Your future, our focus
Scheduling, Recruiting in Stride
By RANDAL HOROBIK
Tribune Sports Editor
Little by little, the fledgling soccer programs at Northwest College are beginning to take shape. The latest piece to the puzzle was added recently with the naming of Brad Hammond and Quin LaFollette as assistant coaches for next season.
LaFollette has coached at the youth and high school levels with NWC head soccer coach Rob Hill for the past decade. He brings a vast amount of experience and knowledge, having coached at the Region IV championships on several occasions and holds a United States Soccer Federation coaching license.
"Quin was a major part of the four USYS state titles and high school state championships in Cody," notes Hill. "He will serve as the men's assistant coach for Northwest College."
Hammond, the Powell High School girls' soccer coach, also brings a wealth of knowledge to the NWC program, having played soccer at the NCAA Division II level previously. Hammond has five years of high school head coaching experience and will serve as both the women's assistant coach and the goalkeeping position coach for both the men's and women's programs.
"I'm really excited to work with Rob," Hammond said. "It's a good fit for me given that I played goalkeeper in college and my ties to women's soccer in the area. It's a unique and exciting opportunity to get to build a program from the ground up. We're watching a lot of film and scrambling to find players. I think it is a great opportunity for the community."
As for his role as PHS head coach, Hammond notes he'll embrace both roles this season.
"I'll wear my high school hat this spring, and as soon as the season is over I'll switch over and put on my Northwest College coaching hat," said Hammond. "The nice thing is, if a girl scores three or four goals against me this spring, I won't feel quite as bad because I can walk across the field, shake her hand and try recruiting her."
Those scholarship offers are the next big step for the Trapper programs. Hill notes the job of signing players to fill the first-ever NWC soccer roster could be finished, if he wanted it to be.
"There's been enough interest that I could have a team signed already if I wanted to," Hill acknowledged, citing interest from not only within the state, but from as far away as soccer-rich nations like the United Kingdom and Brazil. "It's important to me that we sign the right players. We want to make this program as competitive as we possibly can, so we're taking our time. I'm up until midnight or later most days watching film."
"We're getting a lot of video," Hammond notes. "It's a challenge having a full-time job, because you can't just go out and watch a kid."
An on-campus tryout for both men's and women's players interested in earning a spot on the Trappers' 2010 roster has been scheduled for April 11. Details on the event are available on the Northwest College athletics web site.
The Trappers' first-ever soccer schedules are also starting to take shape. According to information on the college's website, the NWC men have a 17-game schedule on tap for next season, not counting postseason games. The Trapper women currently have 14 games in place according to the team's web page, also not counting the post-season. Additional games may still be added.
As one might expect, many of those initial games will be on the road. The college is currently scheduled to play five men's games and four women's games in Powell. The contests will be played on fields scheduled to be constructed this spring and summer on a vacant lot immediately west of the main campus, north of the LDS church.
The first home match is scheduled for Sept. 2 when the Trapper men host Laramie County Community College. The home debut of the NWC women's team will be Sept. 16, also against Laramie County.