KCII News Director Sally Hart playing for the Burlington Area Soccer Club in 2006. Contributing Photo.

The newest head soccer coach of the Washington Demons boys’ soccer team is bringing a wealth of knowledge to the position.

Sally Hart, KCII’s News Director, served as the Demons’ assistant coach this past season under head coach Steven Caulk. Caulk, who completed his fourth season last month, has decided to move on from the program to spend more time with his family. Hart interviewed for the position with Washington Superintendent Mike Jorgensen in March, and school board accepted the hire last month.

Hart’s one year of coaching is just a small sample of the experience she has with the game, “I grew up playing soccer.” Hart said, “I am originally from Mount Pleasant and growing up in the middle school level, we didn’t have soccer so I played for the boys team. Played in high school and absolutely loved it and went on to play Division III soccer at Monmouth College. I primarily played defensive midfield.”

Hart played for the Fighting Scots from 2006 to 2007. She recorded one goal in her collegiate career, wrapping a corner kick into the near corner of the net against Illinois College. Along with playing, Hart also held her referee’s license and has officiated in varsity matches as well as traveling team tournaments across southeast Iowa.

Soccer isn’t the only sport Hart competed in at the college level. She was also a member of the Fighting Scots Water Polo squad, “In college I was good friends with several members of the men’s swim team and one day at lunch we discussed how difficult water polo was and how difficult soccer was.” Hart said, “I said soccer took much more finesse, its much more difficult than water polo. They said ‘well if you play soccer and you think water polo is easier you should be able to just jump in and play. ”

Hart agreed and fell in love with the sport, playing for the Monmouth College Men’s Water Polo team for three seasons.

Hart says she has two primary goals for the upcoming soccer season, “One thing I would love to see is to grow the program in numbers and to get our record to be more competitive in the conference.” Hart said, “I would really like to see more wins next year than I did this year.”

This year’s season saw the Demons finish with an overall record of 3-11, going winless in Southeast Conference play. Hear an interview with Hart on the PM Sports Page, tonight at 6 p.m. on AM and FM KCII and KCIIRadio.com.