There's a different dynamic of coaching girls in any sport, and Brent Crenshaw was reminded of that in his first season as head soccer coach at Siloam Springs.
Crenshaw was hired to coach both the boys and girls soccer programs at Siloam Springs in June, but it had been since the 2006 and 2007 seasons at Broken Arrow (Okla.) since he had been the head coach of a girls team. He had assisted with the girls at Owasso (Okla.) in 2012 and 2013.
"It was challenging trying to look back on mistakes that I had made coaching girls previously and tried to correct those mistakes," Crenshaw said.
There was an added challenge with taking over the Siloam Springs girls team. The Lady Panthers had just won their second straight state championship in Class 6A with nearly their entire roster returning for 2016.
"I knew we had a lot of talent coming back too," Crenshaw said. "So the challenge was there to keep them interested throughout the season. And there were times where they weren't very interested, but we were able to get them motivated and interested at the right time."
There were some bumps along the way -- like losing five of seven games down the stretch -- but Siloam Springs (13-8-1) picked it up at the right time, winning three straight games to end the season, including a 1-0 victory over Russellville on May 20 for the Lady Panthers' third straight state title.
"I knew that the potential was there," said Crenshaw, who was named the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette's 2016 Girls Soccer Coach of the Year. "I didn't want to take that for granted though, because I knew there were multiple teams in Arkansas that would give us their best night every time they saw us. I just knew I had a good opportunity here with some good players and didn't want to waste that."
It was Crenshaw's first state championship of his career, and later that day he got his second with the Siloam Springs boys team, which defeated Russellville 2-0 in the 6A boys title game.
"I put so much heart and effort into it this year," Crenshaw said. "This is probably the most I've ever worked as far as coaching in terms of time-wise. Like we kept telling the kids, we're out here at 6 (at night), 6:30 when we turned the lights off in January, saying there'a reward in this. There's a reward. Now to see that reward from all that hard work that I put in, the kids put in, it's a great experience."
Crenshaw said his soccer staff of assistants Luke Shoemaker and Abby Ray also worked hard. The Panther soccer teams were short an assistant coach for the 2015-16 school year after Cheyenne Miller resigned late last summer. The district hopes to fill that open position for the 2016-17 school year.
"I couldn't ask for a better staff," he said. "Those guys were out here with me too, working their butts off, watching film, doing paperwork, motivating kids, doing uniform issues. It was a lot of work this year. With only two on the staff all three of us had to do more than what's usually expected, but we knew there was a reward at the end with the type of kids we had."
Siloam Springs athletics director Kevin Downing said the coach of the year honors for Crenshaw are very well-deserved.
"Brent Crenshaw took over a program with extremely high expectations and finished with two state championships in his first season in Siloam Springs," Downing said. "I'm proud of him, his assistant coaches and players and glad to see he's being recognized as coach of the year."
And now the challenge continues for Crenshaw and his staff.
"I think next year the challenge will be keeping them interested and engaged," Crenshaw said. "We're going to try and schedule some 7A teams to really challenge them. In 6A with Russellville and Greenwood, those are always good games, tough games for us. Playing Harrison next year will be a tough game for us. I really want them to compete against 7A teams and hopefully win a few of those because they're capable of it. Hopefully that will keep them a little more engaged next year."
Sports on 06/01/2016