By DAVID MILLER
Special to The Dispatch
CALEDONIA – Louis Alexander is coming home.
The Caledonia High School graduate has been named the boys soccer coach at his alma mater, where he starred as a forward in 2005 before playing collegiately at East Mississippi Community College. Alexander will officially begin his first head coaching appointment on July 1. The Lowndes County School District approved the hire during a special-called board meeting Tuesday.
“It hasn’t sunk in yet,” Alexander said. “I don’t think it will sink in until the whistle blows for our first match. I’ll be over the moon. Getting the opportunity to come back and coach on the field I played on … it’s a dream come true.”
Alexander brings a vast amount of playing and coaching experience to the Confederates program. A native of Kentish Town in Northwest London, England, Alexander grew up playing in the soccer-rich country before moving to the United States, where he attended school in Arkansas before moving to Columbus. He later starred as both an attacking midfielder and holding midfielder at EMCC and registered nine goals in two seasons for the Lions.
Alexander spent a season as an assistant to Morgan Mansfield at Caledonia in 2009-10, when he helped lead the Feds to an 11-5 record and a berth in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A playoffs. He then joined Robert Gardner’s staff at Starkville Academy, where he was an assistant for both the boys and girls teams. The Vols went 17-14-2 in Alexander’s two seasons, and the Lady Vols went 7-10 in one season. Alexander left coaching shortly after completing his degree at Mississippi State.
Gardner praised Alexander’s tactics in training and his knowledge of the game.
“He was also a big part of the success of the last season at SA, when the boys went 15-4-2,” Gardner said. “Lou is a class-act both on and off the field. He prepares training and matches with great detail that other coaches don’t. Lou’s teams will always be the most prepared. He has an education in the game growing up in Swindon that he’ll impart on his players. I see no other result than Lou being a fantastic success for Caledonia.”
Alexander will replace Mark Box, who led the Feds to a 9-5-3 record and a berth in the Class 4A playoffs last season. Alexander will inherit six full-time starters, including junior forward Garrett Parish, who finished second on the team with nine goals and seven assists. Left back Daniel Longmire, who registered five goals and three assists last season, also returns. The Feds lost senior goalkeeper Eli Hemphill, who started 16 games and made 65 saves last season.
Alexander said he’s excited to have a good mixture of veteran players and young players. He hopes to implement toughness and work-rate, which he said should be a seamless transition due to the program’s recent success in district and against Golden Triangle opponents.
“By outworking people, it shows a lot about a team and an individual, what runs they’re making into space, angles of help giving teammates,” Alexander said. “Ninety percent of the time the ball isn’t at your feet. The main stamp you can have on the game is what you’re doing without the ball – drawing defenders off the ball, creating lanes … that’s just hard work.”
Part of Alexander’s pitch to Caledonia officials was creating a training period during the fourth block each day, similar to other sports. The program hasn’t had that extra training period up until this season, and Alexander said it will allow the team to not only lift weights and condition but also study film. While Alexander hopes to implement an aggressive, disciplined and attack-first mentality, he’s keen to instill the same passion for the game that he developed as a youngster and believes the fourth block will give players more exposure to his personality and love for the game.
“That fourth block is icing on the cake,” Alexander said. “That period will also help us bond. We’ll be together for a whole block, every day, for the entire school year. I can’t measure that benefit.”
In addition to his previous assistant coach positions, Alexander has been heavily involved in camps at Mississippi State University, Starkville High School, and private camps. He’s also coached summer league ball with Starkville Soccer Association. He said he’s been impressed by Columbus’ investment into its soccer park and believes a commitment to coach younger players will benefit Caledonia’s future teams.
“Working camps really helped me with time management,” Alexander said. “You have to get certain things in in a small amount of time, and you really learn how to budget time in that setting. I’m big on ‘you work and win your games in the offseason.’ The more time you can get with one of your players on the field, the better.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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