By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Chad Thompson took over as the Bishop LeBlond girls' soccer coach this past spring, and took the Eagles to their first district title since 2011.
After a couple of years as an assistant coach with the LeBlond boys' team, and many more years of coaching at the youth level, Thompson can now add head man of LeBlond boys' varsity to his resume.
"I'm super excited," he said. "Got a great group of young men returning. We've got some really great additions with the freshmen coming in. Yeah, I got high hopes."
There's reason to have high hopes for LeBlond this fall. The Eagles were district champions in 2020 and finished third in the Class 2 state tournament after a loss to Orchard Farm in semifinals.
LeBlond returns a core of four seniors - all of whom are determined to end their varsity career the right way.
"I think we've very motivated," senior defender John Grant said. "I think that we have a good team this year. I think that since we're very driven, I think we have a good chance of repeating (as district champs) and perhaps even winning (state) this year."
The Eagles are happy to have back their senior keeper Marcos Dominguez, who had to miss his junior season with an ankle injury.
"I'm just ready," he said. "I was hurt all year. I just have a fire under me, and I'm just ready to go. Just ready to get with the team."
For these players, their new head coach is a familiar face, who has already been a part of the team for a couple years. Learning under coach Thompson is nothing new for them.
"I think it's been a very smooth transition," Grant said. "Last year, (Thompson) was the assistant coach and well built into that system already. Since he's taken the head position, it's been a very smooth transition."
For Thompson, who's been involved with youth soccer in St. Joseph for awhile, coaching this team is actually somewhat of a reunion.
"A lot of these guys, especially the freshmen and sophomores, I've coached since they were little bitty kids," Thompson said. "So, a lot of the kids I coached throughout the years are coming in now, and it's pretty neat."
Now that those kids are a bit older, their goals are pretty straight forward - defend the district title and win state.
"I think it'll just come down to hard work to be honest," said Dominguez. "Whether you have the athletes or not. But, I think we are more than equipped for the job."
Thompson does inherit a program with a rich history. The Eagles have finished in the top four three times since 2012, including a state championship in 2017.
Expectations are high, but after Thompson led the LeBlond girls' team to a district title in just his first year, confidence in him seems to be high as well.
"We've had a lot of great teams before us," Thompson said. "I hope I can live up to the expectations of everybody. I've got pretty good confidence in it with the group of young men I have. So, hopefully everything works its way out. They're out here working hard every day."
LeBlond opens it season on August 30 at St. Joseph Central.
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.