Sports Hall of Fame
Curtis Lynch- Curtis Lynch was a member of the inaugural soccer team at Palm Beach Atlantic in 1978. During his tenure, he was a starting player all four years, and he captained the team three of those years. He was a member of two Florida Christian College Conference championship teams in 1980 and 1981. During his senior year, he was highly recognized for his exploits as a player. In the 1981 FCCC championship game against Southeastern College, Curtis scored the winning goal in the second- half to lead PBAC to a 2-1 victory and the school’s second FCCC championship. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the FCCC and a All-FCCC first-team midfielder with 15 assists and two goals in 14 games. He was also named the MVP of the PBA soccer team and named the first recipient of the President’s Award. In 1982, he was named Assistant Coach of the PBA soccer team.
Academically, he made the Dean’s List all four years at PBA, he was named to the National Dean’s List, and he received the Victor Moore Science Award for the school’s top science student. He held one class office every year and was a resident advisor. Upon graduating, he was a finalist in a tryout with the North American Soccer League’s Tampa Bay Rowdies.
After graduating Lynch became a high school teacher and soccer coach. After a brief stint at Cardinal Mooney High School and Riverview High School, Curtis joined the coaching staff at Sarasota Christian School. He became the all-time winningest soccer coach in Sarasota Christian School history by amassing 208 wins with a winning percentage of .654 (208-104-26).
Coach Lynch's teams accomplished many milestones over the years at SCS. In 2004, he became the first coach at SCS to win a final four game and play for a state championship. His team lost to Tallahassee Maclay School 1-0 at Nova Southeastern University. SCS finished the season ranked No. 2 by the Florida Athletic Coaches Association (FACA) and was the Florida High School Activities Association (FHSAA) boys’ soccer state runner-up. His 2006 team was the first team in SCS history to be ranked No. 1 in the state by the FACA. SCS held the No. 1 ranking all season until losing to Trinity Christian in the regional final that year. His teams have been consistently ranked in the top 10 of the FACA polls.
One of his biggest accomplishments of his career was knocking off the defending state champion, Keswick Christian School, in the district championship game in 1993. In addition, he is the only team sport coach in SCS history to have a player recognized as a High School All-American. Since 2007, he had the privilege to coach 3 NSCAA High School All-American soccer players at SCS: Brent Yoder, Jared Ross, and his son, Kyle Lynch. In addition, he has made 12 appearances with his players on WWSB News 40 Athlete of the Week over the past 18 years. In 1991 and 2004 he served as an Assistant Head Coach for the West Team in the FACA All-Star game for seniors. In 2010, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America recognized him as having achieved 200 career victories as a high school boys’ coach. In 2011 after coaching for 22 years, he retired with an overall record of 240-141-39. During his high school career he had won four district championships, one regional championship, three Dodge Cup championships and two Bay Conference Divisional championships.
In 2005, he earned his Master’s Degree from Eastern Mennonite University and is currently teaching at Sarasota Christian School and the University of Phoenix.
