Baldwinsville boys soccer coach Tim Scheemaker retires after 30 years, 11 sectional titles

Syracuse, N.Y. — When Tim Scheemaker took the boys soccer head coaching job at Baldwinsville in 1996, the Bees hadn’t enjoyed a winning season in a dozen years.

On Saturday, after Baldwinsville’s loss in the Class AAA state semifinals, Scheemaker announced to his team he was stepping down from his post after 30 consecutive winning seasons.

The Bees had never won a sectional title before Scheemaker took over. He’s led them to 11 of the last 18, including three straight since the NYSPHSAA added Class AAA in 2023.

“I think that I have really high expectations of the players, how they perform, how they come to training and games,” Scheemaker said. “And so therefore I have the same high expectations for myself, and I’m having just a little bit harder time meeting those expectations.

“Towards the end of the season, it’s getting hard to have the energy that I expect out of myself. I have to push myself a little extra hard each year. And I decided, you know what? I don’t want to get into a situation where I don’t have that energy and I’m going to let the kids down.”

Scheemaker said he’s reevaluated his coaching future after each of the past five or ten seasons, but decided this year would be his last after he clinched his 10th league championship with a win over Nottingham on Oct. 14. Scheemaker finishes his career at 423-130-30, with a winning record against every Section III opponent.

The Bees were regional champions six times and advanced to the state semifinals five times under Scheemaker. Baldwinsville reached the state championship game twice, losing to Section XI’s Brentwood in 2010 and 2023. Scheemaker was All-CNY Coach of the Year in 2001, 2018 and 2019, and the United Soccer Coaches named him New York Large School Coach of the Year in 2019.

“He’s really been the standard of Baldwinsville soccer,” Baldwinsville athletic director Chris Campolieta said.

Scheemaker retired from his position as an assistant professor of computer science at Onondaga Community College in 2023. With his newfound free time in the fall, he said he’s planning on golfing more, traveling with his wife, Kerry, and spending time with his four grandchildren.

Scheemaker played at Central Square before starting at outside midfield for three years at SUNY Potsdam. After graduating, he worked as a software engineer, where he shared a cubicle with former Baldwinsville head coach Steve Washburn.

Washburn hired Scheemaker as his JV coach, and two years later, Scheemaker replaced him as Baldwinsville’s varsity coach and turned the Bees into a perennial power.

“I want them to think about that we played a really attractive style of soccer,” Scheemaker said of his legacy at Baldwinsville. “That we played really hard, that we were tough to beat, that we carry ourselves with class and sportsmanship as much as humanly possible.”

For over 20 years, assistant coaches Dan Kincaid and Chris Ross have been by Scheemaker’s side. Ross, a former Baldwinsville player, is retiring alongside Scheemaker. Kincaid, one of Scheemaker’s former players at Baldwinsville, has his old boss’ endorsement for the open job.

“He does things a lot of the same ways that I do,” Scheemaker said. “He likes possession soccer. He’s not afraid to discipline the kids. He sets high expectations. I think he’s going to be a really great coach. So hopefully, from my standpoint, I hope Dan gets it.”

Campolieta said Baldwinsville does not have a timeline on hiring Scheemaker’s successor.

Scheemaker said he thought at one point about trying to move to collegiate coaching, but he didn’t want to move out of the area and be away from his family. He enjoyed having a vision and crafting everything associated with his program to make that vision work.

Baldwinsville boys soccer is one of the preeminent programs in the area because of that vision.

“To be the architect of it,” Scheemaker said. “I just find that very rewarding.”