By Ross Porubski
Youth Hockey Info
8/17/2024
As a kid growing up in the West Chester area, Ed played club hockey for the Quakers in the original Westtown rink. When that closed, he moved on to play for the Valley Forge Colonials. Ritti recalls, “Somehow I played on O’Hara’s JV team as an 8th-grade student.” Ice hockey was his primary sport, however, he also played soccer and lacrosse and swam in his youth. Ed played a few years of golf in high school, but hockey was always his main focus, either on the rink, pond, or in a cul-de-sac playing street hockey and watching the Flyers. In high school, he played his freshmen year at Malvern Prep on the JV team, before transferring to Bishop Shannan. At the time, Shanhan did not have a hockey team in his sophomore year. However, he, along with others interested in playing under the school name convinced the board to permit them to start a club team. Ed’s father, Ed Ritti Jr, who founded Malvern’s hockey program while a teacher at the school in the early 70s, was instrumental in starting Shanahan’s program.
Ritti held the scoring record at Shanahan for some time. However, he’s sure that fell, there have since been much better players than he who went through the program.
Ed began coaching after returning from Florida in 1994. He saw an advertisement in the daily local, (West Chester area) newspaper which was in search of an assistant to the new head coach at Bishop Shanahan, Mike Gross. “He was also foolish enough to let me coach the JV,” said Ritti. This led to other opportunities and growth in the coaching ranks, including with the Quakers, and middle school teams for Henderson and Shanahan. He was also involved with coaching the Bike-Line “Select 85’s” team in the summers and Jr flyers 85/86 birth year from 1996 through 2001.
Ritti began coaching Radnor in 1999… Between high school hockey and club hockey, he coached from 1994-2005. When Ed’s oldest son, Owen, was born, he stepped away from behind the bench as coaching high school hockey encompassed an incredible amount of his time and dedication. “I tip my cap to all those coaches that continue to do it and their spouses for supporting them,” said Ritti.
My philosophy behind the bench was to ensure that every player gave their top effort. We always played as a team and supported one another. Ultimately, hockey is a game where you develop relationships that last a lifetime. My greatest friends are still teammates from 35 years ago and it’s not because we won or lost games. It’s because we had each others’ backs. Whether we were playing big games or knee hockey in some random hotel. We had so many great players come through the program. John Brennan and Chris Brennan won Player of the Year honors. But we had an incredibly deep team. Eddie Devine, Nick Ryder, Austin Cohen, Rob Looloian, Bart Bitterman, Greg Gallagher, Brad Dowlin, Eric Johnson, Colby Cohen, Neil Callaghan, Rico DiStefano, I could keep going on and on. The players held each other accountable and performed for one another. Without the players, it doesn’t matter how good the coaching is.
We believed to get the most out of our team, our focus as a coaching staff was a consistent improvement in practice. Every practice we wanted to get a little better.
Practice was the most competitive and demanding aspect of Radnor’s playing. They kept their yearly game schedule to a minimum. They only played league games and maximized their practice time. Normally they would have 1 game and 2 or 3 practices a week. In practice, they would focus on skills for 15 minutes then everything was high speed and small games. Very little systems work was implemented outside of power play zone entry and shorthanded neutral zone traps. Ritti wanted the players to flow with their natural talent and put them in a position to do so. Ed said he was so lucky to be surrounded by genuine people who cared about the kids, the program, and the game. The coaching staff at Radnor: his father Ed Ritti Jr, Dave Wood, Doug McGinley, the Radnor hockey board especially Pat Kurz, John Brennan, and Tom Dowlin. There were no egos or special interests. They all moved in the same direction for a single goal. Ed cannot forget Sam Miller. He started Radnor hockey and was incredibly supportive of the team. The most successful part of the era is the relationships that he developed with the coaches and players. Ed still touches base with many of them and wishes he could hear from them more.
Ed Ritti’s coaching track record for the Red Raiders
- 1999-2000 (12-2-2), Won ICSHL South Division, lost in Flyers Cup Tournament competition.
