TJC women's coach Corey Rose (left) and men's soccer coach Steve Clements, both former coaching stars in Mississippi, will each lead their respective teams into the national tournament.

By JOE BUIE
Staff Writer

Tyler Morning Telegraph

Next week, Steve Clements and Corey Rose will be separated by 1,500 miles. But they will forever be joined at the hip in Tyler Junior College lore.

"We kind of joke about it being the first time in the history of the program, but we've only been here for two years," said Rose, who took over the new women's program in 2008. "It's exciting for us."

Rose and his Apache Ladies won't even have to leave home as the women's nationals will be played on the TJC campus at the Pat Hartley Soccer Complex.

Meanwhile, Clements and his top-ranked men's squad will fly to New Jersey and try to finish off a perfect season with a national championship.

Clements, 47, can often appear detached from the game going on in front of him. Sometimes he stands behind the bench, or alone at the end of the bench, only chiming in when necessary.

Clements says he takes the same approach on the road.

The best team he ever coached was at Meridian (Miss.) Community College in 2000. The Eagles went 24-1 and delivered Clements, coaching from the top of a water cooler, his only national championship.

"I've learned that once you get to the game field, the hay is in the barn," said Clements, in his 24th year leading a soccer program. "� Once you get to the field there's not a lot of effect you can have on a game. Also, once you learn that the referee really doesn't care who wins the game, then you're OK with that. They're going to make mistakes just like our team is going to make mistakes.

"I've never changed a call. I've found it more effective to speak with (the officials) at halftime when you can actually carry on a conversation with them. That screaming and yelling -- I'm not going to say I've never done it, but it's not often."

Clements is heavily involved during preseason workouts, when he's looking to set a tone for the entire season. He runs a tight ship and demands a high level of discipline and work ethic.

"I want us to play physical," he said. "I want to be the aggressor every game. I want to defend hard. I like the game simple, I like to get really good at what we do. Soccer is a simple game. It's only complicated by players and coaches."

-- -- --

Rose, 39, brings an intense presence to the TJC bench during the women's games compared to the relaxed Clements.

But Rose, who led the Belhaven women's program for five years in Mississippi before coming to Tyler, insists he's mellowing.

"My sideline demeanor has evolved over 15, 16 years of coaching," he said.

Early in his career, Rose liked coaching his players from the sideline during the games. Now he's less of a micro manager.

"My coaching needs to be done in practices," said Rose, sounding more like Clements. "The other thing that has evolved is when I was a young coach I was always pretty loud and hard on my players. I still am but I take a different approach. I'm not as much of a yeller as I used to be. But in practice they know the expectations.

"I'm hard on them because I want them to be the best. They want to be the best. I've had players that have told me they can't handle that type of coaching, and so each player is different in my book."

Thus, the learning curve for Rose has been figuring out which players he can push hard and which ones he can't. And if he says something really negative to a player, he tries to follow it up with positive reinforcement.

Clements, a native of Jackson, Miss., did all his soccer coaching in his home state before moving to Texas in 2002.

He enjoyed a level of success at Meridian Community College that he has been unable to match at TJC.

Meridian made four national tournament appearances under Clements, who now has the Apaches there for the first time since they last went in 1998 under Dr. Peter Jones.

When TJC announced that it was forming a women's soccer program, Clements helped with the initial recruiting. He recruited not only players but the coach as well. Rose was his conference's Coach of the Year in 2004 while at Belhaven.

"I pointed out that he was around," Clements said. "Corey worked camps with us for several years. Hill Denson, a good friend of mine who used to be the baseball coach at Southern Miss (and currently at Belhaven), told me 'We've got a good guy out here.' I got (Rose) to help us in some summer camps.

"When this job came open, they were looking for a guy with masters (degree), they were looking for the right person," Clements said. "I pointed out � that he was a good guy."

The Apache Ladies, whose tournament will be in Tyler, will open against Schoolcraft College (Mich.) at 6 p.m. Thursday at Pat Hartley Field.

TJC (16-0-1) is ranked seventh in the nation and seeded fourth in the eight-team tournament. Schoolcraft (14-3) is No. 8 in the poll and seeded fifth.

The other seeds in the women's tournament are No. 1 Lewis & Clark (Ill.), No. 2 Polk State (Fla.), No. 3 Rhode Island, No. 6 Paradise Valley (Ariz.), No. 7 Johnson County (Kan.) and No. 8 Harford (Md.).

The TJC men's team will be in West Windsor, N.J., on the campus of Mercer County Community College.

The No. 1 and top-seeded Apaches (18-0) will open against eighth-seeded Iowa Central (17-6) at 8:30 a.m. (CST) Thursday. Iowa Central is ranked No. 10.

The other seeds are No. 2 Georgia Perimeter, No. 3 Schoolcraft (Mich.), No. 4 Yavapai (Ariz.), No. 5 Louisburg (N.C.), No. 6 Barton County (Kan.) and No. 7 Essex County (N.J.).

Both soccer assistants played for the current head coaches. Men's assistant Chris Handy played for Clements at TJC in 2003-04. Jessica Salgado played for Rose at NAIA Belhaven College in Jackson, Miss.

Link to Original Article:  http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091115/SPORTS06/911150324