NEW HOPE — A group of students went to Dale Hardin in 1992, interested in starting a soccer team.
“We started the program. I was the first soccer coach. I didn”t know what I was doing,” said Hardin, New Hope”s athletic director.
Since then, the program has continued to grow. The boys are district champs for the second consecutive year.
And the girls won their first playoff game in Oxford on Wednesday, and play again at home on Saturday.
“We”ve made great strides,” Hardin said.
On the heels of exciting wins, the New Hope soccer teams could have more to celebrate.
Deteriorating 30-year-old bleachers are on tap for replacement.
The soccer team shared a field with football until 2004, when the football team moved to a new stadium.
“We were excited when we got to call it our own,” said Mary Nagy, girls” soccer coach.
Girls soccer practices at 3:30 in the afternoon; boys” practice, led by coach Brian Meggs, follows at 5:30.
“We”re excited about all the great things happening,” said Nagy.
The girls have a record of 13-3, the best in the history of the program. The boys are 7-10.
Local games easily bring crowds of a hundred or more.
“Interest in soccer is picking up, so that”s a good thing,” Nagy said.
“They”ve got more kids participating, more kids interested,” Hardin said.
Plans for renovations at the stadium are to remove the bleachers and create seating for up to 300 — 200 on the home side and 100 on the visitors” side — and add new chain-link fencing and remote-control capabilities to the current scoreboard. The project, estimated to cost $105,000, currently is out for bids.
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