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10/09/2015 12:00 AMJake Callahan’s first coaching experience came in his senior year at Bolton, when he worked with a 2nd-grade soccer squad for his school project. Jake, who was a three-year varsity sweeper and captained Bolton as a senior, enjoyed the feeling of fostering enthusiasm in the youngsters and wanted to be a coach ever since. Jake is getting his chance this fall as he’s in his first season as an assistant coach with the East Haven boys’ soccer team.
Jake, 23, helped the golf program as a volunteer assistant while interning at the high school last spring, an experience he says was “100-percent positive.” Shortly thereafter, Jake saw an opening to work with kids in the sport he’s loved his whole life and jumped at the opportunity. Jake got the job and was so excited that his heart “skipped a beat” when he found out. Now, Jake is working in tandem with first-year Head Coach Paul Comensas to build up Yellowjackets’ boys’ soccer.
“It’s been absolutely phenomenal. The kids are listening and soaking up everything I say and I know that I can offer them more insight into the game that they’re developing a love for,” says Jake, who’s also a student-teacher of biology at Branford High School and is enjoying that experience. “Paul and I hit it right off. Our personalities fit really well together and we haven’t had one bad moment. It seems like whenever one of us is feeling something, the other is feeling the same thing. We’re perfectly in sync.”
Jake says there was one big question that stood out when he interviewed with Anthony Verderame, the Yellowjackets’ athletic director. Verderame asked Jake how he would split up the percentage between developing, winning, and fun when it comes to guiding East Haven’s athletes. Jake outlined his philosophy in which each of those aspects naturally stems from the other.
“I told him that I would primarily focus on developing because, when you develop well, then you end up winning, so I said about 50 to 60 percent development and then split the other two in half,” Jake says. “When you develop, you win and, when you win, you have fun.”
Verderame also inquired as to what Jake felt was the ideal formation to employ on the soccer pitch and Jake said he prefers a 4-3-3 that features four defenders, three midfielders, and three attackers. Verderame liked what he heard and was happy to make the phone call notifying Jake that he was the newest member of the Yellowjackets’ athletic family. Verderame also likes what’s he’s seen since Jake joined the fold.
“Jacob’s attitude with the kids is always positive. He’s an amazing young man and we’re glad to have him on board. He is, without a doubt, a glass-half-full kind of guy. He exploits every kid’s positives and works with them to correct what needs to be corrected,” Verderame says. “Jacob is really positive, energetic, and intelligent with the way he carries himself. He has the trust of the kids and that’s a beautiful thing.”
Verderame adds that Jake and Coach Comensas “complement each other wonderfully.” In turn, Comensas, who had never met Jake prior to them coming to East Haven, discusses what Jake brings to the Yellowjackets and how he’s already formed a bond with the team’s athletes.
“He’s extremely knowledgeable. He’s been refereeing since he was 12 and so he has a wealth of knowledge with the rules. He’s super motivated, loves the game, and played the game. You can’t ask for a better guy to be an assistant,” says Comensas. “It’s going great. The kids love him. The kids are responding to him well and everything seems to be working out very well.”
Thus far, the Yellowjackets don’t have any victories to show for their efforts this fall, but that is certainly not diminishing Jake’s optimism as he feels that the team has already made big strides in a short span. Jake has high hopes for what East Haven can ultimately achieve and believes that effective communication will be one of the key components in the program’s ascent.
“Communication plays a pivotal part in success. If you have 11 guys talking to each other and working together as a team and a family, that’s when the magic happens,” he says. “I want to see us at the top. When these freshmen are seniors, I want to see them make All-State, I want us to make states, and I want us to have more wins than losses in a season. My goals for the team are very large, but I believe we can do it. We haven’t had any wins yet, but if we keep doing what we’re doing, they will come.”
Ironically, Jake is also affiliated with another school that competes in the SCC Oronoque Division by virtue of his student-teaching at Branford. But even though his Yellowjackets are the Hornets’ primary rival, Jake says that everyone at Branford High School has given him a warm welcome.
“Branford High School has been such a delight. The faculty are all welcoming and the students are a joy to have in class,” says Jake. “Since I coach at East Haven, most of my students like to joke around and give me a hard time considering they are rivals, but it is all in good fun. I am having a good time in Branford and couldn’t have asked for a better first experience in the field of education.”