Frederick Douglass girl’s Coach Megan Adkins has graciously answered a few questions for Soccer in the Bluegrass. She was recently hired as the first girls’ soccer coach for the new school on Winchester Road. An assistant at Lexington Catholic for the last three years, she takes on the enormous task of building a program.
What made you want to take on this challenge of founding Frederick Douglass High School girls’ soccer?
I really wanted to take on the FDHS girls soccer coaching job because I simply love high school soccer. To me it is one of the best things about being a young student athlete. I love being able to see the student athletes grow from the beginning of their academic, social, & soccer lives and what better way to do this than starting a whole new program!
I am so excited for the future of FDHS Girls Soccer and I’m ready to embrace all of the challenges, setbacks, & accomplishments that we will face in the early years of our program. I am confident that the FDHS Girls Soccer Program will flourish mainly in part to all of the support and encouragement from those within the school and the outside community as well.
Starting a program from the ground up is both exciting and difficult and I will not be able to do it without the ongoing assistance from all of those surrounding FDHS academics and athletics as well as anyone and everyone in the soccer community.
I am honored and humbled to have been given this opportunity and I will do everything I can to help make this program and these student athletes successful both on & off the field.
What is your coaching and playing background, including club and school playing and coaching?
I grew up playing in the Jessamine County Youth Soccer Association at age 4, I then played on the Varsity Girls Soccer Team at Sayre High School from 6th-9th grades earning Varsity Letters, I transferred to Lexington Catholic my Sophomore year where I was a three-year starter for the Varsity Team and earned numerous awards.
I played for the Kentucky Kickers Soccer Club for several years and also was a member of the Kentucky Olympic Development Team. I joined the West Virginia University Women’s Soccer Team for one year. My career was cut short due to multiple injuries.
I have coached all ages of kids, including the very young ones at the YMCA & WYSA. I have coached at the select level & high school level as well, most recently Lexington Catholic High School. I have also coached various soccer camps.
I think you’ve had your first organizational meeting. How did that go?
We have met with several students from Hayes Middle School who are very excited about the new school and program at FDHS. However, we have not had a large organizational meeting yet, we hope to hold that later this spring for all student athletes interested in playing soccer next fall.
There are some who might see the addition of a new school as a dilution of the talent pool at the existing schools and there are some who see a new school as opening up more opportunities both academically and athletically for the students at all the schools. How do you address those concerns?
Whenever there is change or something new, there are going to be varying opinions about what is good and bad about the new situation. I don’t believe that there will be too much of a dilution of the talent pool at the existing schools because those students are allowed to remain at their current school if they chose to finish their high school career there.
In this case, I believe that the addition of the new school is exciting for the students in that the school offers so many outstanding academic & athletic advancements that they may not get the opportunity to experience in their current school. FDHS will have state of the art technology, classrooms, academic programs, as well as athletic facilities. The students have an opportunity to get a “college” type learning environment and some will graduate with college credits earned through the academy programs.
Your new district takes in potential athletes mostly from Bryan Station and Henry Clay and to a lesser extent Lafayette. Have you had discussions with coaches of those programs? If so, how did that go? And how do you expect the rivalries to develop?
I have not had any discussions with the coaches from Bryan Station, Henry Clay, and Lafayette about the pooling of new student athletes to FDHS. I believe the rivalries will develop naturally given that most of the student athletes will be familiar with others from the opposing schools since most will play club with each other or perhaps be neighbors in some situations. I expect tough games with these schools this year, perhaps creating a rivalry right off the bat because you never want to lose to your neighbor, especially ones in your district!
How big an influence do you feel club soccer has on the high school game and how can they better work together?
Overall I feel that club soccer has taken over youth soccer, meaning that so many kids are playing club that our recreational and middle school leagues are becoming depleted and almost nonexistent which is not good for the kids that just want to learn and play soccer without having to commit to high dues and time commitments. Kids in club soccer are learning at all different paces given that some are starting very young and others are joining in their middle school years.
I would still love to see any kid that wants to play the great game of soccer be able to play and I fear that a lot of those kids will not get a chance in the future because of the rigorous club programs. I often get kids that say they are burnt out with soccer because they play year-round with very little time off. I believe we need to try to eliminate this dilemma and encourage kids to take a break from soccer and return excited for the new season.
Often times club and ODP training runs into high school summer preseason making it difficult to build a team unity in the few short weeks of preseason. Also, those entering high school almost have to have club experience to make a Varsity Team because the clubs have raised the competitive bar with those trying out, which is good and bad. The good being that the high school teams are competitive and exciting to watch and the bad being that more kids are being left out because Varsity team rosters are limited, thus limiting those that can participate on the Varsity level.
I think it’s so important for kids to play for their school; nothing can match putting on your school’s team uniform and playing in front of your fellow classmates and teachers. So many of my past players remember almost all of their high school games but can only tell you about a few club memories which is another reason why I love coaching high school soccer.
What do you feel is most important in player development? What are you looking for when you scout a player?
This question is difficult to answer because I’m looking for something different in each potential player as each player is different and thus plays differently. But overall I want a well-rounded player, a player that can play anywhere on the field, is confident, has good soccer knowledge, is a good teammate, and will work with her teammates. The fastest, strongest, most skilled player on the team is often times not the best player on the field meaning that it takes more than just being physically skilled; the players need to have all components to be great players on the field thus making for a great team.
What was the most important thing you learned when you were a player?
Well, I was never the fastest or biggest kid on the field so I had to play smart, quick, and tough. I learned to always try to see the field & be one play ahead so I would know exactly where to play the ball & how to recover. I tried to stay confident even when mistakes were made because soccer can be a cruel game sometimes and good things will happen if you keep confident and continue to work hard. I always wanted to outwork my opponents no matter how skilled they were or what the score was, so I would grind until the final whistle and give my teammates and coaches all I had.
I’m sure you owe a lot to Lexington Catholic coaching legend Terry Quigley. What advice did he give and what’s the most important lesson you learned from him?
I had the opportunity to both play for and coach with Coach Quigley. Not only is he a great soccer mind but he cares so much about his players and remembers almost every game he’s ever coached. He stresses defense to his players constantly which is why his teams are usually very successful because defense is the key to winning.
When I was a younger player I only thought that the true defenders played defense but I later learned that everyone on the field plays defense no matter what your position is and Coach Quigley furthered this aspect of the game on a daily basis.
When I told him I was taking the FDHS job, he was so proud of me and happy for this new opportunity, I cannot thank him enough for the opportunity to coach with him in the LCHS soccer program, it was a wonderful three years of developing great student athletes and enhancing my soccer knowledge under a great mentor.
Lastly, our co-founder, Cary Tsamas, remembers coaching you some years ago. Do you remember that and how do you think you’ve recovered from that experience? 😉
Hahaha, I do remember Cary Tsamas from my playing days many moons ago. He was a great teacher of the game and was a very important person in the early days of club soccer in Lexington. He has and continues to do wonderful things for the soccer community.
Related links: Coach Adkins’ blog offers off-season conditioning plan.
