Hamilton Heights Christian Academy announced Thursday that it is adding boys' soccer for the 2018-19 school year, and Danny McBride will be the coach.
The small Chattanooga school will use the model of its nationally high-ranked, highly recruited basketball teams and mix international athletes with local players for soccer, according to Duke Stone, head of school.
"We are excited to add this global sport to our athletic program," Stone said in a release, noting that "soccer is a natural fit for the mission of Hamilton Heights Christian Academy.
"Our goal is to provide opportunities for students to grow academically, spiritually, socially and physically."
The release pointed out that 36 HHCA basketball players have received college scholarships the last six years - 15 to NCAA Division I schools.
"We plan to build a soccer program with the same level of excellence," Stone said.
McBride is a boys' and girls' coach with the Chattanooga Football Club Academy and one of its directors, and he oversees the academy's college recruitment progream. He has been an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Eastern Florida State College and King University, where he was an All-American player.
He played with the Chattanooga FC men's team in 2016 and has been a head coach in the Tennessee Olympic Development Program since 2011.
"I am truly excited to lead the new soccer program at Hamilton Heights," McBride said. "It is a special and unique opportunity to build a program from scratch. The success of the basketball programs has set high standards. I am eager to embrace the challenge to take the soccer program to the same level of national prominence.
"I am blessed with the opportunity to impact young men's lives locally, across the nation and from around the globe."