Liberty High School welcomes new soccer coaches

The 2022 Liberty High School soccer season will see some new faces on and off the field. The young team will be led by two new soccer coaches, Head Coach Ashley (English) Roegge and Assistant Coach Bailey Wagner.

The program lost six players who graduated in 2021. All of those players had been with the program for the last four years and the knowledge they had will be missed in the upcoming season. Along with those six seniors that graduated, there are several players who chose not to return to the pitch this season.

"The girls are working hard, but will likely face challenges with this season due to the limited number of subs and level of conference we are in," commented Roegge.

Roegge comes to the district from Little Rock, AR where she graduated high school from Sylvan Hills. She played all four years in high school before continuing her soccer career in college at Central Baptist College. While attending she majored in Health Sciences and played outside back and outside mid. Roegge then attended Arkansas State University where she became a licensed Physical Therapist.

Roegge currently works at Mercy St. Francis Hospital as a physical therapist. She plans to bring her knowledge and experience with ACL tears to the team this year. "I like to start my practice with a 15 minute ACL prevention program as their warm up," Roegge stated.

This will be Roegge's first time coaching high school level players, but not her first time coaching soccer. "My goals for the year include making sure the players have a decent understanding of soccer basics, demonstrate good teamwork on and off the field and to keep a positive attitude/moral throughout the entire game no matter the outcome," said Roegge.

Along with her goals for the year, Roegge hopes to pass along her core values of soccer to the players. "Give everything you have on the field, show up to practice on time and ready to work and keep grades up in the classroom."

For practices Roegge will work on ACL prevention warmup then, "move into individual ball control and skill work. Next is partner work with passing, headers, volleys, etc. Depending on what the focus of the practice is that day the players can see some possession drills or shooting drills. The main focus of the practice for the day will be incorporated into the scrimmage at the end of the practice. Fitness is also a large part of practice. We will mix in some fitness with the ball."

Roegge has high expectations of her players this year, especially the ones that want to play at the collegiate level. "I expect them to keep their grades up in the classroom while also making it to every practice. I expect them to be responsible and get the practices in that are required for them to play in games. I expect them to make soccer a priority, espcially if they are trying to go further with soccer and posibly play in college. I also expect them to be willing and ready to learn from me, they need to be coachable so they can grow in this sport and as individuals."

The new assistant coach for this year will be Bailey Wagner. Wagner is a resident of Willow Springs and teaches fourth grade at Mountain View Elementary. She played for Liberty High School while attending Willow Springs High School when the two schools did a co-op. Wagner's position was defense/midfielder. After graduation, Wagner attended Hannibal LaGrange University where she received her degree in Elementary Education. While attending Hannibal LaGrange, Wagner ran track and cross country.

The first games for the team will be held this weekend in Lebanon.