Girls Academy Support Staff

Being a high-level student-athletes isn’t just about the training sessions and games and we recognize that. Moving into the 2023-24 season, we knew that our players would benefit from additional support outside of regular training sessions and we created four roles to help fill those needs:

  • U13-U15 Technical & Functional Development

  • U16-U19 Technical & Functional Development

  • Sports Performance Coach

  • Player Success Coach

Technical / Functional Training

The technical & functional development of our Girls Academy players will be overseen by two of the highest licensed female coaches in the state in Ginger Parson-McGill & Deb Hockmeyer.

With a plethora of knowledge and experience, these coaches will spend time with each team every week making sure that our players are able to enjoy position specific training in key areas of the field. This emphasis will enable players to work on the small pieces of the game that have a huge impact on the field. 

Sports Performance

This year, all of Girls Academy teams will spend time each week focused on sports performance with Drew Johnston. We know that a long season including time spent on the road can make staying fit tough and the goal of this program is to enhance our player's ability to meet and exceed the demands of the game in the highly competitive Mid-America Conference. With a periodized, soccer specific speed, agility, strength, and recovery plans, our players will be able to be at their best year round while gaining knowledge about how they can manage these aspects of the game in the future as well.

Player Success Coach

With the number of responsibilities for players constantly increasing, we want to make sure that our players know that they have the our staff’s support in the form of our Player Success Coach. In this new role, our staff will be providing guidance, advice, and support for on and off the field personal skills that will help our players meet the demands of high performance soccer. Taking time weekly to make sure we’re covering all of our bases on & off the field as well as giving our players an additional check-in point with our staff will provide them with another resource as they navigate the delicate balance of school, soccer, and life in general.