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McCloskey named new soccer coach at Smyrna Arrives after 14 seasons at Dobyns Bennett By JARED HASTINGS jhastings@dnj.com — Jared Hastings, (615)278-5167 Smyrna High School principal Bud Raikes has announced the hiring of William McCloskey to coach both boys and girls soccer, replacing Mark Gonyea and Maggie Morrow, respectively. McCloskey has spent the last 14 seasons at Kingsport-Dobyns Bennett High School, turning the Tribe and Lady Tribe into perennial contenders in ultra-tough East Tennessee. ADVERTISEMENT "He has plenty of experience and has an excellent background in soccer," said Raikes. "Everything we found out about him was a positive in helping get our programs moving forward." "I just feel like it was time for a change, time for a new challenge," said McCloskey, who also serves as the state chairman of the girls' soccer Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association. "I have some buddies down in that area, and it was one of those things where somebody knew somebody and one thing led to another. I think it's a great opportunity." The Baltimore native won a girls state title in 1995, led the Lady Tribe to four state tournament appearances and racked up an overall record of 200-82-28 while posting a 149-90-31 mark with his boys teams. Like his previous post, McCloskey will enter with a traditionally stronger girls team. The Lady Bulldogs advanced to the District 9-AAA tournament semifinals last season before falling to Beech. The Smyrna boys suffered a first-round exit in their tournament. Also, with perennial powers Hendersonville and Beech already residing in District 9-AAA, the situation will be much the same as McCloskey's Dobyns Bennett teams, who battled Farragut and Bearden — winners of six of the last seven Class AAA boys state soccer championships, as well as the 2006 girls championship. "The nice part of it is that I'm not walking into anything that I don't already know about," said McCloskey of his new district. "We're familiar with Hendersonville and Beech — especially from the girls' side — so we know what they can do and how good they are." "But we feel like there's a good enough base of soccer in Rutherford County and Smyrna that we can offset that."

coach mccloskey has accepted a position at smyrna high school...smyrna has been on the verge of having a great program for many years with an excellent feeder program. maybe this is the leadership that they have been needing.....there are excited people in smyrna...the girls have material and could show a marked improvement right away.....

great pics t....even the land fill has never looked better

if you want more scoring then count a goal as six and give a penalty kick after each goal....americanize it...come on.....it is called the beautiful game for a reason....the only fault i have with the game as played today is shoot-outs to end a tie....play till someone scores a golden goal...survival of the fittest!!!

just for conversations sake.. Smyrna has four girls out with injuries...three are starters

i'm gonna say the coaching is making a difference at independence...

i was told that the match was a 1-1 most of the way and a goal got called back with no time left....anybody know what happened

who are the new coaches at smyrna & mt juliet.....what happened to the old ones??

what does smyrna look like this year....any players?? who's the new coach

LaVergne is the sleeper here...with freddy adu...he's all that...if he would raise his head and pass

Often we must ask ourselves " Are we a part of the problem or a part of the solution" Dwelling on the problems of the past only makes the problems of the past today's problems. There are times when players need to just move on. If they are not interested in improving themselves or the team then they need to examine whether they should be on the team at all....The more you give, the more you get. The less you think of yourself the more of a person you become."

So the old smyrna coach is gone (i forget..what was his name again?) this leaves a void for the boys..who might be coming? Sherri Sain from manchester has been hired for the girls. what does anyone know about her?

Big game tonite at Robt Raikes Stadium/Dakis Field in Smyrna Lavergne's record doesn't indicate how good they are..they've lost a few games lately, but had some injuries...should be quite a barn burner...district game...bragging rights....what's anybody think?

what is the updated schedule????

where can a schedule for the Smyrna Challenge to be played at Smyrna High School this weekend be found...looks like a place where a few teams mettle will be tested..separation of men & boys