By Hannah Armstrong
Women’s soccer coach Conor Prachar has resigned after nearly five seasons of coaching the women’s soccer team and 12 years at Hood overall.
Prachar started his journey at Hood as an undergraduate student in 2008. He played on the men’s soccer team for all four years that he attended Hood as a student.
After graduation, Prachar returned and joined the men’s soccer coaching staff. He spent about four and a half years with the team, serving as an assistant coach.
In January 2016, Prachar was named head coach of the women’s soccer program at Hood. Although he initially accepted on a part-time basis, last year he was given a full-time position.
In his time with the women’s program, Prachar was able to take to the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) playoffs for the first time in Hood history.
In 2019, the team also tied Hood’s preexisting record for most wins in a season.
Prachar also coached a handful of players who received all-conference honors, including Rachel Nobel (2017), Elisa Botten (2018), Erin Scarborough (2019), Lydia Erickson (2019), Courtney Ellis (2019), and Ashley Wiedmann (2019).
Prachar said his favorite in-game moment with the team came last season in a home game against Stevenson when the team won 4-2 under the lights.
“My best memories are less to do with the games and the matches and more to do with the positive experiences with the team and the program outside the game,” Prachar said. “The best memories are from the training sessions and the positive impact they had on my life, just as I hope I had on theirs. The time spent here was enjoyable, I am glad I had the opportunity to work and coach at my alma mater.”
Prachar helped the team grow and improve. His and his athletes’ hard work have started to change the program entirely.
“I can 100% say I left the program in a better state then when I started,” Prachar said. “We’ve been able to recruit a lot of good people for the team. That’s something I’ll miss the most—the people.”
Pracher did not say what he’ll be doing next.
“The next page of my journey is still to be finalized,” he said. “I’ve spent the last 13 years at Hood, and I am moving on to the next thing in my life.”
Prachar emphasized his love for his players and the reactions the team showed to his exit as head coach shows that they all love him as well.
“I don’t know anyone who enjoys coaching as much as he does, and it is really unfortunate he has to go,” junior captain Colby Painter said. “He is a great coach that is respected by everyone, and I am fortunate enough to have played under him for three years. I speak for everyone when I say that we are all excited for his future and are happy that he is doing what is best for him.”
Senior captain Melissa Merritt said players were surprised at the announcement. “Honestly, Coach Prachar leaving was probably the last thing any of us expected,” she said. “I think we all saw him being here at Hood forever, but we all know he has to do what is best for him…He was the positive, committed, informative coach that I myself needed to have in my final years of playing soccer.”
Merritt said the team loved playing under Pracher. “He made it much more enjoyable than I could have ever imagined, and I know he will be truly missed here at Hood,” she said. “I know I can speak for the team when I say we wish him the absolute best and are excited to see what he does in the next chapter of his life.”
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