NATCHEZ — Cathedral School girls’ soccer coach Kate Ellard took the field as a coach for the first-time this season, and she certainly did not ease her way into the job.

Ellard led the Lady Green Wave to an 11-5 record (5-2 in Division 6) and their first division championship. In doing so, she earned the honor of Division 6 coach of the year Monday night.

Ellard said she was shocked when she found out she would be coach of the year.

“I was like, ‘Wow. Are you sure?’” she said. “I guess I hadn’t really thought about it. I have worked really hard this year, but I don’t think I worked any harder than the rest of the coaches.”

Ellard said she had to give much of the credit to a Cathedral team that played well as a unit all season.

“This team was amazing,” she said. “I played at Cathedral from ’04 to ’06, and this was the first time I’ve seen Cathedral play as a team like we did. There was not one player that stood out.”

Ellard said her team played so well together that when it came time to choose a Division 6 MVP she was unable to choose one girl from Cathedral that stood out above the rest.

“One of the questions they asked me since I was the coach of the year was who will be the MVP of the (division),” Ellard said. “Usually the coaches pick (the MVP) from their own team. I didn’t know that, but one girl that stood out for me was Franklin County’s Carlee Mullins. There was not one girl on our team that stands out. They are all amazing players.”

Ellard said winning coach of the year in her first season brought mixed emotions about her future as a coach.

“It kind of sets the standard now,” she said. “Now next year’s season could be just as difficult as this year. But (to win it) in the first year is kind of a boost of confidence.”

Ellard said her first season as coach was really a learning experience, and she was just lucky to have a talented team to help her out.

There were several aspects of coaching that she learned as she went along, and she expects to improve her coaching as her career moves along.

“I’m hoping to hold the girls more responsible,” she said. “I’m hoping to be more prepared with equipment. I want to learn more about the game of soccer and how it’s played.”

Ellard said she is learning from experience but also has great help from assistant coach Donovan Silva and boys’ soccer coach Dennis Hogue.

“I couldn’t have done it without (Silva) or coach Dennis, who is a mentor to me,” she said.

Ellard plans to focus this offseason on improving the team’s fitness and keeping the team unified, she said.

“I just want to keep the unity we have this year,” she said. “Of course we’d like to win (the division) again next year. We want our program to build every year.

“We want next year to get in a little bit better shape. It was a big deal this year, but we want it to be a bigger deal next year.”

Ellard said she hopes to host a soccer camp sometime later in the year and also hopes to take the Lady Green Wave to a camp as a team.

Ellard is also in her first year as a teacher at Cathedral, where she teaches seventh- and eighth-grade English grammar.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “I absolutely love it. It’s teaching with kids all day, so it’s fantastic.”

As far as grading her own performance, Ellard said she did well but has room for improvement.

“I would have to say I did OK,” she said. “I see a lot of things this year I could have and should have done different that I will do next year.

“I just want to do as well as I did this past year and just take it up a notch.”