Rowell leads Lady Knights to 4A title, state’s top ranking

Published 1:32 pm Friday, May 24, 2019

West Lauderdale girls soccer and Sonja Rowell are practically synonymous.

Rowell, who started the girls soccer program at West Lauderdale in 2002, has watched the program go from the days of tough growing pains to the present days, where the Lady Knights are a state powerhouse. Most recently, the Lady Knights have won three of the last four MHSAA Class 4A titles, including this past season, when West Lauderdale finished 24-0-3 with a No. 1 Mississippi ranking and a No. 13 national ranking on MaxPreps.com.

Now an assistant coach, Rowell has continued to have a heavy hand in the Lady Knights’ program, and because of this year’s success, she has been named the Premier Preps girls soccer Coach of the Year.

“Wow, it’s an honor,” Rowell said when informed of the recognition. “I definitely didn’t expect this at all. I’m very humbled and very honored.”

After a frustrating loss to Florence in the 4A title game in 2018, Rowell said the Lady Knight players made it their mission to not allow that to happen again. This year, they faced Florence again in the championship and beat the Lady Eagles 3-0.

“They were so focused,” Rowell said. “They never complained about the extra work we put in, they just wanted to get back there and win the state championship. We went over and beyond what we normally do, because we wanted to leave no doubt. We were going to be prepared mentally and physically to win it.”

It was the latest in a series of accolades for the West Lauderdale girls soccer program, but the current powerhouse had more humble beginnings. Rowell recalls begging to have a girls team create at West Lauderdale in 2000, and it took two years before the team was formed with Rowell as head coach. Given the blowout losses early on in the program’s history, Rowell said it makes the recent success much sweeter.

“It was a lot of hard work,” Rowell recalled. “There were a lot of years we had down years when we first started. We were not competitive at all, especially not in this area. I remember one game we were playing Northeast Lauderdale, and they beat us 10-0. We were the upstarts and the young ones everyone beat up on. That’s what I tell other people: Take your lumps, work hard and you’ll get to the other end where you’ll build your program and experience some success.”

Lady Knights head coach Alex George said it’s impossible to put into words what Rowell has meant to the West Lauderdale program all these years, and he’s fortunate to work with a coach with whom he sees eye to eye on everything.

“She’s what I call the cog on the wheel,” George said. “She’s constantly working behind the scenes — and has for years — to make sure the girls have access to club teams when our season is not in. She sees the long-term in everything, and Sonja has always been invested in the program.”

Sophomore Ember Temple, who was named the Premier Preps Girls Soccer Player of the Year, said Rowell is essentially a second mother to the players.

“Sonja has been the one person who is always there for us,” Temple said. “She’s always supported us, and she will do anything that is what’s best for us. You could call her the team mom.”

When she started the team, Rowell got to watch her daughters play soccer. While they’ve since grown up, Rowell said she keeps coaching due to her love for the girls and her desire to see them develop into successful, confident women. While she’ll eventually retire from coaching, she hopes to do it long enough to see the team play on its new soccer field, which is being constructed next to West Lauderdale Elementary.

“Right now, we just got the green light on the irrigation system, so we’re ready to put that down,” Rowell said. “Our plan is to practice there in October, because that’s when we would have enough surface and grass there to have a practice field. Phase two will be lighting and fencing and bleachers, then once we do that in the next couple of years we should be able to play games there. We’re really excited about it and hope to keep moving forward with it.”