Tom Davidson, Ozark Tigers, Reaches 600 Wins

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Ole

Tom Davidson, and daughter Morgan, Ozark Tigers (2011 May)

Congratulations to Coach Tom Davidson on reaching 600 wins in his career tonight. He came into the game with an 8-7 record this season, his fourth with the Lady Ozark Tigers who also delivered his 500th win. Tom earned his 500th victory on April 1st, 2008 when the Tigers defeated the visiting Catholic Fightin’ Irish by the score of 1-0.

In the six seasons since he’s had an All-State player – Paige Hemphill was recognized as an All-State player 2008-2010 and he’s sent a dozen players onto college careers including five from the team that got his 500th win – Hemphill and teammate Rachel Haden to SBU, Megan Jenisch to MSSU (his alma mater), Megan Stodden to Aurora and Megan Gunnels to Westminster. Jayme Braun is joining Hemphill and Haden at SBU in the Fall.

His overall record during his twenty years of coaching include a 266-92-24 career mark Coaching Girls with 16 years at Kickapoo and Ozark while he stands at 325-141-41 in 20 years at Kickapoo and Ozark which includes last Fall’s 17-4 Boy’s season, a school record I believe.
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Tom Davidson, Ozark Tigers - 600 wins, 2011 May 3

6th Annual Southwest All-Star Game Tonight!

Posted on June 22, 2010 by Ole

Join us for tonight’s High School All-Star game, being hosted at Springfield Catholic High School for the first time. The game features the best graduating high school seniors in this region, as chosen by Steve Ole Olson of SGFsoccer.com, who covered over 50 games this Spring season, and Eric Sorlie of Springfield SC. Nominations were sought from the coaches of all of the teams from the three classes that play soccer in the Southwest Missouri region.

As part of the game activities this evening, we will be recognizing the Springfield Catholic girls team, along with Head Coach Ben Timson and assistant Meredith White. The Lady Irish won the State Soccer Title in Class 1 on June 5th, defeating Trinity Catholic from St Louis. The title is the first ever in soccer for any team in Southwest Missouri.

What: Southwest High School Soccer All-Stars
When: Tonight!
6:00 pm – Girls Game (download the rosters)
7:45 pm – Special Recognition, State Champion Springfield Catholic Girls
8:00 pm – Boys Game (download the rosters)

The Boys rosters includes 8 All-State players while the Girls roster includes

The Girls Head Coaches are Evan Palmer of Nixa and Clint Nurnberg of Parkview. The Eagles won their first ever District and Sectional titles this season while the Vikings achieved perfection in going 9-0 during the Ozark Conference season.

The Boys Head Coaches are Steve Fast of Bolivar and Jason Ingold of Camdenton. The Liberators won 2nd Place in Class 2 in November while the Lakers earned their first District title.

Key sponsors this year include J&K Soccer who provide the souvenir jerseys, game balls and this year are bringing tents to provide shade for the players during the game. Cox Sports Medicine is represented by Dr Rusty Bond (whose daughter Jamie was an All-Star in 2008) and Charles Bower. There will also be an ambulance stationed at the game. Springfield Catholic Schools is hosting the event and are ensuring every resource is available for the players and the fans.

That includes taking special steps to allow Mediacom to return to the game for the first time since 2006. Don West and Mike McClure will be on hand this evening to provide the play-by-play. Color analysis will be offered by Coaches Jeff Rogers of Glendale and Tom Davidson of Ozark, the deans of Springfield high school soccer.

The event is organized jointly by SGFsoccer.com, Southwest Missouri’s soccer resource, and Springfield Soccer Club, home to over 20 teams including the two time State Championship squad.

Republic Tigers Hire Mike Hines As Soccer Coach

Posted on April 25, 2010 by Ole

Coach Mike Hines, kneeling with Coach Hodge and Lentz

The Kickapoo Chiefs have offered a second coach to the regional ranks with long-time assistant Mike Hines hiring as the Head Coach for the Republic Tigers. Hines will move from the Brown and Gold to the Orange and Black at Republic High School. The Ozark Tigers were the most recent beneficiaries of Kickapoo’s largess when Head Coach Tom Davidson moved to Ozark in 2007.

