THE FRONT ROW with BRUCE BOURQUIN, Sept. 19, 2014

Sarah Stevens is in her first season coaching the Post Falls High girls soccer team, and the 33-year-old already has a wealth of experience both inside and outside the coaching world.

FROM MARCH 2004 until May of 2009, Stevens was an assistant deputy sheriff with the Spokane County Deputy Sheriffs Association.

"For me, soccer has always been like being a cop was," Stevens said. "It's always about being disciplined, paying attention to detail, being prepared. I always tell the girls that if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. Those are similar things we did out there (as an assistant deputy sheriff). I use some of that part of that life experience and we all take some things out of that to help mold and shape the people we are, so yeah, I can say that I definitely use that time of my life in my coaching."

Now 3 years old, little Ryker David Stevens changed his mother's plans. Ryker came into the world on July 27, 2011, at Kootenai Health in Coeur d'Alene. Stevens had resigned from the sheriff's department in order to raise her child. Her husband of nine years, Rob Stevens, has been a Spokane County deputy sheriff for 13 years.

"I had been working regular patrol and I knew that that wasn't the lifestyle that I definitely wanted to have to be able to have a little child if I wanted to pursue this motherhood role," Stevens said. "I was going to have to foresake things here and there and I was OK with that. We all make choices in our life, you have to choose what's a priority to you and so I was OK with doing that, so we pursued that goal. I have a great 3-year-old from it."

Sarah Stevens enjoyed her time spent helping people out in Spokane County and working for the sheriffs.

"You learn a lot of things about life, culture, other peoples' lives," Stevens said. "You learn a lot about decision making. A lot of things that I tell my girls (at Post Falls) all the time is that decisions, whether they're good or bad decisions, there's consequences of every decision you make, whether it's good or bad. If they choose to go to school, usually a good consequence is getting good grades. That's something that young people sometimes you don't always understand, until later on in life."

Stevens got into becoming an assistant deputy sheriff in a slightly unconventional way, toward the end of her time spent attending and playing on the women's soccer team in 2002 at what was then Western Baptist College, a private Christian school in Salem, Ore., now called Corban University.

"I was about to finish my senior year of college," said Stevens, the former Sarah Riojas. "I double-majored in history and Bible. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I pretty much went to school to play soccer. A lot of us don't realize that one day it will end (playing soccer). I was one of those people who didn't realize it would end. When you're a senior in college, all of a sudden you have to enter the real world. I had a free weekend and I got to go home during soccer season to visit my parents. I got a (speeding) ticket and I had to miss a game during my senior year while going to traffic school because I was speeding and I wasn't paying attention. It forced me to miss a game, so I had to drive back to Seattle from Oregon. When I was in traffic school, that's when I was kind of 'You know what, I can do this, I can wear a uniform and be a part of a team and be in that kind of mentality as far as working together, everybody doing a job working toward a bigger cause or goal. So I left traffic school and it was the fall and I spent an entire year researching and finding ways how I could pursue that career."

IN 2007, Stevens took a position as the junior varsity girls soccer coach at Lake City, spent four seasons there, then was hired by Post Falls as a varsity assistant from 2011 to 2013, before being promoted after former Trojans coach Briggs Anderson stepped down this past offseason. Last season, Post Falls finished 12-6-1 and qualified for the state 5A tournament. The season before that, Anderson and Stevens led the team to a runner-up finish in its first state appearance in team history and its first league title in team history, finishing with a 13-7 overall record.

"My time at Lake City was pretty random," Stevens said. "I walked away from soccer and was totally focused on being in law enforcement and we have three older stepchildren who all graduated from Lake City. I learned a lot and had a good time."

Justin Stevens graduated in 2004 and is now 27, Kylie graduated in 2009 and is 24 and Christopher graduated in 2010 and is 22.

Post Falls is 2-3-1 (0-1 5A IEL) and plays Saturday at Lake City.

WHILE PLAYING at Western Baptist, Riojas was named the Michelle Akers/Wittnauer National Christian College Athletic Association National Player of the Year and was on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Adidas All-American Team. She is still second on the Cascade Collegiate Conference's all-time career list with 24 assists.

Riojas transferred from The Master's College in Santa Clarita, Calif., 32 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, where she still holds the school record there for most goals in a season with 21 and points with 43 and career marks with 50 goals and 118 points.

While playing at Western Baptist, Riojas helped lead her team to a runner-up finish in the NAIA regional tournament.

"That was a great way to end my entire career and it was so out of the blue," Stevens said. "I would have never have guessed it. To be given this huge award in front of all these people down in Kissimee, Fla., totally shocked me, I would've never have guessed it. Nobody told me anything and my parents went down and made it a big deal to go to this national tournament in Florida. We finished well, but I didn't want to go (to the awards ceremony). It was this huge banquet dinner ... I just wanted to eat a pregame meal and go to bed, to get ready for the following day's game. They did this the night before the tournament started. My parents said, 'You have to go to this thing.' I was like 'fine, geez!' But my parents and my coaching staff, they all knew I was getting this award. It's exciting but I couldn't believe anyone knew who I was or what I was doing. When you're selected out of a nation of players, that's huge."

And Stevens has a chance to be huge this year and into the future for the Post Falls girls soccer team.

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013 or via e-mail at bbourquin@cdapress.com