Ridgewood High School has officially named a new Varsity Boys Soccer coach, Matthew Bishop ‘08.
Bishop moved to Norridge at age 9, after being born and raised in the Chicago area (Cumberland and Addison). Ever since he moved to Norridge, he has been immersed in Ridgewood and the RHS soccer program. Bishop’s older brothers attended RHS from 98-02, where they placed soccer and had Robert St. John (current Athletic Director) as their coach.
Coach Bishop has been playing soccer nearly all his life. He started playing soccer at age 4 at Hiawatha Park and then moved on to play for the OPRF Strikers club. During his time at RHS, Bishop was a 4 year letterman for Varsity Soccer. He was a mid-season call up during his freshman year. After RHS, he attended North Central College, where he played soccer for 2 years before injuries ended his career. After he got injured, he transferred to Northeastern Illinois University and received his Bachelors in Physical Education, with a minor in Health Education.
Bishop’s coaching career began in 2012, when he volunteered to coach girls soccer at Maine East High School. The following year, he received a full-time position in both their boys and girls programs. Since then, he has coached at the JV boys level and has assisted with the boys varsity programs from playoffs and scouting. In 2015, he started coaching with Ridgewood, as the girls JV coach, and this year he was the varsity assistant for girls soccer.
Now for a few fun facts about Coach Bishop:
Q. What is one of your favorite coaching memories?
A: “One of the best memories was from one of my first years coaching. We were playing a game at the end of the year at Evanston High School. This game had pretty much no effect on the season or conference standing, but with the history the program had against the larger schools, the athletes seemed defeated before the game began. We were down 1-0 at half and I think that the players started to realize they not only had a chance, but were the better of the teams in the first half. The players started to put it together and we ended up winning 3-2 on a final minute winning goal,” said Bishop.”
Q. What are you looking forward to most next season?
A: “I look forward to getting to know all of the players in the program, developing relationships, building a feeder program for our program and WINNING GAMES!”
Q: What are you excited most about returning to RHS?
A: I am excited to give back to the program that has given me so much. I credit this program with developing the life skills that have gotten me to where I am in my life, and I want to do the same thing for the young men involved and committed to this program.
Q: What’s your favorite thing to do in your free time?
A: “I love to spend time with my wife, Danielle and dog, Cooper. I also enjoy cooking and getting out to continuing to play the game myself.”
Q. Do you have anything else to say?
A: “I look forward to coaching at Ridgewood for a very long time. My goals for the season are at least a Regional title and to compete in conference.”