OMAR – They play lots of soccer in the Huntington Tri-State area.

Soccer is a popular sport in the Kanawha Valley as well.

They play soccer down state in the Beckley and Bluefield areas.

They play soccer in the north around Fairmont and Morgantown.

They play the sport on the other end of the Tug River in Pike County, Ky., with numerous youth leagues and varsity squads for both boys and girls.

They play soccer in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle and the Eastern Panhandle.

They play soccer just across the Logan County line into Lincoln County with a youth league and a varsity team at Lincoln County High School.

But they haven’t played soccer here in Logan County.

At least until now.

Beth Haven Christian School at Chaucey made history this fall as the Hornets fielded the first ever varsity-level soccer team in Logan County history.

Although the very green Beth Haven team struggled in the win/loss category with a 1-5 record, including defeats of 24-0, 11-0 and 10-1 earlier in the season, the Hornets were winners for just fielding a team and getting their feet wet in the “world’s sport.”

Buster Burke, a former soccer coach in the Columbus, Ohio area, coached Beth Haven this season in the school’s first foray into the sport. He said he has enjoyed bringing something new to Logan County.

Burke, who works full time as an electritian at Columbia Flooring on 22 Mine Road near Holden, said the response has been good from the Beth Haven student body.

“I mentioned to one of the teachers at Beth Haven Christian School about getting a soccer team,” Burke said. “I had coached soccer in Columbus, Ohio, for about six years at a high school there. The teacher said, ‘That’s good. The kids have been asking about soccer.’ We went to the principal and talked about it and made up a paper for the kids to sign up. I had 17 kids sign up to play soccer.”

Beth Haven has used the football field at Omar as its home facility for games and practices.

“Our first game we played was against Calvary Baptist from Teays Valley,” Burke said. “That was also our first home game at our soccer field at Omar where Art Kirkendoll, the Logan County Commissioner, gave us permission to play soccer there and helped donate money to get our goals. Art has been wonderful to us. I went around to some of the local businesses and they donated to me to help me buy uniforms for the team. Tri-State Mining Services donated a lot of money to us.”

Burke said his players have really enjoyed playing soccer this fall.

“The majority of my kids who signed up were basketball players,” he said. “We had some problems at the beginning with the referees calling handballs on us, but we practiced and my kids have gotten better at it as it went along. Our last four or five games we’ve only had one handball called on us.”

The Hornets’ lone win this season was via forfeit but Burke is proud of his team and players for starting a new tradition – a new soccer tradition in Logan County.

Burke said he would like to see the sport take root and grow in Logan, Mingo and Boone Counties where no school fields a varsity team other than Beth Haven Christian.

“What I want to do is promote soccer in Logan, Mingo and Boone counties because everyone in the surrounding areas already has it,” Burke said. “That’s what I’m trying to do. I want to get the word out.”

Burke said his goal is to see soccer played at all of the southwestern West Virginia schools.

“When I go to the restaurants and talk to people I have had so many people talk to me about soccer. I’m the only one who has a (varsity) team in Logan County or the surrounding counties at the high school level,” he said. “I’m trying to let people know that soccer is coming to this town and this county. If anyone has any questions about soccer or getting soccer I’m willing to help. I’ve got all of the rule books and things like that but I would love to see soccer go into the Logan County schools, the Mingo County schools and the Boone County schools.”

The Beth Haven soccer team is made up of the following players: Tyler Lambert, Bob Fields, Daniel Topping, Jacob Browning, Blake Fry, James Trent, Elijah Hooker, Zachary Graham, Charles Wallace, James Hardin, Joey Adkins, Cory Robinson and Jobe Estep.

Despite learning the sport virtually from scratch, Coach Burke said many of his players have performed well in the Hornets’ inaugural season.

“Daniel Topping, our center striker, has scored three goals for us this year,” Burke said. “I also have some defenders that I would like to recognize in Charles Wallace, James Hardin and Elijah Hooker. Our goalie is Jacob Browning. Our players are awesome.”

The Hornets have seemed to improve with every game as the players began to feel more comfortable with the new sport, Burke said.

“Our last game was with Rainelle Christian and they are ranked No. 2. We lost to them 7-3,” he said. “It was a loss but we were able to score three goals against that team. This showed me that my team had really advanced and took off with the sport.”

The Beth Haven soccer team is scheduled to play Friday in the WVCEA state tournament at Beckley’s Appalachian Bible College. The Hornets play at 2 p.m. against Calvary Baptist.