From Addiction to Champion: A High School Soccer Coach Pays His Lessons Forward

Soccer coach Martin "Jake" Jacobson paces back and forth on the sidelines at a Riverside Park field in New York City. His team at Martin Luther King Jr. High School has been dominating the ball this match, but it doesn't matter how well his team does—Jacobson is grim and explosive both on the field and off. But he also cares deeply for his players.

Jacobson has held a lifelong passion for soccer, but now it centers his life in a different way. Nearly 30 years ago, he managed to kick a heroin addiction and has been clean ever since. He says soccer saved him, and helped him stay sober.

As a coach, he hopes that soccer will help his players focus in school and go onto college and takes a lot of care and effort to keep them on track.