Prep coach is motivator
At Augusta Prep's soccer complex, a running track cuts directly between the playing field and the Cavaliers bench. The eight-lane track distances the team's second stringers, team managers and assistant coach from the game's action.
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Augusta Prep soccer coach Doug Williamson shouts instructions to his team during a game in Evans.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
From the beginning of the game, head coach Doug Williamson claims the track as his ground. No matter how intense the action is on the field, no player or manager dares to cross the track without permission.
The rule is unspoken, but also unbroken.
"Yeah, that's his turf," assistant coach Forrest Wimberly said.
Williamson paces as though the game depends on it. He starts at the third closest lane from the field. If he shouts instruction to one of his players, which is often, he'll move up to the first lane.
"Easy, easy, let's see what they do ... Nice ball ... Open the game up ..."
When offering words of advice to a referee, he won't back down with his voice, but he'll backpedal to the seventh or eighth lanes.
Occasionally he'll leave the track, but only for a minute to instruct a player on the bench or discuss strategy with Wimberly.
From the beginning of the game, Williamson stalks the running track dividing the soccer field and the bench to give his players directions and to let the referee know just what Williamson thinks of calls.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
He always returns to his turf, always standing, sometimes pacing. It's been this way for the five years he's been at Augusta Prep. Some say it's strange, but one thing's for sure, it works.
On Sept. 1, Williamson earned his 300th career coaching win.
The Augusta Prep men's soccer team gave Williamson the victory with a 4-0 win over Alleluia Community School. The win was the seventh of the year for the Cavaliers and marked a major milestone in Williamson's 21 years of coaching.
After the game, Augusta Prep Athletic Director Tom Holodak read off an impressive list of coaching accomplishments to the crowd of 200-plus fans who came to support their coach. Williamson, soaked with a celebratory water-cooler shower, made his speech short and sweet.
"It means I'm totally too old," he said.
Augusta Prep's players know there's more to their coach's success than just age.
"He's the greatest coach I've ever had," team co-captain Thomas Knerr said. "We realize how overqualified he is."
Williamson's qualifications do stretch beyond those of the usual high school soccer coach. With 15 years of experience coaching in the college ranks, Williamson has made a name for himself around the nation. As a member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, he sits on the NSCAA National Academy staff. He also teaches soccer courses within the NSCAA.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
"It's like attending one of those courses everyday at practice," Wimberly said. "It's been great being under coach Williamson's direction."
The loud-speaking, hard-nose coach uses a mixture of respect and discipline in leading his team. He's quick to discipline his players when they make mistakes, and quick to praise a job well done.
For all the respect he demands from the team, Williamson respects his players even more.
"He's the classiest coach you'll ever meet," Augusta Prep's Bowen Dennis said.
Last week, Dennis learned first hand how classy his coach truly is.
Before the game against Alleluia, Dennis was told that his grandfather's health was failing and he had only days to live. With such a heavy load on his mind, Dennis showed up at the game without his soccer cleats.
Knerr said that normally a player forgetting his cleats would get him benched, with a possible tongue-lashing.
"Coach just went over and talked to him," Knerr said. "He just told him to go get them, hurry back, and drive safe. That's the kind of coach you want to have."
Photo by Jim Blaylock
Dennis made it back to the game in time to score a goal in the 4-0 win.
"I would take him over any coach, any day," he said.