By Joseph M. Morgan

joseph@southerntorch.com

COLLINSVILLE, Ala.—Collinsville High School will soon have a new girls soccer team to complement what is already a very strong boys program. They received clearance last week from the DeKalb County Board of Education to proceed with putting a team together. Collinsville has expressed interest in starting a girls team for some time, but that interest grew significantly following the Collinsville boys victory in the 2013 Class 1A-4A state championship.

DeKalb County Schools Superintendent Hugh Taylor said that he tries to be as supportive as possible when a school or kids from a school in the DeKalb system express genuine interest in starting a new sport or adding a girls program where one has not traditionally existed at that school in the past.

“It was clear that Collinsville was serious about starting a girls soccer program,” Taylor said. “They had a coach lined up and had more than enough girls in terms of commitments to join the team and they got out in the community and worked together to raise the money they needed to cover the cost of uniforms, travel, referees, new equipment and other required expenses.”

Amy Robertson, an elementary teacher at Collinsville, will be the team’s first head coach. Robertson said the girls themselves deserve the credit for making the team a reality.

Collinsville will hold tryouts for girls soccer on Nov. 12-13 and will also be able to begin fall conditioning to prepare for the start of the 2016 season in February.

The team is still working to raise money and anyone interested in supporting girls soccer at Collinsville can send funds to Collinsville High School or visit the team’s gofundme page at https://www.gofundme.com/mq73fp8v.