After assembling an impressive 11-3-2 season in his second year at the helm of the M-P girls soccer team, Geoff Kittle has been named the new M-P boys soccer coach to succeed the retired Kyle Suits.
Kittle, who served as the coach of the boys junior varsity team under Suits for the past four seasons, turned around a 4-10-2 girls team, helping the Tomahawks reach their first-ever playoff game this fall.
The coach explained the girls sudden success as a consequence of the team buying into his philosophy, something he hopes to accomplish more quickly with the established M-P boys program.
Last spring, Suits led the Tomahawk boys to a 9-6-1 regular season schedule, securing the final conference playoff berth. With Suits final season, the Tomahawks also lost 11 seniors to graduation.
Ive established a strong relationship with most of the players already, so I think thats where Ill start a foundation with the kids, Kittle said.
With the girls, my first year I think it took a little while for some players to get on board. This year, my captains, my leaders, I worked with them to get them on board with what our core covenants were going to be about, what our team was going to be about, he added. Id kind of like to avoid what happened in my first year with the girls, with the guys. Id like to see the guys have immediate success and build on what theyve accomplished.
After almost five years of working with Suits, Kittle said he has learned a lot about coaching and managing a team, and particularly appreciated Suits emphasis on character building.
After back-to-back seasons in which the Tomahawk boys made the district playoffs, Kittle said hed like to see his first varsity team qualify for state.
Looking at the boys program, it would be nice to see us make it into the state playoffs this year and be successful there, he said. I think the guys are on the verge on making it to state, and Id like to see that happen.