After 23 years of teaching and coaching girls’ soccer at Reagan, Coach Kathleen McCollum will walk off the soccer field for the last time at the end of this school year. She played a huge role in building the hugely successful Reagan girls’ soccer program from the ground up and leaves behind a legacy for future Reagan players and coaches.
Coach McCollum started at Reagan in 2000, teaching English and coaching girls’ soccer. From 2000 to 2018, she was the assistant coach under Coach Frankie Whitlock. During these 18 seasons, Coach McCollum led the JV squad to 18 consecutive district championships and a jaw-dropping cumulative record of 321 wins, 2 losses, and 4 ties! During those years, Reagan made six State Tournament appearances, 16 appearances at the Region IV Tournament, eight Region IV final games, and won numerous district championships. TASCO named Coach McCollum Region IV Assistant Coach of the Year four times.
In 2018, Coach McCollum took over as head coach of the Lady Rattlers and continued the Reagan Soccer legacy of success. As head coach, she led the Lady Rattlers to district championships in 2019 and 2021 and a deep run in the playoffs all the way to the Region IV Tournament final in 2022. During her five years as head coach, the team had an overall record of 92 wins, 20 losses, and 13 ties. In her inaugural season as head coach, the San Antonio Express News named her the 2019 Coach of the Year. In 2022, TASCO named her the Region IV Head Coach of the Year.
Coach McCollum has poured her heart and soul into this program and believes there is something special about Reagan Soccer – and not just because of wins and accolades. She explains how Reagan Soccer is special because the players bring to the program a culture of greatness “… to be the best daughter, sister, aunt, student, teammate, player … you can be.” She encourages players to be accountable for their actions because “when we all do our part, we are all better for it.” The most important lesson she learned during her time at Reagan is that when young people believe in their coach, most of the time they exceed expectations. Of course, the coach must earn that trust and belief.
Coach McCollum feels like she grew up at Reagan, and her experiences and relationships have helped shape the person she is today. Her daughter Sophie, a junior at Texas A&M, and son Jack, a senior at Smithson Valley and future Aggie, grew up with Reagan Soccer, too. The demands of her coaching career required sacrifices by her family. Her husband Rick joked that he felt like a widower every year from November to April. Coach McCollum is forever grateful for her family’s support and sacrifices, without which, she would not have been able to give all that she did to Reagan Soccer for more than two decades.
These past 23 years were filled with memories that Coach McCollum will cherish forever. Her favorites are the ones filled with laughter and joy – “bus rides after a good win, charter bus trips, team dinners, and competition days when the girls dress up!” In her words, “These girls have brought joy to my life!” She also laughs remembering how cattle on the ranch next to Reagan grazed on the soccer field before there was a fence. And there “may or may not be” a video of the Harlem Shuffle being performed on the soccer field, but she’s not giving that up!
Coach McCollum has strived to teach her players to be “humble and confident, be kind, work hard, have faith in others, be accountable, never settle, and always bring your ‘big girl purse.’” (an inside joke). She hopes she instilled in her athletes that they can be fierce competitors while still having class, maintaining a calm, assured demeanor, thinking before speaking, and putting others first. She also stresses that life is about relationships and feels blessed for the many relationships with players and parents her years at Reagan gave her.
After Reagan, Coach McCollum will be teaching at a private school. In her newfound free time, she plans to spend more time with her family, travel often to College Station to annoy her children, ride her horse, and take on decorating, gardening, and “silly” home projects. She also hopes to travel to Israel and is considering becoming a CASA volunteer.
Before she goes, Coach McCollum leaves us with these parting comments: “Thank you will never be enough. To all the athletes and parents; to all my administrators and mentors Coach McHugh, Coach Hamilton, Dr. R, and Ms. Shelton; to my husband, kids, brother, sister, and parents; to my soccer buds Frankie Whitlock, Claire Eiteljorge, Logan Snyder, Christina Nunez, and Gilbert Villareal; to the Reagan trainers Jamey Howard and Joe Martinez; to the team Honchos who made my job so easy (Gretchen, Kelli, Katie, Leslie, Lisa, Stacey, D’Aun, Suzie, Cookie, and Wanda); and to Kim Greenberg and Eric Tredemeyer for the beautiful photos, THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART! It has been an honor that the Reagan community has allowed me to be a part of something so great!”
And to Coach Nunez and the players, Coach McCollum offers this advice, “Keep it rolling … with humble confidence. Heads down, mouths shut, eyes on the prize! Strike ‘em!”
Coach McCollum may be gone from Reagan but never forgotten because the solid foundation she helped lay assures the Lady Rattlers Soccer program’s continued success on and off the field. So we send her off with the reminder, once a Rattler, always a Rattler!
Strike ‘em!!!
#WeReady #WeAreReagan #StrikeEm #RattlerNation @ReaganGirlsSoccer @RattlerGirlsSoccer @RattlerGirlsSA @NEISDAthletics
Photo courtesy of Eric Tredemeyer. Thank you, Eric!