{"id":2454430,"date":"2020-02-11T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/chris-ellis-replaces-longtime-coach-john-gillies-to-lead-ahs-girls-soccer-team\/"},"modified":"2020-02-11T23:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T06:00:00","slug":"chris-ellis-replaces-longtime-coach-john-gillies-to-lead-ahs-girls-soccer-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/chris-ellis-replaces-longtime-coach-john-gillies-to-lead-ahs-girls-soccer-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Ellis replaces longtime coach John Gillies to lead AHS girls soccer team"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.7045454545455\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-320769-853\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/AHSsoccer-atd-021220-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/AHSsoccer-atd-021220-1-1024x768.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Jenny Ellis, left, attacks as the Aspen High School girls soccer team plays against Vail Mountain on Saturday, April 6, 2019, on the AHS turf. Ellis' father, Chris Ellis, will take over as the team's head coach for the 2020 spring season. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"3\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"17\">\n<p><strong>Jenny Ellis, left, attacks as the Aspen High School girls soccer team plays against Vail Mountain on Saturday, April 6, 2019, on the AHS turf. Ellis&#8217; father, Chris Ellis, will take over as the team&#8217;s head coach for the 2020 spring season. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/AHSsoccer-atd-021220-1-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Jenny Ellis, left, attacks as the Aspen High School girls soccer team plays against Vail Mountain on Saturday, April 6, 2019, on the AHS turf. Ellis' father, Chris Ellis, will take over as the team's head coach for the 2020 spring season. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/AHSsoccer-atd-021220-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/AHSsoccer-atd-021220-1-1-749x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Courtesy photo | Chris Ellis has taken over as the head coach for the Aspen High School girls soccer team for the 2020 spring season.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Chris Ellis has taken over as the head coach for the Aspen High School girls soccer team for the 2020 spring season.<\/strong><br \/>Courtesy photo<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/AHSsoccer-atd-021220-1-1-749x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Chris Ellis has taken over as the head coach for the Aspen High School girls soccer team for the 2020 spring season.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/AHSsoccer-atd-021220-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/AHSsoccer-atd-021220-1-2-1024x768.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times | Chris Ellis has taken over as the head coach for the Aspen High School girls soccer team for the 2020 spring season.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>Chris Ellis has taken over as the head coach for the Aspen High School girls soccer team for the 2020 spring season.<\/strong><br \/>Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/AHSsoccer-atd-021220-1-2-1024x768.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Chris Ellis has taken over as the head coach for the Aspen High School girls soccer team for the 2020 spring season.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/chris-ellis-replaces-longtime-coach-john-gillies-to-lead-ahs-girls-soccer-team\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/chris-ellis-replaces-longtime-coach-john-gillies-to-lead-ahs-girls-soccer-team\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">The foundation is more than in place for Chris Ellis, the new head coach for the Aspen High School girls soccer team. He sees his job as mostly finishing what others have started.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe have a great core group of players that are very motivated to continue this run of success,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to be part of that success and hopefully they can continue with that. I\u2019m here to try and help them achieve their full potential. And especially to continue building a girls soccer program that inspires younger players to want to become part of our soccer environment here in the valley.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ellis, 59, is a native of England who has been in the United States for nearly three decades. He\u2019s coached soccer in the Roaring Fork Valley in numerous roles, including working with both the boys and girls programs at AHS and through the Aspen United Soccer Club.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He\u2019s replacing John Gillies \u2014 a fellow Englishman \u2014 who recently resigned after a roughly two-decade stint coaching soccer at Aspen High School.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cComing from England, most of us have played soccer all our life and I\u2019m no exception to that. Played it, lived it, watched it forever,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cI\u2019m already in the program, you might say, with the school, so it was a natural fit for me to put myself forward. It\u2019s an exciting time and I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It was somewhat of a last-second transition for the program with official practices to get underway March 2. Ellis has already started indoor conditioning and skills practices with some of the players. Teams can start playing games March 12.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The AHS girls soccer program has been strong in recent years under Gillies, including a 14-4 campaign in 2018 that included a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/dream-run-ends-for-aspen-girls-soccer-with-semifinal-loss-to-jefferson-academy\/\">surprise run to the Class 3A state semifinals<\/a> as the No. 13 seed. Aspen lost to No. 1 seed and eventual state champion Jefferson Academy, 1-0, to close out their season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The Skiers went 13-3-1 in 2019, losing as the No. 6 seed to that same Jefferson Academy team in the state quarterfinals, 5-0. The Jaguars, seeded No. 3, lost to No. 1 Colorado Academy in the state championship game last spring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Among the players expected back for Aspen this spring are junior forward Kelley Francis, who set the program\u2019s single-season scoring mark each of the past two seasons, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/aspen-soccer-player-going-for-three-peat-in-kansas\/\">sophomore forward Jenny Ellis<\/a>, Chris Ellis\u2019 daughter, who started on varsity as a freshman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cObviously individual players have individual skills, but the ultimate aim here is for the team to perform to its collective potential,\u201d Chris Ellis said. \u201cThere are a lot of good players on the team. There is a core group there that is very motivated and quite talented and it\u2019s going to be a lot of fun to see how far we can go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:acolbert@aspentimes.com\">acolbert@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/sports\/chris-ellis-replaces-longtime-coach-john-gillies-to-lead-ahs-girls-soccer-team\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jenny Ellis, left, attacks as the Aspen High School girls soccer team plays against Vail Mountain on Saturday, April 6, 2019, on the AHS turf. Ellis&#8217; father, Chris Ellis, will take over as the team&#8217;s head coach for the 2020 spring season. (Photo by Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times).Austin Colbert\/The Aspen Times Chris Ellis has taken [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2454430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 16:09:48","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2454430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2454430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2454430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2454430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2454430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}