Soccer obsession leads aspiring coach to take over a legend’s championship program
It’s been more than a decade since Ben Hall-Volpenhein trained under the tutelage of now-retired West Jessamine girls’ soccer coach Kevin Wright.
Just as he did for hundreds of other aspiring players, Wright served as a personal coach and mentor for a young Hall-Volpenhein when the youth was developing into one of the brightest young soccer players in the nation and Wright was building a career that would carry West Jessamine to back-to-back state championships.
Injuries derailed Hall-Volpenhein’s playing career, but not his passion for soccer.
“Soccer is all I do. I don’t have another job,” Hall-Volpenhein told West Jessamine girls’ players Tuesday afternoon in the school’s gymnasium as he was introduced as Wright’s successor among the banners and giant, championship team wall hangings, of which, girls’ soccer has its share. “I have that — soccer and coaching.”
Hall-Volpenhein also told the team he expected them to continue to compete for state titles.
“I’m full of excitement and have a very positive feeling about where we’re at and what’s in front of us for this program.”
One door closes
Hall-Volpenhein’s passion and determination can best be summed up in how he has persevered through personal disappointment, seized on opportunity and established himself as one of the most sought after personal soccer coaches in Central Kentucky.
“This is definitely a full circle moment,” Hall-Volpenhein said of his hire.
Hall-Volpenhein grew up in Jessamine County, went to middle school there and played with the West Jessamine junior varsity during the time when Wright led the boys’ program.
“I actually got to play with Rick Garr (a Wright assistant who is staying on with the program). … The whole thing from Kevin picking me up when I was younger and taking me to training and practices and whatnot, getting to work with him as a coach, playing for him. I mean, you name it.
“You look at the whole thing and now — he steps aside and I’m granted the opportunity, the gift, the challenge, whatever you want to call it — it’s just super exciting.”
Despite injuring the same knee twice during his freshman year in high school, Hall-Volpenhein went on to become an all-state player at Lexington Catholic and was considered one of the top 50 high school recruits in the nation at one time. But a broken collarbone his senior year and a longer-than-expected recovery from that surgery derailed his plans to play in college.
Still, walking on at Kentucky remained an option, even after the firing of the head coach who had been recruiting him. After a players meeting with the new coach, one of UK’s assistants approached Hall-Volpenhein with another idea.
“He said, ‘Do you have any desire to be a coach?’” Hall-Volpenhein recalled.
Playing career done, Hall-Volpenhein spent the next four seasons as a student member of the coaching staff for the Kentucky women’s team during the height of the Coach Jon Lipsitz era. It was during this time UK made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 led by the phenomenal talent of West Jessamine product Arin Gilliland.
Those years marked the last time Hall-Volpenhein was on a team staff of any kind, seven years ago.
But in the time since, he’s built a reputation as a personal soccer coach teaching technical skills and has become an owner of a franchised training center, Futbox - Lexington, a concept with plans for further expansion despite the pandemic.
Hall-Volpenhein also rose through the soccer referee ranks from high school and club to college to pro and could be seen on the sidelines of NCAA Division I and MLS games over the last few years. That’s a vocation Hall-Volpenhein said he’s giving up in order to focus on his business and West Jessamine.
“I am very obsessed about this. I am passionate about it. Soccer is all I do,” Hall-Volpenhein told the players, reiterating his commitment to the Colts. “I just retired from a job I’m not even old enough to retire from.”
Wright’s legacy
Hall-Volpenhein steps into a program that was led by one of the most successful high school girls’ coaches in the state’s history.
Since taking over the Colts in 2007 Wright led West Jessamine to two state titles (2016, 2017), 11 of its 15 region titles, 11 of its 15 district titles and a record of 240-62-40. When certified by the school and the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, that win total will put Wright firmly in the KHSAA’s top 15 among girls’ soccer coaches all-time.
Over that span, Wright coached 41 players who went on to play at the college level, including 17 in Division I, like Gilliland, Baylor’s Eva Mitchell and Xavier’s Mackenzie Tucker, who was just named Big East freshman of the week.
Wright had already retired from teaching last February, but stayed on for another season as head coach. Wright said there wasn’t really a plan about when to retire from coaching, but the moment felt right when he announced he was stepping down last month.
“I think I did as well as I could,” Wright told the Herald-Leader in a phone interview Tuesday while vacationing in Florida. “I love the kids. When you coach and teach, I mean, it’s 24/7. … If you’re going to compete with the private schools, you’ve got to be all year round.”
The pandemic and the restrictions it required took away from some of the culture-building Wright depended on and enjoyed being a part of. Scrimmages, tournament trips, community outreach at nursing homes and the Salvation Army, and bonding excursions like horseback riding adventures were all shelved by the pandemic.
Even without those things Wright considers crucial, the Colts managed another impressive postseason run despite a horrid start. West Jessamine entered the 2020 playoffs with a 3-6-1 record, but reeled off six straight wins for the district and region titles and a berth in the state tournament elite eight.
“I think I’m going to still do a little bit of club ball, and I’m going to do my camp at Waveland and stuff, but it was just time — 33 years. Wright said. “In all the things that we did in the community and all the memories with all the parents, assistant coaches and the school people — I couldn’t ask to be around and be a part of anything much more, really, especially at a public school. So, yeah, it was a good ride.”
Big shoes
Wright marveled at how far soccer coaching has come in the state from his days playing (when his coaches were learning the game by reading books) to the days where he and contemporaries like Tates Creek’s Bo Lankster and Sayre’s Todd Bretz all played in high school with and against each other and went on to coaching careers.
Now, Wright’s happy that one of his former charges is taking the baton.
“He’s made for that job,” Wright said. “He was a really good player and he’s going to do a great job with that program. They’re in good hands over there at West.”
West Jessamine Athletic Director Mark Miracle said Hall-Volpenhein impressed the hiring committee with his commitment to development despite his lack of head coaching experience.
“He was the best fit for where we want this program to go,” Miracle said. “His player development, his ability to focus on the talents and his overall personality and his demeanor — he’s just a great coach. He doesn’t have a lot of head coaching experience, I agree, but everybody’s got to start somewhere. ...
“His background, obviously, says when he goes into something, he puts 100% into it, and we believe that’s what he’s going to do here”
This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 11:36 AM.
