By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/19/23
Jef Hewlings was a head coach for Philly boys’ programs over five different decades for five teams – but he’ll hold his last two years at Ridley, his alma mater, in a special place.
Hewlings announced to the public that he is retiring and moving to North Carolina following Thursday night’s 12-10 District 1 3A loss to Pennridge. He won 362 games in a career that spanned 43 years.
“While my short time in this position has been ‘the experience of a lacrosse lifetime’ (remember that I played lacrosse at Ridley HS back in the ’70s), my wife and I share a commitment to our next generation (and the ones beyond that),” said Hewlings in a statement to the Ridley lax community. “I recently made a difficult but [we hope] rewarding decision to relocate closer to our son and his family in North Carolina.
“This decision was made extremely difficult by the ties I now have to the Ridley HS program.”
In retirement, Hewlings plans to assist his son, Justin, head coach at CE Jordan HS in Durham County, NC. During Spring Break this year, Ridley trekked went down to North Carolina and claimed a win over CE Jordan. Overall, the Green Raiders were 11-8 in 2023,much-improved from 6-12 in 2022.
“Having recently retired from my full-time job, we feel that now is the right time to move on to what God has in store for us beyond PA and Delco, and I’m confident that our current student-athletes will continue to work hard to restore Ridley HS Lacrosse to the top of the Central League in the not-too-distant future,” said Hewlings in his letter.
“I will miss sharing daily practice and game days with our guys and will cherish the memories we’ve made TOGETHER over these past 2 years. I want to thank you all for welcoming me into the program in 2022 and for your support of our growth these past 2 seasons. I am beyond grateful for the support of the Ridley booster group; you all do an outstanding job of supporting your sons and will continue to play an integral role in the positive growth of the program beyond 2023.
“I will continue to be a fan of Ridley HS Lacrosse and know that our current group of student-athletes and coaches will continue to represent the Ridley HS lacrosse community with honor, respect, and a work ethic that ‘gets things done the right way.'”
Hewlings also has built a major community service initiative. In 2013 founded “Play for A’s,” a grassroots foundation that has raised over $143,000 to support families who have a loved one with Alzheimer’s. The “Play for the A’s” event, typically featuring between two to four high school games, was formerly held each year at Strath Haven, and moved to Ridley High in his two years there. Hewlings said he hopes to hand off “Play for the A’s” to a local program.
Hewlings, a 1976 Ridley grad, is No. 8 on the all-time list of Philly boys coaching wins with 362. He was 17-20 in his 2 seasons at Ridley and was 101-65 record in 9 seasons at fellow Central League member Strath Haven before that. In that time, he guided the Panthers to the PIAA Class AA title game in 2018 as well as a share of their first Central league title in 2016 when they reached the PIAA semifinals (one class at that time).
Hewlings formerly coached in the Central League at Penncrest from 1989-99, after serving as head coach at Malvern Prep from 1983-87. After leaving Penncrest he was instrumental in starting the program at Oneonta, N.Y. and guided that team from 2000-06. He also was head coach at Emmaus from 2007-2011 and led the Hornets to a record of 66-22 in his tenure, winning the Penn Valley League crown in 2008 and then the Lehigh Valley Conference titles from 2009-11. His Hornets claimed the District 11 championship in 2009 and 2010, while also reaching the second round of the PIAA tourney each year.
Hewlings, who played college club lacrosse for West Chester (just before it became an NCAA program), was the Phillylacrosse.com Honorable Mention Coach of the year in 2016.
