LISBON — This may be her first season at the helm of the Lisbon girls’ soccer team, but Jenniffer Perron has been a face most of this year’s team has seen before in one way shape or form.

Perron is taking over the Greyhounds program after coaching in the town for many years, replacing Brian Dube, who led Lisbon last season.

“I believe I’ve coached or been part of all but two of the girls on this team before, whether it was soccer, basketball or track,” Perron said.

The Auburn native and Edward Little High School graduate studied athletic training and sports medicine at Plymouth State University and also earned a minor in coaching. While playing soccer for the school, she coached one year of varsity soccer at one of the area high schools, so this isn’t her first time on the sidelines.

“I coached a varsity team in Plymouth in 1994. I haven’t been a varsity coach since, but I’ve come up the ranks,” said Perron. “I moved into town in 2003 and have been coaching here ever since, whether it’s been through the Lisbon Rec. or Sugg Middle School programs.”

While the Lisbon girls’ soccer team’s numbers are adequate, competing with other fall sports and activities is a challenge Perron recognizes.

“These girls have a lot to choose from, and typically are loyal to their sport here in Lisbon,” Perron said. “They start out playing at the rec. level really young and continue on at the middle school. We lost some girls once field hockey started at rec., and some to varsity cheer over the years.”

However, kids that either haven’t played since elementary school, or at all, are coming out for the soccer team.

“We’ve gained a few girls this season, and I think some of that comes from being familiar with me and my reputation. I have a girl that ran for me in track at the middle school, so I know it carries some clout,” Perron said.

“Some of us have known her for years and it’s great to see a familiar face coaching us,” senior Savannah Fisher said.

Having been part of the Lisbon community for nearly 15 years, Perron has seen firsthand how much support people can have for their sports programs and coaches.

“A few parents approached me when Jake Gentle got done a couple of seasons ago, but the timing just wasn’t right,” Perron said. “(The job) opened up again, and I figured why not. I have passion for the sport and I’ve either played or coached it longer than I haven’t.

“Having such community support from the parents, school and boosters, I quickly called our athletic director, Eric Hall, to see when the job was going to be posted. He said, ‘Yup, want to interview this Friday?’”

That support allows Perron to focus on teaching the girls the game while honing their skills.

“Everything we do has a purpose. She cares more about what we learn and get out of practice,” junior Emma DiGregorio said.

Of course, every team strives to win as many games as they can, but Perron looks at the importance of how to achieve that goal and succeed as a team.

“These girls that are juniors and seniors; when they were freshmen and sophomores, they played on teams that relied on one player. That’s not my philosophy, that’s not how I work,” Perron said. “We have a lot of talented athletes on this team and have some kids that would be considered stars and the game should center around them, that’s not how we’re going to play.”

“She’s worked us hard so far this week, but her drills are designed to work on our skills that are going to make us better,” Fisher said.

Four-year starter at goalkeeper Ali Sult graduated, and Perron knows the Greyhounds are going to need to pick up that deficit in net.

“We’re just not as strong in goal this year, but I strongly feel this team has so many athletic kids that have so much passion and knowledge of the sport that we can better last year’s record,” she said.

The Greyhounds finished 6-4-4 and lost 2-0 to Waynflete in the Class C South quarterfinals last year.

“We’re a collaborative team. We need to work together and utilize everyone’s talent in order to be successful,” she said.

Perron has four boys herself, and whether they’ve played soccer, football or swimming, she has familiarity with some of the talent in the Mountain Valley Conference.

“Between knowing the schools and seeing them in this past summer league, we’ve pretty much ‘touched’ everybody once, so we have some familiarity with most of the teams,” she said.

Perron works in the special education department at Leavitt High School and coaches track and field with both the Lisbon Recreation Department and Sugg Middle School.