Announcement
Andrew Legare - alegare@stargazette.com - @SGAndrewLegare - publisihed Sept. 15, 2017
During their days as students at Elmira Free Academy, Derek Hamilton and Zach Sarno spent much of their time runnin accross Marty Harrigan Athletic Field playing for the Blue Devils boys soccer team.
Change has come with great frequency since those days, which saw the pair help EFA to three consecutive Section 4 finals appearances before graduating together in 1996.
Their alma mater is no more after EFA merged with Southside three years ago to form Elmira High School. The grass field they played on has become an artificial surface. Even the league in which they played - the Sullivan Trail Conference - is just a name most current athletes at the school wouldn't recognize.
Amid all the change, though, is a constant presence from Hamilton and Sarno that connects past to present. They are the only varsity soccer coaches the Elmira Express has had and have won a combined five Section IV titles ans coaches in the district. Their teams have been exceptional this fall, with Hamilton's boys squad at 6-1 and Sarno's girls sporting a 5-1-1 record.
Of greater significance than championships, though, is the impact they have had on the lives of their students and players. And each other.
They met in 7th grade after Sarno's family moved from Long Island to Elmira and have remained close friends. They play golf and adult league soccer together, participated in each others weddings as groomsmen, were teammates at Corning Community College and maintain a bond that helps bridge together the boys and girls soccer teams at Elmira.
"Even though we're running two seperate programs, we really do run into each other every single day in the fall in one fashion or another," Sarno said. "It's an honor to be able to say that one of your best friends is one of your coaching buddies and I wouldn't trade it for the world."
Sarno, 39, turned around a floundering Southside girls team after taking over as head coach in 2007 and has guided the Express girls to three Section 4 titles in the past four seasons and five straight Southern Tier Athletic Conference West championships. He has taught in the Elmira School District since 2002, spending the last six years at Parley Coburn Elementary, where he teaches 4th grade.
Hamilton, 38, started as EFA's boys varsity coach in 2005 after four seasons directing the junior varsity team. By he second season, Academy had won a Section IV title, which was followed by another in 2010. He has taught in the district since 2004 and has been at Ernie Davis Academy the last four years, teaching English.
Together, they have coached in the Soaring Capital Soccer Club and run summer soccer camps. They also shared Hamilton's first sectional title, with Sarno an assistant.
"We both got into coaching together," Hamilton said. "Zach kind of got me involved in Soaring Capital in 2001, 2002. The first couple of years we were inseperable, doing teams together. Eventually they said, 'You're two pretty good coaches, you've got to break up here. You've got to take two different teams."
As break-ups go, this one never took.
Soccer Connection
Sarno came to Elmira at age 12 with his family after his dad took a job working at the print shop at the Elmira Correctional Facility. He ended up playing with Hamilton in the Soaring Captial Soccer Club and for three seasons with the EFA varsity team, which Sarno joined for the post-season as a sophomore.
Hamilton played three full varsity seasons and, Sarno says, he was among the best center defenders in the league and was the backbone of the team. Their coach at Academy was Sam Kutchukian, the man who started soccer at EFA and won 341 games over 34 seasons before retiring in 1999.
This summer, Hamilton and Sarno had the chance to play nine holes of golf with Kutchukian at Elmira Country Club.
"It might seem minuscule to some people, but it was really special," Sarno said. "I think we both look up to Sam. I think Derek and I just try to emulate some of the things we learned from him and some of the things we learned from other coaches growing up."
Among those other coaches was Henry Ferguson Sr., who coached the two at Corning Community College in 1996 and 1997. Ferguson now coaches at least twice a year against Sarno as the girls varsitiy coach at Horseheads. Another coaching influance was Gerry Holden in the Soaring Capital Soccer Club.
Sarno and Hamilton both later played at SUNY Oswego, though not at the same time. Hamilton ended up getting his four-year degree from Elmira College in 2001.
Academy Becomes a Power
Fresh out of college and just 21 years old, Hamilton ended up being offered a job as JV boys soccer coach at EFA by athletic director John Lesky. He took over as the third boys varsity coach in Academy soccer history in 2005 and helped the Blue Devils bring home a Section 4 title in year two.
Sarno said the 2006 championship season was a special time.
"To be there and kind of help him along the way with that, and to know all the players myself, was really nice," Sarno said.
Hamilton's 2007 team was ranked in the top 10 in the state and tied a Vestal team that ended up winning the Class AA state championship. Academy lost to Owego in the sectional final that year, then came back to beat Johnson City for another Section 4 crown in 2010.
