like we were never apart. We
were a tight group then, and we
are now.
”
Getman played soccer for
Indiana University in his home-
town of Bloomington from 1978-
81, playing in NCAA national
championship games in 1978 and
1980.
After graduating from IU in
December 1981, he attended try-
out camps for ASL teams.
He remembers the Express try-
out was held on a soggy, muddy
field in February 1982, most like-
ly at Oakland University.
“I didn’t play very well at the
Express tryout,
” he said. “But a
month later, I found out I made
the team.
”
After not playing much the
first half of the 1982 ASL season,
Getman saw the field more in the
second half, but he rarely started.
He played the entire league
championship game because a
teammate had been suspended as
a result of a red-card ejection in
the second game of the champi-
onship series, a 2-0 Express win
at Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City beat the
Express 1-0 in the series opener,
the only game the Express lost at
the Silverdome all season.
“We were the No. 1 seed for
the playoffs. That’s why we had
two home games for the champi-
onship series,
” Getman said.
“Playing all our home games at
the Silverdome certainly played
a role in our good home record.
Visiting teams weren’t used to
playing there.
”
The ASL championship game
was played Sept. 23, 1982. Three
days later, Getman got married
in Bloomington.
Mike and Rena Getman will
celebrate their 40th anniver-
sary this year. They’ve lived in
Birmingham, Ala., and been part
of the Jewish community there
for 30 years.
“There are more Jewish people
living in Birmingham than you
might think, about 5,000, and
there are three synagogues,
” Mike
Getman said.
He was the soccer coach at
the University of Alabama-
Birmingham from 1992-2018,
compiling a 280-202-47 record.
The Blazers played in the
NCAA tournament eight times
during his tenure as coach, mak-
ing it to the Elite Eight in 1999
and Sweet Sixteen in 2001.
UAB was nationally ranked in
11 of Getman’s last 13 seasons
there, including No. 3 in 2003.
The Blazers beat No. 1-ranked
UCLA in 1997, North Carolina
in 2003, Southern Methodist
in 2006 and defending NCAA
champion Indiana in 2013.
Harvard College was Getman’s
coaching stop from 1987-91
after being an assistant coach at
Indiana from 1984-86.
Harvard was 42-26-9 in his
five years there and made it to
the NCAA Final Four in 1987,
when the Crimson finished 14-1-
3 and was ranked No. 1 in the
country at one point.
At age 28, Getman became the
youngest coach to reach college
soccer’s Final Four. That accom-
plishment still stands.
All in all, Getman went 322-
218-56 as a college coach for a
.605 winning percentage.
Getman and his wife have
three sons: Nathan, 28, Eli, 23,
and Ethan, 22.
Nathan and Ethan are former
college soccer players who are
now assistant soccer coaches at
Oglethorpe University in Atlanta
and the University of Evansville,
respectively.
Nathan served a stint in the
U.S. Army before returning to
college soccer.
Eli is a mathematician for a
video game company.
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stevestein502004@yahoo.com.
SOCCER ROYALTY continued from page 45
AUGUST 11 • 2022 | 47
Zekelman Holocaust Center in
Farmington Hills as a devel-
opment associate, managing
daily fundraising donations
and logistics and creating
new programming to engage
children and young adults.
“That was my first job out
of college, and that was a
really rewarding experience,”
Yashinsky recalls.
“I learned so much about
the Jewish professional
career path from there.”
Every day, Yashinsky, who
grew up in Farmington Hills,
says walking into the build-
ing and seeing the famous
boxcar on display was a
powerful and moving image
that encouraged her to work
hard to spread the message
about Holocaust awareness.
“I got to build rela-
tionships with Holocaust
survivors and children of
survivors,” she explains,
“and learned the impact the
Holocaust had generations
later on families.”
She even took a young
professionals’ trip to Poland
through Partners Detroit,
where she saw firsthand the
remnants of concentration
camps and ghettos from the
Second World War.
“It was a very eye-opening
place to work,” Yashinsky
says of the museum.
A VIBRANT JEWISH LIFE
Looking back, Yashinsky feels
grateful her career path led
her to be so involved with the
Metro Detroit Jewish com-
munity. It was a passion that
began as early as her days being
involved in BBYO as a teen.
“My whole career since
college, I’ve only ever worked
for Jewish organizations,
” she
explains. “I care very much
about our Jewish community
and keeping a vibrant Jewish
community.
”
In addition to her staff work,
Yashinsky has also been a part
of numerous Jewish boards.
She’s a past board member
of MSU Hillel and has been
involved with NEXTGen
Detroit, JFamily and Partners
Detroit, among others.
Outside of work, Yashinsky
enjoys spending time with her
husband, Joey, and two daugh-
ters Elizabeth and Goldie. She
loves to read, to be outside
and to watch her kids grow
up. Yashinsky is also a serious
board gamer who loves a good
game of Battleship.
“When I went to college, I
was a student who took every
major’s intro class,
” she says. “I
had many different paths, but
I realized once I shifted my
path that my ultimate goal was
to work professionally in the
Jewish community.
”
“I’VE ALWAYS BEEN IMPRESSED
BY WHAT FRANKEL JEWISH
ACADEMY HAS DONE AND
I WANTED TO BE A PART OF IT.
I SAW THIS ROLE, AND IT
SEEMED LIKE A GOOD FIT.”
— JACKIE YASHINSKY