It was 2011, and a milestone for South Dakota High School Athletics. The South Dakota High School Activities Association sanctioned girls and boys Soccer. In fact, South Dakota was the last state to sanction soccer. But we started sanctioned soccer with one class. We had a one class system for two years before another class was added. And in those first two years with the one class, the number of schools involved was just enough to get it going. But today, as we prepare for the 11th State Soccer Championships, where is the sport of girls and boys soccer today?
Now, involvement is much higher than 11 years ago, but today, there are nine class A girls teams. There are 19 class AA girls teams. And on the boys side, there are 11 class A boys teams and 19 class AA boys teams. So, how has the past decade treated high school soccer in South Dakota?
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Our guests today, they've been there from the beginning of sanctioned soccer and even involved with soccer well before sanctioned soccer got to South Dakota. Our guests today include Merle Aske of Aberdeen Central. Merle has coached Aberdeen Central for a long time. In fact, the very first girl state title was in 2012. A 2-0 win over St. Thomas More. Following year though, Aberdeen Central lost in the championship to Sioux Falls, O'Gorman 2-0. Aberdeen central girls have been in the state soccer title three times in the past 10 years.
Our other guest today, Ryan Beier of Sioux Falls O'Gorman. Ryan has had state titles on the girls and the boys side for Sioux Falls O'Gorman. Ryan was the coach of O'Gorman's girls when they won their first title in the second year of sanctioned soccer. They beat the defending champs, Aberdeen Central, by 2-0. And O'Gorman girls, they have been to the state title five times winning a couple of titles. And Ryan, now coaching O'Gorman Boys. The O'Gorman Boys lost in the very first sanctioned tournament back in 2012 to Sioux Falls Christian, 2-1, but O'Gorman boys, they've been to the finals three times. They had their only title with Coach Bayer in 2020. They beat Rapid City Stevens 2-1.
So today, it is sanctioned South Dakota High School soccer on In Play. He is the long time girls soccer coach at Aberdeen Central, and he joins us on In Play, Merle Aske. Hey Merle, welcome to In Play.
Yep, thank you very much.
So, you've been at Aberdeen Central now for how many years?
Well, since 2006, so always.
What got you involved with soccer in the beginning?
Well, I've been coaching since about 1992 with my boys started playing. I just kind of grew with them in the program starting with the rec stuff and getting into competitive, and then getting into the high school when they were playing. Then I helped out of PC for a few years when my youngest was playing there. And then in 2006, when Aberdeen Central sanctioned soccer in the school, I was asked if I would apply for the girls job. So, that's why I took over the girls program at the Central.
What was the biggest challenge you had? Because you were coaching boys too. What was your biggest challenge knowing that you were just going to focus on the girls team?
Well, I think the biggest challenge was just getting used to the ins and outs of the program, and what the girls were expecting, and what I was going to be expecting of them. Just kind of growing pains both ways. We went into the school for the first time, so there were school sanctions, so we had to change the way we went about things a little bit. We got provided uniforms and stuff and they were no longer riding in parents' cars. That was the biggest thing. Just transitioning into the mode of, "Well, this is just like all the other high school programs. There's a lot of excitement around it, because it's one of the first schools to do it." And then with changing over to girls, I didn't really change my philosophy very much. It was just a matter of changing the way I had to communicate with them, all that.
Before 2011, when the debate was around for sanctioning soccer in the state, what was your involvement? Did you try to help out trying to get the association to look at sanctioning state soccer?
Yeah, I mean I was involved with our local ... I mean, I'm still involved with our local club. I was involved in just saying, "Hey, if we want to be like every other sport, this is something that needs to happen and we need to get people involved." And with the understanding of we're not taking anything away, we're actually providing them more than what they're getting now and just communicating with the other schools, and trying to get all them board. It took a few years from '06 when we started to 2011 to get other schools involved, and then it took about two or three years after that before everybody came on board.
