Former players remember Springdale coaching great Dave Meloni

Apr. 15—Skip Yakopec's introduction to varsity soccer at Springdale came as a freshman in 1968.

"We had a game early in the season at Sewickley Academy, and I was only in ninth grade and was on the junior high team," he said.

"But coach (Dave) Meloni invited me to come on that trip. There were two games that day, and I played in the junior varsity game. I scored two goals in the first half. Someone (on varsity) had gotten injured, and at halftime, coach Meloni put me in the varsity game for the whole second half. It was exciting, and I was really honored as a freshman that coach felt I was worthy to play in that varsity game."

It was Yakopec's only varsity action that year, but over the next three seasons, he did big things for the Dynamos in the midst of one of the most successful runs in the history of WPIAL boys soccer.

Under Meloni's guidance, Springdale won 72 consecutive games between 1968 and 1972 and captured three WPIAL titles. That streak still stands as a Pennsylvania state record and is the second-best in the country.

In all, Meloni, who also served a distinguished career as an educator in the Allegheny Valley School District, won nine WPIAL championships in 15 years with the Dynamos during a time when boys soccer was gaining popularity in the WPIAL. His teams won 149 games and also captured five section titles.

His coaching exploits along with his dedication as a mentor, a teacher, a friend, a colleague and a strong family man have all been remembered over the past few days since his death Sunday morning at the age of 90.

"I was very proud to play under his coaching and leadership for three years," said Yakopec, a two-time high school All-American who went on to play at Rollins College in Florida.

"We achieved some remarkable success. Even before I got to high school, I knew him as a coach with a great track record, and I looked forward to him being my coach. He cared so much for his players, and we cared so much for him as our coach. There was so much pride in wearing that Springdale uniform, and a lot of it was because of Coach and what he taught us."

Yakopec, a 2004 Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame inductee, recalled a trip to New York City with Meloni after his junior season to receive the first of his two All-American awards.

"It was a country-wide event, and it was really cool to see how well-respected he was among his coaching peers, many from all over the country," Yakopec said.

"I was so honored to receive that recognition, and it was special to have coach Meloni there with me."

Meloni served as a longtime soccer official after his coaching career concluded. In his later years, and also as his health was failing, he would still enjoy the opportunity to reminisce about the games, the wins and the cherished moments with his former coaching colleagues and players.

"He and I talked on a regular basis, and we had talked just the week before," said Harry Orbin, who played under Meloni at Springdale, graduated in 1968 and became a colleague while working in the district.

"He was in good spirits. We would always talk about Springdale sports and the athletes and also the kids we knew when we coached together. We would talk about friends we both had in our lives. We pretty much talked about everything. He was a mentor of mine and did so much for me. He helped get me a (college) scholarship, as he did for so many other guys. We were friends for more than 50 years."

Orbin said Meloni followed Pitt football and basketball games even though he didn't have a Pitt connection.

"But he was an ACC guy," Orbin said.

Meloni, a student in the Allegheny Valley School District during his elementary years, graduated from Oakmont High School in 1953 where he was a standout football player. He attended N.C. State on a football scholarship but also joined the Wolfpack soccer team. That soccer connection led to playing opportunities, including several championship seasons with the Harmarville Hurricanes, and then to Springdale where he also taught for 35 years and championed many educational opportunities for the district's students.

"We were so blessed at Springdale to have some incredible coaches," said Tim Basilone, a baseball standout at Springdale and Wooster College who also played soccer with the Dynamos and is now a Springdale Township Commissioner and a board member of Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame.

"Dave had great teams, but it wasn't necessarily just the guys who played all the time who spoke highly of him. It was the guys also who didn't play as much or hardly at all. He cared so much for every single player he coached. As they got through life, they reflected on times on that team, and it was coach Meloni, they said, who meant so much to them. He taught about being tough and being resilient and playing hard but also playing with respect. He got the most out of his players, every one of them, that a coach could get. Athletics teaches life lessons that can't be learned in a classroom. Those moments and people who you encounter in athletics stay with you for life."

Basilone, a 2005 Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame inductee, said Meloni was a big supporter in helping good friend Chuck Wagner get hired as the football coach at Springdale in 1993. Wagner won a WPIAL title with the Dynamos in 2003, and Springdale made the WPIAL playoffs in each of his final 10 seasons through 2011.

Meloni's coaching accomplishments were celebrated with induction into the Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame (2003), the WPIAL Sports Hall of Fame (2014), the A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame (1981) and the Allegheny Valley School District Alumni Hall of Fame (2018).

"Dave was just a staple in soccer at Springdale and all throughout the district and communities," Basilone said.

"He told it the way it was and was honest with you. He pulled no punches and didn't sugar coat anything, but you knew he cared so much. His players appreciated that. They knew where he stood. He could get them to perform beyond what they felt they could. He was an amazing coach and an even better person."

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.