By SPENCER BATES
ALLEGANY — In the fall of 2004, Allegany-Limestone boys soccer coach Jon Luce was in the hospital with his wife as they were about to have their first child.
It was his first year at the helm of the program and it just so happened that day he was set to lead his team into the Section 6 title game.
He didn’t ride the bus with his team to the game. He came straight from the hospital, met up with his squad at Bradner Stadium, coached his way to a sectional championship and promptly returned to the hospital to see his wife — trophy in hand.
In fact, Luce admitted the first-ever picture he has of his son is of him sitting atop the trophy.
Flash forward 21 years and Luce is still leading his Gators into battle, this time taking them on the road to face league-title challengers Dunkirk on Sept. 27. His squad proceeded to do what they had been doing now for the grand majority of the last two decades: win. But this time, the victory carried a bit more weight as it marked Luce’s 300th for his career.
A massive milestone for the long-time coach, but instead of basking in the glory, his initial reaction was to say, “it’s just another number, another win for the program.”
But when he did take a moment to think back on the last 20 years, he gave credit, first and foremost, to the players and coaches that have come through the program and the community that has embraced it.
“We’ve had a lot of good players come through the program,” Luce said. “We’ve had a lot of good coaches contribute to the program, a lot of good families that have brought their kids since they were three and four-year-olds, … keeping the kids involved with it, supporting us every way they can.”
The lines between life and soccer could not possibly be more blurred for Luce. For two decades, he admitted it has been everything to him. No matter if he and his team are in or out of season, thoughts of what they could do to be even better swirl around his head.
“It’s all year round,” Luce said. “It’s everything we talk about, it doesn’t matter what season it is. We’re always thinking about what we can do to improve. Whether it’s inside, outside, on the field, off the field.”
A level of dedication that has seen the rise and establishment of a soccer powerhouse, something he takes great pride in.
But he noted that it took far more than just his presence on the sideline to get the program to where it is now: with aspirations of a state title each and every year. It takes a buy-in from each and every player that puts the Allegany-Limestone uniform on, and with each new season, it is up to the players to continue to carry with them the lessons learned from the past.
“We have a standard that we’ve set, and it’s not by me,” Luce said. “It’s a standard set by our previous players. It’s a standard set by our coaches coming through the program that we never lower the standards. It’s always one step higher. The first year I coached was 2004. We went to the regional game that year. So, what can we do to get past that? We made it there five, six times now, and even after last year, making it to the state final, coming in this year, we weren’t lowering the standards. We’re not going to accept winning the league. We’re not going to accept just winning, we need to do better than what we did last year, because the bar is set and we’re not lowering it. And the kids take pride in that. … So, I just have an appreciation of the kids who take pride in the program that we’ve built here.”
But, according to Luce, there can not be rigidity with this system. Of course, taking the positives and stacking them year after year are important, but he was quick to note that there is never a ‘one size fits all’ model. Each year the system changes, altering in order to get the best out of each year’s squad.
That flexibility has been key to the longevity of his tenure.
“You take the lessons from each game and build upon it until we get to the end of the season,” Luce said. “And I try to do the same thing year after year: What worked for that season? What didn’t work for that season? What can we adapt to? It’s not the kids transforming what they do into a system that we have, it’s us looking at who we have as a team this year, and how we can adapt to get the best out of each player.”
And it has been those players specifically that have been at the center of his fondest memories as a coach. He reflected on the star defenders, midfielders, forwards and goalkeepers alike that have worked their way through the program and left an imprint on Luce’s heart.
“We’ve had a lot of great players come through, it’s too hard to name them all, because I don’t want to forget anybody,” Luce said. “We’ve had amazing keepers who have set records in the Section. We’ve had amazing defenders who have gone on and played college, and are some of the best in their area. Midfielders who can hold the ball on their foot like it’s on Velcro. And forwards who want to do nothing except put a hole in the back of the net by scoring goals all day long. Talking to kids on the sideline who played in the program several years ago and just asking about all the players that have come through here, it’s just amazing, the amount of talent that we’ve had come through our small school here in this little corner of Western New York.”
Allegany-Limestone boys soccer coach Jon Luce directs his team from the sideline against Olean on Oct. 2.
But before he finished his walk through memory lane, he made sure to note that this project was not completed alone. Throughout his 20 years at the helm, he has kept the teaching of his former coaches at the core of what he has done and, along the way, has also accepted the helping hand of a number of assistant coaches that have been just as significant to the success of the team.
“I played just down the road at Cuba-Rushford, and my coach there, Carl Holmes, instilled the values that I try to carry here with the teams that we have,” Luce said. “Dedication to, not just your teammates, but to your school, your community. We represent everyone when we step on the field. We take great pride in that. … I’ve had great assistant coaches come through, all the way back then, and now, the coaches who have been former players, who are coming back and helping us out. That just created the atmosphere of a consistent winning attitude. … We read each other. If I’m not saying it, they’re saying and it’s exactly what was going to come out of my mouth. … Now I have players with kids coming through the program. So, it makes me feel old, but now they’re getting to experience it with their own kids coming through the program. It’s an honor to be here. It’s an honor to be able to coach this long, and have the success that we’ve had, but it’s just about the dedication of the players that we’ve had here.”
Luce, now having surpassed the 300-win mark, currently has his Gators with a 9-1 record and will hope to see this year turn out at least as successful as his first. But in order to get to that point, it’s all about just stacking wins as they come.