Yeah. On '06, when you kind of started it in Aberdeen, was it different trying to schedule teams at that time since nobody else really was involved with it at that time?
It really wasn't, because the school was very understanding of what we were doing. Back then it was Larry Lovrien working with Gene Brownell, the athletic director, and they understood that we were going to have to register with our local club to be a part of the state association so we could play.
Going that route, it really wasn't any change for us. It was just a matter of getting games scheduled. One is 2011, then it changed it a little bit, because then we had the sanction teams that we had to play and then to get fill in our games, then we had to try to pull games from the other teams that weren't sanctioned. That became a little more cumbersome then, because we wanted to play good quality games, but we had to make sure that we could fit it in around those other teams. Because they had their club schedule as well, because they were still having state championships at a club level too.
When Aberdeen Central wasn't sanctioned and before the sanctioned part got here, there was Club Soccer. How busy were you with Club Soccer and Aberdeen?
Oh, I was always involved one way or the other, whether it was coaching teams or helping out where I can. I was a referee for a long time, so I do all the local scheduling for the club. I was always involved with the club stuff. When I was at PC, I backed off a little bit just because we were gone quite a bit in the fall and stuff like that. But I still helped out in the spring and I still help out now in the spring with the scheduling the referees and that kind of thing, and doing the rec schedule to get all the kids playing and stuff. Just like every other sport, all these kids that are out there playing the sport are the ones that are ... We're building them to fill in our high school program when they get older.
Of course, Merle, when he talks about PC, that's a presentation college right there in Aberdeen. Did you play soccer as a kid?
No.
You're about the age as my age too where we didn't have a soccer really when we were a kid.
Yeah, I know. I grew up west of the river in Lyman County. I played football and basketball, but I was active in almost every sport there was. As my kid grew up in sports, I coached basketball and I coached little flag football, coached a little baseball and that's something I always enjoyed doing was the coaching. I just kept getting involved and then we got into soccer and stuff. As the kids got more involved, I got more involved and the next thing you know, we're running all over the Midwest doing soccer stuff.
You were involved with Club Soccer. How did it prepare you when you knew that the state association was sanctioning the sport? Was there any change that you were doing to prepare for that?
I think the biggest thing is just making ... Once we were sanctioned, it was old hat for us by the time everybody else came along. Basically, just communicating with other coaches, the other schools. Gene Brownell did a really good job of working with the athletic director, so they understood what was all involved and what was going on.
Basically, just keeping the communication lines open with other people in our community of what we are doing. But also other people in the other communities and stuff, and the other coaches saying, "Hey, just because you're being sanctioned doesn't mean you're going to lose your coaching jobs for the high school. You're just going to have to do things a little different. You're going to have to work within the school system. Because the school is going to hire the best person for the job at the outset."
And then as the program is going over the last few years, you see a lot more teachers involved in coaching, but that's because there's a lot more people who have played soccer and played at the collegiate level and stuff that they're going into teaching. When they get into the school system, that's kind of a natural transition to them if they keep their soccer stuff going by helping out with the high school teams and coaching.
Merle, let's go back to 2012. It's a one class system with the high school soccer, the finals. The very first state finals and they're in Aberdeen, and you're in the finals against St. Thomas More. If I remember, it was a very windy day that day. What do you remember about that day and what was your strategy with the wind that day against a very good St. Thomas More team?
The biggest thing I think whenever we're playing in the wind, but especially in that game, was basically just to try to stay within ourselves to work the ball around short passes, keep the ball on the ground, and try not to let the wind play in effect. Because relatively, you're probably not going to get a lot of shots. The long distance shots are going to go in the goal unless the wind happens to push it in. So, you're going to have to get closer, you're going to have to make sure that you have a good angle for your shot. Basically, like I said, find feet, keep the ball on the ground, and do your best. You're just going to have to fight through it.
In Aberdeen, you don't have to worry about the wind, it happens all the time, right?
