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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – Come February, the Pelham Panthers’ girls soccer program will have a new leader on the field, but one who is no stranger to Pelham soccer or success in the girls game.

Pelham High School announced on Thursday, July 11 that Shane Ashcraft had been promoted to be the new head coach of the girls soccer team.

He will take over the program from Brittany Pollard who coached the Panthers for 14 seasons, including several impressive seasons that led to playoff berths. She retired from coaching but will continue to teach at Pelham High School.

“As we transition into this new era of Pelham girls soccer, we would like to express our appreciation to coach Pollard for the commitment and dedication that she put into our program during her tenure,” Pelham City Schools Athletic Director Trey Simpson said. “Coach Pollard worked extremely hard to build a program that Pelham can be proud of and poured into countless student athletes.”

Pollard was named the Shelby County Coach of the Year in 2018 during a stretch of her tenure that saw a consistent level of success.

Simpson said he was grateful for her contributions to the program, and while it will be a difficult transition, he is excited to have a coach familiar with the program stepping into the role.

Ashcraft came to Pelham in 2023 as an assistant coach on Patrick McDonald’s boys soccer staff and also teaches 11th grade English at PHS. He also recently began coaching with Vestavia Hills Soccer Club in May.

“We are extremely excited to have coach Ashcraft lead our girls soccer program,” Simpson said. “Coach Ashcraft has a wealth of soccer knowledge and has competed at the highest level as head soccer coach in addition to his soccer background. He is a man of high character and has a great work ethic.”

Before coming to the Panthers’ staff last year, he served as the Hewitt-Trussville head soccer coach from 2020-2021 and on Northridge’s soccer staff for eight years, first as an assistant girls soccer coach from 2011-2017 and the head boys soccer coach from 2018-2019.

Much of Ashcraft’s success came with Northridge as he went undefeated in area play in both of his seasons as head boys soccer coach, including a 21-3 campaign in 2019. He was also an assistant coach on the Jags’ girls state runner-up team in 2016 and Final Four team in 2015 and boys Final Four team in 2016.

He took a two-year break between coaching for Hewitt-Trussville and his return to the touchline with Pelham in 2023. He helped the Panthers reach the quarterfinals of the Class 6A boys soccer playoffs where they fell to Northridge after finishing runner-up in Area 8.

Ashcraft and McDonald will work closely together in hopes of making the girls and boys soccer programs more integrated while also helping each other out in their roles as head coaches.

Ashcraft is the first new head coach of the girls soccer team since 2010 after Pollard’s long-time run at the helm, which included multiple trips to the postseason.

The 2018 postseason berth that led to Pollard’s Coach of the Yea honor was the first of five straight winning seasons where Pelham reached the playoffs, including back-to-back quarterfinal trips in 2021 and 2022.

Now, Ashcraft is hoping to replicate that success and take the Panthers back to the postseason as they face a new look Class 6A, Area 8 in 2025 with challenges that include Briarwood, Chelsea and Spain Park now sharing the area with them.