The boys soccer coach and athletic director at Manlius (N.Y.) Pebble Hill (MPH) for more than a quarter-of-a-century, Donald C. Ridall '75 captured back-to-back New York State titles in 2000 and 2001 and was voted the 2001 National Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAAA).
A native of Lysander, N.Y., Ridall earned an associate's degree at Auburn Community College before matriculating to SUNY Cortland, where he received both his bachelor's and master's degrees.
Ridall was a two-year performer, team captain and MVP for the Auburn Community College soccer squad. At Cortland, he played on two ECAC champion men's soccer teams under new head coach Fred Taube. Ridall also worked as a resident assistant in Cheney Hall and organized the intramural floor hockey tournament as a senior.
He taught physical education for a year at Oswego (N.Y.) High School before joining the MPH faculty as a physical education teacher and boys soccer coach in 1976. He added the duties of director of athletics two years later.
Ridall's MPH soccer squads have won 10 league titles, two sectional, three regional and two state championships. A five-time Section III Coach of the Year, Ridall was twice voted New York State Coach of the Year and was the 2001 NSCAA Northeast Coach of the Year. He was named coach for the first McDonald's All American High School Soccer Game in 2002.
Outside of MPH, Ridall coached the silver medalist squad at the first Empire State Games in 1978 and was an assistant coach for the national indoor champion Syracuse Blitz in 1996 and 1997. He also coached five years with the Olympic Development Program in New York State and was active with the Eastwood Youth Soccer program in the early 1990's. He has served on a variety of committees at the league, sectional and state level.
A volunteer fireman with the Lysander Fire Department for seven years, Ridall has taught Sunday School for the past decade and now assists as a Sunday School superintendent at Rockefeller United Methodist Church in Syracuse. Since 1983, he has been involved with the Minoa Softball League, having served as president and secretary.
Ridall, an active member of the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association's Syracuse Area Chapter, and his wife, Loraine Jones Ridall '77, have two children: Patrick and Cady.
UPDATE (10/10/17): Ridall was selected as part of the 2017 induction class for the New York State Soccer Hall of Fame.