Yeah, the winds are constant up here. If it's not blowing at least 20 miles an hour, then it doesn't feel like a real game.
Aberdeen hosted the state soccer tournament the first couple of years and I remember that first year was really windy, but I believe you'll have to remind me. In 2013, you make it back to the state finals in Aberdeen. Was that the very cold day that year?
The first year was when it was really cold. It was really cold both years, but I think the windy day it was 18 or 19 degrees, and then it was almost a sub-zero wind chill, because the wind was blowing so hard.
Well, I remember that day too because you wore shorts that day. What is it with shorts and you there Merle when it comes to coaching?
Well, it's always kind of been. It's always kind of been my philosophy. The kids are going to be playing in shorts that I'll be in shorts. It's soccer season. Once soccer season is over there, we can cover up our leg and we're worried about staying warm.
But you made it back to the championship game. You're the defending champs, but you have to go up against Sioux Falls O'Gorman, and you fell in that match two to nothing. What do you remember about taking on O'Gorman that year?
Well, I think the biggest thing is O'Gorman has always ... They were always good. They always had quality players. The biggest thing like that is, again, it's cold. There's adversity you're facing before you even step on the field and then face facing them. It's just a matter of the team that gets that first goal and takes the pressure off of them is the other team that's going to survive a little bit.
O'Gorman got that goal. I think it was late in the first half right before we went into halftime. Our girls were a little down and the weather was getting at us a little bit, and then it was just tough to get back. I think early in the second half, they got their second. Everybody starts pressing. We're trying to do things that we don't normally do. Some of the girls are getting outside of themselves trying to do too much and turning the ball over in places where we normally wouldn't turn the ball over, so we just couldn't get the rhythm going. It gets tough sometimes. Soccer is a strange sport. Sometimes it gets tough. Once the other team is on a roll or once you just start pressing, it's tough to get back to where you can go forward.
Well, the first two years of sanctioned soccer in the state year in the finals, then we go to a two class system beginning in 2014. And Merle, over the past eight years, during this two class system, there have been seven different girls teams that have won state titles in the last eight years. What does that say right now about AA girls soccer in South Dakota?
Well, that's the thing is it's a pretty even group. There's a lot of really good players out there, so that makes a lot of good teams, and all the teams every year, there's always going to be teams that are at the bottom. There's always going to be teams in the middle and stuff. But every year, there's seven, or eight, or nine, or 10 sometimes even teams that legitimately, if they get on a role when you get into playoffs, you guys just got to win, and continue. If you're on a role, you can beat about anybody on a given day.
Well, Aberdeen Central's last appearance in the state finals, Merle, 2019 lost to Yankton, 1-0. What was that match like? What do you remember?
Well, the biggest thing about that match is it was a tight match all the way down and it was getting towards the end, and we were starting to play for ... Both teams were starting to think, "Oh, we're going to overtime, we're going to have to start preparing for that a little bit, maybe try to rest somebody if you can." And then the ball came down, and our player went to clear the ball, and it just happened to bounce the wrong way and it went right to their player. I can't remember her name right now, but she was their best player and she just took the ball, and took a touch, and hit it into that far post. And our goal, you just couldn't get to it.
It was just one of those things. It's late enough in the game and just like anything else, it's so late in the game that then you really feel the pressure and it's just tough to ... You start pressing what they really started pressing and we just couldn't get a good opportunity after that. We had a couple. We had one real early in the game that we just barely missed header that went off one of the poles that went live. If we happen to get that in, then maybe we still make it to overtime and then see how it goes. Just one of those things. You're not going to win them all, but it's really tough when you lose a game weight like that.
Well we finished our first decade of sanctioned soccer last year. We're in our 11th year in the playoffs this year. What have you seen that has changed the most about girls high school soccer in the last 10 years?
