Russ Buckley spent four years coaching the Cardinal Huskies boys’ soccer team in the Battle of Kinsman Road. He will now see what it is like on the other side, having been formally approved by the Berkshire Board of Education to become the Berkshire boys’ soccer coach.
“The one thing I like about Berkshire is it is community-based,” Buckley said. “This is as close as I can honestly say to a community-based program. When you start talking to all of the components, it is amazing how much time the community volunteers in these different programs to get these kids where they are at.”
Buckley takes over the program when his predecessor, Oliver Mason, stepped down after serving as the Badger boys’ coach for three years. He returns to the Geauga County high school soccer scene after stepping down as the Cardinal boys’ coach two years ago.
In four years as the Huskies boys’ coach, Buckley grew acquainted with the Geauga County landscape of high school soccer. He stepped away from the program to serve as a full-time coach for the Cleveland Force Soccer Club but after only one year, he left that he programs to become a coach in the Shaker Heights travel soccer program.
Buckley acknowledged that it seemed his high school coaching days were behind him after leaving the Cardinal but was drawn back into the high school ranks when several Berkshire players, whose older siblings he coached at Cleveland Force, reached out to ask him to become their new coach.
“I got an email from a young man and said, ‘Hey coach would you think about helping us out?’ so I told him I would put my resume in and we will see what happens,” the first-year coach noted. “So, I ended up taking the position.”
Buckley will maintain his coaching duties in the Shaker Heights’ travel program as despite there being travel matches during the high school season, all those matches occur on Sundays, which are routine off days for high school programs.
In addition to coaching against Berkshire in the Battle of Kinsman Road for four years, Buckley was also familiar with the program as his son, who played high school soccer for Grand Valley, a former Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division rival, frequently competed against the Badgers.
According to Buckley, even though he stood on the opposite sideline, he was impressed by the Badgers’ grit and perseverance. He recalled that in his first match in the Battle of Kinsman Road, Cardinal held a two-goal lead but ultimately succumbed to the Badgers by one goal.
“Those kids do not stop,” he noted. “They are very physical; you could be up by three and I would not count them out. Whatever formation and whatever we were doing, I would keep my foot on the gas. I would not let them breathe because they are just that good.”
Buckley has become well-acquainted in the Geauga County high school landscape in the last decade, beginning when his soccer career started in his high school playing days while attending Bloomfield High School.
After graduating, Buckley continued his soccer career at Ohio Christian University in Circleville and began his coaching career when his children became interested in playing in the Bloomfield youth soccer program.
He continued coaching his children in travel soccer when they moved to Orwell and started gaining recognition for his work in travel and premier programs, which led him to becoming Cardinal’s coach in 2019 after former boys’ coach Mike Topalian transitioned to become the boys’ golf coach.
“I have several different licenses for US soccer and just over time you develop a reputation and different opportunities open, and I take them,” he said.
Throughout his four years as Cardinal’s head coach, Buckley said that the Battle of Kinsman Road was one of his favorite matches to coach each season.
As of right now, the Battle of Kinsman Road in soccer is on hiatus as Cardinal is changing conferences next season, joining the Northeastern Athletic Conference, and will not be fielding a boys’ team because of low participation numbers. Although the schools are no longer CVC Valley Division rivals, Buckley said that he hopes the Kinsman Road rivalry can resume soon.
“I really hope that we can play them and hope that we can play them soon because that means soccer is growing in that area and there is another soccer program that is succeeding,” he said. “When you are involved in soccer as much as I am in coaching, you love to see different communities.”
