For about 33 years, one Manhattan soccer coach has built a program that stretches far beyond the scoreboard. Martin Jacobson, known to generations of players simply as Coach Jake, has led the boys’ soccer team at Martin Luther King Jr. High School since the mid-1990s, turning the program into a vehicle for mentorship as much as competition.
A Record Built Over Decades
According to CBS News New York, Jacobson has coached at the Manhattan school for about 33 years and has helped his players succeed on and off the pitch since the mid-1990s. That timeline lines up with earlier reporting from Skyhorse Publishing, which notes Jacobson has been the team’s head coach since 1994. Over that span, the program has racked up hundreds of victories, with Newsweek previously reporting the team had won 400 games while losing fewer than 20 since Jacobson took over.
The exact championship count tells a more complicated story depending on the source and the year. CBS News New York’s current reporting states the team has won 21 public school city titles and has won more titles than any other school in New York City. But that number does not match earlier accounts: Our Town once described Jacobson leading the program to a record-setting 20 city championships, while the New York Daily News reported MLK won its 14th PSAL Class A boys city championship in 2012, and Skyhorse Publishing’s account puts the total at 18 championships as of fall 2018. The discrepancies across sources and years have not been independently reconciled.
From Guidance Counselor To City Soccer Fixture
Jacobson’s role at the school has never been limited to the sideline. The New York Times reported in 2007 that his work on campus has included serving as a dean, guidance counselor, athletic director, and coach of both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams. That multifaceted presence has helped cement his reputation; Our Town has called him the winningest high-school soccer coach in New York City history.
Jacobson’s own description of the job echoes that broader mission. “My true job is less about the boys’ skills and agility and more about creating pride,” he told Newsweek in an earlier interview. Players who have come through the program have gone on to play in college and professionally, according to CBS News New York, including, per Newsweek’s reporting, the Cosmos’s David Diosa and Malian international Bakary Soumare.
A Foundation That Outlasts Graduation
Jacobson’s influence extends past the final whistle through the Coach Jake Foundation, which he founded to continue supporting students after they leave MLK. CBS News New York describes it as a nonprofit providing legal, educational, immigration, and social-service support to students. That mission tracks with the foundation’s own description of its work, which states that The Coach Jake Foundation carries that work forward through educational, social-service and immigration advocacy.
Jacobson has said he believes in helping others through sport and remains personally involved with the foundation’s work, according to CBS News New York. “The real victory is helping others,” he said, per the same report. One player, Luke Rodriguez, told CBS News New York that Jacobson is like family to him, a sentiment that reflects the close bonds the coach has built with players across generations.
Looking Toward The Next Chapter
The program isn’t slowing down. CBS News New York reports the team is pursuing its 22nd city title, a continuation of a winning tradition that has defined Jacobson’s tenure. Whatever the final tally turns out to be once the season wraps, the coach’s imprint on Manhattan high school soccer — and on the students who have passed through his program — appears to be measured in far more than trophies.
