For first time since the beginning of the program, the Aberdeen Central girls’ soccer team has a different head coach.
Kendra Hanley is taking on the role after 12 years as an assistant.
Hanley is just the second head coach in program history, replacing Merle Aske, who retired after the conclusion of last season.
“I’ve been with the program since 2014, so I’ve been around for a while, and prior to that, Merle Aske was head coach my senior year,” Hanley said. “Merle has done an excellent job preparing me over the last 13 years for this and I just hope to do it justice. And basically, I give my heart and soul, and we always ask the girls to give their best, and I will always give my best.”
For a lot of new coaches, it might take some time to get used to the team and create chemistry, but for Hanley it’s a little different.
“I think (chemistry) is very important. I’m also a teacher, so we all know kids like routine, so there hasn’t been a whole lot of change to the program,” Hanley said. “Obviously, I’ve done a few things differently, but overall, I think routine, familiarity, all of those things, kind of help going into a season. We already know the expectations, because we’ve set those and we have those ground rules, and it’s nothing completely new to them.”
Last season, the team finished with a record of 9-5-2 and made it to the state quarterfinals. Hanley plans to build on last year’s success.
“Honestly, the girls have built their own reputation. Since I’ve been coaching, we’ve been knocked out in the first round, but we’ve made it to the quarters five times, the semis four times and the championship twice and got second both times,” Hanley said. “They’ve built their own foundation, and the girls know when they come and try out for the soccer program how intense and how difficult it is to make the team.”
Hanley said the players have worked on their skills and are ready to go.
“They have to put in the work in the offseason. I met with the girls after Merle announced his retirement once a month in the offseason, and just talked about goals,” Hanley said. “I think what makes me most excited is I’ve seen the work that they’ve put in in the offseason to prepare them for this moment.”
The Golden Eagles lost their top three scorers from last season, but Hanley has faith her team can fill that void.
“The girls put in their goals in the offseason, and they have really put in the work,” Hanley said. “I’m extremely excited to see where this group of girls is and how far they’re going to go. What we’ve been doing and showing gets everybody excited to just get underway.”
Returning juniors Keyana Stillman and Espynn Kuhfeld, team captains, are the leading scorers that return to the team, but Hanley doesn’t want to put too much on their plate this season.
“Our biggest thing this year is we don’t like to put pressure on any one athlete,” Hanley said. “We are a team; we work as a team. If somebody has a bad day, we have a whole bunch of other athletes on our team that are ready to pick us up and carry us through any kind of difficult problem that we may have. So, I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily one person, but as a unit and a team, we’ve really focused on that.”
Central opens the season this weekend at Sturgis on Friday.
“We haven’t played them a whole lot. They have a new turf field, so that’s going to be something new to everybody,” Hanley said. “We don’t expect to be perfect that first game, but it’s fun to finally get a sense of that competition. Then we get a good layout of what’s going well and what tweaks we need to make going forward.”
The team’s biggest strength this season might not be anything on the pitch, but rather on the mental side of things.
“The most exciting piece about this team so far is the one thing you can’t coach, your intrinsic motivation,” Hanley said. “There are so many girls this year on the team that have it. They have that drive, the love, the will to do so good and I think that’s what we’re all ready for, to just get out there and go.”
