(DRAFFENVILLE, Ky.)Marshall County Schools and Marshal Athletics have announced the hiring of Kris Ray as the new head boys soccer coach at Marshall County High School.
Ray comes to the position with deep roots in Marshall County soccer. As a player, he was part of two MCHS Final Four teams and helped the program claim three regional championships and four district titles.
His connection to the program extended beyond his playing days. Following graduation, Ray joined the inaugural staff of the Lady Marshal soccer program, coaching junior varsity alongside Coach Stacey Bradley during the 1993 and 1994 seasons.
Over the past three decades, Ray has built an extensive résumé on both the coaching and player development sides of the sport. Most recently, he served as technical director for the Apex Soccer Academy in Des Moines, Iowa. His career has spanned high school and club coaching, player development, and overseeing camps for the Portland Thorns and Portland Timbers of the NWSL and MLS. Several of his former players and trainees have gone on to compete in major NCAA Division I programs and professionally in Major League Soccer.
Soccer is very much a family tradition for the Rays. Kris’s brother, Marshall, is an inductee of the Marshall County Athletics Hall of Fame and has coached collegiately at Duke University and the University of Evansville.
Ray says he hopes to build more than just a winning program. His goals, he said, are to “teach students that being successful is measured by one’s actions and the influence they have on others, and to instill the idea that attitude determines excellence.”
