Published Thursday, May 08, 2008 1:27 PM
Updated Thursday, May 08, 2008 1:28 PM

 

Harris named Ashley Ridge boys’ coach

Nate Harris has been selected to head the boys’ soccer program for Ashley Ridge High School.

Harris, who served as the head coach for the Fort Dorchester boys’ JV team the past two seasons and as a coach for the Fort girls’ JV the season before that, has been named the head coach for the Swamp Fox varsity team. Prior to moving to the area, he served as a head coach for a JV boys’ team in Virginia for six years and as an athletic director for a sports program for four years. He has 85 wins as a boys’ coach.

Harris will also be a social studies teacher at Dorchester School District Two’s newest high school when it opens in the fall.

“This opportunity excites me as a teacher and a coach,” Harris said. “I’m looking forward to working with Principal Karen Radcliffe and Bobby Behr, who will be an assistant principal. I’ll really have a chance to put my thumbprint on a program and mold it. However, I’ve learned a lot from coach Anthony Pelton at Fort Dorchester and I plan to look to him for advice as I move forward with this.”

Harris faces a big challenge. Not only will he have to compete in the same region as soccer powerhouse Bishop England (6-AA), he will have to do it for two years with no seniors. Ashley Ridge will open with only freshman and sophomore classes.

“I have a lot of respect for Bishop England’s coach,” Harris said. “They consistently play right with the 4-A teams. Burke also has a very athletic team. I think that region is stronger than a lot of people realize. Whether we like it or not, we will be compared to the new school opening next year in Berkeley County so right from the start there will be a rivalry between us and Cain Bay. We will also face the 7-AA perennial powers during the season.”

He believes he will have some skilled players transferring to his team from the Summerville and Fort Dorchester JV programs, but is concerned about competing in a contact sport against teams that have the advantage of fielding upper classmen.

“We will give 100 percent and should be competitive, but when you’re facing teams like BE, you have to be realistic,” he said. “At some point, talent can be overcome by physicality so it will be a challenge.”

Harris’s wife, Keirstan, is also a social studies teacher at Fort Dorchester. They have two sons, Nathaniel, 2, and Beckham, 1.

Contact Roger Lee @ 873-9424 ext. 213 or rlee@journalscene.com