New Wildcats coach brings passion for club soccer to high school ranks

By Kelly Bowen, Editor

The Wright City boys soccer program recently welcomed its new head coach, Eric Deal. Deal has a long history of soccer, having played as a child.

Deal currently serves as a soccer coach at JB Marine and also played one year of college soccer as a midfielder at Central Methodist University.

He is currently in his third year of teaching and comes from Troy Buchanan High School, but previously worked in online marketing. Deal knew he wasn’t happy in that job, but he enjoyed coaching club soccer, which led him to focus his career on teaching and coaching.

“When I was a coach at the club, I really enjoyed working with the kids and over time I enjoyed it more and more,” said Deal.

Deal will also work as a geometry teacher at the high school.

As Deal looked at the Wright City location, many things caught his eye. Deal attended William Chrisman High School and found it unique that both schools were branded as “WCHS.”

Additionally, both schools had the bright blue and gold school colors. Deal also grew up in Independence, and Wright City has a hallway called “Independence Hall.”

The similarities really caught Deal’s eye and made him realize he was in the right place.

“It was one of those things where I thought, this is kind of weird and I like small towns, so it seemed like the right place,” Deal said.

Deal has already gotten to know and coached some of the players through training camps, practices and offseason workouts. He noted that many players are working or have summer plans, but he wants to get more practices and workouts out of the players before the season begins.

Deal has set many goals for this season, including getting the Wildcats past the first round of the district championships, something they have yet to do, and reaching a .500 record.

He noted that he is still working on some more goals and will also give the older members and the team a voice.

With his background in club football, Deal plans to incorporate some of the drills and training tactics he has learned in the past. Things like first touch and movement without the ball will be practiced.

Beyond specific, season-related goals, Deal wants to instill confidence in the players.

“I want to help them get through the tough times,” Deal said. “A lot of times the players are good, but they doubt themselves. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one will, so I want to try to get them to believe in themselves.”

Deal noted that the sporting aspect will also play a decisive role.

“It’s still about making players better people and using the sport as a tool to learn how to make good decisions,” Deal said. “When you lose, you learn how to play with dignity and not throw unfair punches.”

“Respect the game and respect the opponents as well. So there’s a certain level of that that you have to bring in and make sure it’s part of the conversation.”

Deal will coach his first game with the Wildcats on September 3 against Winfield.

“I’m really looking forward to the season and having good, healthy key players,” Deal said.