HIBBING—Logan Harvey is getting his shot as a head coach.
The Hibbing/Chisholm junior varsity boys soccer coach will be taking over the Bluejackets’ program, beginning with the 2024 season.
For Harvey, the opportunity kind of came out of the blue.
“There was a rumor last year that Jen (Forer) might resign,” Harvey said. “Her son was graduating, and if he was able to get into college to play, she was going to be focused on following him.”
As it turned out, Drew Forer will join the Lake Superior College men’s soccer team, so the position came open.
“Assistant varsity coach (Toby Reckmeyer) and I had been talking about it as to what we’d do if Jen retired,” Harvey said. “He told me to go for it. He encouraged me to go for it.
“He had asked me if I had applied for it, so I applied right away, as soon as I saw it. We figured it would happen, but not until this spring.”
It was a big step up.
“Honestly, when we were talking about it, I had the mindset that if they needed me to do it, I’d do it,” Harvey said. “I had never coached at the varsity level before. I wanted to do what was best for the program.
“Last year, that changed my perspective of it. I was tentative at first, but once I made my decision, I was going for it.”
Harvey had coached Hibbing/Chisholm’s junior varsity team for two years. He has coached youth soccer for a few years, then this summer, he coached a traveling AYSA Hibbing traveling team in the Gitchi Gami League in Duluth.
That résumé gave Harvey the confidence to take over the program.
“I learned a ton coaching the JV team, and I learned a lot from coaching in Duluth, too,” Harvey said. “I coached in Duluth to get the experience for this possibility. I coached with a Duluth FC player from England, and the other coach was from Brazil. Getting that viewpoint from them, I learned so much.
“They take the sport more seriously in England and Brazil. With that opportunity, I saw how I wanted to run the team this year.”
What will Harvey take out of that experience?
“The main thing is working on possessing the ball more and better,” Harvey said. “We do a kick-and-go offense, but while I was coaching in Duluth, they taught the team to possess the ball and maintain possession with triangle passing.
“We will change our formation a little bit to focus on possession this year. When you play the good teams from Duluth and that area, their ability to possess the ball, we don’t touch it. If you can’t beat them, join them. We have to build off of that competition.”
In taking over the program, Harvey is finding out there’s a lot more to do than coaching.
“That’s the biggest struggle for me,” Harvey said. “I came into this with the confidence and ability to run a practice, but it’s also the behind-the-scenes work that Jen did. She was good at that. All I had to do was show up and get on the bus.
“I’m picking it up as we go. It’s going to be alright, but Jen is always a text message away. She’s been helpful.”
Harvey will hold his tryouts beginning next Monday, and he’s looking forward to getting into the season.
“I’m honored to be able to coach these guys,” Harvey said.
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