By SARA N. MILLER
smiller@soundpublishing.com

KINGSTON — When he was a senior in college, Craig Smith helped inaugurate North Kitsap High School’s soccer program.

One hundred wins later with the Kingston High School program, he is still doing what he loves — coaching the beautiful sport.

“That’s a story few know about,” Smith said. “Senior year I had to drop off the Evergreen team and implement the program at North Kitsap. The school board finally approved the sport after I had gone to them three times in three years to get one started.”

In his senior year, Smith wrote a contract with the athletic director of Evergreen State College. He took some sports administration classes including philosophy of sport and sociology of sport, got paid and got credit, and became a high school coach.

“I started the North Kitsap soccer program in 1981 with the girls, and became the boys coach three years later,” he said.

He coached there until 1999, then coached for five years at Chimacum High School and two years at Port Townsend. When Kingston  High School was going to open, the district asked if he would be interested in coaching again.

“I had experience building soccer programs, so I thought I’d do it for a few years and had so much fun,” Smith said. “I decided to stay until I can’t physically or the district decides I’m not capable anymore. I’m 60 years old. Still play too.”

Smith coaches the girls team in the fall as well as the boys in spring. He’s the only soccer coach Kingston has ever had and, at 60, isn’t slowing. His team is once again in the state playoffs.

“I have had my burnout phase and am way past it now,” Smith said. “Restarting at Kingston, my personal philosophy changed, as did how I relate to the student-athletes. High school has higher priorities than winning; it’s developing good citizens, good student athletes, making them into adults, or at least applying the opportunities provided in competitive sports to life lessons.”

Smith recognizes his coaching staff, as well as the other coaches of Kingston High School sports, as an integral reason for the program’s success.

“The coaches at Kingston have a good comradeship,” Smith said. “We have limited fields, one gym and need to get along and support each other and our players, who often play multiple sports. I really enjoy that. We’re a community.”

Along with time commitments and technique, Smith hopes he and other coaches are teaching other skills as well.

“Not only are they playing sports, but they also have to have good grades, go to school on time, etc.,” Smith said. “It must be infused into training, expectations with consequences when not adhered to, good habits. I’m what you may consider ‘old school’ that way, but it pays off for the rest of their lives.”

The Kingston boys soccer team has made it to the post-season every year since their first, eight years ago. They even made it to the state quarterfinals that first year, surprising everyone. The team made it that far again last year, and after that loss graduated nine seniors. Now, half the team is made up of underclassmen, but their coach describes those young guys as “overachievers.”

“The thing I do is bring a group together from four different ages and styles of play and, in a short period of time, evolve a team,” Smith said. “It’s intense in only 10 weeks, with hopefully a couple weeks added if you make post season.”

Along with coaching at Kingston, Smith owns and operates the Firehouse Theater in Kingston. It has two screens and is described as “the epitome of a small-town theater.”

“I enjoy film and in this economy, we have to live on that love and passion,” Smith said. “It seems to be well appreciated by the community and I certainly appreciate them.”

Combining the two passions of theater and coaching soccer is not an easy task. Smith, however, does it with his players and community in mind, which makes it easy to see why he wins games.

“It’s a privilege, really, to coach high school,” said Smith. “I’m a lucky guy as long as they let me do it”