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Portrait: Matt Hicks is new head coach for Lady Crusaders soccer team
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By Tom Rackers
News Tribune
It's taking some getting used to for Matt Hicks.
“People call me ‘Coach' and I don't even look around,” Hicks said. “I wonder who they're talking to.”
They're talking to Hicks, who took over this spring as the head soccer coach of the Helias Lady Crusaders. And while he's confident he's up for the job, he's still working through some of the details.
“I don't know how to turn on the lights, I don't know how to stripe a field,” Hicks said with a laugh as volunteers worked on the field after a recent team scrimmage. “I don't know what (the volunteers) are doing right now.”
This is the first varsity head coach position for Hicks, who spent the last four years teaching and coaching soccer and basketball at Regis Jesuit High School, an all-boys school in Denver.
Hicks returned to Missouri to be closer to his fiancée, who is working on her doctorate in math education at the University of Missouri.
“I found (Helias), she set up the interview and I told them I'd love to do it,” he said. “I think I can succeed at this. I'm kind of Type ‘A' and I hate to fail; I'll do anything I can to make sure that doesn't happen.”
It was Helias' religious connection that drew him to the school.
“I'm excited to be at a Catholic school,” Hicks said. “That's a tremendously huge thing, it's great to be a coach at a Catholic school and be around Catholic kids.
“Was my goal to be a soccer coach in Jefferson City, Missouri? I don't know, this is where the Lord took me.”
Hicks grew up playing soccer in St. Louis. A 1999 graduate of St. Louis University High School, he went to Texas Christian University on an academic scholarship.
“I was too banged up from playing in high school to play anymore, so I turned into a fan and a student of the game,” Hicks said.
After two years, he transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he earned his degree in Literary and Critical Studies.
And while academics were his focus, he couldn't shake the allure of athletics.
“I just read and read and read and read,” Hicks said. “I was trying to convince myself that I didn't like sports and I wasn't going to be a coach and a teacher and I was going to work on Wall Street.
“But there was something inside me that loves to be around kids.”
Hicks teaches freshman and sophomore English at Helias.
“I analyze books all day, then when I'm done with that, I analyze basketball and soccer,” he said. “I find myself constantly analyzing why they did this, why did this player do this finicky move.”
Which is perfect for a coach, though not many compare sports with the book “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“You notice things like a player only goes to their left or to their right,” Hicks said. “It's like Atticus Finch. He can't see out of his left eye, but he still sees more of the good stuff, the motifs of light and dark.”
Hicks was an assistant coach for the Helias boys soccer team last fall. That helped acclimate him to the sport in the area.
“They know who the little guy is with the loud voice,” he said. “It helped to get the boys on the team on my side.”
While Hicks is serious about soccer, he knows it's a game.
“I think I have the ability to have fun with them, to make it fun for them,” Hicks said. “You learn some things about life, you learn some things about fun and you learn some things about teamwork.”
After two postponements due to weather last week, Hicks will make his debut as Helias' coach Monday against Fulton at the 179 Soccer Park.
“My name's on this thing and it's my job to make sure we don't fail,” Hicks said.
“People call me ‘Coach' and I don't even look around,” Hicks said. “I wonder who they're talking to.”
They're talking to Hicks, who took over this spring as the head soccer coach of the Helias Lady Crusaders. And while he's confident he's up for the job, he's still working through some of the details.
“I don't know how to turn on the lights, I don't know how to stripe a field,” Hicks said with a laugh as volunteers worked on the field after a recent team scrimmage. “I don't know what (the volunteers) are doing right now.”
This is the first varsity head coach position for Hicks, who spent the last four years teaching and coaching soccer and basketball at Regis Jesuit High School, an all-boys school in Denver.
Hicks returned to Missouri to be closer to his fiancée, who is working on her doctorate in math education at the University of Missouri.
“I found (Helias), she set up the interview and I told them I'd love to do it,” he said. “I think I can succeed at this. I'm kind of Type ‘A' and I hate to fail; I'll do anything I can to make sure that doesn't happen.”
It was Helias' religious connection that drew him to the school.
“I'm excited to be at a Catholic school,” Hicks said. “That's a tremendously huge thing, it's great to be a coach at a Catholic school and be around Catholic kids.
“Was my goal to be a soccer coach in Jefferson City, Missouri? I don't know, this is where the Lord took me.”
Hicks grew up playing soccer in St. Louis. A 1999 graduate of St. Louis University High School, he went to Texas Christian University on an academic scholarship.
“I was too banged up from playing in high school to play anymore, so I turned into a fan and a student of the game,” Hicks said.
After two years, he transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he earned his degree in Literary and Critical Studies.
And while academics were his focus, he couldn't shake the allure of athletics.
“I just read and read and read and read,” Hicks said. “I was trying to convince myself that I didn't like sports and I wasn't going to be a coach and a teacher and I was going to work on Wall Street.
“But there was something inside me that loves to be around kids.”
Hicks teaches freshman and sophomore English at Helias.
“I analyze books all day, then when I'm done with that, I analyze basketball and soccer,” he said. “I find myself constantly analyzing why they did this, why did this player do this finicky move.”
Which is perfect for a coach, though not many compare sports with the book “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“You notice things like a player only goes to their left or to their right,” Hicks said. “It's like Atticus Finch. He can't see out of his left eye, but he still sees more of the good stuff, the motifs of light and dark.”
Hicks was an assistant coach for the Helias boys soccer team last fall. That helped acclimate him to the sport in the area.
“They know who the little guy is with the loud voice,” he said. “It helped to get the boys on the team on my side.”
While Hicks is serious about soccer, he knows it's a game.
“I think I have the ability to have fun with them, to make it fun for them,” Hicks said. “You learn some things about life, you learn some things about fun and you learn some things about teamwork.”
After two postponements due to weather last week, Hicks will make his debut as Helias' coach Monday against Fulton at the 179 Soccer Park.
“My name's on this thing and it's my job to make sure we don't fail,” Hicks said.
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