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Sandy • When asked how many state girls' and boys' titles he had won as the only soccer coach Alta High has ever had, Lee Mitchell smiled and without hesitation answered, "Zero."
Then he glanced over at the banners hanging above the Hawks' field that showed five boys' championships and eight girls' championships.
"I don't consider them mine," said Mitchell. "I just played a little part of it. They are the ones who played the game."
Former Alta star Michele Murphy, now a soccer player at BYU, called her former coach a humble man.
"With practice, you got to see more of a coach side from him," she said. "He was always laughing. He was a funny guy on and off the field. He helped me to adapt to a changing game with the speed of play. When I got to high school, the game got faster. In college, it was even faster. I took the stuff I learned and transferred it to college."
Murphy is typical of several Alta players over the years. Her siblings, Nate and Jessica, played for Mitchell. As the baby in the family by 12 years, she didn't think she would get that opportunity.
"I was so excited because he was a legend in my family and in the program in general," she said. "Getting there and playing for him was everything I hoped it would be. The way he brings a team together is so awesome."
Mitchell started coaching the Alta boys' team when soccer was sanctioned as a high school sport in 1983, and added the girls' program to his portfolio in 1989 when it was sanctioned.
He retired as an Alta health and physical education teacher after the 2013-14 school year, but stayed as coach.
"My wife worried about me staying home and doing nothing," he explained. "She wanted me to have a plan. I enjoyed it, and the kids wanted it. As long as I am happy, being productive and it's fun, I will keep doing it."
It's obvious the old coach still knows what he is doing. The Hawks' boys have been ranked No. 1 most of this spring. Anchored by goalie Alex Johnson and a stingy defense, Alta will go into the state tournament in another month among the favorites to win a title.
Mitchell also earned some national recognition this year. He was named the 2014 National Coach of the Year for boys' soccer by the National Federation of State High School Associations.
"That was totally unexpected," Mitchell said. "It was a great honor that would not have happened without the players and assistant coaches."
Mitchell began learning the sport in the early 1970s, when high schools had club teams. He made the team at Olympus and played for Hollandia in an adult league with players such as striker Patrick Carley, an Irish Catholic priest. In his second year, the team won the league title.
After going on an LDS Church mission to Bolivia, Mitchell returned to Salt Lake and played for another local club team. He coached club teams for a few years, while his daughters were growing up. And he witnessed the growth of youth soccer in Utah.
He said the key to being a good coach is to let the players and athletes know that you care about them.
"You try to develop a philosophy that it is a team, not an individual, that wins games," Mitchell explained.
In order to build teams, he stresses unity. Alta usually goes on a retreat, in addition to regular team dinners. Former players sometimes return to talk about what it meant for them to play for Alta.
The coach also tries to keep it fun. To start practice, for example, he often does a drill he calls "popcorn," in which players gather in a circle, each kicking a ball as high as they can. Then as many as 40 balls come down at once. Each practice also ends with a game.
"You've got to find ways to make it fun and to keep them having fun," Mitchell said. "If it isn't fun, it's not worth doing."
It's obvious that something is working at Alta, where the Hawks' girls' and boys' soccer teams always seem to be in the mix of Utah's best prep teams. And the unassuming Mitchell, though he may not want to take credit for that success, is a big reason for it.
Twitter: @tribtomwharton