Spring Valley’s Andrew Richardson
Former Heathwood Hall boys soccer head coach Andrew Richardson announced he would be joining the Spring Valley boys soccer program Monday, May 29.
“I feel really fortunate that I had the chance to be approached by a few schools,” Richardson said. “My goal going into it was to be a head coach again, and that’s still the goal down the line. My thought had always been if I find the right opportunity to be an assistant and work with a good program and school that values the program and the sport, it would be something I would consider. When I got the chance to meet Coach (Stephen) McKinney, it felt right. I think our philosophies align. I was really intrigued by some of the ideas I would be able to bring.”
Richardson said the move felt like a full circle moment. When he began his varsity soccer career as a player at Brookland-Cayce High School, his first on-field action came against the Vikings.
Richardson announced the 2023 season would be his last as Heathwood’s head coach. He added that he wanted to continue coaching in the future. When he thought of destinations, Spring Valley wasn’t on the list.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t consider them; they just didn’t immediately come to mind,” Richardson said. “I had never met Coach McKinney. We hadn’t played Spring Valley since 2016. I knew they had been a storied program. I had friends who coached against them regularly. I have respect for what they are and what they are continuing to build under his watch. I thought I would likely end up at a school closer to downtown. However, once I got the chance to talk to McKinney, I felt excited and anxious about the possibilities.”
Moving into an assistant coaching role offers Richardson an opportunity to get back to actual coaching.
“One thing I tell younger coaches who are getting into the business is the higher up you go, the less coaching you get to do,” Richardson said. “As an assistant I got to focus on soccer and building relationships. When I became a head coach that became only 15 to 20 percent of the job. Most of my job was working behind the scenes with field prep, scheduling, organizing and running tournaments, communicating with parents, and helping with transcripts.”
The transition for Richardson also extends to competition, going from SCISA to 5A soccer.
“It will be a jump,” Richardson said. “However, I feel the top teams in SCISA match up very well with the top teams in 5A. Every game Spring Valley had was competitive. It’s the competitiveness that excites me, too. Learning a new region is exciting.”
Richardson just finished his 12th season at Heathwood Hall, where the Highlanders ended their season in the SCISA 4A semifinals against Cardinal Newman.
“At a certain point in the region, you know where the chips are going to fall,” Richardson said. “It’s almost one of those situations you know if you end up as a No. 3 seed in our region, and that’s been the case almost every year I’ve been in this region, you’re going to end up playing at Cardinal Newman. It was a tough situation to know that was what we were looking at for much of the final month or month-and-a-half of the year.”
The semifinal loss marked the end of one of the most emotionally taxing seasons for Richardson.
“What made it enjoyable was the people I was around,” Richardson said. “They are an unbelievable group of kids and a special group of seniors. I had a good staff. I felt like I was a member of the senior class. We had a sense of urgency, especially around the midpoint, and it may have hurt us a little. I’m super proud of what we accomplished.”
It was a fitting end to Richardson that his head coaching journey at Heathwood Hall ended at Cardinal Newman, a place he served as an assistant coach for Will Eudy, a fellow Brookland-Cayce Bearcat.
“I didn’t realize the emotions would catch me like they did,” Richardson said. “I make it a point that if the game is decided in the final minutes to pull the seniors out to give them a curtain call in their final game. Once I did that the emotions flooded me and I tried to collect them. The next thing I know there is a hand on my shoulder and it’s Will. He walked over from his bench to ours and we shared a moment.”
Richardson said another gesture that touched him was what was said about him from the Cardinal Newman PA.
“I hope that I’ve earned that,” Richardson said. “I hope that the work I’ve done and the people I’ve encountered and the relationships I’ve built that people look back at that time and say I did things, or attempted to do things, the right way. I made decisions that I thought were in the best interest of our team, our program, and SCISA soccer in general. That was a really special moment for me that I’ll keep with me forever.”
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