Following last year’s season, varsity soccers head coach Corindo Martin stepped down after serving as the head of the soccer program for 34 years. His departure left a tremendous void to fill. Through his 28 years as head coach, Martin experienced tremendous success, leading the Lions to a top four finish in the Southern Preparatory Conference (SPC) tournament 14 times. Now, as the 2024-2025 season begins, the new Lions varsity head coach Joel Reemtsma hopes to continue a legacy of winning and believes this year’s team has what it takes to bring home a SPC championship.
Reemtsma first started working with Marksmen 12 years ago, but his coaching journey began long before that. Motivated by a love for the game and a desire to deliver sound guidance to aspiring players, Reemtsma began coaching a recreational team with some of his college teammates.
“We got together to coach some high school rec league co-ed teams, and we definitely trained, but we also had a lot of fun with it too,” Reemtsma said.
After college, Reemtsma engaged in a variety of coaching experiences, including for club teams and for his high school alma mater in Alaska.
“I like coaching at all levels because there are different challenges,” Reemtsma said. “Different challenges with boys, with girls, with little kids, with high schoolers, with college kids. So, I have kind of had the chance to coach across the full spectrum.”
After moving to Dallas, Reemtsma became connected with the school through various coaching connections, primarily Varsity Basketball Head Coach Greg Guiler. It was then that he met Martin, who now has full faith that the team is in great hands with Coach Reemtsma.
“I think he’s an excellent teacher… one of the first things I noticed about Coach Reemtsma was just what a good teacher he is,” Martin said. “He has always been critical in the development of the boys because I think he focuses on the right things.”
Reemtsma’s teaching abilities and development of young players convinced Martin to name him junior varsity head coach. Over the past decade, Reemtsma has grown to understand what the soccer program’s goals are for players.
“He’s very much in line with what we want,” Martin said. “As far as character from our players, he understands that they should not only be good soccer players, but good men.”
For Martin, Reemstma’s organization skills and patience with players made Reemtsma stand out as a top choice to take over the soccer program.
“He’s very well organized. He’ll have a very set ideas on what he wants to do,” Martin said. “He’s very patient, and I think that’s an important quality when you’re working with young men.”
Like Martin, senior captain Alex Abel feels strongly about Reemtsma both as a coach and as a person, and Abel also believes this team has what it takes to succeed in the postseason.
“He’s a really nice guy, and he’s very welcoming and open to make changes that I feel like we need,” Abel said. “And this year, we are definitely hoping to make a deep SPC run.”
To carry through on these high hopes, Reemtsma plans to build on the culture cultivated under Coach Martin.
“There are a lot of great traditions I want to continue, and I love the heart and tenacity that the guys have always played with,” Reemtsma said. “Coach Martin always, always motivated the guys to give 100 percent and play with determination and skill, so I hope to carry that on.
Coach Martin is confident Reemstma will be able to do just this using his experience as the junior varsity coach.
“He’s very much a part of our culture,” Martin said. “He’s been here for years. He knows what the expectations are. Our JV team should be a developmental program to make sure that we can take those boys and bridge the middle school to their varsity experience, and I think he’s always been great about knowing what the right priorities of his job is, and I think he’ll bring that to the varsity.”
Although the soccer program has had dominant regular seasons over the past few years, the team has come up short in SPC playoffs each time, a trend that Reemtsma is trying to end.
“It’s important to peak at the right time, so we want to focus strategically on that tournament,” Reemtsma said.
Reemtsma also believes that how players develop into young men is just as important as how the team performs on the pitch.
“Off the pitch, I want our guys to develop more of the heart, character and integrity that we encourage all Marksmen to strive for,” Reemtsma said.
Even with the high expectations and pressure that come with a head coaching job, Reemtsma feels blessed to be given the opportunity.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to lead the varsity program here at St Mark’s and it’s been fun getting to be a part of it for the last decade or so,” Reemtsma said.