“The big news is that we have a coach,” said sophomore Larissa Yashko, vice president of the women’s soccer club team.“He is volunteering and everything. We offered him a small portion of money, it is kind of laughable, but we wanted to try and offer him something and he turned it down and said he was happy to do it.”
Shawn Smith is a family man in the Hillsdale community and the new women’s club soccer coach. He is a father of two, works on engines at Cobra Motorcycles, and takes part in remote control car races as a racer and reporter for the OvalRC. But most importantly, he is a man with 20-plus years of soccer experience under his belt. Smith began the Hillsdale Community Soccer Club six to eight years ago at the increased interest from his two children in the sport.
“When my son was five years old we signed him up for soccer and I signed up to coach, and then I wanted to learn more about it so I started taking classes and reading magazines about soccer,” Smith said. “Getting further and further into it, I started the Hillsdale Soccer Club. Then I got more licenses for coaching. And then my kids started playing at a high level of soccer and in club soccer throughout the state. They get me into a lot of stuff.”
Smith joined an adult soccer league to further his experience in the sport, but found that coaching was more of his forte. He realized he could truly become an asset to the women’s club soccer team.
“That is one thing that I bring to the club. I know most of and have a personal relationship with other college coaches in the area and we have been working on setting up games,” Smith said. “I think another thing that I can bring is a solid style of soccer that we are going to play and get all of the girls on board that this is the style of soccer that we can work towards that is not only beautiful, but that we can play it to win.”
Smith’s presence alone has provided the authoritative figure needed to enforce the commitment requested by the club team, which was the source of several issues in the previous seasons
“He expects a high level of commitment. Some girls have really taken his call to commitment really seriously and have therefore been to every practice since the beginning of the semester,” said club president Gina Oster. “A few have realized that they simply don’t have the time to commit themselves and therefore are either taking a break from it or have chosen not to be part of the team anymore. This is unfortunate, but I understand that they have other commitments. For the most part though girls are excited to have a coach that can hold us accountable and bring a higher level of professionalism and seriousness to the team.”
Through Smith’s connections the women are looking forward to a season filled with not only more matches, but an increase in fundraising events and community involvement. The women’s club soccer team will host a 3v3 tournament open to the community towards the end of February with the assistance of their new coach.
During Parent’s Weekend in March the club team will be hosting a professor auction. In addition, they will work with their adviser, Assistant Dean of Men Jeffrey Rogers, in creating a fitness class aimed towards women who are seeking an exercise aside from dance.
Freshman Macaela Bennett, director of facilities for the women’s soccer club team, said, “The class is geared towards exercising muscles that soccer players would need more developed, but other girls can do it. It’s just another form of exercise instead of doing Zumba.”
The club team is also hosting “pick-up soccer” every Sunday from 7:30-9 p.m. at the Hillsdale Academy gym in order to increase their community involvement.
“We seek to really open up and get the club’s presence out there. We want to make this one of the most popular clubs, not just for ourselves, but to offer to anyone who wants an opportunity to know about the club,” Oster said.
The women’s club team will have their first home game April 21 against Siena Heights University at 3 p.m.
“If you show up this year to one of our games, you will see us score a goal or two and maybe even win,” Smith said. “Honestly, all of the girls that we have, that I have seen, are very capable of playing quality soccer. All they need is direction and a formation that works for us.”