Photos Courtesy of Crown College and Mount Mercy University
Two new coaches will patrol the sidelines of the pitch this spring for Mid-Prairie boys and girls soccer. The girls team will be under the direction of first-year head coach Truman Shetler. He takes over the reigns of the program from Justin Barthelman, who led the Hawks for just over four seasons, finishing with a 34-27 overall record, including a 9-6 mark last year. Shetler, a 2010 Hillcrest Academy alum, and graduate of Crown College in Minnesota, was a multi-sport standout in basketball, soccer, and baseball at both the high school and collegiate levels. He has worked as an assistant under Hillcrest head boys soccer coach Marcus Miller and with the Golden Hawk girls basketball program as an assistant to Danny Hershberger. He joined the KCII PM Sports Page last week to talk about his passion for coaching, why this position appealed to him, and what has him excited about the coming year. “I have always loved coaching, ever since I have been out of college I have been coaching. Something about it, I just like being able to help impact kids and guide them if they want to pursue an athletic career. I think that it has a lot of good lessons in life. I have wanted to get back into coaching soccer and I know that they had lost nine or ten seniors from last year’s team so it’s a lot of new girls coming in so it’s going to be a different look. That makes my job a little easier. It would have been easy to work with a bunch of seniors but with new players coming in you can coach them and get them going in the direction that you want to take the program. I’m really looking forward to getting to know the girls and see what we can do. I’m excited for the opportunity.”
The boys team has a new head coach in 2023, and he’s a familiar face. Wyatt Cady has been promoted to the head position for Golden Hawk boys soccer after serving as an assistant with the program since 2020. Cady, a 2014 Golden Hawk alum, was a standout in his own right in soccer, football, baseball, and basketball for the black and gold. He was a member of Mid-Prairie’s first ever state tournament soccer team in 2014 that finished as 1A runners-up, while earning All-State honors. After his time at Mid-Prairie he competed collegiately on the pitch at Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids. He takes over leadership of the program from his father, Pat Cady, who stepped down after 10 seasons. During his time, he scored 82 wins, most in program history, had Mid-Prairie ranked 30 times, coached 15 all-state players, led the Hawks to their only state tournament appearance, best overall finish, and was named Iowa Soccer Coach of the Year. This week, Wyatt Cady joined the KCII PM Sports page to talk about his interest in coaching, why the time was right for him take the head position, and what he’s looking forward to most. “Once I started helping out with the program I realized it’s fun. You’re still involved in the area and you get to play the game sometimes. I enjoy being able to explain the game in a different way and when you see it click with people, that’s pretty cool to see. I’ve got a few years of experience now, I have a better idea of what to expect. I’m pushing the kids to have a great time while also trying to be good players. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun. I think the core group of returners, with the last few years of playing together, have become really good teammates. Kids are really dedicated this year and they really fuel me to keep going.”
The Golden Hawk boys open the season Thursday at Williamsburg, the girls take on West Liberty April 3rd.