Meet the Hanover Boys Coaching Staff

 We hope that many of you received the email invitation to start following the Marauder Soccer Blog, and will make a regular practice of reading these entries, which will regularly carry useful information.  In this installment, we will introduce the 2020 Marauder Coaching Staff. There are four Head Coaches, and three volunteer assistants.  All seven coaches will occasionally work with one or more of the teams. Coach Grabill, for instance, will again this year have part-time responsibility with the Freshman team. Here are your 2020 coaches:

Rob Grabill - Varsity Boys Head Coach

 

Entering his 18th year as a coach at Hanover High (three as varsity Assistant and fifteenth as Head Coach), Rob Grabill continues to add to a resume that extends back well over 40 years.  He has coached youth, recreation and camp soccer since 1970, and began coaching high school soccer in 1974.   Grabill has over 20 years of experience as a college coach, and more than 25 as a NISOA and NHIAA referee.  His immediate task will be overseeing four HHS teams with more than 100 players, and encouraging the continuation of program goals which stress sportsmanship, success in academics, and community service.  Last year’s Varsity was the NHIAA Division One Champion, and won the NHIAA Sportsmanship Award.  Grabill was names as the United Soccer Coaches New Hampshire and New England Large School Coach of the Year. Grabill’s Hanover won-lost record now stands at  221-30-14.   He was honored in 2013 as the NSCAA New Hampshire and New England Coach of the Year. He is a member of the NH Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and the NH High School Coaches Hall of Fame.  

 

A player and coach for 50 years, truly and actually, Grabill has been active at many levels of the game.  A graduate of Lincoln-Sudbury (MA) High School, he received his B.A. from Oberlin College and M.S. from the University of New Hampshire. In 1979 Grabill was appointed as Head Coach at New Hampshire College, where in nine years he built a program that went on to win an NCAA Division II title.  In his final four years at NHC (now Southern NH University), his record was 57-18-5, and his nationally ranked team made two NCAA appearances. He was named New England Division II Coach of the Year three times, and NSCAA Regional College Coach of the Year in 1987. 

 

Moving to Hanover in 1989, he was invited by then Dartmouth Coach Bobby Clark to join his staff as Freshman Coach, a position he held for six years. His work with Dartmouth Soccer continued for another eight years as a volunteer assistant. Over the past 19 years Grabill has continued his involvement in Upper Valley soccer on a variety of levels, including four years at the helm of the Hanover Maroon 8^th grade team, as well as coaching and administration in the Lightning Soccer Club program. 

 

Reverend Grabill is Associate Pastor at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, UCC, which includes standing as a Campus Minister with the Tucker Center. In May 2015 he received his Master of Divinity degree from the Andover Newton Theological School. His church and community responsibilities dovetail well with his commitment to working with young people and their parents in a long career in youth development.

 

 

Willie Johnson – Junior Varsity 1 Coach

 

Willie begins his fourth year as Head Coach of the JV1 team after a highly successful season at the helm in 2019, when he was named as the NHIAA Division One JV Coach of the Year.  His Hanover JV1 squad had a record of 16-1-1 and was recognized as the top JV team in the state.  This is Willie’s seventh year on the Marauder soccer staff. After two years as Reserve Coach, he had a highly-successful season as Head Coach of the Freshman team.  As Freshman Coach, he successfully faced the challenge of creating a cohesive, competitive team, emphasizing player development ahead of results, and emerging with a 9-1-2 record.

 

Johnson is one of the busiest coaches at Hanover High School.  In addition to his soccer responsibilities, he will be returning for his ninth year at the helm of the boys’ Reserve team in basketball, and in the spring will again coach the boys’ JV tennis team for the eighth straight season. 

 

Johnson is a keen student of the game, and has demonstrated a well-developed grasp of coaching methodology.  His practice organization and drill execution are superlative. A certified art teacher for grades K-12, he will continue this year as an Educational Assistant at Hanover High.

 

Jason Hirschhorn, Freshman Coach

This is Jason's first year coaching and second year teaching Math and Computer Science at Hanover High School. An avid fan of Hanover High's soccer teams, Jason is excited to join the program after watching games and teaching players during the last school year. Previously, Jason taught and coached soccer in San Diego. In both Algebra 1 and the Freshman soccer team, Jason looks forward to creating a supportive and engaging environment for students just starting at the high school. With his Math background, Jason feels well-equipped to ensure the players remain at least 3 feet apart on the sidelines!