I had a chance to chat with Coach Hines following the Chief’s win over Davidson and the Tigers on Thursday evening about his career change – from Missouri State University employee to Student Teacher/Teacher/Head Coach.

Congratulations Coach Hines. The Tigers will compete in Class 2 District 5 which includes Bolivar, Marshfield, West Plains and Carl Junction locally. The photo is from Thursday’s game against Kickapoo. Coach Hodge is reacting to a call by one of the referees, not to Hine’s move to Republic

Southwest Soccer All-Stars Take The Field This Evening

Posted on June 19, 2008 by Ole

UPDATE – the games will be played tonight. A little rain won’t stop us. Lightning and flooding would but I suspect we’ll avoid those possibilities and will enjoy the cooling effect a bit of rain will offer.

We’ve got a full day today folks.

Turn your radio on this morning, Thursday at 9:30am. Catch All-Stars organizer and Springfield SC Director of Coaching Jeremy Alumbaugh with All-Stars Katy McLain, Heath Melugin and Tara Bailes on JOCK 98.7, The Sports Reporters

In addition to watching the finest seniors in Southwest Missouri tonight, you can also catch the 1st Quarterfinal match of the European Championships today. Germany takes on Portugal at 1:45 pm, consider coming by Coester’s for a pre-game meal. Great soccer and the food is uniformly good.

The Girls game is at 6:00 pm.
The Boys game is at 8:00 pm.
Cooper Field #1 at Lake Country Soccer on Pythian Street in Springfield. Players need to register at the field 1.5 hours in advance of the game. Remember to bring your cleats, shin guards, white socks, black shorts, a water bottle and be prepared for the warm evening.

The lineups were announced earlier this week. Boys lineup. Girls lineup.

The Coaches for this evenings games include:
Girls Red: Jeff Rogers, Glendale Falcons and Evan Palmer, Nixa Eagles. The Falcons returned to the Quarterfinals this year for the first time since 2004. Evans working on replacing the Eagle’s top 2 career goal scorers on the girls team.
Girls Gold: Tom Davidson, Ozark Tigers and Ben Timson, Catholic Fightin’ Irish. The Tigers won their 1st ever large school District title this year while getting Tom his 500th win as a coach. The Irish made it to the Class 1 Quarterfinals yet again.

Boys Red: Eric Crain, New Covenant Academy and Mike Gow, Lebanon Yellowjackets. The Warriors earned their first District title in Fall 2007. Gow wraps up 12 years with the Yellowjackets this past Spring and heads for the sideline with the Waynesville Tigers in the Fall.
Boys Gold: Phil Hodge, Kickapoo Chiefs and Mike Howard, Rolla Bulldogs. The Chiefs were the #1 Public School boys team in 2007, taking 3rd place at the State Finals in Phil’s first season as head coach. Mike Howard earned his 500th win in the third game of the girls season.

Our Announcer this evening will be Bob Florez, who also handles the microphone for the Missouri State Bears men’s team. He’ll see two future Bears on the pitch this evening – Heath Melugin (Kickapoo) and Justin Scicluna (West Plains).

We will have Dr. Rusty Bond, a Cox Health sports medicine physician on the sidelines along with a trainer from the Athletic Advantage program at Cox. Dr Bond is part of the Southwest Spine and Sport office at Cox as well as the father of All-Star Jamie Bond (#4 on the Red squad). Thanks to Cox Health for their support of the players and this game.

Referee’s this evening include
Girls
Elizabeth Unruh – Referee
Andy Ellsworth – AR
Anthony Solari – AR

Boys
Trey Smith – Referee
Anthony Solari – AR
Todd McCutcheon – AR

Sponsors of this years event, in addition to Cox Health Athletic Advantage, include Lake Country Soccer, the Springfield Demize, Coesters Restaurant, The Copy Shoppe, J&K Soccer, Baywash Car Wash in Cassville as well as Rick & Tami Dorman and the Booster Clubs at Kickapoo, Glendale, Catholic and Ozark. Thanks as well to the Opfer family, including Scott, Tracy, Austin, Alix and Kasey; The Melugin family, including Phil, Kim, Megan and Miriam; and the Bailes family, including Scott, JoAnn, Allie and Mandy.

