The coaching staff at Ben Davis is going to be seeing a few new coaches next fall in girls soccer, volleyball and boys cross country.

The first coach to be profiled on bdspotlight.com is former IU soccer star Kyle Roach, who will be teaching Spanish at BD and taking over the girls soccer program this summer. Look for profiles on new boys coach Ryan McMaster and new volleyball coach Lisa Lux before the end of the school year.

With incredible youth programs established by coaches in other sports in our community from Dick Dullaghan, Mike Kirschner and now from newer coaches like Dee Dowler, what steps can we take in our school take to develop the soccer programs at the youth level?

“Youth programs in soccer are very cyclical in nature. At the high school level we need to start investing time and resources in youth soccer knowing that these investments will pay in the long run in the form of great players who are familiar with our program. We need to be visible at the elementary schools telling kids about programs like Ben Davis Soccer Club or other clubs like USAi or Westside United to name a few. We also hope to encourage our current players to get involved in club soccer so that they can hone their skills on a year-round basis. Finally, if we can get these younger players to come watch a game we need an out-of-this-world environment created by our fans and students to get these kids excited about becoming a part of our family.”

Could you give a brief summary of your expectations for your freshman year of coaching at BD?

“I have two expectations for my first year coaching at BD. First, we (the coaches, the players and their families) are going to redefine what it means to be a part of the Ben Davis girls soccer program. We want everyone involved to feel a part of our soccer family. That means our players are holding each other accountable, our coaches are helping our players be better athletes and people, and our fans are coming out to join us. Second, I expect our girls to individually develop as soccer players. This means they are going to have to work really hard to get better and grow in the game. The coaching staff will support them and guide them along the way but each girl will have to make a conscious choice to reach for greatness.”

These answers in particular really speak to me. This sort of love and commitment has produced immaculate results for the football and track programs and these ideas will ultimately improve our programs the most.

How do you plan to deal with the powerhouse teams like Avon and Carmel?

“As I said before, I have two expectations for our team. If we can meet those objectives I believe we can be successful in any environment. I am not concerned with our opponents because we will always be focused on our family and our development.”

Winning is not the most pressing issue and it shouldn’t be in the high school level.

Roach will begin to teach Spanish this fall at BDHS and when asked to speak on how he got in to teaching and he said,

“I fell in love with the idea of working with students during my undergraduate career at I.U. I had several excellent teachers who inspired me to always strive to be the best version of myself. I hope to instill the same values in my students and players during my time at Ben Davis High School.”