The soccer program experienced a sudden leadership change in March when boy’s varsity soccer coach Micheal Kelly resigned. In order to fill this vacancy the girls JV head coach Jeff Tomlin filled the position leaving the varsity girl’s assistant coach Carrie Dietz to fill the JV position.
In an interview with the Lexington News Gazette, Athletic Director Adam Haynes shares why Tomlin was pulled to coach the boy’s team.
“Jeff’s got a really good soccer background… His goal was to be a head coach, and because of the success and the growth that he’s had with the girls’ JV team, when coach Kelly resigned, I asked if he would take the position,” Haynes said.
The team has had a few games under their belt with the new coach. Junior Noah Alexander gives his opinion on adjusting to the new coach.
“ It took the first two days to adjust to him but we had a game in four days. Our game went well, better than last year,”Alexander said.
The boys team seems to like Tomlin. Alexander shares what changes he has noticed.
“He is more open to his players and he supports us better. He does a good job of making our practice more realistic to the game, ” Alexander said.
While the boys team adjusted, the girls soccer team was left confused.
Junior girls soccer player Cora Conway arranged a meeting with Haynes to discuss the changes.
“ We were confused why a new coach wasn’t hired and so we went to talk to the athletic director,” Conway said.
In the meeting, Haynes explained why they had to make the sudden changes. The boys team could not practice until they had hired a new coach for the team.
Although having a coach move up from the boys team was an option this coach swap has benefited Tomlin and may help both teams grow from the experience.
