Junior Panther soccer coach Natalie Hathaway looks ahead to a successful season
By Amy Hitt
Since its inception in 2002, Junior Panther (JP) soccer has had the same “high spirited coach”, Natalie Hathaway. Coach Hathaway is a product of Rappahannock County public schools and the University of Virginia with a major in government.
Coach Hathaway is the 7th grade civics and American government teacher at Rappahannock County Elementary School. She lives in Sperryville with her husband Warren. She has two children–Sara, a graduate student at UVA and Emma, a senior at Rappahannock County High School. Both girls are avid soccer players and scholar athletes.
In 2002, JP Soccer started out co-ed with very little funding. Today JP Soccer is separate for both genders, and this past spring the girls’ team came in first place for the regular season and second place for the Valley Middle School Conference tournament.
She will be taking the reins along with Mark Ramey for the boys’ team, which will now be playing in the fall only. Coach Hathaway is geared up and ready to get the season started. “I am the spirit and Coach Mark Ramey is the brains, he is a licensed coach and was a college soccer player at St. Mary’s College,” she said. “We work well together.”
Hathaway started her coaching career with the Rappahannock Soccer League (RSL), our incredible volunteer group that is truly responsible for the successful soccer programs that we have in the school. Without feeder programs like RSL and RAA, our teams would not be as successful as they are.
“Our soccer, baseball and softball teams have had huge success in the Bull Run District, due to these in-county leagues,” said Hathaway. Also, the fact that most of our students play more than one sport, keeps them in shape to play at a high level of intensity.
Coach Hathaway’s philosophy is attitude and the 12th player on the field, sportsmanship, is of the utmost importance. Athletes and students must represent our school, our community and absolutely must display responsible behavior. She also believes that having these athletes in class is of utmost importance.
“You really get to know your players, their strengths and weaknesses. You develop a bond that transcends the classroom,” insists Coach Hathaway. She feels that it is extremely beneficial to know how your players are doing with their schoolwork. And when you are with them and their teachers every day, it’s so much easier to stay on top on their progress. It is best to have coaches come out of the school (RCES) that the students are in. “We already have a rapport with the student and when they need a little extra help you know it right away”, observed Hathaway.
This year, students from grades 5-8, can try out for the boys’ team on Aug 18-20 from 4:30 - 6:00 pm at the soccer field behind the RCES Gym. Hathaway remarks that she will be losing some players due to the eighth graders being able to play football, but would love to have some players that play baseball, in the spring try-out for soccer.
“Athletes are athletes–they can play soccer, and a catcher for baseball is probably your best goalie for soccer,” explains Hathaway. Some of the players that should be returning this fall are; Ben Gillis, Ben Estes, Amrit Tamang, Tres Swindler, and Case Kramer. The JP team should be highly competitive in the Valley Middle School Conference and hopefully will do as well, if not better than the girls’ team did in the spring.
Natalie Hathaway can not only be seen on the soccer field, but also in the stands at almost all the other RCPS sporting events. She has a group of students following her wherever she goes, and her infectious spirit rubs off on all of them. They will be dressed in Blue & Gold apparel and will be cheering and chanting for the home teams, and the head of the group is always the best encourager, Coach Hathaway.
Amy Hitt of Amissville covers school sports for RappVoice.
-- James P. Gannon
Write a comment