Hillsdale boys soccer returns after 12 years
Hillsdale boys soccer team members Trent Haven, front left, Jacob Schwendimen, Dekota Morris, Cameron Brown, Trevon Butcher, Tanner Butcher, Dean Ledee, Tyler Coleman and Lance Kohler; back row, Channing Goodwin, Jackson Cox, Brandt Gleisinger, Aidan Justice, Cooper Baker, Juan Ramirez, Christian Fuller, Zac Chapman and Maddox Cox. Not pictured are Nathan Ries and Robert Brown.
Josh McWilliams
After more than a decade without a program, Hillsdale’s new boys soccer team is finding its footing and building excitement for the future.
It’s been 12 years since Hillsdale High School had a boys soccer program. That ended this fall. It started with an idea based on a little jealousy that got some parents talking and then became board-approved late last fall.
“I was jealous my sister had a high school team,” Treven Butcher said. “I just wanted to play in high school.”
Adding a little more was his brother Tanner.
“With our season ending with Ashland United, we really wanted to keep playing,” he said. “So we talked to our parents, they started talking about it, then they talked to the athletic director, and that’s how it all started.”
Once the board approved late in 2024, the position of head coach was posted. That drew the eye of former Central Christian boys soccer standout and current Ashland University senior Armand Silva. It became a perfect marriage as he applied in February and then had his first team meeting at the end of March.
“I started playing late myself, but I knew I wanted to coach ever since I started playing,” Silva said. “I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the absolute best in the business in Graham Ford, J.P. Lytle, Alex Steiner and Dave Zimmerly. Steiner is a huge mentor, still is, and to be able to pay it forward to young men who are starting late, who dare to believe, there is nowhere that I’d rather be.
“This is everything. I am so grateful, and it’s an honor and privilege to coach this great group.”
To start the return campaign for the Falcons, it’s been a trial by fire as they were 0-5 entering September. Still, it hasn’t dampened the spirits or the magic that is happening in Jeromesville.
“The only time our heads are down is when we are eating or are praying,” Silva said.
In fact, he has the Falcons focused on joy, not to be mixed with happiness.
“Joy, not necessarily happiness, which just happens for a moment, but the deep joy that you get from doing something special,” he said. “It’s from working hard — that special, earned and pure pride that no one can take from you.”
He didn’t hold back as he talked about his team.
“They are all bought in, having fun, loving it, growing, learning, and we are on the right track," Silva said. "There is obviously a long road ahead of us, but this group is particularly connected.”
That’s a little of how Treven and Tanner Butcher and Brandt Gleisinger have to feel this fall as the freshmen, who hatched this idea as eighth-graders, get to play soccer.
“It is really exciting to me,” Treven Butcher said. “I am beyond happy that I can play in high school.”
“I just love doing anything that involves soccer,” Gleisinger said. “I was really excited when we got a high school team.”
As for that thrill of getting to play in the first game back as a Hillsdale Falcon, the first since 2012, Cooper Baker scored the program’s first goal. Someone may one day join Steven Kane (2006), the program’s only All-Ohioan.
“I was nervous with it being the first game for our program coming back,” Tanner Butcher said. “But it was really exciting.”
Now the trio is at the heart of what Silva believes could be a good future for the program. Treven and Tanner Butcher form a nice attacking duo, and Gleisinger is a solid center mid.
“Despite being freshmen, ironically, they are some of the most experienced players we have on the team,” Silva said. “Their passion for the game is evident in everything they do, and they have adjusted nicely to the physicality of high school soccer.”
With an eye on the future, this team continues to progress, improve and, more importantly, build bonds that will last a lifetime.
“We have made a ton of progress since the summer," Tanner Butcher said. "We knew that we weren’t going to be super-great, but we just have to keep trying. I’ve really enjoyed the summer where we worked with Northwestern. That was really fun meeting all the new boys over the summer and bonding.”
“It’s been great getting to know new people and playing with them,” Gleisinger said. “I enjoy being part of the team, meeting all the new people. It's exciting, and I am just enjoying it all.”
As for the improvement, ask the players, who see it each day.
“It’s great,” Treven Butcher said. “We’ve got to know each other and just have fun as a group. It’s electrifying how good we’ve gotten over the short span of time. Honestly, it’s just insane.”