Nelson Morgan – A Pulaski County Soccer Pioneer

Posted on May 8, 2008 by Ole

A son’s letter…

The people who founded youth soccer, maintained it and now run it in the Waynesville-St.Robert area are numerous and otherwise unrecognized volunteers. Richland, Laquey, Dixon, and Crocker all owe a debt of gratitude to these people, for creating local interest in the sport and guiding them in the creation of their own leagues. Last fall, the Crocker boys finished their year at the State Final 4, a direct result of the regions development.

But the reason I write this letter is for one man. I doubt seriously the people of these communities know that the unassuming junior varsity girl’s soccer coach for the Waynesville Tigers is one of the founders of Pulaski County soccer. On Thursday May 8, 2008, my father Nelson Morgan, will coach his last soccer game.

He’s coached more than a thousand soccer players from ages 5-19 in the Waynesville area the past 22 years. He took a year off in the late 90’s from coaching high school, but continued even then with youth teams. During this period he’s been the common thread running through coaches, players, youth leagues, field maintenance, flood recovery, school board meetings, athletic directors, etc. He is, as far as I’m concerned the grandfather not only of my nephew, but also of Pulaski County soccer.

He’s been there for it all, from 1986 to 2008. And I thank him publicly for that. I play a soccer game weekly nearly 500 miles away from Waynesville, in Murfreesboro, TN. The field is full of 20-30 something soccer has-beens, a generation of people who grew up playing soccer. We all seem to have the same story, a small town league, where no one knew how to start a new sport. But we learned to love the game, as do thousands of people in Pulaski County on Saturday mornings now regularly. Thanks Dad, this is your legacy. It is a good one.

Skylor Morgan
Smyrna, TN

Nelson has done a great job maintaining and always trying to improve Waynesville soccer. I have gotten to know Nelson well the last 2 years and have found him one of the most prepared coaches I have ever been around. He is a student of the game and has a passion for soccer and the kids that is rivaled by few. Nelson is never out-worked by an opposing coach and he strives to put his players in a situations that allow them to be successful. On top of that, I have never in my life seen someone keep such meticulous statistics. Nelson, you may retire from coaching, but I am certain we will see you around some Ozark Conference matches with the floppy hat and the chair that must now say: the re-un-re-tired Coach Morgan. We’ll miss your excitement about the game in Waynesville.
Josh Scott, Head Coach
Waynesville Tigers

Nelson has been the face of Waynesville soccer since its inception. His hard work and dedication will be missed. He truly is one of the good people in our business, and I for one will miss seeing him at the Waynesville games. Thanks Nelson for all you did for soccer in our area.
Tom Davidson
Ozark Tigers

Nelson carried that clipboard around like a preacher carries a Bible. I have always admired his professionalism in everything he did. Through his efforts, Waynesville is one of the first programs that led the way on how to properly host a district tournament or state play off game. They saw the importance of honoring the teams playing by doing the small things to allow the participating teams the ability to just focus on the game. Nelson was a big part of that effort and for that I will always be grateful. Congrats on all the years you have invested in encouraging kids to learn and play the beautiful game, but more importantly the life lessons you have instilled.
Jeff Rogers
Glendale Falcons

Loyal is a word that I would say describes Nelson Morgan. In my 17 years at Rolla, Waynesville has had 6 head coaches, including Nelson himself. With that kind of turnover it is difficult to maintain any consistency, yet Nelson has given that to the Tiger program and that takes a unique quality. He takes a great deal of pride in the soccer program and I am happy that he has seen this senior group at Waynesville have some success as he certainly deserves it.
Mike Howard
Rolla Bulldogs

This Week in Springfield Soccer

Posted on March 31, 2008 by Ole

My first priority this week is to be around to take in Tom Davidson’s 500th career win. The Tigers host West Plain’s tonight at 4:30 pm so that’s where I’ll start. Nick Schmitt will once again offer an in-depth article on Tom’s career so look for that this week as well. The latest info I’ve received on the game is that it is on, although Varsity-only now.

There are some college exhibition matches to point to this week. The Lady Bears are visiting Liberty, MO on Friday evening to play Iowa.

