2025 will be the dawn of a new era for Daviess County soccer, as the boys head coach, Doug Sandifer, retired and the girls head coach, David Sandifer, has taken over as the school’s Athletic Director. In their stead are Dale Armistead and Paige Crisp.
Armistead spent the last four seasons as his alma mater, Brescia University’s men’s soccer head coach, and brings over years of experience to the Panthers. Armistead replaces Doug Sandifer, who spent over 20 years at the helm, building the team into a powerhouse.
“My approach is it isn’t broke, don’t try to fix it,” Armistead said. “The program isn’t broken and is running fine. Many things that Doug did, I will try and follow suit with.”
The former Brescia standout played for the University from 1990-1994, before starting his coaching career in 1995 at the youth club level. He eventually coached Owensboro United and made the transition to the high school level as an assistant for the Apollo girls’ team in the late 90s. He spent time at Trinity (Louisville) as the assistant varsity coach and JV head coach, while overseeing the freshmen program. Armistead had a short stint as the head coach at Shelby County and also returned to the local area as an assistant at Owensboro before taking the job at Bresica.
“Some people asked me why I am going from coaching at the college level to the Daviess County Panthers,” Armistead said. “This job hasn’t opened in 30 years… This is a storied program that has a rich tradition and has many alumni who support the program. I felt like that was the place for me to be.”
Having played for and then been a key part of his coaching staff as an assistant, it was only natural when long-time Lady Panthers head coach David Sandifer resigned as he takes over as the school’s Athletic Director, that Paige Crisp would be his successor.
“I am really excited for this opportunity,” Crisp said. “I have been around Daviess County soccer for a long time as a player and a coach. So, it is always something I have hoped to do in the future, and I am excited to get the chance to continue on what Coach Sandifer has done.”
Crisp played for Daviess County from 2007-2010, winning back-to-back 3rd Region Championships in her junior and senior seasons. After graduating, she played collegiately at Kentucky Wesleyan from 2011-2014. Near the end of her college tenure, she started coaching for Owensboro United and spent a decade at a helm. For the past 10 years, she reunited with Sandifer as his assistant coach and was also the girls JV coach.
Sandifer leaves a tradition of success which Crisp is looking to carry on.
“I think a lot of things that make Daviess County soccer so successful are things that I want to continue,” Crisp said. “I want to be a team that possess the ball, a team that is fundamentally sound, and just continue to build off what has been done since David was in charge.”
