Former Steinert soccer standout Sam Maira is NJ Coach of the Year

Fish 4 Scores Sports
Sam Maira

Sam Maira (left) was reunited with his former Steinert soccer coach Paul Tessein (center) and Spartan teammate Joe Fink during a preseason scrimmage between Maira’s Seneca soccer team and Fink’s Trenton squad. Five months later, Maira was named the New Jersey Large School Coach of the Year at the NJ Soccer All-State banquet Jan. 6 after leading Seneca to an 18-2-4 record and the South Jersey Group III title. Maira and Fink helped Steinert to a 1975 Group IV co-title under Tessein, who was no stranger to Coach of the Year honors

In winning the award, Maira was happier for his team than he was for himself, saying “Good players make good coaches. This just shows how good of a team we had this year. The players deserve the credit.” 

(Photo by Phillip Fink).

About The Author


Rich Fisher has been around the Hamilton Township sports scene for so long that he actually got Rich Giallella’s autograph when Giallella was still a player! Proud product of Hamilton YMCA and Lou Gehrig baseball leagues and former teammate of Jim Maher on a very average Barton & Cooney rec basketball team, Fish graduated from Nottingham Junior High and Steinert High school and has covered township sports since 1980. His goal in life is to convince Maria Prato that Jersey tomatoes are at least 100 times better than California tomatoes.