Introduced to soccer at the mere age of 4, it took me a while to call it “the beautiful game.” My earliest years on the pitch were spent poking ant piles and pulling out grass in the midst of the match. Through proper coaching and encouragement, I graduated from that phase and worked my way up to a competitive travelling team in my early adolescence. I could elaborate for pages on how soccer significantly defined my personality, life style, and more, even if I don’t currently play. After 13 years of soccer, including 6 years of competitive ball, I decided it was time to stop playing; I left my soccer career in a great place and simply wanted to enjoy other aspects of my life. Barely one season out, I craved the competitive pitch again, but with no team to fall back on as my team had disbanded, as well as very little time to devote to the sport, I looked for other outlets of my soccer energy.
Christian Bromberger starts off his essay on soccer with the question, “what is the point of taking an interest in the apparently futile game of football?” I believe that is where the role of the coach steps in.
My old coach is one of the most interesting people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working and training under. He pushed my team to limits I never thought imaginable; he made soccer his priority over everything. He told me to try out coaching a younger team in our area. Although I had worked with younger kids on several occasions, it was usually in an educational or childcare setting, so I was excited for this challenge.
At a training workshop for coaches of young teams, I learned coaching philosophies for these age groups. “Remember, it’s not about winning for these kids.” My jaw dropped; how was I expected to come from a state championship team and suddenly introduce impressionable children to a sport that’s ‘not about winning?’
I first met my team at an initial parents’ meeting I hosted at a nearby Chic-fil-a. All I saw were a handful of 6 years olds exploring the play area and their parents’ exhausted faces from driving their kids all around town. Their concern rain deep, since most of the kids were playing soccer for the first time under my watch. The serious soccer mom questioned my credentials, given I was a high school senior trying to teach her child a life skill. Another parent was in awe that I would voluntarily want to spend time with these hyper-active kids.
At our first practice, all the shy-soon–to-be-rowdy allstars stood clueless with no clue what to do the round object at their feet. I got a flashback to my early days as a four year old like the ones in front of me. I them realized that my first coach was probably one of my most important coaches; his patience with my childish antics was key to my continuation. How else would I have been introduced to the physical aspect of the game? From that moment, I realized that as these kids’ first tangible exposure to the beautiful game, it was my duty to help them develop a passion for the game.
Coaching such impressionable children was quite an experience. Their muscle memory was impeccable; they were doing toe-touches with the ball with agility unseen in average four year olds after a few practices. No, we did not practice passing patterns, tactics, or how to make an assisting run, but they did learn team work through ‘keep-away from Coach” drills and before my own eyes, these 4 year olds were spreading out, passing the ball to one another, and talking on the field (to the best of their ability). All these skills I remembered my coach instructing us to perfect on field, and here these kids were starting to get in the habit at the beginning of their relationship with soccer. While these kids didn’t yet see the game as ‘deep play’ or ‘a philosophical dramatic tale, producing emotions with cognitive purpose’ as Bromberger put it, I hope that my initial contribution to them can develop into a passion, as do all soccer coaches. Although the transition from athlete to coach started off strange, I developed a greater appreciation for the sport and the art of coaching.
I think that this post does an excellent job of highlighting the fact that the role of “coach” in soccer extends well beyond the boundaries of the field, regardless of the level at which it is played. I grew up playing soccer, and had to make the transition from friendly AYSO volunteers (as a lower school student) to ex-Galaxy players (while playing at the club level) to college athletes turned educators (while playing for my high school team). While my experiences on each team were distinctly different as a result of different coaching styles, I will never forget how much I cared about every single coach for whom I played. Don’t get me wrong–I loved some and strongly disliked others, but my coach was always someone whose approval meant quite a bit to me. My high school coach and I never saw eye to eye, and I often questioned his tactical decisions and organization of practice time. However, I think our disagreements forced me to try to compensate in other areas. Even though I disliked the way he ran practice, I made sure to always show up. I learned the importance of commitment, timeliness, and consistency because I valued having a “coach” figure and wanted to preserve a relationship despite our differences. I think that means that the role of coach doesn’t diminish with age; on the contrary, I would argue that the role that they play as “nurturers” of certain values and standards intensifies over time, whether it’s intentional or not.
Coaches play such an important role that is very often overlooked. The coach is the one who will push you to go above and beyond. He’s the person you respect, but at the same time he’s your friend and a mentor. With that said, the impact a coach can have on any player is immense. I remember my first soccer “coach,” the person who basically taught me the basics of soccer (similar to what you did with these kids). I still remember him to this day, his name, his physique, and how he automatically made me love the sport due to his friendliness and his ability to make every soccer practice fun–I always wanted to go back. I’m glad you took this opportunity to teach this kids how great the sport is. Having had experiences with bad coaches as a teenager, I know that they can really put you down and sometimes make you question if you want to keep playing or not.
The most high-profile coaches that the public often hears about are certainly those of professional teams, so I really appreciated this post about beginners’ level coaching. As well as teaching kids about the basics of the sport, I would also say that early coaches can really instill a passion and love for not just the sport that they are coaching, but all sports. Gym class in elementary school onwards is not always seen in a positive light, so coaches outside of this setting can play a pivotal role in shaping budding athletes’ relationship with physical exercise, competition, and body image.