As the head coach of the Smithsburg girls soccer team over two stints from 2002 to 2007 and 2018 to 2024, Bill Fowkes led the Leopards to two Class 1A state titles, two other state finals, seven region championships, four conference crowns and three county titles.
Not bad for a self-proclaimed “baseball guy.”
“I never thought I would spend so many years coaching soccer,” said Fowkes, who handed in his resignation at the conclusion of the 2024 season in November. “But the girls soccer program became a passion for me. I really enjoyed coaching the girls and we had a lot of success, a lot of parental support. It was the perfect storm.”
After 24 seasons as either a head or assistant soccer coach with the Leopards, Fowkes plans to spend more time with his grandchildren and traveling with his wife.
“My grandkids are pretty special. I have two fraternal twin boys who are 18 months old who my wife and I watch through the day Monday through Friday, and a 6-yard-old grandson who comes to the house after school. It’s nice spending time with them,” Fowkes said. “Through my 42 years of marriage, my wife has put up with a lot of coaching. We’ve learned in retirement that we like to travel, so this will give us a few more months for that.
“I think the program is in a good place right now. The incoming coach is going to have a good bit of talent to work with, and I feel pretty comfortable leaving for him to continue.”
Fowkes got his introduction to sports like most boys: From his father.
“My dad was my first coach when I was 7 or 8 years old. He coached me in baseball,” Fowkes said.
As Fowkes completed his playing days after high school and college and prepared to become a teacher, coaching appealed to him.
“Through the years, I had so many good coaches. I just thought coaching would be a good payback for all the good coaching I had,” Fowkes said. “All those people worked hard for me, and I thought I could be a good coach for other athletes.
“When I got out of college, my brothers were still playing for a baseball college-age team in the summer. Their coach became ill and I kind of took over the team the rest of the summer and really loved it.”
Fowkes moved to the area in the mid-1980s, started teaching in the Washington County Public Schools system and coached baseball and basketball at South Hagerstown and Smithsburg.
Then his kids — daughter Shannon and son Andrew — took his life in an unexpected direction.
“My 5-year-old daughter said she wants to play soccer, and I said, ‘OK, I never played soccer but I’m sure we can figure this out,'” said Fowkes. “Her brother and her started this love of soccer because they got involved, and I thought, ‘Why not get involved with them?'”
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Fowkes became an assistant coach for Smithsburg’s girls soccer team in 1998 and learned under Richard Daughtridge for four seasons, capped with a state championship in 2001.
“We had some really good players back in those days, and I’d even learn from the players,” Fowkes said. “Those four years helped mold my knowledge of the game to move forward.”
Fowkes became the head coach the next year, and called the 2002 season his most memorable.
“We lost somewhere between 10 and 12 seniors from 2001, and nine I believe were starters. Nobody really gave us a chance, and it was my first year as head coach,” Fowkes said. “My motto has always been, ‘It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.’ We started 1-4, but we had a double-overtime loss to Middletown and it just seemed to propel everybody’s confidence that we can really compete.
“Then we reeled off eight or nine straight wins going into playoffs and ended up losing in double overtime in state final. We lost, but it was a storybook season.”
The peak of the program under Fowkes’ leadership came in 2005 and 2006 with back-to-back state championship seasons. Daughter Shannon played a major role, along with Shelby Layman, Chelsea Hoover, Katie Seifarth and Cara Jordan.
“I got to coach my daughter for four years and she played a big part in our success, along with many other very good players,” Fowkes said. “The 2005-06 teams are very special with the state championships. That was playing against some very competitive teams.”
Smithsburg had a significant rivalry with North Hagerstown and coach Rick Aleshire, as the Leopards and Hubs often battled for county supremacy in the mid-2000s.
“North High throughout the years has always been our rivals, along with Boonsboro because Boonsboro’s had some really good teams,” Fowkes said. “We always got up for that special game against North because, especially back in those days, they had good, competitive teams. The kids played together on club teams, so there was some familiarity and they wanted bragging rights.
“I’m proud of the success of the program in wins and losses, but (Aleshire) and I over the years have worked hard at promoting and getting girls from Washington County recognized at the state level, and I’m really proud of that.”
Fowkes’ first six-year head coaching stint came to an end in 2007, during which the Leopards had an 89-21-2 record.
After a three-year break, Fowkes returned as an assistant under Victor Della Mea in 2011, and the next seven seasons rekindled a passion for coaching that led to his returning to the head coaching position starting in 2018.
“I retired from teaching in 2017, and I just had so much fun coaching those years with Della Mea and we had so much success in that time period,” Fowkes said. “I talked it over with my wife and I said, ‘Hey, I’m in retirement now, why not do this?’ It was a no-brainer to keep it going.”
Fowkes led the Leopards to the state finals in 2018, and guided Smithsburg to the Tesla Cup title as county champions in his swan song this year. He finished with a 140-67-13 record in 13 years as a head coach.
“My wife was a state registrar for the WAGS (Women and Girls in Soccer) program and it became a family affair,” Fowkes said. “For 14 years, she’d host the team dinners at our house. I’ve enjoyed all my time. It became a passion and I’m very fortunate to have gotten to work under so many dedicated coaches, great athletes and such good parental support. It’s great to be in a position to make a difference in young athletes’ lives on and off the field, and they’ve influenced my life in many good ways, too.”
Fowkes also is proud of the academic success the Leopards have had.
“It’s been twelve consecutive years that the girls have received the (United Soccer Coaches High School Team Academic) award. That’s a national recognition, and that’s one thing I’ve always been proud of, that the girls in the program have done the work in the classroom,” Fowkes said. “That’s based on the grade-point average for every girl on the team. I wish I would have known about it earlier because it would have been more than 12 consecutive years. Della Mea got it started, I continued it and that’s an amazing thing the girls have achieved.”

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