Midfielder Bo Campbell is Greenwood Christian’s leading scorer for a third straight season.
Daily Journal file photo
Three head coaches in as many years is the kind of leadership turnstile capable of steering an accomplished program toward mediocrity.
Greenwood Christian has kept itself on the road.
Ranked eighth in Class A, the Cougars haven’t skipped a beat under new coach Kefil Tonouewa, who served as an assistant for the 2022 GCA squad that was state runner-up.
Born and raised in the west African country of Benin as the oldest of nine children, the 26-year-old Tonouewa moved to the United States in 2015 in order to further his education and currently works as a system engineer for Carrier Corporation in Indianapolis.
His familiarity with many of the Cougar players has smoothed any potential edges in terms of being elevated to head coach.
“It’s just the work that we put in as a team. My style, how I grew up, is just playing the ball,” Tonouewa said. “The players have adapted well, and I’ve seen a lot of improvement. They just keep getting better every single practice.”
GCA’s record of 6-3 is somewhat deceiving; the losses have been to Class A No. 1 Covenant Christian, 2A No. 8 Park Tudor and Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to a much larger school in Whiteland.
Junior midfielder Bo Campbell has scored eight of the Cougars’ 27 goals this season and assisted on another. Senior striker Caden Camden has been good for four goals and four assists, while junior Andrew Ramlian has six goals and two assists.
Another junior, Trey Dobson, GCA’s three-year starter in football as quarterback, has found time to produce three goals and four assists. Junior Sean Nolan and freshmen Johan Perez and Joey Schnake are at two goals scored each.
Campbell, who is playing for his third head coach since entering high school, said everyone involved has adapted nicely to Tonouewa’s changes in practice habits and in-match strategies.
“Definitely interesting. A lot of change, for sure, but I feel my teammates and I have been able to adapt to it,” Campbell said. “We have really good chemistry. A lot of the kids have known each other since middle school or elementary school, and that helps.”
Camden, a four-year starter for the Cougars, is also on his third head coach — Micah Adkins-Estes (2021-22), Steve Campbell (2023) and now Tonouewa.
“At first, it’s definitely tough because you grow close to them, but we have to adapt to that,” Camden said. “It definitely toughens you up, and you learn new playing styles with new coaches.”
Greenwood Christian owns a record of 32-16-3 since the start of the 2022 season, winning two sectional championships, a pair of regional titles and the semistate triumph two autumns ago.
Whether the Cougars can replicate their past successes won’t be known until the start of sectionals next month. GCA will likely be favored when it heads to Indianapolis Lutheran as part of a seven-team field.
Until then, practices will be conducted and matches played — everything designed to have Greenwood Christian playing its best soccer at the most opportune time once again.
“I’m not really worried about winning matches. I’m just trying to make sure we improve as a team,” Tonouewa said. “Communicate better as a team. Play better as a team. If those are working well, everything else will take care of itself.”
