Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Farmington to debut varsity teams
FARMINGTON — Add Farmington to the growing list of high schools in Northwest Arkansas to add a soccer program.
Farmington will debut varsity boys and girls soccer teams after putting together a junior varsity schedule that barely got underway last spring before high school sports in Arkansas was stopped by covid-19 concerns. Farmington will make its soccer debut March 1 with a boys match against Prairie Grove at the Farmington Sports Complex.
The Farmington teams are coached by Tanner Feil, a University of Arkansas graduate who played club soccer while growing up at Edmond, Okla. Feil was doing his teaching internship before being hired full-time at Farmington when he approached then-Athletic Director Brad Blew about starting a soccer program for the Cardinals.
Administrators at Farmington agreed and 26 boys and 24 girls in grades 9-12 will take the field for the first time as Cardinals in soccer.
“I knew they were building this new brand facility, this stadium, and I said to Brad Blew ‘hey, let’s put some soccer lines on this field,’” Feil said. “I said ‘let’s get a soccer program going’ and here we are.”
Farmington will compete in a 4A-West Conference with soccer teams from Clarksville, Dardanelle, Berryville, Harrison, Gentry, Huntsville, Prairie Grove, and Subiaco Academy. Farmington will not play a full junior varsity schedule, although a few JV games may be arranged.
Feil has established some lofty goals for Farmington despite the other teams having a
jump-start on the Cardinals as a sanctioned sport.
“We want to come out, make a statement, and show what we have here,” Feil said.
“So, our goal is to win the regular-season, win the conference tournament, and make a run at a state title.”
After Farmington plays its
first match Monday, then the Cardinals and Lady Cardinals will make the trip to Lincoln for a boys and girls match on March 2.
“Our boys team will be more of a possession and attacking team,” Feil said. “With our girls, we’re going to rely more on strong defending and making counter-attacks. But we could have a different tactic with both teams, game-by-game.”
Three seniors — forward Toni Cervantes and midfielders Omar Qudan and Trey Molnar — will lead the Farmington boys, and junior forward Lynley Bowen is the top prospect for the Farmington girls.
“The thing about these kids is they have a passion for the game,” Feil said. “They’ve spent half of their high school career without a team. So, it’s extra special for them to be part of the inaugural season here at Farmington.”