RIDGELAND – When Todd Siders accepted the task of starting a soccer program at Sumrall High School in 2014, more than one person told him he was crazy for taking on such a challenge.
Siders, a former Oak Grove standout, was perfectly happy as an assistant for an established program at West Jones and wasn’t sure soccer would fly at Sumrall.
But he accepted the job anyway, set a goal of winning a state championship within 10 years, and that goal was met a year early Saturday afternoon as the Bobcats defeated West Lauderdale 2-1 in their first trip to the Class 4A state finals.
“It’s kind of funny,” Siders said. “I had called them out of college about doing a program, and I was told it would never happen at Sumrall.
“You could see that there was a lot of potential there. They had a lot of athletes early on, with some really good soccer players sprinkled in there. And the bought in from Day One. We paid for everything, fought for everything, and what a special accomplishment to get here.”
Although it didn’t appear so at the time, Sumrall had several things working in favor of success in soccer.
For one thing, the Sumrall community has over the past two decades had a commitment to athletic excellence across the board, in all sports.
The community has, along with the Lamar County School District, built or renovated new facilities for all of the Bobcat teams, including a youth soccer complex
Demographics has also favored Sumrall. Migration in Hattiesburg and Lamar County, with countless new subdivisions being developed, has significantly increased the enrollment in the Sumrall schools, and that enrollment has tended to be more affluent.
“The community has grown a lot,” Siders said. “So, I took the job and I told my brother, ‘you’re not going to believe this, but we’ve decided to come to Sumrall ourselves.’ He was already here.”
Step by step, Siders built the program. The first goal, making the playoffs, came in the program’s second season on 2015-16.
Then it took five seasons to take the next step, winning in the playoffs, and that was accomplished in 2020. The next three seasons, Sumrall advanced to the second round of the playoffs, but could get no further.
But this year’s team was touched by greatness from the beginning. The Bobcats started the season 5-0-1, then reeled off 13 straight victories after a 3-2 loss to Poplarville.
Sumrall hit a bump in the road in late January, dropping two straight, a 1-0 home loss to West Lauderdale and a 3-2 defeat at Biloxi.
But once Class 4A playoffs started, Sumrall came out on fire. The Bobcats defeated Quitman 8-0 in the first round and Greene County 8-1 in the second round before getting past a longtime nemesis with a 3-2 overtime victory over Northeast Jones.
A 2-1 victory over Bay High in the South State final sent Sumrall into a rematch with West Lauderdale, and this time it was the Bobcats who prevailed with a dramatic overtime triumph.
“I think we’ve got three girls with double-digits in assists and goals, five with double digits in goals, four with double digits in assists,” said Siders. “That’s really special. They spread it around. It hasn’t been just one girl; it’s a whole bunch of them.”
Siders’ guiding philosophy is building a complete player, one that succeeds in life as well as on the field.
“I’d be foolish to sit here and say this is some kind of life-altering event,” said Siders. “These are all just really good girls that won a soccer game. It’s a great moment, and it’s going to be a great memory for them.
“But we want them to have a firm foundation in the Lord, to grow up to be productive citizens. So the job’s not done. It’s a great day today, it’s great for our program, great soccer game, but we want them to keep pushing to be successful in life.”
And people are starting to take notice. Club coaches around the South have been regulars at Sumrall, and college coaches are likewise paying attention.
Siders’ niece Addie, a junior who scored the winning goal for Sumrall on Saturday, has verbally committed to stay close to home and play for Southern Miss.
“They have done a really nice job not only developing the feeder program, but also getting the younger players playing year-round soccer with the various clubs, and with other players competing outside the area,” said USM head coach Mohammad El-Zare.
“That has really grown their feeder program. They’ve also done a good job with the consistency of the program. Being in the finals, that’s a credit to (Sider’s) vision for the program.”
Although there was plenty of jubilation over a state championship, Siders had a decidedly low-key approach to the victory.
Sumrall only had three seniors on its roster this season, two of whom start, and that roster is dotted with freshmen, sophomores and even several middle-schoolers
“This is our ninth year in the program,” said Siders. “We knew there was a lot talent, and it’s really just really exploded.
“Every girl that’s put on this uniform, this is for them. They’ve built this thing, and we’ve had so many special players, they all belong as a part of this. The goal was to do it within a decade, so goal accomplished.”