 

Ian Caldwell, JV 2 Coach

 

Ian Caldwell, also known as "Coach Bucket" was born in Lewisburg, PA, and moved to Lyme, NH at the age of two.  He currently lives a few miles south in Enfield, NH. Ian attended Lyme Elementary and Hanover High Schools before receiving his Bachelors in Economics from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

Ian’s  soccer career began at the age of four and he hasn’t stopped playing since. Having played for UV Lightning Soccer from the U12 age-group, he then played four years for Hanover High School, before competing at the NCAA D2 level for Westminster College for an additional year, as well as three further years of intercollegiate soccer for Westminster's 2nd Team.

 

This is Ian’s first season coaching with the HHS Boys Soccer program, and he is beyond thrilled to be a part of this experience! Some of his hobbies include; playing soccer, watching soccer, and talking about soccer.

 

Sam Farnham, Varsity Associate Head Coach

 

During his undergraduate years at Dartmouth, Sam joined the Hanover staff as Varsity Assistant Coach, a tenure which culminated (after his promotion to Associate Head Coach) with Hanover’s 2013 undefeated 19-0-1 season and Division One championship. Sam graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in Development and International Economics and a Minor in Italian and headed to New York City to begin a career in advertising at R/GA, a first-class advertising agency.  Then he worked with various companies such as Samsung, Verizon, and Solar City, as well as a number of startups.

In the meantime, the Marauders wandered in the championship wilderness, always making the semifinals or quarterfinals, but falling short.  Something was missing.

 

Fast forward to 2019. Sam took a job in Cambridge, MA as a Senior Editor and Content Strategist with Dimagi, a technology company focused on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of healthcare and agriculture programs around the world. He has since been promoted to Director of Marketing. Working remotely (pre-pandemic – such foresight), Sam returned to the Hanover staff and his vacant position as Associate Head Coach.  The Marauders won the 2019 Division One Championship.  Coincidence?  We think not.

 

Farnham and Grabill think as one and collaborate closely, following the gaffer/trainer model.  Grabill is the gaffer.  He organizes and does all of the boardroom stuff,and takes most of the credit.  Farnham organizes the practices and trains the team.  They fight over who gets the 51/49 share of game management. Grabill holds Sam back from chirping at the officials. On good days, Sam lets Rob work with the goalkeepers, and stay out of the way.  Clearly, it’s an effective model.  Farnham also lets Grabill organize penalty kick shootouts, because he can’t stand to look.  That worked well too last season. One of these years Sam will gently lead Rob to the sidelines and let him coach the Freshmen or something, and take his rightful spot at the helm.  Rob is 69. The clock is ticking.

 

Sam Pych, Volunteer Assistant

 

One of the impacts of the pandemic is that college players which have graduated from Hanover may be marooned at home, going to classes remotely.  Such is the case for Sam Pych, a junior at Clarkson University and member of the Golden Knight program.  A Captain of the Marauders and All-State Player, Sam is one of two volunteer assistants who will being invaluable energy and perspective to the program.  A one-footed left sided center back with continuing dreams of glory as a striker, Sam survived playing for Coach Grabill on a Lightning B team at age 11, and survived a severe ankle injury during his senior summer to lead the Marauders to an outstanding season.  Now he’s ready to give back.

 

Charlie Adams, Volunteer Assistant

 

Charlie graduated virtually from Hanover last spring after attending a two-person senior prom thrown by his parents and the parents of his dream date.  He is one of the most decorated players in Hanover History, and was ready to join the program at Brown University until he was told to stay home and log in.  Their loss is Hanover’s gain.  Charlie is the all-time career leader in goals, assists and points for Hanover.  He is a three-time First Team All-State player, and last fall was named as an All-American.  He was chosen to play in the national Senior All-Star game in Florida, and was named as Hanover’s fifth NH Gatorade Player of the Year. He was also the NH Division II Basketball Player of the Year. He was a leader in charitable work for the Marauders, organizing food drives and spearheading the Grassroot Soccer fundraising game. He’s actually too good to be true.  There’s a dark side to Charlie, folks.  Just kidding.  We wanted to see if you were reading to the end of this. The Marauders are thrilled to have Charlie on the staff, and hope some of him rubs off this fall.