By Sarah Burton
In February of 2022, Houghton College announced that Esther Webb was to become Houghton’s sixth Women’s Head Soccer Coach, filling the role formerly held by Nikki Elsaesser. Webb grew up in Houghton and graduated from the college in 2016, going on to coach at a few other Christian colleges before coming back to Houghton this year.
The search process for filling any position at the college level is an extensive and time-consuming process. At Houghton College, it is important to find faculty and staff that reflect the values of the college as well as expertise in the given positions. In an email, Dr. Karen Torraca, who was the Chair of the Search Committee, explained the inner workings of the search process. It begins with a nation-wide position posting, followed by application reviews, then two interviews, one online and the other in-person. During this, the search committee narrows down candidates after each point of the process to just one, which they submit to the President to approve.
During the in-person interview, the candidates for the position come to campus and interact with various members, such as a representative from Student Life, other faculty and staff, and the President. This part of the search process includes the student body of the campus, allowing the search committee to receive an impression of how well the candidate would fit into the campus body. Torraca mentioned how important these interactions are because the final candidate is selected and sent to the President for approval “based on input from the search committee and from all those participating in the in-person interviews.”
Alliah Fluent (‘25) recalled these interactions, saying “Throughout this search process, I felt like the opinion of the team was important to the search team and I felt our opinions on the candidates were heard and taken into consideration… I am excited for the future coach Nikki is going to have and I am also excited about the future of this team with coach Esther leading us.” Her hopes for the team include Webb creating strong offensive and defensive teams, using the unique skills that each player brings onto the field.
Torraca gave feedback about the selection process for Webb, saying “The search committee came to a unanimous decision on Esther Webb. [She] is a great fit for Houghton with respect to her faith. Since she knows and understands Houghton well, she will be able to recruit well and build a strong team.” On behalf of the entire search committee, Torraca is confident in the potential of Webb as the new Women’s Head Soccer coach.
In a memo sent from President Lewis to the Houghton College Community on February 15th, he expressed as much enthusiastic confidence in Webb as Torraca, saying “her playing experience, knowledge of the game and coaching experience– combined with her passion for sports ministry and her love for and knowledge of Houghton, uniquely qualifies her for this opportunity.” He concluded the memo by calling for congratulations and welcoming her back to the community.
When asked about how she felt about the new Head Coach, Chloe Shaw (‘25) stated “I was unsure how I felt about coach Nikki leaving… but I am looking forward to working with coach Esther and really excited to start working with this group of girls again.” Shaw’s aspirations for this upcoming season include “accomplishing a winning record.” With this kind of optimism, the Women’s Soccer Team is ready for their next season, with Webb at the helm. ★
