at Bath High School but grew to love soccer while her children played, and her husband coached.
So futbol is definitely a family affair for the Petty’s.

“I got to coach him (Caleb) through and then he graduated. And then she (Sarah) came right after and I got to coach her all four years coming through here,” Petty said. “So, it’s just been a whirlwind. I’ve had a blast doing it. So it’s really kind of been a good tandem working relationship between the two of us (Petty and his wife) because she seems to take the things that I don’t really care to deal with in terms of coaching and vice versa. So that works for us. And then as both of my kids graduated and just matriculated, they went to college for a while, but they came back here.”

Petty went to a small school in Arkansas before getting into the military in North Carolina, which is how he and his wife met. Petty coached at Washington High School before returning to Southside about 10 years ago when John Lohman decided to step away from coaching. Petty got to coach Caleb for his final two years at Southside and had Sarah on the girls’ team all four years.

“I don’t play nearly as much as I used to. So, it’s good to be able to get out and kick the ball around,” said Caleb, who teaches music at Chocowinity Primary School. “And it’s been fun also just seeing the kids grow up as well. It’s a good time to spend with family, too, and actually get to see them and do something that we all like to do and a common passion that we all share. I’ve always loved the sport, and so just being able to be involved in any way that I can.”

It’s just always really fun,” said Sarah, who is a math teacher at Southside. “… I’ve just had so many great coaches in my life, my dad has coached me my whole life. It’s just been really nice to look up to him and see the kind of coach that I want to be. Also, with me teaching this year, I get to coach some of my kids, which is really fun.”

Sarah and Caleb say they’ve learned a lot from their father. Coach Petty said having his children there is also beneficial because they can relate more to the teens who play.

“You play through high school, you graduate high school, and then sometimes those opportunities just aren’t there anymore,” Coach Petty said. “I want to make sure the kids have every opportunity they can to play and that I give them that and I don’t ever kill that passion that they have for the sport.”

“It’s been good to see the ways that he coaches and also teaches just useful tactics and things to implement in the classroom,” Sarah Petty said. “And just how he deals with students and players and building that personal relationship as well. Every team that we were on, he always built relationships with everybody.”

After dropping their first two games, the Seahawks have been performing much better, winning five of their last six matches going into Monday’s match at North Pitt. Coach Petty said while it’s a long season, it helps to have a family that both loves the sport and is helping the program in various ways.

“I think it’s just been really cool to see like how he handles the tough situations,” Sarah Petty said.”It’s like really easy, especially when you’re in the heat of the moment of a game or just a situation in life that you’re just going to want to immediately react. That’s something my dad does not do at all. He’s very calm in the moment, and then after the fact, he takes time to think about it before he responds. I think that’s a great thing to learn on and off the field.”