McMartin prepares for season of firsts

By JEFF CASPERSEN, Jr./The Daily Journal

A boy and his mother approached new Mendocino College women’s soccer coach Duncan McMartin shortly after the conclusion of a week-long youth skills camp at the school Thursday.

The youngster had a question for McMartin, but it had nothing to do with soccer.

“We were wondering if we could get the number of another camper,” the boy’s mom asked.

McMartin, busy clearing the field of equipment, looked a little puzzled, but quickly absorbed the intent of the query. It turned out the boy had befriended a female camper and hoped to contact her. While he didn’t surrender the girl’s number, McMartin did take down the young suitor’s digits and promised to deliver them.

“That’s a first,” McMartin remarked as the two walked off the field.

And so begins a string of firsts for McMartin and the newly conceived Mendocino College women’s soccer program.

The first day of practice is set for Aug. 15. The team’s first game is slated for Sept. 5 at Contra Costa College. The first home game is Sept. 9 versus Diablo Valley College. And then, of course, there will be the first goal, the first win and so on. All will come under the direction of the program’s first coach — McMartin.

“To be able to start a program is a great challenge,” he said. “So far, the toughest thing was getting this camp together in just a couple weeks.”

Last week’s camp saw a strong turnout of young soccer players, some of whom McMartin hope to see playing for him some day. More than anything, though, the camp served as a bridge between the new coach and the community.

“It’s nice to connect with the community, to get involved a little bit, meet some of the young kids and parents. We’re trying to get the community on campus, so they know there’s a program here. It’s more about promoting the program than anything,” McMartin explained.

With the camp completed, McMartin must now shift his focus to assembling Mendocino College’s first-ever women’s soccer team.

“That’s the next challenge — recruiting,” he said, adding, “We start practicing in about five weeks. We’ve had a number of athletes from other sports on campus that are interested. We’ve also found a lot of students on campus that just want to play soccer. We’re also getting a lot of interest from the local high school senior class. We’re doing well so far.”

McMartin, who moved to the states from Scotland at age 17 and most recently served as the men’s head soccer coach at Austin College in Texas, has extensive coaching and playing experience. He played collegiate soccer at UC-Davis, from which he graduated in 1991, was an assistant coach at Humboldt State from 1996 to 2001 and served as Davis High School’s girls soccer coach in 1996.

Accepting the Mendocino College job last month gave McMartin the opportunity to return to a familiar area.

“Having coached at Humboldt all those years and playing at Davis, I know this area well. It’s nice to be able to get back here.”

McMartin hopes his strong ties with four-year programs throughout the country helps bolster the program’s recruiting endeavors.

“I’m pretty well connected to the four-year colleges,” he stressed. “I know a lot of coaches at four-year schools, which should help in getting them transferred. Even if players choose not to play here first, I’d like help, just to see athletes from this area playing soccer.”

Wins and losses will not serve as the chief gauge for measuring the first season’s success. First things first. Getting the program into smooth-running shape is the early priority.

“I’d certainly like to think we’d be capable of being competitive our first year,” McMartin said. “But more importantly, if we can get the program off to a good start in terms of numbers, then we’ll have something to build on. Hopefully that way we can spark interest in the community.”