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The Lakota West athletic department recently announced a few coaching changes. Tara Schafer-Kalkhoff, Lakota West’s first and only head coach for girls soccer, announced her retirement, while current fall coaches added spring coaching gigs.

Tara Schafer-Kalkhoff, Lakota West’s first and only head coach for girls soccer, recently announced her retirement.

Schafer-Kalkhoff recently completed her 17th season as a head coach in the Lakota district after beginning her career at Lakota High School prior to its split following the 1996 season.

Her career highlights include winning the Ohio Division I state championship in 1999 and amassing 203 career wins with a 70.4 winning percentage. Her career win total is the seventh highest among all current and former girls soccer coaches in Ohio high school history, according westfirebirds.com.

Also retiring is her varsity assistant coach and husband, Mark Kalkhoff, who has also spent the last 17 years as a Lakota coach and 22 years total in high school coaching, including a stint as the head coach at Taylor high school from 1991 to 1995.

The Kalkhoff’s are the parents of an energetic little boy, Connor, who will be four next fall, and say that they expect to continue coaching soccer, just at a somewhat lower level of competition.

Meanwhile, varsity football coach Larry Cox and varsity girls’ tennis coach Bryan Skoog will be taking on more coaching duties at Lakota West.

Cox, who has been the Lakota West football coach since its first season in 1997, will be the head coach of the track and field team, while Skoog, who has coached girls’ tennis at Lakota West for eight years, takes over the boys’ tennis program. Both will take over the programs this spring.

Cox replaces Craig Myers, who has coached track and field since West opened in 1997, and Skoog replaces Dale Hutzelman, who coached the boys’ program for the past three seasons.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: Bryan Skoog, Lakota West football, Lakota West soccer, Lakota West sports, Lakota West tennis, Lakota West track, Larry Cox, Larry Cox Lakota West, Tara Schafer-Kalkhoff

During the summer of her seventh-grade year, Sharon Danquah and her father, William, were watching tennis on television. Both enjoyed watching the sport, even though neither played.

William, who moved to the United States from Ghana just a few years before Sharon was born, would tell his daughter of players he admired – like Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. All the while, Sharon preferred to hear about today’s stars – like Caroline Wozniacki, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Then, one day, during that summer, while the two watched, Sharon told her dad she wanted to seriously play the game.

“’She said, ‘Daddy, I want to be a tennis professional,” William recalls in his thick accent. “I said, ‘Ah, it is very hard.’

“So I went to Wal-Mart. I bought two racquets, one for her and one for me. That was the first time we touched a racquet.”

William, who had played badminton and ping pong as hobbies in Africa, taught his daughter how to hold the racquet.

“We basically learned from watching,” said Sharon, who is now a freshman at Lakota West. “Me and my dad first started together and then he got much better than me because he was watching longer than me.”

William learned so much from watching television that he became Sharon’s coach, a title he held for a year and a half before recently hiring her a personal coach.

The father-daughter duo would play two, sometimes three times a day, usually practicing for an hour or two every morning and every evening. (more…)

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Brooke Broda, Bryan Skoog, Caroline Wozniacki, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lakota West tennis, Nicole Soutar, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Sharon Danquah, tennis, William Danquah

Every August for the past three years, two of the top girls’ tennis programs have participated in a friendly scrimmage just prior to the regular season. Those two programs, Mount Notre Dame and Lakota West, took in that practice Friday at the high school located in West Chester Township.

“My expectation is that we will continue to compete at the top like we have the last few years,” Lakota West head coach Bryan Skoog said. “In terms on how we will finish, will probably come down to those matches against top teams.”

Skoog’s Firebirds were practicing against one of the area’s top teams and top players in 2010 singles state champion junior Sandy Niehaus. In addition to Niehaus, who was named the Girls’ Greater Cincinnati League Scarlet Girls’ Tennis Athlete of the Year in 2010, MND also returns senior Brooke Dennis (GGCL First Team in ’10) and junior Sydney Landers (GGCL Second Team in 2010).

>>>PHOTOS OF LAKOTA WEST VS. MND SCRIMMAGE TENNIS MATCH<<<

“With great leadership through experience and other players’ performances in the offseason, we have a good chance to compete in the GGCL,” said MND head coach Judy Dennis, whose team finished in third place in the GGCL last season.

Lakota West, which finished in second place in the Greater Miami Conference last fall, also returns its top players in sophomore Brooke Broda (GMC First Team in ’10), junior Nicole Souter (GMC Second Team in ’10) and sophomore Madison Capovilla (GMC Second in ’10). Broda actually defeated Neihaus during the regular season in 2010. She also finished the year with a 28-3 overall record and competed in the singles state tournament.

>>>2011 LAKOTA WEST GIRLS’ TENNIS SCHEDULE<<<

“Whenever you return with the top of your lineup, you can’t help to be excited,” Skoog said.

Skoog is not only expecting a lot from his returning players, he is also excited about his newcomers, who include freshman Sharon Danquah, freshman Lindsey Shafner, sophomore Katie Dunlap and sophomore Danielle Clarke.

Danquah (photo – click to enlarge) is expected to compete for playing time at singles for the Firebirds, while Shafner, Dunlap and Clarke will play doubles. Playing alongside the newcomers on the doubles courts will be senior and team leader Kat Rivers.

Lakota West will begin its season Wednesday at Ursuline. The Firebirds are scheduled to host Mount Notre Dame Sept. 7.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Brooke Broda, Brooke Dennis, Bryan Skoog, Danielle Clarke, Judy Dennis, Kat Rivers, Katie Dunlap, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lakota West tennis, Lindse Shafner, live sports photos, Madison Capovilla, MND, Mount Notre Dame, Mount Notre Dame tennis, photo gallery, photos, Sandy Niehaus, Sharon Danquah, Sydney Landers, West Chester photos

Lakota West will aim to win its third straight Greater Miami Conference Tennis Tournament title this Thursday, Sept. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 2 at Mason High School. Standing in the Firebirds way, will be Lakota East.

The Thunderhawks (17-1 overall, 9-0 in GMC) have dominated the GMC this season and appear to be in prime position to win their first-ever GMC title.

“It has been an incredible season for the team and we have accomplished a lot; our first undefeated season in the GMC, our first trip to the southwest district finals and our first time being ranked in the state (No. 6),” Lakota East head coach Karen Barnes said.

“We hope to keep our team accomplishments alive in the GMC tournament.”

Its senior No. 1 singles player Carolyn Pitman (photo), who has a perfect 7-0 record at the No. 1 spot in conference play this season, leads Lakota East. Pitman, who is a senior, could have to face Lakota West’s No. 1 singles player Brooke Broda (photo) in the GMC final.

Earlier this month, Pitman defeated Broda, who is only a freshman, 6-1, 6-4. However, the two met again in last weekend’s Greater Cincinnati Tennis Coaches Association Tournament final (GCTCA). This time, Broda defeated Pitman 6-2, 6-4. (more…)

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Brooke Broda, Bryan Skoog, Carolyn Pitman, GMC, GMC Tennis Tournament, Greater Miami Conference, Karen Barnes, Lakota East, Lakota West, Madison Capovilla, Nicole Soutar, Taylor Holden, tennis