Photo by Cos Lymperopoulos
New Jersey Youth Soccer continues its celebration of the 2023 NJYS Awards Presented by RWJBarnabas Health, officially announcing Don Norton, Jr. of Mount Laurel United as the 2022 NJYS Bob McNulty Coach of the Year. In honor of Bob McNulty, NJ Youth Soccer recognizes travel level coaches each year who best demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to good sportsmanship as well as player and team development.
“I have been a college coach for 29 years, but I had never coached young players before. I wanted to see if I could do it,” said Coach Norton about the challenge of coaching a youth team. “My goal was to find out if I could take a group of boys from the age of nine and develop them through U18. I wanted to see if I could give them my heart and soul, and I must say that I absolutely love it. It has really been a lot of fun.”
Currently the head coach of the U10 Boys at Mount Laurel United, the number one lesson that Coach Norton tries to instill into his players is the idea of team culture, and that has remained a key element of his coaching philosophy over the past 29 years. In addition to his work at Mount Laurel United, Coach Norton has also enjoyed an illustrious career in the college game, spending time at locations such as Rowan University, Haverford College, Swarthmore College, University of Pennsylvania and Stockton University. Today, he still serves as an assistant head coach at Rutgers University-Camden, a position he has held since 2013. Additionally, the Stockton University Sports Hall of Famer was part of a coaching staff that led the 1999 Stockton Men’s Soccer Program to the NCAA Final Four.
Coach Norton has earned his USSF "A" License, F.A. Ireland "A" License (UEFA "A" License), Scottish F. A. "A" Certificate, NSCAA Premier Diploma and USSF National Youth License. He is a United Soccer Coaches associate national staff coach, as well as being a coaching school instructor for NJ Youth Soccer and the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association. The US Soccer Grassroots Instructor also spoke at the 2014 United Soccer Coaches Convention on curriculum development and has written dozens of coaching articles for national and international soccer magazines. Additionally, he has a Bachelors Degree from Gettysburg College and earned his Masters Degree from Rowan University.
NJ Youth Soccer held its 2023 NJYS Annual Awards Dinner Presented by RWJBarnabas Health this past February, where many players, coaches and guests of the soccer community were on hand at the Pines Manor in Edison, N.J. With more than 1,000 attendees, the event saw a capacity crowd in attendance for the annual celebration.
To find out more information about New Jersey Youth Soccer or to contact us directly, please email [email protected]. Also make sure to follow us on social media: @NJYouthSoccer