Andy Edwards has spent a lot of time around soccer. He began playing the sport at age four and played all through school up to college. After college, he started coaching and has spent almost two decades doing that.
Edwards is also quite familiar to Rome soccer players. He’s served as a community coach or helped assist with the boys and girls teams at the middle school and high school over the past few years. Along with that, he’s coached club soccer.
That familiarity with the program and his vast knowledge of the game will serve Edwards well as he has been named Coach for Rome High School’s Girls Soccer Team.
“I'm really excited. I mean, this puts me 31 years in, only being the third coach of the program. So it's really kind of an honor and a neat spot to be at coming after Coach Davis and Coach Hewitt,” Edwards says. “I'm excited. I know the girls. So it's a fun time to be part of the program.”
The Lady Wolves finished fourth in Region 5-5A this season, earning a state playoff spot, and Edwards says he hopes to continue that as he puts his mark on the program.
“In sports in general, it's entertainment. I want us to be able to play a style where people want to come watch. Of course, you want results, but there are ways to go about it to make it entertaining as well. That's what I hope to do,” Edwards says. “There's a certain style that my teams tend to have. We work the ball well. It tends to be a fluid, fun style. That's what I hope we can continue with the girls.”
Another big plus is that Edwards is familiar with a lot of the players he will be coaching next season.
“I think having familiarity with the program, the school system, the area, and the player pool makes a huge difference. I have a general idea of where some of these players are comfortable, what they can do, and what they can't do,” he says. “It gives me a head start going into the summer and trying to see and kind of fill in pieces. Mentally, all of us coaches love to put things together, but that'll definitely start falling into place as we go into the summer and into the fall.”
Along with the familiarity is an excitement that can be seen in his body language and heard in his voice as he talks about the future of girls soccer at Rome High.
“I'm just really excited to get things going, and excited to be out there with the girls. It's fun to be officially back with the high school and getting to get in to lead the program,” he says.