Walking into social science teacher Jeff Gordon’s classroom is like entering a sports memorabilia museum.
On the left wall, Gordon has on display brown frames containing 16-by-14- inch photos of former Sunny Hills girls soccer teams, which he had been the head coach of until he retired in 2022.
On the opposite side, the instructor has put up more images of girls soccer athletes whom he had coached throughout the past years.
Combined, Gordon’s room contains 38 images of varsity girls soccer teams from 38 seasons.
The last item Gordon put up was a group photo of the 2021-2022 girls soccer team.
“I know every player [in these images] and all of their names,” Gordon said collectively of those pictures on the walls of Room 55. “I could tell you goals that they scored because those are things I’ll never forget.”
In his 32 years as the head coach of the Lady Lancers soccer team, Gordon led teams to three CIF-Southern Section victories in 2005, 2007 and 2019, 19 Freeway League championships and 22 tournament championships.
With such triumphs and commitment to the program for 32 years, athletic director Paul Jones said he nominated Gordon in May 2023 for his induction into the CIF Coaches Hall of Fame – the ceremony was held Wednesday, Oct. 18, at The Grand in Long Beach.
“[Gordon] has had such a great career here and he’s a legendary coach,” said Jones, who submitted a nomination for Gordon through the CIF website. “It’s hard to find a teacher and coach to stay at one school for such a long time and coach for so many years.”
Jones received a letter in the mail roughly two months prior to the induction ceremony.
Though this is Jones’ first successful nomination of a former coach into the CIF Hall of Fame, Gordon isn’t the first former SH coach to have received the honor. Ex-girls basketball coach Russell Hawk, who guided the Lancers from 1959 to 1983, got inducted in 1985.
After completing his first year of retirement from coaching the sport, Gordon said he was surprised to have received the news that he would be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“I just got a letter in the mail in July out of the blue, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh,’” said Gordon, who neither knew Jones had nominated him nor that he was the second to receive such an honor until he attended the induction ceremony.
“He was at the ceremony and I think it came to my attention that he had [nominated me],” said Gordon. “It is such a tremendous honor for our girls soccer program.”
This summer in Nebraska, Gordon attended another induction ceremony, which his family attended along with him.
What was different with the Long Beach induction was that he also got a chance to invite his former Brea Olinda High School soccer coach, Manny Toledo.
“I felt so appreciative to have be able to have a long, successful coaching career and the relationships I’ve had with all my players, coaches and the Sunny Hills community,” said Gordon, who was among the 13 coaches to have received a certificate and a trophy recognizing their achievements at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Before coming to Sunny Hills, Gordon spent four years at his alma mater, Brea Olinda High School, as the boys soccer assistant coach for three years and the boys junior varsity [JV] head coach for one year.
Gordon assisted the team to two league championships and a CIF finals in 1987 when the team lost to Sunny Hills and led the JV team to a league championship in 1988.
Jones said Gordon’s seasoned coaching skills and the longevity of his career provided a healthy environment for the members of the girls soccer team to flourish.
Sweeney said her coach’s relationship with the team and ability to formulate strategies and implement them into the plays were his most prominent reasons for the team’s success.
“He recognized the good where it was, and he would make sure that good players were known,” said senior goalkeeper senior Katie Sweeney, who played under Gordon for one and a half years. “I could tell that he cared a lot for all of us.”
During his time as a coach, he focused on a low risk, high reward tactic, which evolved over four decades of playing and coaching.
Gordon said he adapted this style in an attempt to win games on a consistent basis.
“That was a strategy that we started back in the ‘90s and for us, it was a way that we would not risk giving up goals,” he said.
Although the past girls soccer teams managed to secure achievements through different playing styles, forward junior Lauren Won, who played for Gordon in her freshman year, said the confidence he possessed for the players inspired them to perform at their best – on and off the field.
“I think my favorite part about working with Mr. Gordon was the faith he had in me and all of my teammates,” Won said. “He really inspired us to play our best and I think I improved so much simply from seeing how much confidence he had in me.”
She said she was in shock and felt grateful once she became aware of the honor bestowed upon her former coach after hearing about it from other people and seeing it on social media.
“I was proud and initially shocked since it is a high honor,” said Won, who played as a forward when Gordon had coached her. “I knew it made sense after everything he had done.”
After Gordon told Jones about his retirement at the end of the 2021-2022 school year, coach Antonio Arenas became the head of the girls soccer team.
“The goal every year is to win every [match], every tournament, league, CIF and State,” Arenas said. “We definitely have the talent and hunger to do so, one day at a time, one [match] at a time, one play at a time.”
Although the new head coach was unable to attend the induction ceremony, he expressed his excitement once he heard about the news through a press release on the CIF website.
“His accomplishments speak for themselves,” Arenas said. “Over 30 years of coaching and all the lives he’s touched and changed are to me what are most important for this recognition.”
With the team now under the guidance of Arenas, Gordon said he hopes for this legacy to continue.
“They are a very talented team who have a great coach and I can see them winning championships this year,” Gordon said. “I wish them all the best.”
Adding to his collection of memorabilia, a triangular shaped glass trophy stands, shining upon his desk. It reads, “CIF SOUTHERN SECTION HALL OF FAME JEFF GORDON.”
