Little Miami Schools is proud to announce Dann Marketos as the next head coach of the LMHS Lady Panthers soccer program. Marketos separated himself from a field of more than 15 applicants with his dynamic personality and impressive knowledge of both soccer and athletic department operations, which positions him nicely for an immediately positive impact on a program thirsty for vertical assent in the rugged Eastern Cincinnati Conference.
Coach Marketos is a 1995 graduate of Anderson High School and followed his prep career by obtaining advanced degrees from the University of Cincinnati. In 2001, Marketos graduated from UC with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. And just two years later, he added a Master's degree in Mathematics.
From 2004 until 2010, Marketos was both an assistant professor and adjunct instructor at the University of Cincinnati in Clifton. Following his position(s) with the Bearcats, Coach Marketos advanced in 2010 into the role where he is still currently employed professionally as a tenured professor of mathematics with Columbus State Community College. In his more than decade-long time there, Professor Marketos played a key role in the development and implementation of the online education platform that exploded at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"When we navigate the interview process, communication and organization are two key variables we are looking for in a leader," said athletic director Matt Louis. "Coach Maketos' resume instantly hit these two key components in that equation. His personality is magnetic, and his ability to communicate with student-athletes on multiple levels of the athletic development spectrum is impressive. Additionally, the examples he references to support the modernization of our girls' soccer program, paired with the ability to deliver this to our Lady Panthers in an organized platform, catapulted him to the top of our search," Louis concluded.
Like many coaches across Ohio, Coach Marketos' coaching career began similarly to others in the sport when he entered the club soccer scene when being named the head coach of the Ohio United Football Club for the 2008 girls' team. Dann held this coaching role from 2017 until 2021 and amassed an overall record of 63-46-15. His teams won the likes of tournaments such as the Kings Hammer Crown Challenge, the Grand Park Soccer Festival and was a semifinalist in the OSYSA President's Cup.
In October of 2021, Coach Marketos moved into a new club position within the Mercury Soccer Organization as the head coach of the Mercury G08 Academy and North teams. Dann has remained there until the present time and garnered an impressive record of 63-28-17 during that span. Additionally, his teams recently logged tournament wins in the 2023 Indianapolis Women's College Showcase, the 2023 Kings Hammer Gateway Showcase, the US Club Ohio State Cup, and the Ohio Elite College Showcase.
"This is not a stop-gap decision for me when evaluating the opportunity to lead this program," said Marketos. "It is my intention to invest in Little Miami and the girls' soccer program for the long term. From Day 1, we'll work to install a championship culture. On the field, we'll use schematics to match our personnel which will put our team in the best position to win. A byproduct of the culture variable will be that we'll preach creativity and constantly engage in dynamic dialog."
After graduating two collegiate D-I signees from the Class of 2024 in Sarah Helphinstine to Ohio University and Kiley Reese to Miami University, the road ahead for the 2024 Lady Panthers won't be an easy one. The Eastern Cincinnati Conference is known for its competitiveness from top to bottom, and the Lady Panthers nonconference slate is an extremely challenging lineup that features the likes of Ursuline, Springboro, Beavercreek, Sycamore, and Mason. A link to the entire 2024 schedule can be located
HERE!
In his personal life, Coach Marketos and his family are residents of Maineville and he and his wife have two daughters that attend Kings High School. He has also coached girls' basketball at Kings Junior High since the 2020-21 season.
In 2024, the LMHS girl's soccer program saw a dramatic vertical assent upward during the 2024 fall season, was the 2024 Little Miami Lady Panthers varsity soccer team led by first-year head coach Dann Marketos. In 2023, LMHS finished the season at 3-13-3 and in 2024 the Lady Panthers improved by five wins as they rose to 8-7-3 overall. Little Miami's biggest win of the 2024 campaign came when they hosted state-ranked Springboro (21-1-1) on Sept. 9 and toppled the visiting Panthers 2-1. Little Miami kicked off the season by yielding their best 10-game (6-3-1) start since joining the Eastern Cincinnati Conference prior to the 2020 season, and concluded their season by falling 3-1 to St. Ursula in Round 1 of the OHSAA postseason. Lady Panthers who earned ECC postseason accolades were Ella Cook (1st Team), Emma Hartmann (1st Team), Sydeny Fallat (2nd Team), Morgan Reynolds (2nd Team), and Maddie Meadows (honorable mention).
