'A perfect fit.' Why this Savannah sports legend returned to coach soccer at St. Vincent's

During her stellar career as a student athlete at St. Vincent's, Sarah Stewart earned the reputation as one of the best high school athletes in the history of Savannah as a star volleyball, soccer and basketball player for the Saints.

She went on to play volleyball at Mercer University for two seasons before transferring to Georgia College & State University, where she played for three years and earned her Masters degree.

Stewart has returned home and is coaching the soccer team at St. Vincent's — working with Ciara Thomas to lead the respected SVA program that won state titles in her senior year of 2017, before going on to win championships in 2018 and 2019.

"I never would have imagined I'd be coaching the soccer team at St. Vincent's," said Stewart, 24. "When I was growing up I wanted to be a doctor and never thought this was in the cards. But after I got my masters I started thinking 'why not do this?' and to be back in my hometown coaching at my alma mater is very special."

Stewart, who teaches physical education at SVA, said she is sharing the coaching duties with Ciara Thomas, the former goal keeper at SCAD who has been an assistant at SVA for the last two seasons under Katie Knight, who stepped down at the end of last year.

"Coach Thomas is a soccer God," Stewart said. "She used to coach me when I played at Savannah United, so we have a really close relationship."

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Thomas is excited about the coaching partnership with the former SVA star, who was named the Savannah Morning News Player of the Year in her senior season of 2017, when she scored 73 goals en route to the first soccer state title in school history. Stewart was also a two-time winner of the Hollis Stacy Award as the most versatile female athlete in Savannah, and was the Best of Preps Female Athlete of the Year in 2017.

Her brothers — Brad and Gavin Stewart, were star three-sport stars at Benedictine and both went on to play football at Georgia Tech.

"She was such a hard worker and a great kid as a player. She's a little younger and nicer than me," said Thomas, 31, who is the general manager at Specialty Sports, with a laugh. "She is closer to their age and relates so well with the players — I don't think some of them know yet what kind of gem they have for a coach.

"We've got a great relationship and are bouncing ideas off of each other all the time. I've been helping her with all the things we have to deal with off of the field, like scheduling and planning. She has been super receptive and is going to hold the girls accountable. We have 11 seniors, and I think our potential is going to be up to the girls — they can go as far as they want to."

Stewart said former Calvary Day standout Haley Titus, who played soccer at Georgia College & State, is also on the coaching staff, along with goalkeeper coach Javier Flores — creating an excellent atmosphere within the program.

Last season, SVA won the Area 3-3A title and advanced to the Class 3A state semifinals where they lost to Bremen 2-1 in double overtime. The Saints finished the year with a 13-4 record.

The Saints have a plethora of talent returning led by senior defender Haley Beddow, a team captain along with junior Alexis Spisso and MaryGrace Meyers, a senior who missed last season with an injury. Other key players coming back include Maddy Kelly, Ileana Scorza, Elise Muller, McCall Schivera and Abby Tvrdy.

"Coach Stewart played with my older sister at St. Vincent's," Meyers said. "I remember always seeing her name in the newspapers and leading her teams to state championships. I think she's a perfect fit as a coach because she knows about the pressure playing for St. Vincent's. She's going to be able to keep us focused during the ups and downs of the season."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Sarah Stewart is back at St. Vincent's coaching soccer with Ciara Thomas