I think the biggest thing is just the number of players out there. There's a lot of players that are playing, and the quality of the games and stuff just seemed like every year that quality of all the teams just gets better, and you're seeing a lot better soccer, you're seeing a lot of things happening. I think hopefully we're getting more girls that are having the opportunity maybe to go on and play in college, just because of the quality, because the competition is there.
Most of our players on all of these teams, they're playing competitive soccer in the summer to get ready for high school soccer. Whereas when you get to other places in the country, like in Texas and California, a lot of your top competitive players don't even play high school soccer. It's thought of as a step down from the competitive world. Whereas here, it's just like basketball and everything else, you have your traveling teams and things like that, but high school season is what everybody gears up for and that's what we're seeing with soccer now.
I know girls have had a lot of opportunities in years past. Are we seeing the opportunities for girls no matter what level in college or in university play to go on and play soccer?
Yeah. I think the opportunity is there. Realistically, it's going to be work. No matter where you play in college, no matter what level you're playing at a college, basically you're going to be your job, so it's going to be a lot of work. But the kids that really put into work in high school and if that's what they really want to do, there's colleges out there for them to go play out. They might have to travel a little bit or maybe they're going to have to go to a school that maybe everybody else thinks it's not a very good school, just because their soccer team is not very good.
In college, high school soccer is getting you prepared for the world and getting you out there. When you're in college, the goal of most of colleges, they want to make the playoffs and stuff, but most of them, they just want to win their conference. You win your conference, that's a good collegiate season for you. And then once you win that, if you get into the playoff then you just try to make a run like we do in high school.
Merle, over the years, was there any thought about maybe moving on and being a college soccer coach?
No, I'm more ... All the recruiting and everything else and I actually don't teach in the school system, so I have a job with the State of South Dakota. That was conversations a couple of times when presentation was looking, but having the ... I wouldn't be able to keep my state job, so that's a big deal. When you're talking about losing all your primary income and taking a big pay cut, it's kind of tough to do.
What gives you the most enjoyment about being the girls soccer coach at Aberdeen Central?
I think just in the growth, and maturity, and the girls that come through our system. We get them when they're seventh, eighth, ninth graders when they start looking at the program. And then to see them mature through the program. When they're seniors and stuff and see that leadership develop in them and see them go off into the collegiate world and into the lives and stuff prepared for what's ahead for them.
You've been there from the beginning, Merle, when things started in 2012. Where do you see girls soccer in the future in the state?
It's going to continue to grow and it's going to be out there. It's just like all the other sports. There's going to be ebbs and flows in what's going on, but soccer is just a game that is really enjoyable and the kids really love it, because there's a lot of movement, there's a lot of different things that happen in the game. The kid just love playing soccer. Just when they get into the sport, it keeps them really fit and it gives them a lot. They have a place to go run off all the energy they have.
We are talking about South Dakota High School soccer in its 11th year as a sanctioned sport with the South Dakota High School Activities Association. Joining us is Ryan Beier. He was the Sioux Falls O'Gorman girls coach when soccer was sanctioned, and now the boys coach at Sioux Falls O'Gorman. Ryan, welcome to In Play.
Appreciate it. Thanks for the time.
So, what were you doing with soccer before it was sanctioned in 2012?
Well, before that, I've actually been at O'Gorman since 2000. We had the South Dakota High School Club League similar to what, I guess, softball has had and a lot of the other sports have had prior to sanctioning. I started off as a JV coach for a couple years and then I had the varsity since 2003, but we essentially had almost an identical league to what it is right now with sanctioning, but it was essentially recognized by the school, but the kids and the parents had to fit the bills for travel and those type of things.
Throughout my time at O'Gorman, we have actually been sanctioned and sponsored by our school that entire time. But in that, I guess, transition time, probably around 2010, a few school more schools started transitioning to being sanctioned. There was a handful of teams, even when we played in the club league that were sanctioned by the school, used their school vehicles and traveled. I've always taught at O'Gorman for that whole time too, so that was obviously a plus. But in 2012, when they made the switch, it was kind of a couple transition years where more schools came in. And then by '14, everybody was in, and that's kind of gives us our identical to what our present league is right now.
