INTERVIEW
Q & A WITH DR . BERNIE SMOLEN HALL OF FAMER AT PRINCE GEORGE ’ S COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Interview conducted by Willie Ibarra
For close to 16 years , Dr . Bernie Smolen was the head men ’ s soccer coach at Prince George ’ s Community College ( PGCC ), a D2 National Junior College Athletic Association ( NJCAA ) school located in Largo , Maryland ( Prince George ’ s County ). His coaching career spans three decades , including coaching at the club level as well . Soccer and the NJCAA began to evolve from the late 1970s into the mid 1990s . In the early ’ 80s , Coach Smolen led PGCC to the national tournament twice , reaching a ranking of third and fifth in the nation . In those early days , the athletic department at the school had a very low budget and sometimes his teams could not participate in nationals , but PGCC was always very competitive and well prepared — and his players mostly wanted to make Coach Smolen proud of their efforts on and off the field . Whether it was a win or a loss , his players yearned for his words of acceptance and acknowledgement that he was proud of their game performance . Smolen ’ s style of leadership , dedication and personality are what attracted the players to his program . He was known to be a “ player ’ s coach ” and his student-athletes knew they could count on his endless support whether on the field or in the classroom . He coached a total of 297 games , posting a 183-93-21 overall record . He was also a professor for many years at the college in the Physical Education Department , teaching personal and community health and nutrition courses . He holds a bachelor ’ s degree in education from Lock Haven State College ( PA ), a master ’ s degree in education from the University of Pittsburgh and a doctorate from the University of Maryland . He was recently inducted into the PGCC Hall of Fame ( Class of 2024 ) and his winning tradition there has left a long and lasting impression . We caught up with Coach Smolen to discuss his accomplishments and compare the past to the present .
HALL OF FAME INDUCTION :
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT YOUR INDUCTION INTO THE PRINCE GEORGE ’ S COMMUNITY COLLEGE ( PGCC ) ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME ? It was Jo Ann Todaro , the PGCC Athletic Director , who contacted me to share the news ! I was very honored and pleased for the high and esteemed recognition of being inducted into the Hall of Fame , but the honor really goes to all the student-athletes who played for me over the years . Without them , nobody would ever know of my existence .
DID YOU PLAN YOUR SPEECH IN ADVANCE FOR THAT EVENING ? No planned speech ! Just spoke from the heart . I wanted to thank all my former players , the former athletic director and former presidents of the college for having me coach and teach there for 15 years with such fine young men .
HOW DID YOU BECOME THE HEAD COACH AT THE COLLEGE ? I was teaching and working at the local high school next door called Central High School . One day I decided to apply for a vacant position in Physical Education at the college and was later hired . The first sport I coached was men ’ s / women ’ s cross country with the women winning Regionals and they would later advance to the Nationals but at that time , the athletic program didn ’ t have any money in their budget , and we couldn ’ t travel to the national tournament . The gentleman who was the Athletic Director at the time , Ronald Mann , was about to cut the men ’ s soccer program , but because I had a high school background in education , he decided to give me the job as men ’ s soccer coach . The rest , as they say , is history .
WHICH TEAMS WERE SOME OF YOUR MOST MEMORABLE AT THE COLLEGE ? Every team I coached was great ! Each team and each year we had different personalities come through the door . Some of the student-athletes were great players on and off the field . Overall , I had 16 All Americans , with close to 50 players earning scholarships to four-year schools . We were the only JUCO D3 program , non-scholarship , to reach the Nationals ( reaching third and fifth place rankings ). In those days , we had to raise money to cover the trips , meals and tournament expenses . We raised over $ 10,000 dollars in two weeks to offset a lot of those expenses . In short , the PGCC teams that went to Nationals had great players with a strong mentality and who led by example . And they also played hard !
WHICH TEAMS IN THE REGION WERE YOUR TOUGHEST OPPONENTS ? The toughest teams in our league were Essex and Montgomery Rockville Community Colleges . Both schools had a strong high school base to recruit from . Both colleges had two great legendary coaches in Essex ’ s Pete Caringi and MRCC ’ s Tom Bichy .
42 | Soccer Journal