SPRINGDALE -- Springdale Har-Ber appears to be a popular destination for coaches in Oklahoma.
Cory Butler will take over for boys soccer coach Nelson Medina, who moved back to Las Vegas after two years with the Wildcats. Butler arrives from Tulsa Union, where he led teams to five conference championships and two state runnerup finishes in seven years. Butler, 39, played soccer for four years at Marquette after he graduated high school in Broken Arrow, Okla.
Butler's hiring came weeks after Ron Bradley left Rogers State College in Bartlesville, Okla., to become the baseball coach at Har-Ber. Bradley and Butler both cited the economic prosperity and beautiful scenery of Northwest Arkansas as primary reasons for making the move.
"The mountains, the lakes, the people, I've always liked Northwest Arkansas," said Butler, whose wife, Ashley, is from Green Forest. "My wife is very excited about the move. We're both teachers and we were married May 25th. She has three young kids and I have an older son. It's a great place to raise a family."
Butler will teach math at Har-Ber, which didn't have much of a soccer program until Medina took over as a voluntary coach. Medina led Har-Ber to a conference championship his first year and into the state championship game his second year, when the Wildcats lost 3-0 to Bentonville.
Medina resigned shortly after the season to take a job with the Las Vegas Sports Academy.
"I want to continue to build on what coach Medina started at Har-Ber," said Bulter, who was a four-year starter at Marquette. "My style is very similar to his. I've met a few of the players and I look forward to working with them. We want to be a top program every year."
Butler played in professional soccer leagues in Milwaukee, Wis., and Lafayette, La. He began his coaching career in Louisiana before returning home to Oklahoma, where he coached boys and girls teams at Chickasaw. He then coached for five years at Catoosa, Okla., before accepting the job at Tulsa Union.
The Redskins clinched the District 6A-4 championship this spring with a 2-0 victory over Jenks. Har-Ber finished 13-9-1 after beginning the state tournament as a No. 6 seed. The state final at Razorback Field was a rematch from the regular season when Bentonville won 1-0 at Har-Ber.
Sports on 07/23/2014