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Most people's tenure in youth soccer lasts for the duration of their children's involvement with the sport, but for some, youth soccer is a lifetime commitment.
Jim Fee is one of those who has made a lifetime commitment to the sport. Earlier this year, Fee refereed the 6,000th game of his career. It's an almost unimaginable feat.
He first began refereeing while in the military and has done games for the PIAA at the scholastic level, Classic leagues, travel teams, American Youth Soccer Organization, recreation league games and indoor soccer games.
Refereeing has been only one portion of Fee's involvement with the sport. He has served as a Classic, travel, AYSO and recreation coach as well as the head coach at Altoona Area High School, as well as coaching the Penn State-Altoona Soccer Club team, which he also began.
From an administrative standpoint, he served as the AYSO commissioner, the Altoona Soccer Club president for numerous years while serving on the board of directors for decades, the district representative to PAWest Soccer, and numerous other positions with regional and state soccer organizations. He forged friendships and worked with former Penn State men's coaches Barry Gorman and Walter Bahr.
Fee is one of the few coaches in the area who holds a National Class C coaching license. His involvement with the game now spans 50 years.
Several years ago, he underwent a hip replacement, but that only temporarily slowed him down as he has been back on the field with whistle in hand. Fee initiated and developed competitive soccer in this area.
"I plan to stay active in the game as long as I have the strength to get onto the field and keep pace with the action," Fee said.
Women's team wins
The United States Women's National Team won the 2023 SheBelieves Cup with brilliant play that prepared them for the upcoming World Cup.
U.S. coach Vlatko Andonovski's team beat Canada 2-0, Japan 1-0 and Brazil 2-1 to gain the tournament title.
Malory Swanson had a stellar tournament for USA as she scored in all three games. The traditional team leaders are still in place like Alex Morgan, Rose Lavelle, Becky Sauerbrunn and Megan Rapinoe, but new stars are rapidly emerging like Trinity Rodman (daughter of NBA Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman) and Swanson.
The SheBelieves Cup is recognized as one of the most prestigious international women's soccer tournaments in the world. The U.S. women's team looks sharp in every aspect of the game with a very deep roster and is a strong candidate for a threepeat in winning the World Cup Tournament.
Stepping down
After Tim Sussengill, who initiated the girls soccer program at Altoona Area High School, retired as coach, the position became a revolving door until Derek Winterburn took the helm in 2015.
Winterburn enjoyed a great deal of success, winning District 6 titles in 2019, 2020 and 2021. He now has officially retired after eight seasons with 99-44-5 record. The level of girls play in the area has improved markedly in scholastic, classic and club play.
Stepping down due to family commitments, don't be surprised to see Winterburn show up in the coaching ranks again, perhaps collegiately, sometime in the future. Winterburn gave stability to the program, and that has proved to be a difficulty prior to his time as coach.
Athletic Director Phil Riccio has posted the opening, but to this point no one has been named to the position. It is uncertain if Winterburn's assistants, Andy Aveni or Tom Lutz, have applied for the position.
Playing indoors
Currently, the indoor soccer season is preparing to wind up play, while spring play is gearing up to start in very early April. At this point, many players -- with scholastic soccer, indoor play and Classic or Club seasons -- are on a year-round cycle of soccer.
Tom Schmitt writes a monthly soccer column for the Mirror.