Editor’s Note: This is the first of a five-part series on coaches taking over major programs in the area. Future pieces will run throughout July.

WARSAW – He’s dealt with the best, and now, he’s going to attempt to show that knowledge to the next wave.

Jon Hoover has seen the best Warsaw girls soccer has had to offer. As an assistant coach for the women’s soccer program at Grace College, Hoover coached three of the greatest players to ever wear a Warsaw uniform. Dealing with Abby Schue directly as a goalkeeping coach, Hoover also watched midfielder Liz Van Wormer and forward Meredith Hollar come into the Grace program and help impact the Lady Lancers after they graduated as the top two leading scorers in Warsaw history. Schue holds many of the programs all-time goalkeeping stats and has become one of the finest keepers in the country.

With the move from Grace assistant to Warsaw head coach, Hoover will be faced with a new level of challenges. The speed of the game slows, the level of individual knowledge lessens, and even a little of his own need to study the area programs all are on the short checklist of things Hoover is working on as Warsaw prepares for the 2017 season. But having scouted for Grace and getting several area players – not just from Warsaw – into the program in recent years, Hoover feels the adjustment won’t take very long.

“Warsaw has always had a solid history and it’s something that when I took the job I was immediately excited to see the roster,” Hoover said while monitoring workouts. “There are a lot of personalities and so much talent already here to work with. Just being with them for about a month, practices have been awesome and they are a lot of fun to work with.”

Hoover coached at Grace for nine seasons under head coach Michael Voss, as well as a stint as the men’s soccer assistant and a couple seasons with Lakeland Christian Academy. The feed into Warsaw isn’t foreign to Hoover, either, being a teacher at Edgewood Middle School in Warsaw. The familiarity with the kids coming through the system is a big help, as is having been at the field watching games as Hollar, Van Wormer, Schue and current Grace junior Clair Snodgrass all made their impacts.

“This program consistently produces top-level players,” Hoover said of Warsaw. “Those we had recently are incredible. Abby Schue is an incredible goalkeeper, a once-in-a-lifetime keeper that stayed close to home. There are players here right now that can compete at that level. There is a lot of experience here. Brenna Buhrt has three more years here and already has a ton of experience and is so smart. Delaney Taylor, same exact thing. Wisdom way beyond her years. That’s just two players among so many.”

Hoover takes over for Peter Lucht, who in just four years on the sideline led Warsaw to sectional titles in 2013, 2014 and 2016 as well as a Northern Lakes Conference title in 2015, its first NLC title in 12 years.

Warsaw, which moves up to Class 3-A in the IHSAA’s new alignment structure after playing in the ‘big class’ 2-A grouping, will have some new faces to fend in the state tournament. Moving away from a centralized field that included conference pals Plymouth, Wawasee and NorthWood as well as rival Culver Academy, now Warsaw goes east to Fort Wayne to deal with Homestead, South Side, Wayne and Huntington North. The regional would eliminate old nemesis names like Penn and South Bend St. Joe, as well as a usual appearance from NLC powers Northridge or Goshen, and will now include the likes of Fort Wayne Carroll and Hamilton Southeastern. Warsaw will face Penn and Hamilton Southeastern at the St. Joe Tourney in August.

“A lot of the smaller schools may not have the talent, but they have the heart,” Hoover said of differences between the mega schools and the smaller community schools. “Teams that fight are very difficult to deal with, regardless of how many kids walk in their halls. Some of the bigger schools are more comfortable, been there, done that feel. For us, we need to work on knowledge of the game when you attack a team like Penn or a Hamilton Southeastern. Those teams generally are deeper than us, but you have to be as smart as they are.

“Typically you will get three or four good looks against teams like (Penn), and sometimes it only takes one if you match them defensively. I have no doubt this group can compete at the highest level, and our tough schedule is only going to help us.”

Hoover anticipates former Grace and Warsaw star Emily Hickerson to join his coaching staff for the fall.