My soccer journey has not been all that much to talk about. I played goalie in high school and in some intramurals in college. I was mediocre, but never really had any real training and never really dedicated time to improving my craft. I played in some adult leagues while I was in the Air Force and recently began playing again in an indoor league.
Both of my boys have played soccer since they were old enough to join a team for their age, which I believe was about four years old. My eldest progressed to club (or travel) soccer at the age of eight having tried out and being selected for the classic U9 team. The local club is small and made up primarily of volunteers, from coaches to board members. I volunteered to be the assistant coach for the team; I was one of two assistants to the head coach.
The following year the head coach’s son made the premier team and so the other assistant coach, Scott, agreed to take the lead and I continued assisting. I learned a lot over the next two years assisting Scott: about coaching and about the game. Sadly, after a few seasons Scott’s son decided to focus on baseball and so he gave up soccer. As a result, Scott also moved on leaving a coaching vacancy for this now U11 team.
Prior to this development, my wife had been coaching my younger son’s recreational soccer team. My youngest decided to try out for the club team in this, the first year he could, at U8. If a team developed, there would be a head coaching position open at U8 also.
Both boys tried out and made teams in their respective ages. Due to some parent drama on my older son’s team, I elected to apply for the head coaching position on my younger son’s U8 team and was accepted. By this point I had already earned my USSF E Coaching License and I had learned a LOT from Scott, so I was comfortable taking the lead on this new team.
Fast forward to today and the team I began coaching at U8 is now playing at U11. There are in fact two teams at this age group and as the age-group coordinator for boys and premier team coach, I run tryouts for them each year. My team has a very good group of boys that are athletic, skilled and smart. We’ve had our ups and downs over the last three years, but as the boys grow and mature they’ve begun to show that they can play at a high level.
During this time I’ve earned my USSF D Coaching License. I’ve grown so much as a coach, but also as a person, over these five years of coaching. I’m grateful to continue to have the opportunity to coach and build relationships with my players.
More to come…
– Mike