Written by: Amelia Saunders
There will be a new face leading the Lady Lions soccer team this fall. Salem High School social studies teacher Josh Lewis, who is also an SHS graduate, was recently voted to take on the girls team.
“I’m most looking forward to just meeting the team and getting to know them,” said Lewis. “Obviously this is a new position for me so I have to get to know the girls. There are a few I know from having them in class or coaching them in another sport or something like that, but there are quite a few that I don’t know.”
He has soccer in his background and coaching experience, having coached either football or track for 10 years. Lewis played soccer when he was younger and lived in Texas, but when he moved to Salem, they did not have soccer at the time. He said he would have definitely played if they had.
“My short-term goals are just to get numbers up for the program,” said Lewis. “I know that has been an issue in the past and I want to make sure that we can always have a good number of athletes on the team. If we are going to build the program the right way, it starts with just getting kids involved and wanting to play soccer. I also want to make it fun. It’s a sport and sports are supposed to be fun!
“I thought I could bring something new to the program. I’ve always loved coaching and this will be a new opportunity for me to coach a different sport than I have before, so I’m excited about that.”
The team is really excited to have a new coach; to have a different outlook on the girls. This will help the group overall, not just stats, but the mentality they have about the sport. Having a coach that is willing to push the team will improve every single aspect of the players.
“I am really excited to have a new coach,” said junior Jaylyn Hamilton. “I think it gives us an opportunity for new approaches to the sport. I believe that it will also help recruit more people and help us build our team. I think he will really push us to be our best.”
Lewis said the more players you have, the better you can be because you can change how you practice.
“You can also be better in games because you have depth," he said. "If you have only 12 players and one or two get hurt, then you put yourself at a real disadvantage with low numbers, so I want to get those numbers up.”
Lewis is ready to prepare the team for this upcoming season. He has already had many things in mind to make the team more athletic and competitive. He said improving athleticism helps in many places and skill will come along with that.
“Sprinting, agility, atomic workouts and things like that will hopefully help the team to become quicker, stronger and improve our fitness level,” he said. “I’m also going to work in some different drills that might be new that will hopefully improve our skill as well.”
Since Lewis has such an experienced coaching history, he has some very well thought out aspects when approaching this position. His coaching philosophy is trying to make things fun. He is excited to spend a lot of time this summer with the girls and work on team building. He wants to start off this new coaching season with fun practices and learning to get to know them.
Anyone interested in playing soccer next fall should see Mr. Lewis for more information.