ROCKINGHAM – What started with a phone call right before his college graduation six years ago has culminated into the job Chris Larsen always knew he was meant to have.
On Tuesday afternoon, Richmond Senior High School athletic director Ricky Young announced that Larsen, a math teacher at RSHS, would take over the head coaching responsibilities of the Raider and Lady Raider soccer programs.
Nearly a week after the Lady Raiders’ season ended with a first-round playoff exit, Larsen was tasked with the responsibilities of the programs as now-former head coach Bennie Howard is set to retire after 30 years on the job, and spending the last 24 years building the girls’ program. Larsen becomes just the third head coach in the school’s history.
“I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time, and I’m glad it’s finally here,” Larsen, 28, said. “Being the head coach at Richmond has been something I’d hoped for since I started helping Coach Howard six years ago.
“The other day I was talking with him (Howard) about the transition,” Larsen continued. “We’ve talked a lot about this being a possibility over the last couple of years. And now I’m glad to see it finally come to fruition.”
Larsen is a Richmond County native who grew up in Rockingham, and graduated from RSHS in 2008. While in high school, Larsen was a four-year starter for Howard during the 2004-2007 fall soccer seasons. But his connection with Richmond soccer and Howard started a couple of years before that when his older brother, Will, played for Howard. Larsen would come to summer workouts and “run around with the team.”
Just before he was set to graduate from East Carolina University in the spring of 2012, Larsen received a phone call from Howard. The two had kept in touch over Larsen’s college career, mostly due to Larsen calling to congratulate Howard after big wins. During that late spring phone call six years ago, Howard asked Larsen if he was coming back to Richmond County to help him coach.
Without thinking twice about it, Larsen agreed.
Ever since then, Larsen has served as the Raiders’ junior varsity head coach for six years, and took over the Lady Raiders’ junior varsity position a couple years later. He has also assisted Howard with the varsity teams during that span.
He’s had success at developing both junior varsity teams, as he’s won at least 10 games in each season he’s coached. This spring, he captained a Lady Raiders JV team that finished the season 10-2, with its only two losses coming to Sandhills Athletic Conference powerhouse Pinecrest High School.
Thanks to Howard’s dedication over the last 30 years, Larsen inherits a proud program that is on the rise for both teams. And Larsen hopes to continue that upward trend.
“During my interview (for the head coaching position), I was asked what my vision was for soccer at Richmond,” Larsen said. “The main thing is I want to continue the legacy of Coach Howard. We’ve been contenders to win conference in both boys and girls the last couple of years, and have even played in conference championship games. I want to continue to build upon that and win.”
That expectation to win is something Larsen has carried with him since his playing days at Richmond, as well as his time spent assisting Howard. But he’s picked up on more than just the tactics of coaching from his predecessor.
“Coach Howard has taught me that if the kids see that you’ve put your heart and mind to something, and that it’s important to you, it becomes important to them,” Larsen explained. “If everyone enjoys what they are doing, then we’ll be successful.
“Being with Coach Howard for the last six years showed me why we’re the type of program we are,” Larsen continued. “There’s a clear difference between what we do and what some of the other programs we play do. We have a special camaraderie here and it’s shown through our success.”
With the new position comes a lot of new responsibilities, but Larsen is confident that he’ll be able to maintain the same sort of integrity that Howard established. One thing that Larsen explained he is appreciative is the community’s support, along with the players’ parent’s interest in helping the program expand.
Part of that process is continuing to develop the sport across the county, especially at the middle school level. Larsen said he’s been pleased with what Richmond County’s four middle schools have been doing, and anticipates those programs’ successes to feed into the high school’s program over the next couple of years.
It’s no secret that Larsen wants to win soccer matches with both programs. And for him, and his new era of coaching, it all starts with summer workouts.
“We have our annual soccer summer camp, and we’ve got two weeks in July to do some summer conditioning,” Larsen said. “I’ll have a good group of guys coming back in the fall, and a strong core of girls in the spring. For a lot of them, I’ve coached them the past one or two seasons on JV, so we’re familiar with one another.”
As successful as Richmond soccer has been over the last couple of seasons, Larsen is looking forward to the opportunity to “make it out of the first round” of the state playoffs. When asked what his No. 1 goal is as the new head coach, it’s “to be a contender (in both boys and girls) year in and year out, and to proceed up the ranks.”
While he expressed his gratitude toward Howard for helping him learn the ways of coaching the past six seasons, Larsen hopes to make some small tweaks to fit his style of coaching. He plans on implementing some “slightly different formations” and switching up practice schedules to give both the varsity and junior varsity teams time to use the entire field.
He also hopes to get his players “to buy into the importance of fundamentals.” From there, Larsen explained, he believes that being dominant on the technical side of the sport will allow the program to progress forward.
Summer break is on the horizon, but Larsen has a lot he wants to accomplish before holding tryouts for the boys team at the end of July. Larsen will need to get to work compiling his team, as there will 13 less players on the roster due to graduating seniors, which was a team that finished 11-9-1 in 2017 and missed the state playoffs.
Next spring, with the Lady Raiders, things will be a little different, as they’re only losing four seniors. Coming back will be the likes of Chloe Wiggins, Morgan Hooks, Jayana Nicholson and Avy Lucero, all of whom played a big role in setting the single-season record for wins with 17.
For Howard, Larsen is the perfect fit.
“It’s good to know the position was filled with someone who is so well-deserving,” Howard commented. “I’ve known Chris for 14 years, half of his life. He’s a good coach who knows soccer. He’s been with me for six years and he knows what it takes to run a program.
“For me, for someone like Chris to take over, I’m at peace with it,” Howard added. “I hope he’ll continue to grow the program and that it’ll prosper moving forward. I’d love to see him take the team(s) to the next level and win a state championship.”
“I know this is where I’m supposed to be,” Larsen expressed candidly. “It means a lot to me to come back home and coach. I hope to have same positive influence on kids the way my coaches and teachers did on me. I want to thank Coach Howard and Richmond County Schools for this opportunity.
“They’re the ones who helped make me who I am today,” he concluded. “There’s a short list of people who have really impacted my life, and Coach Howard is one of those people. I’m ready to continue his legacy.”
But for now, what Larsen is anticipating the most, is earning his first victory as a head coach. And hopefully there are many to come in the years that lie ahead.
