By Raeanne Dixon

A desire to return to North Carolina has brought Todd Clark, Lenoir Community College’s first ever women’s soccer head coach, home. LCC is adding women’s soccer to its athletic line up for the 2021-2022 with plans to field a team coached by Clark in the fall of 2022.

The former head coach for Canisius College is ready to bring his almost 30 years of experience to this new Lancer women’s soccer program. From coaching at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York to Barton, Campbell, and Maloue College in Canton, Ohio, Clark said he was ready to move back home. 

 “My wife always followed me for my job and our kids came along for the ride,” he said. While our kids were in college, we left the state for an adventure; a great job in Division I in Buffalo, NY but we knew we’d be back in North Carolina one day. We thought the move here to follow her to teach at Northwest Elementary, her true calling, might not have me returning to coaching but after 30 years it was her turn and our kids had grown to the place we wanted to be back “home” with them.”

“Did I know it would specifically be Kinston or LCC? Honestly, no but this opportunity is beyond what I had imagined when we decided so I truly couldn’t be more excited to be back once again working with young people in the college environment.” 

From working with high school teams to club teams to National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II, and Division I, Clark said he plans to use his skills to grow the new program. “I think when it is all said and done, recruiting is recruiting,” he said. “Specifically, as a community college, it will be about finding local women who want to study and play nearby and assuring them that we might be their best opportunity for taking that next step is vital.” 

Clark said his coaching style and core values as a coach could be described as being driven. “I am a driven coach. There will be nobody on campus who will care more about success or work harder for it to happen than myself. I will give a lot to players in terms of my past experience, but I will also ask and expect a lot from them as well.” 

“College education and sports are not rights, they are responsibilities and playing college soccer and all that goes with it may not be for everyone but for those that choose to take part, they will get more out of the overall experience than those who do not,” he said.  “An entire team is across the field that wants to beat you today but also to get a job so if we develop a culture of success we can continue to win well after the game is over and I trust I can help in that endeavor.” 

Clark said his core values are simple.  “Hard work covers the bases but that is far greater than most people expect as it is relative. We can have fun playing but if we do not get something out of the tough days and a pride in not just the result but the preparation then we miss a massive part of the value of sport. Another core value is loyalty. It is the absolute best job for me at this time and I hope my players expect tremendous moments while here but that means they need to be fully committed while in the soccer realm,” he said. 

“My final core value is simply that our students are here to learn and whether that be soccer or history, we need to dive in.  Each of us has more to learn and the best athlete who knows it all will be surpassed by another with less God-given skill or genetics out of desire, given time.”

The new coach hopes to develop community support for the team. “As far as the women’s soccer game in Kinston, it is unique in that we are truly the only (collegiate) game in town,” he said.  “We need to make people aware via social media and in-person that a new possibility for ladies exists.  She (the athlete) may not even know her dream can be accomplished here at LCC, but we need to tell her. Be a nurse one day and play soccer while studying? We can do that!”

 Clark said he has a notebook list of two pages of short-term and long-term goals. “That’s two pages each,” he added.  “Short term is getting us up and known so we can recruit. Good coaches have good players. It is as simple as that, so I need to build a team of people. Long term is to improve every single day.  We may not play for over a year, but we need to get better every day once we are together.”

 “On and off the field, we need to become a place people find us before we find them. Ultimately, we want to be a program that anyone in this part of the state examines,” he said. “This is where I want to be and I am every bit as excited about this opportunity as I ever was when I got my first job out of college, into college, into Division I, etc.”