Columbus North found its new girls soccer coach and he is no stranger to the local soccer communities.
David Young will be at the helm for the upcoming season for the Bull Dogs. Young replaces Derek Stewart, who announced his resignation last month after seven seasons as head coach.
Young takes over for a program that has had only one losing season since 2002.
"As anyone knows in the past, it has been a very successful program," Young said. "One of the things I want to focus on is the involvement with Columbus Express and getting that feeder system in place. I really want to work with them and get that established, and that’s obviously a long-term thing.
"In the short-term, I want to create a culture and environment that the girls want to play, create one that’s a positive environment that the girls will want to grow not only within our system, but also moving forward in the classroom, and then hopefully have aspirations to play at the next level."
Young worked last year as the Columbus East junior varsity boys soccer coach. He also was the Franklin girls soccer coach in 2016 and 2017 and the boys assistant coach at Franklin from 2013-15 and coached the Franklin Middle School boys in 2011-12.
In addition, Young has coached the Columbus Express since 2012 and also coached the Express North Academy in Franklin from 2013-15.
"I liked the vision he expressed for the program and the time that he will be willing to invest," North athletics director Jeff Hester said. "In addition, he has quality experience in being a varsity head coach at Franklin Community, and everyone there spoke highly of him."
Young, a Franklin College graduate who has worked in Columbus for 20 years as an engineer for AT&T, becomes only the fourth coach to lead the North program since its inception in 1993.
The Bull Dogs finished 11-5 last season. They had one regional titles the previous two years, reaching the state’s final four in Class 3A in 2017.
"Whether that be sectional, regional, semistate or state or conference, the goal is to win, but more importantly, the goal is to grow every day we step foot on the field, whether that means growing as an individual, your personality or your soccer knowledge," Young said. "Obviously, every coach’s goal is to win state, but we have to win sectional first."
