Coach Gish Announces Season Opener for ICC Soccer

Soccer is alive and well on the campus of Independence Community College with head Coach Derek Gish at the helm for his second season.  Gish officially joined the pirate coaching staff in March of 2008 and the teams’ driving principals came out as the young men’s team was named 2008-09 KJCCC Men’s All academic Team.

Following a successful summer camp program with local and area youth, Coach Gish will have set to work to train and hone the skills of the returning sophomores and new recruits.

A ranking by Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference for their annual predicted order of finish places the Pirate Men as 11^th and for the Pirate Women 12th. 

“It sounds bad – but I’m pumped about it,” said Gish.  “We’re going up and our finish will be exciting whether we move up one rung or 12!  We’re building a young club with untapped, fresh talent.  We’re in a wonderful place to train these student athletes the way we want them trained and we don’t have to waste valuable time getting rid of bad habits or old baggage.  This is an exciting place for us to be this year.  We’re looking up and we’re all looking up together as a team!” 

Coach Gish continued by saying that he believes in building locally and thinking globally. “I would like to see this program be one where local players can come in, develop, play significant roles, and find their full potential, and my ideal team is a mix of local and area players, and others from within the Midwest for the most part, as a coach I think it’s important to raise the level of play wherever you are, and help people in pursuing a soccer career that might otherwise not be possible.” 

Coach Gish, a Topeka native, has enjoyed tremendous success in the game of soccer and carries a USSF nationally recognized “D” level coaching license. His experience in the NJCAA comes from both sides of the touchline; player and coach. His love for the game led him to the competitive conferences in North Carolina where he finished his career as a Trojan at NCAA Div. II, Mount Olive College 

The Pirates travel to Johnson County for their first season opener Friday and will be back in town and ready to take on Western Texas Sunday.  Women’s Soccer is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. and the Men’s game will follow at 1:00 p.m.  Both games will be played at Peter Pan Road Field.  The public is welcome to attend.  There is no charge.

The Pirate Fall Soccer schedule the rest of the season has been announced as:

Scrimmages are underlined
*Signifies games counting toward conference standings
^Signifies game counting toward region VI standings

For more information about ICC’s Pirate Soccer Program, contact Coach Gish at dgish@indycc.edu or phone (620) 332-5677.