Dalton girls soccer club laying foundation for future varsity program

These girls want the opportunity to play for their school.

That is the common theme when you’re around the girls soccer club team that is playing for Dalton but is not affiliated with the Dalton School District.

There are 15 young girls, sweating under the sun, putting in time, working and honing their craft behind Living Water Church. The only caveat is the 14 varsity programs across the area do it representing their schools, and that’s a dream these girls would love to fulfill. But under the current parameters outlined, four of these girls will never get that opportunity, even though the team doesn’t have a senior.

“It's growing opportunities,” club coach Aaron Austin said. “We aren’t asking people to like soccer. These girls are just wanting the opportunity to play it and play it for their school. Let them have the opportunity.”

For these girls, though, it’s a two-year window, which means the four current juniors will never get to touch a pitch as part of a varsity team for Dalton.

“They wanted to see us form a club, have us go through a full season and see if it’s sustainable,” Austin said about their meetings with Dalton High School Athletic Director Ethan Kagy and Dalton High Principal Zach McFarren. “It really gave us an idea of how much work we need to do.”

So a dream that started in spring 2023 with a presentation by two eighth-graders, Hannah Austin and Brooklyn Fink, finally had a potential finish line. It started that night with a presentation to the athletic council of Dalton, which consisted of a lot of the current varsity coaches and administration.

“It wasn’t all bad. It wasn’t all negative. But it was hard to read the emotions in the room,” Hannah Austin said. “They wanted to know how it would benefit Dalton, how it was good for the school, the current numbers and how those numbers impacted other programs already in the school.”

Hannah Austin credits Steve Watkins, current superintendent and then middle school principal, for helping her assemble their presentation. Her father and club coach Aaron Austin credits the support of Kagy and McFarren throughout the season and for checking in throughout the process.

As for what made her hatch the idea.

“I love the sport so much. It’s so much fun. Everyone loves it, and it’s such a great sport,” Hannah Austin said. “I honestly didn’t know if we had the numbers. I just knew that soccer is so much fun that it would be pretty easy to get the numbers.”

Hannah Austin was first introduced to the sport by her father, who played it in high school and in college. She picked up the game with her friend Fink around second grade and third grade, and every chance she got, she has consistently worked at her game.

“I practice in the yard, by myself, with my sister, my brother and whoever I could get to practice with me,” Hannah Austin said. “I just love the sport.”

Two summers ago they formed their first team and played in the summer league against other area varsity programs. It proved to be a grinder as they were low on substitutes, but then this past summer, with an increase in the numbers, it went a lot better.

They opened their club season by playing at Rittman, and what a history-making afternoon that proved to be. Nailing up a 3-2 win over the Indians, they tallied the first-ever victory, goal scored and the first time hitting a pitch as a Dalton club team.

“I was crying after our first game,” Hannah Austin said. “I was like, 'We just had our first-ever Dalton game, and we just won.' I was so excited.”

It made the weeks, months and years of waiting worth it.

“After my presentation, I was like, 'What if they say yes?'” she said. “I am going to be crying. I am so happy. But if they say no, I am going to be upset.”

When they did say yes to a club team: “I was like, ‘Did they really just say yes? Is this really what’s going on?’” Hannah Austin said. “I was super-excited.”

Since then the club team has beat Wooster junior varsity and Rittman.

That win over the Lady Generals left a huge boost of excitement for the program.

“We were jumping up and down; we were so excited,” Hannah Austin said. “Rayna (Boyer) scored her first goal for Dalton in that game, and she was so excited afterwards. She was pretty much in tears crying. It was so exciting. We were shouting. We were going crazy, and it was so much fun.”

It’s a group of young girls from different levels of the game and social backgrounds that continues to come together each day. Through the rigors of a season, being a team and navigating a tough road, they have built bonds that will bind them together for years beyond high school.

“The dream of getting soccer at Dalton, that goal has inspired them to be able to have the chance to play for their school and their community,” Aaron Austin said. “That has brought them together.”

For the four juniors, it’s a sacrifice they are willing to make for tomorrow.

“Bittersweet,” Aaron Austin said. “Hannah had meetings upon meetings, then to be told no and then told two years of club, that was hard, and there were some tears. She never quit, though. She was disappointed, but she continued forward.

“It’s a whole other thing to put in all this work and effort, knowing you will not benefit from it in terms of it being a varsity sport. For (Hannah), that was a big dream for this to be varsity.”

Laying the foundation, it’s all worth it. Just ask the juniors.

“Though I will never be able to play this sport as a varsity sport,” Hannah Austin said, “all these other girls are going to get to hopefully, and that’s super-exciting to be able to help do that for them.”