Emerald Ridge boys soccer head coach David Rosdahl decided to take a respite from his coaching career to spend more time with his family.
Rosdahl, who is also an English instructor at Emerald Ridge High School, recently announced his decision to step away from his head coaching perch after three successful years with the Jaguars soccer program. Emerald Ridge advanced to the district playoffs three times and competed in the Class 4A state tournament one time during Rosdahl’s tenure pacing the sidelines.
Rosdahl said he resigned his position so he can spend more time with his wife and 7-year-old daughter Parker.
“I need to spend more time with my wife and daughter. With teaching and coaching I was only spending about one hour a day with my daughter,” Rosdahl said. “I sat down with my wife and we talked about it. We decided that I needed to be home more. That’s the main reason I stepped away from the job.”
The hardest thing was breaking the news to his players, Rosdahl said.
“It was a tough decision. I love working with these players,” Rosdahl said. “I told them that now I will be a fan in the stands.”
Rosdahl, who has been a coach at the high school level for boys and girls programs over the past 16 years, said he may return to coaching at some point.
“It’s hard to say if I will come back or not. Right now I just need to take a break,” Rosdahl said. “I’ll evaluate it on a year-to-year basis.”
The Jaguars missed out on the state tournament by one game this past spring and Rosdahl believes the team he’s departing from has the talent to make some noise next season.
“Who ever takes over as head coach will get a good group of kids returning,” Rosdahl said. “There’s a lot of talent on that team. This past year we were so close to state. I think the team is on their way in the right direction.”
Emerald Ridge Athletic Director Dell Dittus wasn’t surprised when Rosdahl handed him his letter of resignation.
“I know that he’s pretty close with his daughter and she is starting to get involved in different types of activities. I know he wants to be there for her and be involved,” Dittus said. “I wish him success in whatever he chooses to do. I think he did it for the right reasons.”
Dittus said Rosdahl ran a disciplined soccer program during his three-year tenure.
“There were never any surprises with him. You knew exactly how he was going to run his program. Everything was spelled out,” Dittus said. “Everyone knew the way he went about things.”
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