In Springfield, we can look forward to seeing the William Jewell Cardinals (based in Liberty) playing the Drury Panthers on Saturday. The women will play at 12:00 pm and it will be a great opportunity to see junior Katie Brooks (Parkview 2005). Megan Garrad (Glendale) and Jake Lumby (Ozark) have both committed this year to play for the Cardinals so this is a team you’ll be reading more about. They play in the HAAC (against Evangel) and the men went to the NAIA Final Four last year. They’ll play the Drury men at 2:00 pm.

The Panthers will also play the Missouri Southern Lions men on Saturday afternoon, at 4:00 pm. All games are scheduled for Harrison Stadium.

Missouri S&T Lady Miners are hosting the Truman Bulldogs, future home of Lou Opfer (Glendale). He Lou, how about providing a report on the game if you head up there!

Lake Country Soccer is hosting The Ozarks Coca Cola / Dr Pepper Friendship Cup this weekend. I know it’s hard to tell since there’s nothing on the home page about the tournament but I wouldn’t point you wrong.

For High School Girls, the Ozark Conference kicks off big time with all 10 teams playing Tuesday. Parkview hosts Rolla and Glendale hosts Joplin in Springfield, while Kickapoo travels to Waynesville, Hillcrest to Camdenton and Lebanon to West Plains.

Greenwood Girls begin their 2nd season Tuesday, hosting Pleasant Hope. Varsity only, the game is at 5:00 pm at Cooper.

And don’t forget that Champions League returns Tuesday and Wednesday. Manchester United takes on AS Roma on Tuesday at 1:30 pm on ESPN2 while Arsenal and Liverpool face off on Wednesday in the Quarterfinals.

On a final note, I’ve added the Paige Blotter video interview to the story on Kickapoo’s win Saturday.

Ozark Tigers Defeat Harrison Goblins

Posted on March 30, 2008 by Ole

The Lady Tigers shook off the cold and a tenacious Lady Goblins squad to even their record this season at 1-1. The 2-1 win came as a result of a pair of goals by sophomore Megan Gunnells, both created and assisted by senior Erica Hogan (pictured). The first came in the 31st minute as Hogan ran down a diagonal ball in the right corner before beating a pair of defenders and finding Gunnels near the PK spot. The second came in the 42nd minute as Hogan took the ball down the right side from the midfield line before sending a cross into the box. Gunnels pounced on the loose ball as the defender lost track of it and again confidently buried it.

The Goblins, who beat the West Plains Zizzers earlier this week, didn’t back down and got within one again on some nice combination work that led to a shot from inside the box. The initial shot went off the crossbar and the rebound fell to another Goblin who tapped in. Ozark held on to earn Coach Tom Davidson’s 499th career win. Their next game will be at home on Monday against West Plains.

The Ozark JV Squad won their JV Tournament on Saturday by beating Parkview 4-1 and Nixa 3-1.

At the Neosho Tournament, the Joplin Eagles earned the hardware by defeating Van Buren (AR) 4-0 on Saturday. The host Wildcats earned their first victory, and 3rd place in the six team round robin by shutting out the Central Bulldogs 5-0. Full report available in the Neosho Daily News.

Springfield Soccer Weekend Update

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Ole

It’s my anniversary folks. Not directly, the calender never quite cooperates. How can Easter be over already?

I’m entering my 4th year of coverage of high school, club and college soccer in the region with tonights game between Springfield Catholic and Kickapoo. It was the first game I covered in 2005 when I started this site. If you’re interested, you can catch tonights seniors as freshman in a 5 minute video of the game highlights. McCutcheon, McLain, Bailes are familiar faces I saw in the first 30 seconds as I checked it out.

Should be an excellent game. Catholic defeated Kickapoo for the first time ever last year, 3-2 and the Chiefs will not have forgotten that. Bailes got the game-winner and this morning we also get a News-Leader story about the MSU recruit. I’m surprised they didn’t pull the Party Crashers photo of Tara at Jordan Creek getting her Irish on St Patrick’s Day weekend.

The Glendale Falcons begin their season this evening, another good choice. They host Rogers, AR in a game at Cooper Soccer Complex. Mt View Liberty, the newest girls program in the region, holds their first ever game when the West Plains Zizzers visit. I know we’ll get a good report from the Zizzer’s website.

Tomorrow could be a big day for the region if the weather cooperates. The Ozark Tigers host Harrison AR after visiting Willard tonight. Coach Tom Davidson is two wins away from 500. Willard is getting a slow start this season with Spring Break conflicting with the start of the season, leaving them undermanned for a while longer. So the 6pm game Saturday is on my calendar.