19 schools in boys and girls soccer in class AA. When it was all Club Soccer, what were you involved with? I mean, that seemed to me it was spring, summer, and fall Club Soccer.
There essentially was two levels of club at that time. We had the traditional club teams where the kids travel to Omaha and Kansas City and those type of things. And those would still be happening, but South Dakota High School soccer, South Dakota Club Soccer made an agreement with all of the South Dakota Club teams in the different towns that they would shut down and allow their kids to all play for their schools.
In Sioux Falls, for example, all of the 15 year olds play together on a seasonal club, and the 16 year old play on a seasonal club. But in that fall season, that August, September, this time of year, those teams would shut down. And then the high school clubs, Roosevelt, O'Gorman, Lincoln, and all the schools were allowed to do their thing for that time period. And then when the season ended and at that time, we would still do a three day tournament when those games were over, then those kids could join their traveling club teams if you will for the rest of the year.
The number of girls, the participants with club soccer, did it increase once sanctioned soccer came along?
Yeah. I would say that for the boys and the girls, what the sanctioning of high school allows them to do, and I think this is across the board for all sports, it just gives them another opportunity to play. It also gives maybe the kids who don't commit or don't want to commit to the year round travel schedule and whatnot that opportunity to play as well.
I think overall, it was probably on given teams. We maybe had half the players would play in those season, the year long club. And the other ones were just excited to be playing for their schools and maybe they played with those traveling teams when they were younger but then kind of wanted to commit just to the fall season. And then what it also allowed too is those first handful of years, we had kids that played multiple sports and still do. We'll have kids that play soccer and basketball and do track, and that's the ultimate benefit of playing high school activities is that they can do multiple sports at their school.
When did you get the itch for coaching soccer?
I've always had it in my mind to be a teacher and a coach growing up. I've looked up to a lot of different coaches and had a lot of good coaches in multiple sports, and I played basketball growing up, and soccer growing up, and the different coaches. Actually, when I was a soccer player at USF, I actually graduated and was a GA for one year, and then I took over the men's varsity team. The men's team for basically two years. During that time, I was coaching some traveling youth teams and club teams. I don't think there's been a season since that, that I haven't coached some level of player in youth to high school to even above.
Ryan, let's go to 2012. We have one class of soccer in the state, first year of the state sanctioned soccer tournament. You didn't make it to the finals that year. You were the girls coach, but what kind of year did you have in that very first year of sanctioned soccer?
Yeah. That first year, it was kind of unusual, because we had the identical schedule of the previous year when we had the South Dakota Club teams. But then the sanction teams played in a separate state tournament, and then the club teams had their separate thing. We actually played. Our girls team did play Aberdeen in the finals that year and lost to Aberdeen in the final.
2013 though. In 2013, you're playing Aberdeen Central, and you win it 2-0. What do you remember about that very first sanctioned championship?
Well, it's funny because both of those in 2012 and '13, we actually had a final four format where we played on a Friday and a Saturday. Friday night of both of those weeks were probably the most beautiful soccer nights you could imagine. No wind, 50 to 60 degrees. I know that first year when we went out to play in 2012 on that Saturday night, I believe it was like 27 degrees at game time. And in '13, there was a storm that came through midday and I know the wind was blowing about 40 miles an hour or more at Swisher Field there in Aberdeen.
In fact, we'd been stopped for a while because there was a tornado warning going on to the west of Aberdeen. Yeah.
Earlier in the day they did. We were actually checked out of our hotel with our team, but they were gracious enough to give us kind of the vacant party room in the basement, and we basically kind of rode out the day, doing homework, and killing time and whatnot. But that night we got there and the wind was blowing, and we did our best to hang in there, and we scored two goals in the first half.
