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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Thursday, January 13, 2005
The Hutchinson Community College Board
of Trustees on Thursday night, Jan. 13, approved the hiring of John
“Sammy” Lane to be the Blue Dragons’ first women’s soccer coach.
Women’s soccer, voted to be added to
the athletic department in December, is the 14th intercollegiate sport
at HCC. Women’s soccer is a fall sport and will play about 20 to 25
matches. Hutchinson will practice and play its home matches at the
Hutchinson High soccer complex on 23rd and Cleveland.
The inaugural season for Blue Dragon
soccer is slated for next season. HCC will be one of 10 Jayhawk
Conference teams to offer women’s soccer. Coffeyville and Garden City
are the other schools in the league adding a women’s soccer team.
Lane, who was born in Ireland, comes to
HCC with an impressive soccer record. He is currently a head coach and
trainer for the River City Soccer Club in Wichita.
Before that, though, Lane was a player
and later assistant coach for the now-defunct Wichita Wings indoor
professional soccer team from 1991 to 2001. Lane was a goalkeeper for
the Wings during his playing days.
During his time with the Wings, Lane
was an assistant coach and was later promoted to head coach at
McPherson College in 1996 and 1997. McPherson dropped soccer after
1997, but later re-formed its team in 2001.
Lane came to the United States with an
opportunity to play soccer at Sterling College. He graduated from
Sterling in 1991 with a degree in business administration. |