Finally, the KC Wizards open the season at home. I’d like to suggest that if you want a great place to watch basketball on Saturday as well as catch the Wizards game that you join me at Coester’s at 631 S Kimbrough. They had Gol TV on last night and I saw a great game between Bayern Munich (did you know I was born in Munich and they were my first team?) and Bayern Leverkusen. The Wizards game is tape-delayed at 10 pm so you can get a 2fer tomorrow – NCAA tournament games and Jack Jewsbury and the Wizards afterwards. Coesters is my newest sponsor and I’d appreciate it if you’d visit and decide for yourself if its not among the best Sports Restaurants in town. Tell them SGFsoccer sent you!

This Week In Springfield MO Soccer

Posted on March 17, 2008 by Ole

Welcome to Spring soccer folks. The girls high school season is scheduled to begin this evening with Jefferson City Helias visiting Lebanon to take on the Yellowjackets. If the weather cooperates. I’m still working on getting schedules into my calendar so I can begin regular coverage but there’s one important story to point to this week.

Mike Howard has 497 wins. The Rolla Bulldogs will open their District title defense this year with a tournament this weekend. Washington, Springfield Catholic and Hickman will visit and take on the hosts in the order listed. I will be in Rolla on Saturday to catch at least one of the games.

I’ll also be keeping an eye on Ozark where Tom Davidson opens his first season with the Tigers sitting at 498 wins. Harrison AR visits on Thursday this week and Ozark visits Waynesville next week. Plenty of pressure on the girls right from the start

The US Men’s National U23 team defeated Honduras Saturday evening to move into the semifinal of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. They’ll face Canada on Thursday evening, the winner is guaranteed a slot in Beijing in August. The game will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel, time to be announced. Note – Mexico will not being going to the Olympics.

Springfield Public Schools and Drury are on Spring Break so the Mudhouse should be relatively quiet this week as most of the MSU students I know are scrambling to wrap up their week before beginning their break on Thursday. Enjoy!

Update – World Cup blog celebrates St Pat’s by identifying the best Irish goals of the past 10 years available on YouTube!

A Call to Service – High School Soccer Referees Needed

Posted on March 5, 2008 by Ole

This story has been contributed by Tom Davidson, Head Coach at Ozark High School.

I have had the privilege of coaching our great game at the high school level for 17 wonderful years. In that time I have seen several different changes. One area I have seen very little change is in our current referee pool.

I would like to take time to recognize and appreciate all the dedicated referees who have served me, our sport, and the many players who have benefited from their service. Men like Gary Keisker, Gary Strunk, Dave Massey, Jack Streck, Tim Noonan, and others have been shouldering the load for many a year. Yes Keisker, you and I have had way too many games together, (to date I have coached 740 high school games and I’m sure you have officiated 700 of them).

Joking aside, it is time to call the soccer community to help with this situation. We have had boys’ soccer in the community since 1984. The girls program since 1995. If you count just one school it is roughly 30 athletes per season at 35 seasons or about 950 players from one school who have enjoyed high school soccer. Where are all of you? If we cannot increase our number of referees, our sport will be told what nights to play on or maybe told we can’t play certain games. We need to give something back. We complain about the referees, but we don’t do it ourselves. C’mon soccer moms and dads, former players, college students, and coaches, who don’t coach in both seasons. We are in desperate times with this scenario. Our sport is starting to flourish with more kids playing and schools adding soccer all of the time. Everyone has some spare time at least one day a week for a few hours.

The current referees will tell you that they are not getting rich doing this, but they do get paid. The current rate of pay is $50 for a varsity game and $42.50 for a junior varsity game. This isn’t bad for a few hours of work. I am currently at a school where 11 of our coaches, administrators and teachers do some refereeing. Other sports are not in this pinch. Why is it that so few feel the call to service? Do we not feel like our kids are important enough to help them? I’m searching for answers to our dilemma! Please help!

Our sport needs you. If you believe in this sport and are willing to help, you can contact the Missouri State High School Activities Association at MSHSAA.org. It’s a simple process and easy to become an official. Thanks for your service and see you this spring.

Sincerely, Tom Davidson

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