Steve Porter named Bentonville’s new girls soccer coach.

Steve Porter has coached high school soccer for 22 years in the central part of the state, and now he gets his chance to try it in Northwest Arkansas.

The 48-yearold Porter was chosen as the new Bentonville

High girls soccer coach during

Tuesday’s school board meeting.

Porter replaces

Kristina Henry, who recently announced her retirement.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity,” Porter said. “I’m looking forward to getting up to Northwest Arkansas and work with the players. My wife and son are on board with this move.

“I’ve known the soccer community in the area has been very strong for about 20 years, and it’s a great part of the state to live in. I’ve also seen the amount of success that Kristina Henry has built over the years.”

Porter comes to Bentonville from Cabot, where he served as the boys’ coach since 2011. He began coaching high school soccer in 1998, where he led North Little Rock’s boys to a state championship game that year and also led the Charging Wildcats to another state championship appearance and two semifinal appearances.

He coached both teams at North Little Rock until 2004, when he just coached the girls’ team until he moved to Cabot.

“In a soccer sense, they are the same,” Porter said on the transition from coaching boys to girls. “Whereas boys can be more individualistic, girls tend to be more group-oriented.

“The challenge sometimes is to encourage the girls to be more individualistic at times and take more individual risks rather than look to share the ball.”

— Henry Apple › 7EN8?\eip

Soccer coaches hired

There will be new girls’ soccer coaches on both sides of town in Rogers next season.

Rogers High assistant coach Oscar Cardona was confirmed as the Lady Mounties’ new head coach, while Meagan Johnson was hired as the Rogers Heritage coach by the Rogers School board on Tuesday night.

Cardona, 29, has spent the past five years as an assistant with the Lady Mounties. He also served as a volunteer assistant coach with the boys’ program for a year.

Cardona said he’s excited at being in charge of a program that won a state championship in 2018 and is still loaded with talent.

“It’s a whole new challenge for me and I’m looking forward to it,” Cardona said. “I just want to keep growing that team that’s done so well the past five years.”

The 2009 Rogers High graduate, who moved from Oregon to Arkansas at age 12, also credited former coach Aaron Crouch, who encouraged him to apply for the job.

“He was a mentor to me and without him I wouldn’t have been able to do this,” Cardona said. “Everything I’m doing now is thanks to him.”

Johnson, a 2013 Rogers High graduate, is excited about her first coaching job at the high school level.

The 25-year-old served as a head coach for a local club soccer team for the past two seasons and an assistant for one year.

Johnson said becoming a high school head coach was a goal, but she thought that might be a few years down the road.

“I’ve played soccer all my life,” Johnson said. “These coaching opportunities don’t come along very often. When opportunity knocks, you go for it. I said ‘This is the time. I can’t wait any longer.’

“I’m excited for the opportunity and ready to hit the ground running.”

Hart elevated at Paris

Donald Hart was recently promoted from assistant to head girls’ high school basketball coach at Paris.

Hart, 46, has served as the assistant coach for the last three seasons and also as head softball and cross country coach for the same period of time. He hopes to bring some stability to the program.

“These girls have had as many as three different coaches in the junior high and high school careers,” Hart said. “I feel like the kids know me and know my expectations. That piece of the transition will be smoother. I think we have the opportunity to be good. I also believe I’d be able to work well with the multi-sport athlete.”

Hart got into teaching and coaching through the nontraditional route, after spending 19 years in the manufacturing business. But he also spent several years coaching travel softball and played baseball in college at Arkansas Tech. He also has a personal interest with four daughters — a senior (Jadyn), a junior (Jacee), a freshman (Karsen) and an eighth-grader (Saylor).

The Lady Eagles graduated just one senior, a part-time starter, from a team that finished 13-14 and also adds a talented incoming sophomore class, Hart said. Paris finished 19-11 and lost in the first round of the regional tournament two years ago.

— Paul Boyd › 7EN8GXlc9

Keith to guide Lincoln baseball

Former Watson Chapel coach J Keith is the new baseball coach at Lincoln.

Keith takes over for Hunter Corbell, who coached baseball for one shortened season at Lincoln after Reed Mendoza left to become head football coach at Dover.

Mendoza returned to Lincoln this spring as head football coach.

“We are excited to have coach Keith and his knowledge of baseball and culture of positivity, where we can all learn together from our mistakes,” Lincoln Athletic Director Deon Birkes said. “He’s a good, young coach that will get better and correct any mistakes that need corrected and build on things that our kids excel at.”

Keith was the baseball coach at Little Rock Parkview for three years before accepting a position at Watson Chapel, where he coached for one year.

“I’m all about building culture and developing great young men,” said Keith, who is originally from Glen Rose in southwest Arkansas. “That includes the classroom in addition to athletics.”

— Rick Fires › 7EN8I`Zb

Porter