Women’s Soccer Under New Leadership
April 9, 2019
Mike Washington coached the men’s soccer team from 1998 to 2015 and has returned this year, now to coach the women’s team in their upcoming season. Many of the faculty and staff were excited to welcome him back to the Whitman community and are eager to see the opportunities he provides for the program.
“Whitman will always be a special place to me,” Washington said about his return. “I was back in Walla Walla after a vacation in England and had been asked if I would help out the women’s soccer team. Of course the answer was [an] easy yes.”
With the former coach resigning, the spring season was up in the air. But recently, the team met with Washington to discuss the future of the program and establish spring practices.
New Whitman College women’s soccer coach, Mike Washington.
“Off the bat I liked how direct he was, and so far we have done a lot of playing this spring season. We start small in 3 vs. 3, then build up to a larger game at the end. I have enjoyed this so far because we get lots of touches on the ball and it gets us back into game shape,” said sophomore Camille Marshall.
“Mike is awesome! He has a plethora of soccer knowledge. He’s worked with some of the greatest soccer players in the country and I’m excited to see what he can do with our squad. He also has a great sense of humor and the cutest dog named Trixie,” said first-year Elly Wolfe. “We get lots of touches on the ball at every practice and it’s a super competitive, positive environment that is pushing everyone to play as hard as they can.”
Washington boasts a long history of coaching, both in the United States and his native land of England. He has run programs in many high schools around Washington state, including at Walla Walla High School where he and the boys team won the school’s first league championship.
The prodigious coach also spoke of his goals for the women’s 2019 fall season:
“Developing some trust and confidence within our team and trying to finish in the top half of the conference [is a main goal]. We also want to set the tone in our games to highlight our strengths, not our weaknesses,” said Washington.
