TKA's Brent Frazier took a convoluted path from Nigeria to Korea to East Tennessee

Al Lesar
For USA TODAY Network - Tennessee

SEYMOUR – Brent Frazier got "a calling," and he answered it, first at an international school in South Korea and now as boys soccer coach at The King's Academy.

The 58-year-old first-year boys soccer coach took a convoluted path that started in Nigeria and ends in East Tennessee.

The King's Academy soccer coach Brent Frazier during the game against the Knoxville Ambassadors on Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Prayers for the 'troublemaker'

A son of a couple Baptist missionaries in Nigeria, Frazier grew up in an international education setting.

“That’s where the Lord trained me to do boarding (schools),” Frazier said. “There were over 200 families, missionaries of different denominations, where we lived. Every denomination had a dorm. The Baptists had two – male and female. They were miles apart.”

The distance may have been an advantage for Frazier.

“I had a great life (growing up) with great parents,” Frazier said, though admitting he was hardly a model citizen. “I was rebellious. I was a troublemaker. But my mom and dad kept praying for me.”

Soccer was an outlet. He learned the game in Nigeria, but when his game began to develop, his father’s physical problems brought the family to Jefferson County, Tenn., where he finished high school – without a soccer team.

“I kicked field goals and extra points for the football team for a season (1976), but that got boring,” he said.

The path to Korea

Post-high school life was a test of Frazier’s listening skills. He had joined the choir at his father’s Jefferson County church (“I didn’t sing well at all,” he said) with the sole intention of meeting the piano player. He and Jo Ann have now been married 38 years.

“Jo Ann and I both had a calling,” Frazier said. “For some reason, we knew we were supposed to be in Korea.”

For 23 years, the Fraziers were in South Korea at an international school. He was a boarding administrator and soccer coach at a school of more than 200 students for more than two decades.

“We dealt with everything,” Frazier said. “I was spoiled there: Well paid, great benefits, and the people were great.”

The competitive nature of international education in South Korea caused Frazier’s school’s student population to dwindle from a high of 227 to 60 when his position was finally eliminated for financial reasons.

First year The King's Academy soccer coach Brent Frazier, right, with co-head coach Michael Gunter during the game against the Knoxville Ambassadors on Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Finding a niche in East Tennessee

The King’s Academy is the closest thing to what Frazier has been used to all his life. The Blount County school welcomes students from more than a dozen countries.

After being involved on a part-time basis when he returned to the U.S. last spring, he and Jo Ann are dorm parents this year.They supervise Stewart Dorm, which houses 24 boys grades 8-12.

“We aren’t here for the money,” Frazier said. “This is our calling. We’re here to help teenagers."

The King's Academy soccer coach Brent Frazier talks with players after their game against Knoxville Ambassadors on Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Frazier is up at 5:20 every morning. His job is to make sure his two dozen charges are up and at ‘em in time for breakfast and classes. Once that’s done, he heads to his other job in donor relations at Angelic Ministries International in Knoxville.

Coaching soccer wasn’t something he planned on doing.

“The only reason I agreed to coach was that it allowed me to build relationships with my dorm students,” said Frazier, who has 15 dorm residents on the team. “I never recruited, and I never said a word to any of them. I was surprised so many came out.”

So far, so good

The soccer part of Frazier’s transition has been a piece of cake.

Though missing five starters for a variety of reasons, the Lions – who feature players from five countries – have won all five of their games this season. They had to take last week off when students scattered around the world for spring break.

One of his top players is Joao Benassi Silva from Brazil, one of just two seniors on this year’s team.

“I’m an anti-dribbler,” Frazier said of his soccer philosophy. “I like passing. I try to get that across to these guys, but it’s hard. They’ve all learned a different game. We just have to make it fit into what we do.

"I knew we had a lot of potential. I just have to get them to shoot more and dribble less.”