HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER: Freedom’s Fletcher retiring after 53 years as a coach

HobbsDailyReport.com

FLETCHER

MORGANTON – After more than five decades in the sport of soccer – 47 of them as a head coach – David Fletcher of Freedom High is retiring.

Fletcher has spent 53 years coaching soccer and also was Freedom’s assistant athletic director for five years.

Announcing his retirement in an email on Tuesday he said “I have given all I had, as hard as I could, for as long as I could, and I have nothing left to give.”

Fletcher thanked his family – especially his wife Jill – for support throughout his career.

“Now it is time for me to take more time to be supportive of them,” Fletcher said in the email. “I also need to take some time to focus on improving my own health.”

Fletcher also thanked students and players and their families and fellow faculty at Freedom (where he taught English).

“They have been family to me and my family, and we love them all,” Fletcher wrote. “They have also been tremendous teachers and coaches to me and have made me a better person by having known and worked with them.”

Fletcher listed a career highlight being that he taught and coached with his daughter Katherine, who he said was a much better teacher and coach “than I could ever be!”

A 1982 East Burke graduate and 1986 North Carolina graduate, Fletcher was an assistant in boys’ soccer at Freedom before taking over as head coach, and he launched the girls’ soccer program at the school.

He coached both Patriots teams for 47 seasons, winning conference coach of the year awards 13 times and was a regional coach of the year in a dozen seasons. He was named the state coach of the year in 2011.

Fletcher closes his career with an overall record of 521-381-106 (1,008 matches), and his teams posted 29 winning seasons, made 34 state playoff appearances and grabbed eight conference titles.

Last season, Freedom’s boys went 7-14 overall and 4-10 in the Northwestern 3A-4A, finishing sixth, and the girls were 5-14-1 and finished sixth in the league at 1-12-1.

In late January of this year, Fletcher was honored by being named to the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association (NCSCA) Field of Honor.

“I want to say thank you to Coach Fletcher for all his years of service to Freedom and Burke County Public Schools,” Freedom athletic director Casey Rogers said Tuesday, also via email. “He has been a great friend and mentor to me personally and I will forever be thankful to him and his family.

“Both Freedom soccer programs have been left in great positions due to Coach Fletcher’s commitment to our student-athletes.

“I wish nothing but the best for Coach and his family in retirement as he deserves nothing but the best in the next chapter of his life.”

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