Catching Up With Greg Perry

September 25, 2015

By John Johnson, Globe Correspondent

There was never much doubt that Greg Perry would wind up in a career that revolved around athletics. His older brothers, Mike and Steve, were both gym teachers.

Mike Perry is the longtime boys’ basketball and girls’ soccer coach at Cardinal Spellman High in Brockton, winning state titles in both sports. Steve was an assistant baseball coach at Westfield State.

In college, Greg Perry worked at the Play Ball camps run by former Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High baseball star Glenn Tufts, who was drafted in the first round of the 1973 MLB draft by the Indians.

“Coaching was in my blood,” said Perry, who is in his 23d season as the men’s soccer coach at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in the Buzzards Bay section of Bourne. “I had been around the coaching aspect all my life.”

A three-sport athlete at Bridgewater-Raynham, graduating in 1985, Perry considered baseball his best sport, but soccer was his passion. The Trojans won a state title his sophomore season, and lost just one regular-season game in four years.

“We had quite a run,” said the 48-year Perry, who played on the wing for two years before switching to midfield.

“Winning the state title was probably one of the most exciting things I was involved with. We were not supposed to win. We beat Wellesley going into the semifinals and made it all the way to the finals,” he said.

“I was always on the field, which was a bonus, because not too many people get to start as a freshman.”

He went to play also played four years at Westfield State, where he was a two-time captain, graduating in 1989.

After coaching stints at Bridgewater-Raynham and Cardinal Spellman, he arrived at Mass. Maritime in 1993. The Marshfield resident is also an assistant baseball coach, and is director of intramural sports at the academy.

In November, Perry earned his 150th career victory in a 1-0 win over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Under his direction, the Buccaneers have advanced to the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference semifinals three times, including the last two seasons.

“I am firm but friendly at the same time,” Perry said of his coaching style. “It’s a different atmosphere at Mass. Maritime. I expect a lot, but I try not to be so stern and strict because they’re hearing it all day on the other side. When they step on the field I want them to be themselves, and to listen and learn. I hope they learn as much from me as I learn from them. It’s a two-way street.”