McDonald County High School will add a new sport for the 2015-2016 school year. It will be the "beautiful game" -- soccer to those who are unfamiliar of the classic sport's nickname.
The term was first applied to soccer by the Brazilian great Pelé.
The Mustangs' introduction to soccer will be led by James Carter, who coaches both the boys and girls teams. The boy's team will play in the fall with the girl's season is set for the spring.
Carter is a 2007 graduate of Neosho High School, where he served as captain for the soccer team. He went on to play at Crowder College for two years before finishing his playing career at Southwest College in Winfield, Kan., where he received a degree in health and human performance.
Carter was an assistant coach at Crowder for two years while he obtained his masters degree from Pittsburg State University. He then served as head coach at Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla., for the past three seasons.
Despite this being the first season for Carter and McDonald County, the coach will be familiar to many of his players. Carter oversaw soccer during the after-school program offered at MCHS while he was attending Crowder. He also taught ESL classes in Noel.
"This is a great opportunity for my wife (Kayla, a graduate of Carl Junction High School) and me to be closer to home," Carter said. "There is lots of excitement in starting a program, especially in a place where it will be really supported. One of the key reasons for me coming here is the community will be a really great soccer community."
Carter said he met with potential team members at the end of the 2015 school year.
"There was a lot of interest," Carter said. "About 30 kids attended and that was just juniors, sophomores and freshmen."
Carter said the first practice will be Aug. 3. He said he will begin to start making contact with the players soon to make sure physicals, insurance and all other paperwork is in order.
"One of the nice things about our schedule is the first game is not until the end of the month," Carter said. "That gives us quite a bit of time to get ready."
Carter said getting everyone to come together as a team will be one his big challenges in the first year.
"Establishing a system is always an obstacle, whether it is your first year or not," Carter said. "We want to keep possession and find a way to go forward while we are doing that so we are playing a style that is fun to play and fun to watch."
Just where you will be able to watch the Mustangs is still up in the air. The Loyce Shellnut Soccer Field is under construction behind the administration building in Anderson, but it will not be ready to start the season.
Home games will possibly be played at Crowder or all games could be on the road. Practice will be at a field donated by Eric Corcoran that is used for youth games.
McDonald County opens the season at the Cassville Tournament set for Aug. 27-29. The Mustangs then travel to Carl Junction on Sept. 3 before they are scheduled to host their first game, which will be against Greenwood Laboratory High School on Sept. 8. The final game of the season is a scheduled home match against Webb City on Oct. 22. Regular season games start at 4:30 or 5 p.m. and include a junior varsity contest.
"It is exciting to start the program here," Carter said. "There is a lot of talent. I think we will surprise some people. We expect to compete right away."
Sports on 07/23/2015