- 2001-2001 (20-2-1), Tied for first in the ICSHL Central League, lost in Flyers Cup Tournament semi-finals to Springfield.
- 2001-2002 (23-2), Won the ICSHL Central League, won the Flyers Cup Tournament Class A Championship, lost in Pennsylvania Class A State Finals to Serra catholic. 5-4. – That one still bothers me.
- 2002-2003 (24-1), Won the ICSHL Central League, won the Flyers Cup Tournament Class A Championship, Won the Pennsylvania Class A State Championship over Westmont Hilltop High School.
- 2003-04 (24-2), Won the ICSHL Central League, won the Flyers Cup Tournament Class A Championship, won the Pennsylvania Class A State Championship over Serra Catholic High.
- 2004-05 (6-10-4), Lost to Garnet Valley in the ICSHL Central League playoffs, lost in the first round of the Flyers Cup Class A Tournament.
Other milestones, and achievements
- 2002 The Raiders finally received recognition by the school board as a club. This was a big deal at the time and was a step in the direction of establishing full varsity sports program.
- 2004 The Raiders achieved full varsity status by the school board. “I believe this was our biggest accomplishment. It took a ton of work by a lot of people behind the scenes to get the players the recognition they deserve,” said Ritti.
Ed Ritti’s overall regular season record at the helm as Radnor’s head coach is 109 wins – 19 losses -7 ties
Ed’s final words….
“I know this is an individual honor, but as we all know in the hockey world, you cannot be successful by yourself. I consider this an honor for all the coaches and players that contributed to our success and I’m grateful that I was a part of it.”
“To summarize, in my life, I have been lucky to be around great coaches. I grew up in a coaching household. My earliest memories are going to Malvern Prep games in the early 70’s at the Skatium and Class of 23′ Rink. That was old-time hockey. During my coaching stint at Radnor, my dad joined me on the bench. It was a really special privilege to share those moments with him. In the summers of the late 90s, I coached at Phillips Exeter Academy hockey school in Exeter New Hampshire. I learned so much from the college coaches who ran the camp, everyday I walked away with something new. Bud Dumbrowski was a big influence while I was with the Jr Flyers. He would always be there for on-ice instruction or a discussion about practice or team construction. Dave Wood, who has been an assistant coach and teacher at Radnor forever showed me how to be a teacher and coach. Doug McGinley, who worked briefly with the Radnor team, personified toughness and dedication.”
“As a team, we were very successful. Three Class A Flyers Cup Tournament championships and two State Championships. However, my proudest coaching moment occurred in 2003. We were set to face Archbishop Carroll in a regular season matchup. They were a powerhouse in the AA league. In fact, they would go on to win the state championship that year. Right before the game, we found out we had no goalie available. We decided as a group to play with 6 players and did they ever play. It was the greatest demonstration of a team effort that I have ever personally witnessed. We led late into the 3rd period, but ran out of gas and lost by 1. I believe the score was 8-7. When I see players from that era, it’s what we always talk about first.”
To my father….
“Most importantly, my father, Ed Ritti Jr, coached a lot of my teams growing up and was an assistant on the Radnor staff. He taught me more than my limited vocabulary can properly explain. He was cerebral in his game plan but a motivator when dealing with the player. The players called him “Doc” which is what his grandkids now call him. I often run into his ex-players, either from the Malvern 1970s teams to the Radnor teams, late 80’s Shanahan teams, or the random club teams throughout the decades, they all speak glowingly about him.”
And a final but very important thank you!
“My girlfriend/fiance/wife during that run, Missy, was key to it all. She was supportive throughout the long season. Very often I was not much help during the hockey season. But she was also a valuable hockey resource. I would bounce ideas off her or discuss lineups. She would even listen to my pregame speeches. And she wasn’t afraid to tell me when I was being an idiot, which occurred more than I like to admit. But she was always right.”
Where is he now?
For the past 10 years, Ed has coached the golf team at Ocean City High School, where he also teaches. And last but not least, Ed’s salutation.
“This has been a pleasure to go through and relive some of these moments. Thank you for the wonderful honor.”
~ Ed Ritti
