Five Smith-Cotton Seniors To Play Soccer For SFCC

The Smith-Cotton High School Media Center was filled with students, parents, coaches and District 200 administrators on Monday, Feb. 29 to witness five S-C athletes participate in a brief signing ceremony to play soccer at State Fair Community College next season.

Those SC seniors looking forward to playing soccer at State Fair include:

--Maddie Davidson on the women’s team. Davidson has scored 18 goals and added 15 assists for the Lady Tigers. An attacking midfielder, she was an All-West Central Conference selection in 2014 and 2015, when she was a team captain; also in 2015, she was a first team All-District pick.

And for the men’s team:

--Kevin Salas, a three-year varsity letterman with six goals and five assists and a two-time WCC Champion.

--Nick Holman, a two-year varsity letterman. As a defender, Holman had one goal and one assist, and was a two time WCC Champion.

--Alex Sanchez, a one-year Varsity letterman with one goal and a WCC Champion.

--Vlad Varshytskyy, a two-year Varsity letterman with six goals and nine assists. He was a 2014 and 2015 WCC All Conference player, as well as a 2014 and 2015 All-District player.

SFCC head soccer coach Eddie Horn, who was named to his new post just a couple of months ago, attended the mid-afternoon event and posed for photos with each of the S-C Tigers and their families. He seemed very enthusiastic about the future SFCC soccer program when he spoke to KSISradio.com.

“We are extremely excited. Any time we can bring local kids to the junior college, it’s an exciting thing. I think it’s a reflection on how strong soccer is in this area and specifically at Smith-Cotton,” Horn said, adding that the building blocks of a successful soccer program at SFCC are in place.

Starting a new program from scratch is a challenge, Horn admitted, “but at the same time, it’s been a labor of love. It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, so to finally have this opportunity, I’m extremely grateful. And I really feel good about where we are.”

Horn will helm both the men and women’s program at State Fair. His assistant coaches have not yet been named.

“We a little bit behind on the women’s (program), just because the women’s game is a little bit different. Like, for instance, the Division One schools are now recruiting 14-year-olds, so we’re coming in a little bit late. But at the same time, I think, again, we’re going to get the proper foundation laid. You look at somebody like Maddie, a great first recruit in the history of our program. She’s a great person to build the team around, not only as a person or character, but also with her work ethic, and she leads by example, so we’re extremely excited to have her for sure,” Horn stated.

Horn has coached high school soccer for 28 years, the first two of those spent at Smith-Cotton, and the rest at Jefferson City High School. “I am a Sedalia product,” he smiled.

Horn noted that he hopes to fill out 30 positions each on his men’s and women’s roster in time for practice to officially start next August. The men’s and women’s seasons will run concurrently at State Fair, he noted.

“We definitely want to give the local kids who are looking to play at the next level an opportunity. And then hopefully, they can parlay that into a great situation for themselves at a four-year school,” he said. “I’ve always been a big junior college advocate. I think it’s a great route for student athletes to go, especially when you’re from central Missouri, sometimes you don’t get the credit or respect that you (deserve), because you don’t play on a certain club’s team or in a certain academy’s program. So I think it’s a great way to improve your stock or standing with yourself as a player,” Horn said.

With the popularity of soccer in this region, Horn said it’s exciting to see so many quality players here. “It makes my job easy from a recruiting standpoint to convince them to stay local, come and play (at SFCC) for two years, then hopefuly move on from there,” he concluded.

S-C head soccer coach Ethan Weller also attended the multiple-signing ceremony Monday. He told KSISradio.com that he knew he had a lot of players who could contribute their soccer skills at the college level, especially on the boys side. “It was just a matter of where they fit in. And to be honest, with State Fair getting a program is going to be very beneficial to some of our local kids that can play somewhere, but maybe don’t have access to funds, so it’s easy to stay home, get your two years (of college) in, and then move on to a four-year program if they want to continue that,” Weller said. “So State Fair adding soccer is going to be very beneficial for Smith-Cotton kids.”

Weller is in his 10th year working with the S-C soccer program, the last seven spent as head coach.

“We lose a lot of seniors this year, and many will continue on to play college ball. But we really have a good group coming behind them,” Weller stated, adding that his JV soccer squad was undefeated last year. “So we have a three- or four-year window where we’re still going to be pretty good. And from there, I’m not really sure how it will go.”

Photo captions:

VARSHYTSKYY: Smith-Cotton High School senior Vlad Varshytskyy on Monday, Feb. 29, committed to play for State Fair Community College’s men's soccer team, which will begin competition this fall. Seated with him are his parents, Nataliya and Gennadiy Varshytskyy; back, from left, S-C Principal Wade Norton, S-C boys soccer assistant coach Adam Murray, SFCC soccer head coach Eddie Horn, S-C boys soccer head coach Ethan Weller and S-C Athletic Director Rob Davis.

SALAS: Smith-Cotton High School senior Kevin Salas on Monday, Feb. 29, committed to play for State Fair Community College’s men's soccer team, which will begin competition this fall. Seated with him is his mother, Imelda Salas; back, from left, S-C Principal Wade Norton, S-C boys soccer assistant coach Adam Murray, SFCC soccer head coach Eddie Horn, S-C boys soccer head coach Ethan Weller and S-C Athletic Director Rob Davis.

HOLMAN: Smith-Cotton High School senior Nick Holman on Monday, Feb. 29, committed to play for State Fair Community College’s men's soccer team, which will begin competition this fall. Seated with him are his father, Todd Holman, and step mother, Billie Holman; back, from left, S-C Principal Wade Norton, S-C boys soccer assistant coach Adam Murray, SFCC soccer head coach Eddie Horn, brother Tyler Holman, S-C boys soccer head coach Ethan Weller and S-C Athletic Director Rob Davis.

SANCHEZ: Smith-Cotton High School senior Alex Sanchez on Monday, Feb. 29, committed to play for State Fair Community College’s men's soccer team, which will begin competition this fall. Seated with him are his father, Ciro Sanchez, and his mother, Veronica Gonzalez; back, from left, S-C Principal Wade Norton, S-C boys soccer assistant coach Adam Murray, SFCC soccer head coach Eddie Horn, S-C boys soccer head coach Ethan Weller and S-C Athletic Director Rob Davis.

Maddie: Smith-Cotton High School senior Maddie Davidson on Monday became the first player to commit for State Fair Community College’s women’s soccer team, which will begin play this fall. Seated with her are her parents, Mike and Debbie Davidson; back, from left, S-C Principal Wade Norton, S-C girls soccer head coach Adam Murray, brother Hunter Davidson, SFCC soccer head coach Eddie Horn, S-C girls soccer assistant coach Ethan Weller and S-C Athletic Director Rob Davis.