We had actually tied Aberdeen earlier in the year, actually twice. I played with them twice, tied them earlier in the year both times. So, we knew it was going to be a battle and we came out on top.
Well, 2014 hits and then we get the two class system, but O'Gorman girls soccer continues to roll, because you make the state finals four years in a row. What was the talent level with your teams? Because you made it to the finals in '13, so technically you'd made it five years in a row. What was the participation and the talent like that you had during that time?
Yeah. We had a great group of kids, a great I guess culture, if you will, of the younger kids coming in and learning from the older kids. We just really kept that going. I was also fortunate enough to have ... In all four of those years, I had Theresa Pujado, who ended up becoming a two time Gatorade Player of the Year and ended up going on to Nebraska. I think within that group of her classmates, we had probably five or six other kids who went on to play college soccer. Very fortunate to have a great group of kids. And then again, just having those younger kids always learning from the older kids and just keep that transition and that culture going.
Got your second title in 2015, but you lost a couple more state finals. What did those appearances mean to your soccer team?
You're always trying to get to those finals. Getting there, it's sometimes the main goal and then what happens in those games is you just tell the kids you've gotten here and do what you can. Wins and losses as a coach, you're always proud of those kids and what they move on and go. In '16, we actually hosted the finals that year at O'Gorman, and it was a really busy day for our players and myself. I don't think I sat down all day running around helping to keep everything organized and whatnot.
That was Rapid City Central. Yep.
Rapid City Central came in and we had played them the previous year in '15. I tell you what, they were absolutely focused, and the first half was zero-zero, and they got a break in the second half and got a goal. Literally, I think they scored three goals in less than about seven or eight minutes. We lost our wind and lost our momentum. Again, just kind of the atmosphere and everything, we were trying to keep it together and didn't quite hold onto it.
Actually, that was the year all those previous kids that I talked about graduated. Well, then in '17, we were the eight seed and didn't really know where we'd end up, but we upset a few teams and made the finals, and then got beat by Pierre in that '17 year.
Yeah, Pierre went on a great role the following year. Pierre wins another title in '18. I want to mention too that besides your soccer skills as a player and certainly your skills as a coach, you also have skills as a broadcaster, because you helped us out on South Dakota Public Broadcasting the year the blizzard happened in Rapid City.
Yeah, that was '18.
Coldest match I've ever been to.
Yeah, me too. You and I are sitting in that little Coke trailer. And honestly, Pierre beat us in the semifinal that year. I was fortunate enough to help you broadcast. I don't know if our kids were that sad that they didn't have to play in that blizzard watching it on TV.
It's amazing. I've been to every state championship game except one over these years, and we've seen the weather at its worst and its best. It's been so windy, so cold. Harrisburg was beautiful. It was hot over in Mitchell. At Sioux Falls, it was great. Huron was great. We're hoping the nice weather continues but you just never know.
Yep, for sure.
The boys soccer job comes open at Sioux Falls O'Gorman. What were you thinking at that time? Your girls were doing really well.
They were. It was a very, I guess, fortunate blessing if you will. In '18, my son played as a freshman for Bryce Holliday who was the boys coach at the time. Bryce was just out of grad school and had coached for a few years in town. And then he was very fortunate to get, I guess, a full-time career move out in Seattle, Washington. He's a civilian, but he was with the military.
The boys' job opened up, and I had, had a long time assistant, Sheila Deer, on the girls side who actually played for us when she was in high school and then went on to Augie and then was a teacher and an assistant. I guess, the transition was fairly seamless where she could take over the girls. She was familiar with all of them. She had been my assistant for four years. I knew all of the boys and had been watching them play since my son was a freshman on the JV team. I've been watching them play, I'm familiar with what they had. In May of '19, in the end of school year is kind when all that happened, and it switched pretty seamlessly.
Well, you made it to the finals in 2020 and you get to the boys' only championship so far. You beat Stevens two to one as you're the only coach to win a girls and a boys soccer championship in the state. What do you remember about that win with Stevens?
