Kelly Bleam can’t think of a better time than now to step away from the helm of the Northwestern Lehigh girls’ soccer program.

The choice to retire from coaching after 25 years comes after her Tigers won back-to-back Colonial League and District 11 titles.

“I can’t think of a better place for the program to be than where it is right now,” Bleam said. “There are terrific kids in the program right now, and there are terrific kids coming out for the program soon.

“There’s a coach who has worked with me several years who I’m hoping steps into the role and can continue all the traditions and excellence that are at Northwestern Lehigh.”

Bleam steps away from a game that has been a part of her life for a long time. More importantly, she put a decision to rest that has been looming in her mind for a while now.

“Though I have considered stepping away at other times throughout the years, I couldn’t do that without knowing the program was in the best possible place,” Bleam said. “Everything (that is the entire program) is in the best possible place now. The program is thriving now. Much in thanks to the leadership and talents of the outstanding senior class of 2019 and 2020, and of course, a wonderful group of invested, talented underclassmen. I couldn’t be any prouder of the teams of the past couple of years.”

INITIAL KICK

“Soccer has been a part of my life since I was 10 or 11 years old, just like most kids who play the game today,” Bleam said.

As a youth, Bleam played competitive club soccer and varsity soccer throughout high school. She played on the defense for Eldred Central High School, which is a small town in Sullivan County, New York. She went on to be named Western Sullivan League Defensive Player of the Year her senior season in 1976, in which Bleam admitted was a “great honor.”

And then, Bleam decided to take the sport to the next level where she played collegiate soccer for three years at the University of Scranton.

NEW INTEREST IN THE GAME

College is where Bleam got her first taste of coaching. Thanks to her college coach Joseph Bochichio, Bleam found a new love for the game.

“My senior year I was, and I’m still grateful for this, the late Joe Bochichio asked me if I would consider being part of the coaching staff because I was injured and in a place where I could not play,” Bleam said. “That was just one of the greatest things ever considered because I discovered a whole other side of the game and a whole other passion for the game. I learned a lot from him in that experience.”

Bleam wanted to get her teaching career in line before even thinking about continuing to coach the game.

“The coaching part was not something I ever considered until that year and season I spent with that staff because the game is just so different through a coach’s eyes,” Bleam said. “It’s a problem-solving, putting the pieces together like a puzzle or a game of chess. It’s like what works? Who works where? Just putting all the pieces together. I was fascinated sitting in meetings where that kind of stuff was being discussed.

“And, I was like, ‘I never thought about the game from that perspective. That’s really interesting.’ I was intrigued. That led me to trying to start coaching when I was able to. But, at that time, I still had a lot to learn.”

Bleam decided to take some coaching education courses to get a better understanding of it.

“Being a teacher already, I was in a place I would be able to teach (the sport),” Bleam said. “I never thought about breaking down the game of soccer the way I would break down a trigonometry problem, or the course of trigonometry where it’s what you do if you’re going to teach something.

“I never thought about breaking down a game like that. You teach all the different aspects of it to try and put the whole thing together in the end. I just fell in love with the whole process.”

FAMILY AFFAIR

Bleam and her husband, Chris, are both longtime high school coaches in the Lehigh Valley and two of the most successful ones to roam the sidelines in the area.

While Kelly has chosen to step away from the game, she won’t speak for Chris who remains head coach at Whitehall High School.

Kelly and Chris raised two lovely children in Hallie and Alexa. Both girls grew up playing the game and attending games in which their parents were coaching.

When they reached high school at Northwestern Lehigh, both of Bleam’s daughters were key players on the Tiger varsity teams that achieved great success the past few seasons. Hallie is now member of the team at Elizabethtown University and Alexa will graduate in spring and is still deciding on her college choice.

“I am very happy that each of them were on teams that won district 11 and league championships,” Bleam said. “My daughters, like everyone else’s daughters, remember being part of a team, playing the game they love and the funny moments that made us all laugh so hard.

“I am happy they got to play on a team that was successful and left them with great memories. Whomever the coach is, that is what high school sports is really about.”