Valley Digs Into Soccer Program
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Thursday afternoon, the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. held a ground-breaking ceremony for a TVHS soccer complex.
“I would say it was more than I hoped it would be,” Petgen said. “I just wanted to get a soccer club rolling. And now, by the end of my senior year, I couldn’t have imagined they’d be working on two fields.”
He said it helped that the board saw not only did he have the initiative to do something, but that he also was willing to follow through.
The complex will include one 215-foot by 345-foot game field and one 165-foot by 300-foot practice field. It’s anticipated the new soccer fields will be ready for play when the current TVHS Soccer Club becomes an Indiana High School Athletic Association-sanctioned team in fall 2016.
The school board approved the field construction at its Jan. 9 meeting, and the work was awarded to Hostetler Lawn & Landscaping Inc., Middlebury. Todd Glenn, TVSC maintenance director, is overseeing the project, which cost $57,100.
“I think it’s a great thing for the school,” said board member Dave O’Brien. “I thought it was great when one student had the initiative to push for this. It’ll be great for the school.”
Valley Superintendent Brett Boggs said when Petgen showed up at the board meeting in March 2014, he talked about the number of kids interested in soccer and to see if the program could get going. The board directed him to get with TVHS Athletic Director Duane Burkhart and Principal Kirk Doehrmann.
Petgen put a proposal together with the administrators and presented it to the board in May. The board approved starting with the high school soccer program. Then in January, the board approved the field.
“We were just waiting until the weather got good,” Boggs said. “Had it not been for Josh ... he’s the one that got the ball rolling.”
Tippecanoe Valley High School never before had a competitive soccer program in its 40-year history until the 2014-15 school year. Mark Gordon was hired to coach the co-ed team.
“Community wise, before we came on board, there was nothing here except kids playing in the morning. Some kids played recreational soccer. None of the kids had anything organized,” Gordon said.
In TVHS soccer’s first year, he said they had 20 male and female student athletes. They played over 14 games. That number will continue to increase for the upcoming season, Gordon said.
He said he’s already talked to IHSAA officials about Valley’s soccer fields being IHSAA-sanctioned.
“It’s like a field of dreams. If you build it, they will come,” Gordon said.
He said he has a vision to grow interest in soccer in the Valley community from elementary school on up. He also would like to offer a soccer camp this summer.
“We’ve been pretty happy. We competed. We lost some, and we won some,” he said.
Soccer provides an additional opportunity for students served by the TVSC to learn and grow while competing in the increasingly popular and rapidly growing game of soccer, according to a press released provided by Boggs. Research has shown that young people involved in school-oriented extracurricular activities typically experience greater levels of academic success than those not involved.
“The construction of the new Tippecanoe Valley High School Soccer Complex is an important step toward bringing soccer to the Tippecanoe Valley community,” the press release states.[[In-content Ad]]
Thursday afternoon, the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. held a ground-breaking ceremony for a TVHS soccer complex.
“I would say it was more than I hoped it would be,” Petgen said. “I just wanted to get a soccer club rolling. And now, by the end of my senior year, I couldn’t have imagined they’d be working on two fields.”
He said it helped that the board saw not only did he have the initiative to do something, but that he also was willing to follow through.
The complex will include one 215-foot by 345-foot game field and one 165-foot by 300-foot practice field. It’s anticipated the new soccer fields will be ready for play when the current TVHS Soccer Club becomes an Indiana High School Athletic Association-sanctioned team in fall 2016.
The school board approved the field construction at its Jan. 9 meeting, and the work was awarded to Hostetler Lawn & Landscaping Inc., Middlebury. Todd Glenn, TVSC maintenance director, is overseeing the project, which cost $57,100.
“I think it’s a great thing for the school,” said board member Dave O’Brien. “I thought it was great when one student had the initiative to push for this. It’ll be great for the school.”
Valley Superintendent Brett Boggs said when Petgen showed up at the board meeting in March 2014, he talked about the number of kids interested in soccer and to see if the program could get going. The board directed him to get with TVHS Athletic Director Duane Burkhart and Principal Kirk Doehrmann.
Petgen put a proposal together with the administrators and presented it to the board in May. The board approved starting with the high school soccer program. Then in January, the board approved the field.
“We were just waiting until the weather got good,” Boggs said. “Had it not been for Josh ... he’s the one that got the ball rolling.”
Tippecanoe Valley High School never before had a competitive soccer program in its 40-year history until the 2014-15 school year. Mark Gordon was hired to coach the co-ed team.
“Community wise, before we came on board, there was nothing here except kids playing in the morning. Some kids played recreational soccer. None of the kids had anything organized,” Gordon said.
In TVHS soccer’s first year, he said they had 20 male and female student athletes. They played over 14 games. That number will continue to increase for the upcoming season, Gordon said.
He said he’s already talked to IHSAA officials about Valley’s soccer fields being IHSAA-sanctioned.
“It’s like a field of dreams. If you build it, they will come,” Gordon said.
He said he has a vision to grow interest in soccer in the Valley community from elementary school on up. He also would like to offer a soccer camp this summer.
“We’ve been pretty happy. We competed. We lost some, and we won some,” he said.
Soccer provides an additional opportunity for students served by the TVSC to learn and grow while competing in the increasingly popular and rapidly growing game of soccer, according to a press released provided by Boggs. Research has shown that young people involved in school-oriented extracurricular activities typically experience greater levels of academic success than those not involved.
“The construction of the new Tippecanoe Valley High School Soccer Complex is an important step toward bringing soccer to the Tippecanoe Valley community,” the press release states.[[In-content Ad]]
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