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.