Sweetwater High School finds hurdles on the way to creating soccer program

SWEETWATER, Texas — Sweetwater could join a small group of area high schools to play soccer, but SHS will have to maneuver past a few obstacles in its way before stepping on the field.

The Sweetwater ISD school board approved to implement varsity soccer by the 2020-2021 school year, as along as it is financially viable for the district to do so.

Athletic director Ben McGehee said the district surveyed middle and high school students to gauge interest in adding soccer as a sport.

"A lot of the kids have some interest in soccer, but not over basketball or softball or baseball. With those being team sports they'd have to finish one before they begin the next one," said McGehee, who added there weren't a lot of students interested in soccer that weren't already playing other sports.

Abilene High, Cooper, Wylie and Brownwood have played soccer for more than a decade, while Snyder played its inaugural season in 2019.

McGehee said a job opening for a soccer coach has been posted, but so far no one has applied.

"It'd be a little nerve-wracking to know you're going to come in as a soccer coach somewhere and not know for sure what kind of numbers you're going to have," he said.

"Is the program going to make? Is it going to last?"

Those answers depend a lot on how many students come out to play, and invariably how many students Sweetwater has to pull from.

Sweetwater High School had 554 students during the 2017-2018 school year, though McGehee said the current enrollment is smaller.

The Mustangs would be in a district with Snyder (726), Lubbock Estacado (746)and San Angelo Lake View (1,064).

Farmersville, northeast of Dallas, is looking to add soccer in 2020 and could be the smallest public high school playing soccer with 508 students.

However, much larger schools in West Texas such as Big Spring (1,093), Andrews (1,099) and Hereford (1,138) do not field soccer teams.

"The hope is that it gets some kids that aren't participating in athletics out doing something because we know the more kids get involved the better they're going to do," said McGehee. "Maybe it'll help their academic side of things and their attitude and behavior in the classroom."

If the Mustangs do field a team for the 2020 season it could be as a junior varsity, said McGehee.