Hamilton grew up in West Elmira and went to kindergarten with his wife, Denise. They have a son, 9-year-old Brody, and twin 6-year-old daughters, Hailey and Reiley. The support of his family is a big reason Hamilton is able to juggle so many balls, including coaching two under-10 teams and an under-13 team in the Soaring Capital Club.
His connection to community, school and his players is a source of pride.
"Just seeing the community I grew up with and had so much fun competing in and the friends I’ve made I’m still friends with, bringing my kids up in that same atmosphere is really special to me and my wife," Hamilton said.
So, too, is the relationship he has forged with his players.
"I’ve been to a handful of weddings just of ex-players who have come through," Hamilton said. "Kids are still staying in touch with me, I’m still staying in touch with the kids, whether they live in San Francisco or locally. Just getting together and playing and keeping in contact or being involved in weddings, knowing that I made an impact on their life 10 years ago to the point where I’m still being involved in their social activities and fantasy baseball leagues and weddings and stuff like that is really special and prideful to me."
A Southside turnaround
Last year, Sarno reached the 100-victory milestone as a coach in the district. That's even more impressive when you consider where the Southside girls program was when he took over in 2007.
"I think they had won one game in three years," Sarno said. "Within two years, in 2008, we were in the sectional final against Maine-Endwell at Cortland State. We lost to a great Maine-Endwell team but literally that year had five freshmen and a sophomore starting."
As more girls began to play club soccer and put time into the sport, it became a bigger deal at Southside. Girls soccer has really taken off since all teams at EFA and Southside were combined in 2011, with the Express' initial sectional title in 2013 a standout moment for Sarno.
Sarno is also proud to have seen so many of his former players go on to play in college, including seven currently. He added he's excited to have Amanda Murphy, one of his former players, helping him as an assistant coach.
The Express' success wasn't a case of a coach being in the right place at the right time. Sarno's leadership has been imperative in turning Elmira into a force, with last year's group losing, 2-1, in the state tournament to an Arlington team that ended up winning the Class AA state championship. Alexus Boorse, a senior on this year's team, said Sarno's positive outlook and commitment are appreciated by the team.
"Zach is one of the most dedicated, knowledgeable and organized coaches I've come across during my time coaching at the high school level," Hamilton said. "His commitment to his girls and his program, both at the club and high school level, is unrivaled. Parents and players alike are lucky to have him and he's been a massive part of their success since the Elmira High School merger."
Lending a hand
While the sports merger of EFA and Southside was not welcomed by a lot of people initially, it helped reunite Hamilton and Sarno as coaches.
"That was probably one of the defining moments when we did become the Express," Sarno said. "We were running the two programs instead of me being at Southside and him at EFA with the boys. We were the face of the program and still are today."
Both coaches, and the players, support the other team when their schedules allow. Sarno and Hamilton often turn to each other for advice. This past week, for instance, Sarno asked Hamilton if he had any ideas for a practice session and Hamilton responded almost immediately with suggestions.
When Elmira's boys struggled to win games in recent years, Sarno was there to offer encouragement, reminding Hamilton that down years come with the territory in high school soccer.
"To have that relationship and to be able to rely on somebody and bounce ideas and things like that, that's great," Sarno said. "I watch the way the boys respect Derek. They look up to Derek as a role model as well, just like the girls do for me. ... It's not about the wins and losses. It's more about the message we can send to our kids and I think we both try to do the best we can with that."
Said Hamilton: "Zach and I share a lot of ideals in coaching. He'll go over some things that work with his squad and I'll share some things that work with my squad. We kind of push and pull from each other's strengths."
The coaches play golf twice a week together in the summer, with their handicaps within a stroke of each other. During those times on the course, the conversation may end up being about family life, whatever else each has going on or just reminiscing.
"We're not allowed to talk soccer," Hamilton said. "We just have to be friends and play golf for that time. I think that's neat that we can kind of separate that as well."
While Sarno and his wife, Jennifer, don't have children, Hamilton is hoping someday down the road his twin girls will get an opportunity to play for one of his best friends.
"I’m going to (coach) at least until 2025 when my son comes through here," Hamilton said. "Then my girls will end up coming and playing for Zach, so maybe I’ll go help him for a couple years and the coaching carousel will come full circle.
"We started out together, we’ll go out together and I think that would be a pretty neat story if that ended up happening, if he ended up coaching my daughters after my son’s done playing and I’m right there with him right along the way."
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