seymour signs new soccer coach

There are a lot of changes going on at Seymour this year.

For starters, there’s a new head football coach (Jim Moore), the school has changed classifications due to TSSAA modifications to Class AAA, the largest classification in the state, joining the Inter Mountain Athletic Conference (IMAC) and the high school has a new boys and girls Soccer Coach.

Drew Payne was recently announced as the new coach to take over for former coach Bobby Norwood who left to work with the Sevier County Bearettes.

Payne graduated from Gibbs in 2003 and is a recent graduate of Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) graduating in 2007 with a Bachelors of Arts degree in History and in Religion/Philosophy.  He is working on his teaching certificate and is scheduled to begin teaching in the fall.

Payne has the experience from a player’s point of view, playing college soccer for four years. “I played on a soccer scholarship,” stated Payne. “When I was a freshman we got a new coach and by my senior year we played in the NCAA Division 2 Final Four placing third in the nation. The year after I graduated we were the runners up.”

After graduation, Payne began looking for a job coaching soccer around the Knoxville area not knowing there was an opening at Seymour.

“An assistant principal at Seymour called an assistant principal at another school who called me and said I should go check out Seymour. I was told they were looking for a new soccer coach with college playing experience,” stated Payne.

After a week working with both teams Payne sees a lot of potential for a great season. According to Payne, the girls will have their work cut out for them moving up to the AAA.

“We graduated two players and have four seniors returning and I can already see there is a lot of senior leadership on the team. The girls have some big teams to go against but I think we can compete for the district or regional titles. It will be tough to make it to state but it’s not an unrealistic goal.”

The boys team Payne feels will have a little easier time moving up to AAA. “There isn’t any one team that stands out to me in this classification, no one that dominates AAA in Region 1 District 2. We have just as good a chance as anyone. We lost two seniors to graduation but we have several players returning and I really feel that this should be their year. We have some strong players,” stated Payne.

The new coaches system of play is much different than what the players have seen in the past from their former coach. “I don’t know what Norwood did but talking to the players my style of play is different than what they have had in a past,” stated Payne. A system that Payne hopes will take both teams to the championships this upcoming season.

With the season just around the corner Payne feels comfortable with the job ahead. “I have really fallen into this job,” stated Payne. “The players, both boys and girls, are awesome and very coachable. The parents are great to work with and the Booster Club will help take care of the financial part so I won’t have to do it all by myself. Principal Greg Clark and Coach Householder have been unbelievably helpful. They seem to really care about the game and the program itself.”

Assistant Coach Melvin Hopewell, who helped with the boy’s team last year, will be working with Payne this season.

Two weeks of summer training with be followed by preseason workouts as the seasons draw closer. The girl’s season starts this month with their first scrimmage July 31^st at William Blount followed by their first game at the Bearden Tourney starting August 27^th.

The boy’s workouts after the summer starter will begin November 7^th.

Payne, who is recently engaged, says that working at Seymour is like a dream job. “To come out of college and to start coaching at a school like Seymour is unbelievable. The community is tight knit and so supportive of the athletics. It’s a great area and we have some talented players. I’m looking forward to many great seasons.”

Teams in the IMAC District 2-AAA
Cherokee
Cocke County
Jefferson County
Morristown East
Morristown West
Sevier County
Seymour
South Doyle

District 1-AAA, Region 1-AAA opponents
David Crockett
Daniel Boone
Johnson City Science Hill
Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett
Sullivan Central
Sullivan East
Sullivan South
Tennessee High