New Cleveland soccer coach Miles Christian directs practice Monday at the Cleveland soccer complex.Three players to watch
1. Peyton Randolph, Baylor: As a freshman keeper she had five shutouts and a pair of shootout saves in 2015. 2. Olivia Hoffman, Chattanooga Christian: She scored 17 goals and had seven assists and earned all-state honors. 3. Andrea Wilhelm, Cleveland: She missed last season with a knee injury.
The Cleveland girls' soccer program was adrift, but a guy who used to wear the rivals' black-and-gold came to the rescue.
"If you'd asked me what I'd be doing a month ago, I would've told you I would be working side jobs, helping coach a club team and working on my master's," Miles Christian said after taking over as coach of the Lady Blue Raiders.
When Andy Byrd unexpectedly resigned just before school started to take a job at Maryville Heritage, Cleveland was left in a bind. The school was fortunate to land Christian, a three-sport guy at Bradley Central whose uncle is Kent Smith, the legendary former boys' basketball coach for the Bears.
"I got a call: 'Hey, we need a coach for the girls' team. Would you be interested?' It happened very quickly," Christian said.
Today makes it a week on the Cleveland staff.
"I've only had three practices with the girls and we had a scrimmage versus East Ridge, and we start (today) versus Ooltewah at home," he said. "What can you do except go out there and play? It's definitely not ideal, but it is what it is and we're not going to complain about it."
Christian was quite the star at Bradley. The 2012 graduate, who went on to play at Bryan College, was a three-time all-district, two-time all-region and all-state pick.
"He's in a class of his own as far as players that have gone through Bradley soccer," said Chrissy McKinney, the current Bradley girls' coach who also coached the boys for Christian's first two seasons. "Obviously he came with a lot of skills already, but to watch him develop and flourish was a treat."
Christian is the only member of the Bears soccer program to have his jersey retired, and he still holds records for career goals (74), goals in a season (33) and goals in a single match (five).
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.
Three teams to watch
1. Chattanooga Christian: 2016 Best of Preps coach of the year Cal Sneller had a relatively young team last fall, and the Chargers should be considered among the A/AA favorites. 2. Baylor: The Lady Raiders have gained a reputation over the years for turning out good athletes, and there are a number of returnees including midfielder Kamryn Bloh. 3. GPS: The Bruisers, who edged out East Hamilton for the third spot, enter the season with at least four three-year starters in Sara Corum, Emily Lange, Anna Salisbury and Lilly Hopping.