High school soccer: Former Medina girls coach Scott Simpson taking over at Bay

It's been 17 years since Scott Simpson was last in charge of a high school soccer program, but the former Medina girls coach will be returning with a bang. Simpson has been hired to take over the highly successful Bay girls program, pending school board approval at an April 22 meeting. The 54-year-old, who has lived in Bay Village for four years, will become just the fourth coach in program history, with recently retired Beth English serving two extremely successful stints. The Rockets have made eight Division II state tournament appearances, winning titles in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2018, the latter two under English. Bay went 19-3-1 in 2023 and reached the state semifinals for the second straight season, losing in penalty kicks to Rocky River, which fell 1-0 to Summit Country Day in the championship game. "It's the perfect opportunity to get back into coaching," Simpson said Monday. "I'm in the town where I live and the people have the same passion for soccer at Bay as I have. It's really the perfect fit." Simpson will continue to serve as an intervention specialist at Medina, where he began teaching in 2000, and as a co-teacher for ninth-grade physical science. While serving as Bees soccer coach from 1994-2007, he compiled a 196-54-27 record. Under Simpson, who was 24 when he became head coach, Medina reached the state tournament from 1995-98, losing in the championship game in 1996 and winning a title in 1997 behind stars Michelle Anderson, Kase McCoy, Leslie McCombs and Carrie Ollom. Simpson spent the last seven seasons working with the Medina boys program, first under Simon Spelling and then for Doug Coreno, who first took over the girls team for 11 years when Simpson stepped down. "My competitiveness is still alive," Simpson said. "I like that part of it. I had two of the best mentors I could have had with (Spelling and Coreno). Learning from them enhanced the feeling that I wanted to do this again, too. They gave me that love back. I learned so much from those two." Currently a member of the Great Lakes Conference West Division, Bay will leave that league along with current members Buckeye, Lakewood, Normandy, North Olmsted, Rocky River, Valley Forge and Westlake to form a new eight-team league at the start of the 2024-25 school year. Current GLC members Holy Name and Elyria Catholic were not invited. The Ohio High School Athletic Association also will expand to five divisions at that time, with the Rockets expected to compete in D-III along with powerful programs like Highland and Rocky River. Simpson is eager for the challenge. "It's great to be living in a community with the same passion for soccer — kids growing up wanting to play under the lights — as Medina," he said. "It's the perfect fit." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.