February Club Newsletter

Welcome to the Kings Hammer February Newsletter! This edition features Kings Hammer Players Get Called Up, Celebrating Girls & Women in Sports Day and more! If you have a player, coach, or team to be highlighted in future newsletters, please send photos and stories to info@kingshammer.com. Each newsletter will be posted on our website as well as our social pages.

Kings Hammer Players get Called Up!

We want to give a huge congratulations to Aniah Zembrodt, Aubrey Blakely and Parker Goetz from our KH ECNL G11 team on their invitation to the USYNT Regional ID Center in Indianapolis. We are so proud of you, girls. Keep up the fantastic work.

Bringing Back a Dub From Gatlinburg

Congratulations to our KHA1 Cincinnati North B09 team on being named Champions at this year’s Southeast College Showcase! This year, the boys traveled to Gatlinburg, TN to play all in front of college coaches from around the south east area. Congratulations on a fantastic weekend in the Smoky Mountains, guys!

Coaches Gear Up for the Spring Season

Spring is just around the corner and we’re gearing up for another fantastic season! Our Academy South coaches trekked through the snow and headed into the office earlier this month for some session planning. It was awesome to have our coaches come together to learn, plan and inspire ahead of the spring season!

Ryan Handbury Named USL League 2 Head Coach at Kings Hammer FC

Kings Hammer FC Cincinnati shared this month that it was excited to be welcoming Ryan Handbury as the club’s new USL League Two Head Coach. Coach Handbury has served as our Kings Hammer Academy North Program Director since 2022 as well as a Kings Hammer FC assistant coach during the 2020-2023 seasons. We’re so excited to see Coach Handbury step into this new role. Cheers to a great season, Coach!

Click here to read the full press release on the Kings Hammer FC website!

Kings Hammer Celebrates Girls & Women in Sports Day

On February 5th, we celebrated National Girls & Women in Sports Day (as recognized by The Women’s Sports Foundation). This day is held to celebrate an important moment for equality and sports history. Kings Hammer Soccer Club is honored and grateful to have such an amazing group of female athletes, coaches, and staff across our club. We brought together a few of these wonderful ladies to share their thoughts and personal experiences with us. Watch the video below for more.

Check out Episode 4 of Kings Hammer Healthy Habits!

We’re back once again with our latest episode of Kings Hammer Healthy Habits presented by OrthoCincy! You can catch it out on our Facebook and Instagram pages. We’re putting our players health knowledge to the test and invite you to play along at home! Check out our feature each month on our social pages for trivia that can help you perform better on & off the pitch.

February Education: Developing Leadership in Players

As we finally leave the long winter behind (turns out that groundhog knew what it was talking about!) and get back on the field, our coaches will be reviewing the club curriculum, creating activities, and writing up their practice plans to take to the field and get their teams ready for upcoming games and events. Developing better dribbling skills, improving control in receiving, and perfecting killer passes which lead to creative scoring chances will be a part of the key objectives. However, it shouldn’t be the only objective.

Our Kings Hammer CORE Values exemplify the off-field characteristics that can and should be a part of the learning that our players need: Respect, Creativity, Passion, Integrity, and Leadership.

Developing Leadership in Our Players: A Guide for Coaches and Parents

One of the most important lessons that can be imparted through youth soccer is leadership. Leadership goes beyond the ability to direct another person (or player) in what to do or how to perform. There are a number of traits, beliefs, and actions that all combine to create a good leader. Parents and coaches play crucial roles in nurturing leadership qualities in young players. Here are some strategies to help develop leadership in our Kings Hammer players:

1. Mentoring and Role Modeling

Young athletes often look up to their coaches and parents as role models. Coaches should demonstrate positive leadership behaviors, such as effective communication, empathy, and integrity. Parents can reinforce these traits by discussing the importance of these qualities and highlighting examples from their own lives or from well-known leaders in sports and other fields.

2. Encouraging Initiative

Click here to continue reading the full article!

GK Union Save of the Month

From the pitch to the hardwood, we had two spectacular saves last month to claim our January GK Union Save of the Month award! Congratulations to Brian and Makenna on their quick reactions & shot stopping prowess!

Did you make an incredible save or a game-saving block? We want to see them! Post your best saves in the Kings Hammer GK Union Facebook group. Be sure to share throughout the spring season and YOU could be selected for our Kings Hammer Save of the Month! GK Save of the Month winners will be announced the Friday of the first full week of the following month.

Monthly winners will be posted on the Kings Hammer social pages and on the GK Union page.

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT: DANI HICKS NAMED USC SCHOLAR ALL-AMERICAN

Congratulations to Kings Hammer alumna Dani Hicks on receiving second-team Scholar All-American honors by United Soccer Coaches following her fantastic fall season at Ashland University. Dani and the Ashland University Women’s Soccer team kicked it up a notch this season, becoming G-MAC regular season champions in November and making it to the second round of the NCAA tournament. Dani was invited to and recognized at the United Soccer Coaches Convention this year in Chicago for her achievements at Ashland. In addition to Scholar All-American, Dani also received the following honors this season:

Second Team College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-American in NCAA Division II
First Team United Soccer Coaches (USC) All-Midwest Region
Second-team Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-American
D2CCA Midwest Region Player of the Year and First Team All-Region
Great Midwest Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-League

Way to go on an incredible season, Dani. We are so proud of you!

BRAND NEW KINGS HAMMER FAN GEAR

Kick off 2025 with some awesome new merchandise! We’ve added new fan gear to our Kings Hammer Shop that you’re sure to love! Now with extended sizing, we have Kings Hammer t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and more available at shop.KingsHammer.com. Check it out now!