Howard steps down as South Laurel girls soccer coach

Brad Hall, The Sentinel Echo, London, Ky.
·2 min read

Aug. 5—LONDON — After two years as head coach of the South Laurel Lady Cardinal soccer program, Jeremy Howard has decided to step down.

Howard took over as head coach in 2020, and it only took him two years to build South Laurel's girls soccer program into the best in the 13th Region.

After posting a 2-10-1 mark during his first year as head coach, Howard guided the Lady Cardinals to an impressive 18-4-1 record in 2021, which included seeing his team win the 49th and 13th Region championships along with advancing to the Elite Eight in state tournament play.

"Stepping down as the head coach of the girls team was a very difficult decision," Howard admitted. "I thought long and hard about it. I wanted to make sure that if and when I left that I didn't leave the cupboard dry. I know that for the next few years, the girls program will be very competitive.

"One of the reasons that I'm stepping down is to focus more time on the youth development in our county," he added. "Not just for South, but all of Laurel County."

Howard said he will still be involved with the soccer program at South Laurel as an assistant coach for the boys' team.

"I'm looking forward to working with them," he said. "I've always had a dream of growing soccer in our county and I think now is the time to really make that push. It's the only way our county can remain competitive at the highest levels.

"More importantly, we can continue to teach our youth how to be productive members in our community by using soccer as a vehicle to instill good moral values," Howard added. "I want to thank the administration for giving me this great opportunity to coach these young ladies and I look forward to continuing to build a soccer culture at South Laurel."