Back home again
JEFFERSON TWP — Kevin Wood is back home again — and he plans to stick around for a while.
A 2010 Knoch graduate who was a place-kicker and All-WPIAL soccer player for the Knights, Wood, 24, was recently named head coach of the Knoch girls soccer team.
He succeeds Rich Kenzie, who was 39-31-1 in four years at the helm. The Lady Knights were 5-9 last year, ending a streak of five successive WPIAL playoff appearances.
“The immediate goal is to make the playoffs next year,” Wood said. “We’ve had solid boys and girls soccer teams at Knoch and we want to instill a tradition of being a playoff team every year.”
Wood was Knoch’s place-kicker in football for three years. He scored 14 goals and added 13 assists in soccer his senior year.
He went on to graduate from St. Francis University in three years, majoring in chemistry. He was place-kicker for the football team there and is employed as an analytical chemist in the Saxonburg area.
“Kevin’s work schedule is flexible enough that he’ll be able to come over here and coach our girls,” Knoch athletic director Mike King said. “Kevin will be a tremendous addition to our staff.
“This is where he calls home and he wants to invest time into Knoch kids. He wants to teach young athletes and he has a lot of integrity.”
Wood comes from a coaching family. His father, Doug, is a former Knoch boys soccer coach. His mother, Kathy, is an assistant basketball coach at Butler County Community College.
“I guess it’s in the genes,” Wood said. “There’s a deep history of coaching in my family and it is something I’ve always wanted to do. I just didn’t expect it to happen this soon. I’m very fortunate the way things worked out.
“My dad’s been a teacher in the district for a long time. He told me about the opening and encouraged me to go for it.”
Wood has been coaching soccer — boys and girls teams — for the Pa. Crew Soccer Academy in Butler since the fall of 2013.
“Knoch has had a solid program since the early 2000s and I’m grateful for the opportunity to expand on that success,” Wood said. “Some of the girls in our program I’m familiar with through youth soccer.
“The girls on this team have a very high athletic ceiling in soccer and other sports at the school. I’m excited about the opportunity to work with them.”
King coached Wood in football when the latter kicked for the team.
“He was a tremendous worker in both sports and I know he’ll be that way as a coach,” King said. “This is a young guy who’s already a success and is fully vested in the community.
“It’s important to have the continuity and support for the kids that he will provide. I’m very happy he’s joining us.”
