North Oldham High School announced in a press release on Tuesday afternoon that they’ve hired a new boys soccer coach.

This fall, the Mustangs will be led by Joshua Poole, a former four-year player with Male High School who went on to play at Spalding University. Since graduating from college in 2010, Poole has coached multiple teams, including the last three years coaching at Oldham Soccer Club.

“He had a very good plan he put together when he was interviewed,” North Oldham Athletic Director Alan Yanke said in a phone interview. “It was very student-athlete based. We also had some great community recommendations and some of the kids that he will be coaching have also been coached by him on their club teams. He gained a lot of positive feedback for what he has done with them in the club programs.”

Poole takes over for former boys soccer head coach Andrew Terry, who is leaving North Oldham this summer after accepting a job offer to be principal of Anchorage Elementary School. Terry served as assistant principal at North Oldham and coached the Mustangs boys soccer team for two seasons.

After Terry made it known that he would be departing this summer, the school began to search for a new head coach. Quickly, according to both Yanke and Poole, Poole’s name came up in talks with some of the player’s parents.

“I heard from a lot of the families around the OSC program and it was something they encouraged me to do,” Poole said in a phone interview. “They knew they were looking for a new coach. As soon as the e-mail went out about the previous coach leaving, a lot of people started contacting me immediately.”

Parents and fans attending Mustang soccer games next season can expect to see plenty of attacking soccer on display, according to Poole.

“I was an attacker as a player so we’re gonna look to attack and get goals,” Poole said. “Maybe (there is) not as much flair as Brazil but we want it to look fun. I want the kids to be able to enjoy and express themselves, to go at it and not worry about making mistakes. We’ll work on things defensively but my teams are always going to attack.”

Poole met earlier this week with the returning players on the varsity squad, and he also had a meeting with some of the leaders on the squad to try and continue regular “captain’s practices” led by the team captains during the summer. Poole and his assistants have also begun to put together a summer conditioning program for student-athletes to stay in shape during the offseason heading into preseason in July.

One of Poole’s first goals will be to connect the middle school’s system to the kind of system he wants to run in the high school.

“One of the biggest things is I’ll have the opportunity to work with some of the middle school players and establish a system of play early on, so the kids hit the ground running when they get to high school,” Poole said. 

Coming into a new role, Poole is confident he has the backing of not only the parents and Yanke, but the rest of the school’s administration as well as he takes his first steps as a high school coach.

“One of the things that really drew me (to North Oldham) after talking with (Yanke) was just kind of the support I could tell from the administration and him as well,” Poole said. “Always having your back. It was a really good fit.”

After two seasons in charge, Terry is heading for different pastures, but he’s proud of what he accomplished as head coach.

“There is not one fond memory, rather every day I was able to be on the field with the boys and see them in school was a day that I was watching them transform into men,” Terry said in an e-mail. “The opportunity to engage with them and help them grow in character was why I coached.

“To share the love of the game but relate it to life is such a gift that they gave to me and I will miss that. I wish the new coach the best of luck and I hope that he enjoys every moment like I did as he is getting a great group of young men.”