DECATUR --The Decatur Bulldog soccer program is finally back on track after suffering a series of setbacks during the last half of the 2016 season.
In May 2016, coach Barry James, who lead the Decatur soccer team to the second round of the regional 4A playoff in May of 2015, resigned for personal reasons, leaving the Bulldogs with a coach.
In the late fall of 2016, two members of the Decatur community stepped up and volunteered to coach the 2017 team. Unfortunately, these arrangements fell through, leaving the soccer program without a coach for nearly three months.
In December of 2016, John Unger, Decatur's athletic director, asked James Garner, a teacher at Decatur High School, if he would coach the team this year. Garner, who coached the team in 2013, agreed to take over the soccer program.
"I hadn't coached in three years and didn't have my coaching certificate up to date," said Garner. "So I took a series of online courses and completed the re-certification process."
Then, in January, Uli Moreno, Decatur's youth soccer coach, stepped up and volunteered to coach the high school team this season. But Moreno lacked the proper credentials to coach in the high school ranks. So Garner agreed to stay on until Moreno finished the necessary volunteer and coaching certification.
Moreno completed the certification process and, with Garner's help, pulled the soccer team together and started afternoon practice sessions March 1.
Because of the coaching problem, no one was able to attend the soccer coach's organizational meeting last December, leaving the Decatur program with no soccer matches. For the next month, Garner spent a lot of time talking to coaches around the area and was able to get nine matches on the schedule.
"I wasn't able to get any warm-up or pre-season matches this year," said Garner. " We will have to go right into the conference schedule. I feel confident that once we get all this behind us and get into practice, we might have a good season this year."
The Bulldogs will begin the 2017 soccer season on the road at Subiaco Academy in Subiaco March 28, beginning at 5 p.m.
2017 Schedule
3/28 5 p.m. -- Subiaco Academy
4/3 5 p.m. -- Green Forest at Decatur High School
4/4 7 p.m. -- Prairie Grove
4/7 5 p.m. -- Berryville
4/10 5 p.m. -- Huntsville
4/13 5:30 p.m. -- Gentry
4/18 5 p.m. -- Bergman Game Details: Coed
4/21 4:30p -- Lead Hill at Decatur High School
5/5 5 p.m. -- Dardanelle
Sports on 03/22/2017