The Andalusia Bulldog soccer team pushed their way through the 2017 season with a near-perfect record behind the tutelage of first year head coach Jarrett Williamson and assistant coach Ray Bozeman.

“At the beginning of the school year, Dr. Shakespeare asked me if I would take over as head soccer coach,” Williamson said. “I told him I would, but it wasn’t something that I had ever thought about doing.”

Williamson said that he couldn’t have done it without Bozeman’s help.

“Neither one of us had ever coached soccer before, but we knew we could handle the coaching side of it,” Williamson said. “Coach Bozeman and I just immersed ourselves in learning the game. My title might say head coach, but we made every decision together. We really helped each other out a lot.”

Before taking over in the offseason, Williamson and Bozeman had very limited soccer knowledge and no experience playing or coaching the sport.

“It was all new to us,” Williamson said. “That’s why it’s so important to put yourself around people that can help you out.”

The coaching duo took a similar approach to what has made the Bulldog football team successful over the past few seasons – taking it all one thing at a time.

“We just want to win every moment,” Williamson said. “That’s really been our main focus. If you win every moment, the rest of it is going to take care of itself.”

Williamson said that both coaches enjoyed their first year coaching soccer.

“It was a lot of fun,” Williamson said. “We learned a lot. We learned about more than just coaching soccer. We learned a lot about coaching in general. This has been one of the best years in my coaching career, and I’m sure Coach Bozeman would say the same.”

Now, Williamson said they are looking forward to the future.

“The great thing is this team is coming back is going to have experience,” Williamson said. “There are a few younger players that we will have to fill in some spots with, but they all have soccer experience. The junior high team had a great season this year and it’s going to be fun to watch how they grow.”