MANSFIELD — Superintendent Teresa Murphy is pleased to announce that longtime Mansfield Public School soccer coach and math teacher Kevin Smith was recently honored as Sectional Coach of the Year for Soccer by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Coaches Association.
The award, given for the 2022 through 2023 school year, was presented to Coach Smith by representatives of the NFHS during a banquet held on Dec. 11 by the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). Smith is Coach of the Year for Section 1, which includes girls high school soccer played throughout all of the Northeast, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
The NFHS, which has been recognizing coaching achievements since 1982, issues state, sectional and national Coach of the Year awards, using nominations submitted by member state associations like the MIAA. Nominees are evaluated based on results as a coach, coaching philosophy, involvement in other community or school activities, and affiliation with coaching organizations.
Coach Smith said it was an honor to be recognized by the MIAA and the NFHS, while thanking the Mansfield Public Schools, Superintendent Murphy, Athletic Director Tim Selmon and Principal Russ Booth for supporting his vision of developing student-athletes into leaders on and off the field. He also credits his players and his staff as they are truly the stars behind this award for all the hard work, dedication and commitment that they put in every year.
“We teach the core values of integrity, passion, sacrifice and excellence in everything we do,” Coach Smith said. “These four values provide us a foundation for the program's purpose, to develop each player as a leader through the competitive cauldron of athletics, ready to positively impact their world.”
Coach Smith and the Hornets finished the 2022 season with a record of 13 wins, 4 losses and 4 draws, before improving upon that in the next two seasons since, going 17-4-1 in 2023 and 15-3-3 this year, making it to the semifinals of the MIAA Div. 2 playoffs.
Coach Smith, a soccer coach for 30 years and a math teacher for 24 years, has notched more than 200 wins, while making the MIAA state playoff tournament in 17 of the 21 years at the helm of the Mansfield High School Girls Soccer team and winning the Hockomock League title in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2024. His teams have advanced to 3 straight MIAA state sectional title games (2022 through 2024), 2 straight MIAA Final Fours (2023 through 2024) and a state title game appearance in 2023. Coach Smith's teams have earned 19 straight National Team Academic Awards and in 2023 earned the United Soccer Coaches Team Pinnacle Award which recognizes teams who have earned the National Team Academic Award, the National Team Sportsmanship Award and have at least a 75% winning record for that season. Only 35 teams nationally earned this award in 2023.
In addition to their achievements on the field, Coach Smith and the Mansfield High Girls Soccer players contribute to the community through volunteerism, assisting each year at the Mansfield Youth Soccer Columbus Day Tournament and through a Council of Aging leaf raking outreach effort aimed at helping senior citizens.
In addition to this recent award from the NFHS Coaches Association through the MIAA, Coach Smith was previously recognized as the 2015 Eastern Massachusetts Girls Soccer Association Coach of the Year, the 2018 US Youth Soccer East Region Competitive Coach of the Year, and 2018 Massachusetts Youth Soccer Competitive Coach of the Year, Boston Globe Coach of the Year 2023, Hockomocksports.com Coach of the Year 2016 and 2023.
Superintendent Murphy congratulated Coach Smith for becoming Coach of the Year for the Northeast, while instilling values of community service and leadership among Mansfield High School soccer players. Superintendent Murphy also highlighted Coach Smith’s contributions as a teaching colleague, becoming a districtwide instructional technology coach in 2019, in this role helping coworkers to integrate technology into their teaching practices to enhance student learning.
“I’d like to thank and recognize Coach Smith for his outstanding work providing leadership to our Mansfield High School Girls Soccer team,” said Superintendent Murphy. “We are extremely appreciative of all that Coach Smith does to inspire our student-athletes. And we are grateful for his work to assist fellow teachers with implementing technology into the classroom. Congratulations to Coach Smith for becoming Coach of the Year.”