Jesse Gold (’12) is one of the only three- sport athletes remaining at Cherry Hill East High School. Gold plays football, basketball and baseball. He is a major part of all the teams. Gold is 5″10 and 160 pounds, which at his size, gives him flexibility to play many different sports.

Gold says his favorite sport is baseball and included that he believes he is best at baseball as well. Jesse plays Quarterback in football, Point Guard in basketball and Catcher in baseball. As the team’s catcher, he had .410 batting average, 15 doubles, 1 home run, and 9 stolen bases last season for the Cougars. In basketball, Gold averaged 3.1 points per game, 4.2 assists per game, 1 rebound per game, 1.1 steals, and on the season, he finished with 83 total points. In the football season’s opening game vs. Clearview, Gold threw a 71 yard pass to Robert Taylor (’12) and ran for a 4 yard touchdown. The Cougars won the season opener, 35-0. In the team’s second game vs. Washington Township, the Cougars played in their home opener with Gold throwing a touchdown pass to Taj Frazier (’12) which capped a 10 play-65 yard drive that helped the Cougars defeat Washington Township, 31-27.

As you can see, in whatever sport Gold plays, he seems to have success. Entering his final and senior seasons here at Cherry Hill East, he already has had quite a remarkable athletic career. As you may or may not know, playing one sport can be tough. But, playing three sports may seem out of the question.
Gold keeps himself very busy with the sports that he has taken on, but has handled it very well. Gold did not play football last year as a junior, and it may be a coincidence that the Cougars had a rough season going 1-9, without many bright spots. At the start of the summer, many people were unsure if he would return as the team’s Quarterback, with Blaise Paglione (’13) starting most of last season due to the injury of the first-string starter, Dan Melleby (’11). Gold has the ability to play wide receiver and defensive back. But, at the start of the season, Gold earned the starting job and has done nothing but good things, leading the Cougars to their first 2-0 start since 1994.

“My biggest difficulty is staying warm in football during the winter,” said Gold.

Also, with each sport comes a different coach and a different player-coach relationship. But, Gold has handled this extremely well too.

“All of my coaches bring something different to the table. But, I’d have to say my dad, simply because he has pretty much coached me all my life,” Gold said.

Coach Tom Coen has been coaching Gold throughout the Quarterback’s entire time playing for Cherry Hill East Football. Along with his dad, Coen has been very influential in Jesse’s life. Even though Gold says his best sport is baseball, he looks to continue his to help guide the football team to many more victories this season.