By: S. Josiah Parker

For the Yellow Jacket

Although he has been involved with the sport of soccer since age six.

“I guess you could say I was a late bloomer,” Zach Morgan, Waynesburg University men’s and women’s assistant soccer said. 

Morgan has made up for his “late bloom” and is now in his fourth year of coaching at Waynesburg.

Before becoming a coach, Morgan played AYSO, in middle school and high school, on club teams, and in college.

“I played my first two years at Hagerstown Community College,” Morgan said. 

During that time, he scored 23 goals and tallied eight assists over two years. He was named All-Maryland Junior College 1st Team and All RegionXX 1st Team.

Following his time at Hagerstown Community College, Morgan transferred to Waynesburg, where he played the last two years of his career. While he played as a striker at Hagerstown Community College, Morgan moved back to playing defense, where he had played for his club teams.

In his senior year, Morgan was named second-team All-Presidents Athletic Conference. Morgan reflects on his time at Waynesburg as some of his fondest memories.

“Some of the best [years] in school history,” Morgan said.

The team finished that season with a 10-4-3 record and Morgan led the team in minutes played with 1,514. 

Originally, Morgan wanted to become a physical education teacher, and while at Hagerstown Community College, he earned his associate degree in Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Studies. Coming to Waynesburg that dream didn’t change, but his major did.

“I knew I wanted to be involved in sports,” Morgan said. “I just wasn’t sure I wanted to be a P.E. teacher.” 

He decided to switch to Sports Management, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Waynesburg University in 2014. Morgan was also featured on the PAC Fall Academic Honor Roll twice. 

Aside from being an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s soccer teams, Morgan also serves as an advisor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the Waynesburg Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

With a lot of involvement on campus, Morgan seems to have settled into the Waynesburg community well after his time as a student-athlete for the Yellow Jackets.