Napoleon High School Begins Girls Soccer This Spring

Players from Columbia Central and Napoleon high schools battle for the soccer ball during an exhibition match Monday at CCHS. 

By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports

(April 3, 2023 8:41 PM ET) A little bit of persistence paid off for more than a dozen Napoleon High School athletes. 

A couple of NHS athletes petitioned the school’s administration and school board to start a girls’ soccer team.

When nearly 20 girls signed up for the sport, a new girls’ soccer club was started this season.

The Pirates have played three exhibition matches so far this season according to Coach Amanda Keinath-Dean. 

“We started with three of the toughest teams in the area (Lenawee Christian, Manchester, and Columbia Central),” Keinath-Dean said. “Hopefully this will build us up and give us experience.

“We have improved tremendously in three games.”

The Pirates have five more matches this season – playing exhibitions or scrimmages. Napoleon faced Columbia Central on Monday playing three, 30-minute periods.

The Pirates did not score but had two shots on goal against the Golden Eagles – a team with nearly 25 seasons of experience in girls’ soccer.

Keinath-Dean said there is interest in the lower grades as 80 students participated in a youth clinic prior to Spring break. 

“Our goals are to have fun and build a program,” she said.