Thompson’s Brilliant Move

ATHLETIC DIRECTOR PUT THE RIGHT MAN IN PLACE

FARMINGTON — Josh Fonville’s selection as interim head coach by Farmington athletic director Beau Thompson marks the latest in a series of mid school-year personnel changes affecting Cardinal athletics. Thompson was thrown into the fire almost from the start when he had to find a girls track and field coach with barely over a month on the job. Criminal charges surfaced against Si Hornbeck, who resigned abruptly in August just before the start of football season in 2020.

Thompson scrambled, asking newly-hired Austin Lewis to do double duty serving as both head junior high football coach, the position for which he was hired, and also head seventh grade football coach, one of the positions vacated by Hornbeck.

Thompson needed someone he could trust and successfully tabbed former assistant football coach, now head volleyball coach Greg Pair to fill the girls head track and field coach position. That spring Thompson also had to find a boys track and field coach with the sudden departure of Spencer Adams, who was hired as Barton’s head football coach in March 2021.

Thompson didn’t get to grow gracefully into the athletic director job, but all these forced personnel moves sharpened his people skills. The importance of knowing his staff and an innate capacity to look beyond their particular qualifications or apparent lack thereof benefited the boys soccer program immensely when former head coach, Tanner Feil, decided he didn’t want to continue with a program he pioneered during the Cardinals one-match season of 2020 when all spring sports got canceled due to Governor Asa Hutchinson closing of all public schools to in- class instruction over covid concerns.

Feil coached the Cardinals to a good 2021 season laying a solid foundation for the 2022 state championship run. Farmington finished 8-5-1 overall in 2021 with a 5-3 conference record in the 4A West. The team qualified for state, but exited in the firstround with a 5-2 loss to Joe T. Robinson.

Virtually every player from that team returned for the 2022 season bolstered by the additions of senior footballer Justin Logue and foreign exchange student, Ettore Boochi, from Italy.

Asked if the story seems miraculous noting the program at Farmington is two years old and only got one match in the 2020 season before winning the state finals in 2022 with a 4-3 victory over Clarksville on Saturday at Everett Field in the Benton Athletic Complex, Fonville’s not going to disagree.

“Someone said to me the other day, ‘ this is kind of what movies are made of’ because it’s really just two years in, I’m really the third coach in two years, and the fact that Coach Feil was here and they had hired someone when he decided not to do it any longer,” Fonville said.

Fonville maintains a healthy respect for each opponent the Cardinals played during their state tournament run. He said De Queen is just top of the line, and the match was played on Farmington’s defensive end 80 percent of the match. He estimated the state championship against Clarksville was played 70 percent on the Cardinals’ defensive side of the field.

“We were able to just hold our ground, survive as needed, and find a way to win. That’s all I’m asking our kids to do, just find a way,” Fonville said.

Fonville’s preached to the squad over the last two months, “Don’t be satisfied.” While acknowledging the Cardinals won a key matches including beating Harrison on the road and not losing at home he exhorted them not to waver.

“An athlete, a competitor, really can never reach the status of satisfaction, that’s kind of what I’m trying to get these kids to understand.

Now, that the team won the state title on Saturday, he’s working on fundraising to purchase championship rings. Once that project’s completed he take in a degree of satisfaction.

“When we get our rings in a few weeks, you can be satisfied for the time period until you move on to the next sport or the next season of soccer comes around,” Fonville said.

For now the Cardinals can bask in their hard-earned Class 4A State boys soccer championship.

MARK HUMPHREY ENTERPRISE-LEADER Farmington athletic director Beau Thompson (left) poses with interim head boys soccer coach Josh Fonville with the Class 4A State championship trophy in the aftermath of Farmington’s 4-3 victory over Clarksville in Saturday’s state finals played at Everett Field at the Benton Athletic Complex. Thompson persuaded Fonville to take over the program in December after an unexpected coaching vacancy occurred.