Yeah. The biggest thing that I remember from '20 is we had, had a good team in '19, but graduated a handful of guys. We were confident in the young guys, but we knew it was going to take a handful of weeks to kind of put it together. We weren't necessarily in a hurry to try to overhaul everything in a hurry. We were kind of taking our time and taking our humps in some of the games and doing what we could. In the end of the year, we started getting on a role, and we actually had to play the number two seed, the number three seed, and the number one seed all the way through to get the finals. We were successful in that tournament run.
What's it like coaching your son?
It's awesome. People ask me, "Is it hard?" I was very, very fortunate when that opening came up. I had talked to a couple of our O'Gorman coaches who had coached their kids. Coach Robbie coached his son in basketball. Some of our other coaches have coached their kids and they said, "If you can do it, absolutely, don't turn it down, take that opportunity." And I'm so glad that I did. It's kind of a balance between home and on the field, and we were able to do that pretty good for a few years, just balance that out and very fortunate to have that opportunity.
And then 2021, lost in the finals to Yankton. Yankton got their first championship, but we're seeing Ryan that ... We're not seeing any real dominance in championships. I mean, Lincoln has had a couple. Washington, Aberdeen Central, Roosevelt, they've had titles over the last eight years.
Yeah. That's what makes it fun. Even yesterday, we had our first round of playoffs and new teams are popping up, and upsets and whatnot. For myself, we've been here since the start. I would much rather have 10, 12 top teams than to have two or three dominant teams, because it just makes soccer better around the state. There's a lot of parity.
And really, any night of the week, any team can win. And then we see that even in the championships as last year when we played Yankton, they had a group of about ... I think it was 12 seniors and they just came in, and they just rolled all the way through the season. They haven't taken that many steps back. Everybody just taking their turn, and we're trying to stay up there and compete as long as we can.
What are the opportunities for boys in South Dakota to go ahead and play soccer in college?
Yeah, great question. Actually, as we speak, I'm on my way to my son. He's a freshman at Dordt College to his game right now. For boys, it's quite a bit different than the girls side, because the girls have the D1 opportunities and then that kind of trickle down to the D2 with NSIC, and then into the GPAC, Great Plains Athletic Conference. Where boys, it's a little different. We have the Great Plains Athletic Conference, which is NAIA around our area. Actually, statewide, there's some teams.
If you go to the west side of the state where there's South Dakota School of Mines and Black Hills State, they play west in the Division II conference. If you go east into Minnesota, there's some more D3 conferences. There's plenty of opportunities. It's not quite as tiered as maybe a traditional football, basketball, that type of thing. It's more of a find your academic fit, find your athletic fit, and there's lots of great schools to play. The Great Plains Athletic Conference as a whole is probably more comparable to a Division II conference just because of the lack of Division IIs for men's soccer in the area.
Ryan, you've been involved with soccer your whole life. If there was no soccer, what would Ryan Beier be doing? Just being a teacher, I suppose.
Yeah, probably still being a teacher. I always have to throw this in that I've also coached basketball for over 20 years now. That's at the junior high level, so I'd probably still be coaching and doing something along that line. Yeah, for sure, teaching. I enjoy coaching and doing all those things, just working with kids and helping them get better on what they want to do.
And where is high school boys soccer heading in the future?
I think it's only going to grow. I'm on the soccer advisory and we're actually looking at how we can help balance some schedules and do some things to maybe help add some more A schools. There's different cities and towns around the state who now are seeing more and more kids who are either moving in or growing up with youth programs in their town, and they're now having enough kids where they can maybe try a boys team or a girls team in their towns. That's only going to keep growing as much as the exposure.
I think soccer is on TV multiple times a week now. The World Cup is coming here in another month. People are seeing more and more of it. They're understanding more and more of it. They're willing to try it and I think it's just going to keep growing.