80-year-old NYC high school soccer coach has been mentoring and inspiring his players for decades

Martin Jacobson, known as Coach Jake, has been a hero to kids at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Manhattan for more than 40 years. 

Jacobson, 80, and his boys' soccer team have won 21 public school city titles, which is more than any other school in New York City. Since the mid-1990s, the coach has been helping his kids not just succeed on the pitch but off it, too.

"I'm kind of a person who believes in helping others, whether we do it through the vehicle of sport, and I am also involved with my foundation," he said.   

Jacobson founded The Coach Jake Foundation, which is a nonprofit that provides legal, educational, immigration and social-service support to students. 

The work has been an ongoing mission for Jacobson, and his players have gone on to play in college and even professionally. The school has also benefited, as his players have a graduation rate of at least 95%. 

Goalie Luke Rodriguez said Jacobson is like family to him

"He's watched me change all four years of my high school," he said. "I met him the summer of freshman year. When I first met him, he was one of the nicest coaches I've ever met. He's family to me."  

For Jacobson, winning is important, especially as his team goes for its 22nd city title, but he says the real victory is helping others. 

"I think you gotta kick it forward. Help others, learn, just go out there; I don't need anything from you. As long as I have my health, I am happy. But you go ahead and help others," he said.