Lady Hawks have young team, young coach

DONNELLSON – Kirsten Sharp is a young coach working with a young team. But the first-year Central Lee girls' coach said she’s looking for strides in this season’s Lady Hawks' soccer team.
She said this year’s Lady Hawks will be a new story that will be written as the season progresses.
“The good part of that is I don't have a lot of habits that I need to unlearn from them, but the bad part is we’re young,” Sharp said Thursday.
“We're all first timers with each other for the most part. I think we have three seniors. It's a very young squad this year so, yeah, we just need a lot of touches. That's really what we're looking to get."
Ellie Lake would return for her senior year after leading the Hawks with 11 goals last season on 33 shots, 26 on goal. Emme Seitz was also a junior last year with plenty of playing time.
The rest of the squad returns with minimal playing time last season.

Sharp said she has big shoes to fill. Former Coach Antonia Estrada built a solid program that is just in its seventh year. Estrada and the Hawks won their first-ever post-season match in 2024 with a 1-0 win over Mediapolis, when Seitz scored on a corner kick for the only point of the match.
The Hawks went 2-2 in Super Conference play and 6-5 overall in 2024.
“I think it's a great program. The previous coach built the entire girls' soccer program so it's big shoes to fill,” she said.
“I think it's good coming into a younger team because then we can all grow together. It's my first time ever coaching. I played soccer all through college, so I'm just excited to be involved.”
Sharp said the numbers are about the same from last year. The Hawks ran with 15 players on varsity last year and are at 16 right now. There is no junior varsity play planned for 2025.
The Hawks will have to find their leadership this season.
“Again we're young. I think I have three seniors, two juniors, and then all the rest are underclassmen, so it's a very young squad, leadership-wise. I have a couple girls that have been playing soccer for over a decade. So, what I'm really looking for those, even those freshmen, to start leading on the field so that we can eventually get them to a captain position moving forward.”