Apprentice Coaches (Nordic II)

Apprentice Coaches.  Perhaps Not.

If I had accomplished nothing else, the apprentice coaching program would have on its own made my OSSC years rewarding.  While I cannot take credit for the idea itself, the boys and college players who became involved under my regime on the boys' side of the club created an environment that was challenging, energizing and simply fun.  Having spent eight-plus hours in the car this past weekend with Neil Parry (former OSSC player, currently helping with U11 & U13 girls, Junior this fall at Duquesne in Pittsburgh, PA), Travis Regner (current U19, helping with the U10's - also with last year's U12 team -heading to TCCC this fall) and Andrew Debraggio (current U19, helping with the U12s - also with last year's U12 team - heading to Georgetown in Washington, D.C. this fall) I thought this would be a good time to reflect a little bit.



It is important, I think, to acknowledge that over the weekend, Andrew and Travis coached a game apiece under my watch that they not only handled well, but won.  Steven Keil and Travis both took my teams for considerable stretches of games without me, as I traveled from one match to another.  Steven, in fact, shepherded the 14s through the closing minutes of the 1-1 draw Sunday!

Of course, the matches are decided by the players in the vast majority of cases...but coaches can easily make decisions that lose games and both young men avoided harming the team's chances.  And more importantly, Travis and Andrew did so without keeping the strongest lineup on the field for the whole game (U10 parents will recall #50 from the Nordic Club, who came off only in the second half for a three minute break...).  In a similar vein, Neil Parry got a great overview of the club, as I was his ride most of the weekend, he watched the girls teams he's assigned to, as well as the boys U16, U14 and U10 sides.  Our conversations on the ride home indicated that he is of equal quality and passion as Travis and Andrew, and even though I enjoyed coaching him some four years ago, I came away from the weekend with a whole new level of respect for Neil.

The U16 game was coached in Hanns' absence (he was with his U12s) by Ty Banker, another former OSSC player...a founding player, pretty much...who ran the entire game without input from me (or the other three coaches on hand!  Impressive staff we had on hand for that one!).  The 16s, who are playing very, very well, were in good hands.  The only other game, it's fun to report, that we had a bigger staff for was the Sunday AM U14 boys game, where Chris Mclain, Chris White, Adam Reekie, Neil, Travis and Steven were all at with me...that's seven coaches at a game.  Can't beat it!

Anyway, the weekend really drove home how much these kids can do, if we give them a crack at it, and a little support.  And what good role models for the younger boys.  It's not bad for us older coaches, either.  A few weeks ago, when the U10s were getting run over by a Fulton team coached by a felon, I was seething on the sideline, and turned to Travis saying that we'd just be grabbing our bags and walking off after the game - no handshakes.  Travis, who was enjoying the game as little as I was, stopped me cold, saying that he had learned from me about being classy and taking the higher road with such opponents (and are we really "opponents" at U10?) and that we'd be shaking hands...or I was a total hypocrite.  We shook hands...but I'm still mad at Travis!

But I owe him one, and felt fortunate to have those young coaches on hand on two occasions at Nordic for similar reasons.  They keep me thinking about the best possible path...keep me thinking morally, and not egotistically.  The first instance was a double-yellow decision by the ref in the U12 Sunday game.  It was a foul...but we were up 5-0, it was the second period, and the foul just wasn't that bad.  But she ran the poor boy, and he came off in tears (lesson learned, no doubt, but talk about overkill)...I looked at Andrew, and saw he thought as little of the decision as I did.  And we pulled Nick Kinney off the field immediately, playing a man down as well the rest of the way.  Now, I hope I would have done it if Andrew hadn't been there...but who knows?  With him there, I wanted him to see that we could be sporting and win...It may not stay with him for long, but I doubt I'll forget that situation, or his influence on my actions.

The second one occurred later on Sunday at a U10 game.  We conceded a PK in the first half, which the ref spotted about two feet inside the (small) penalty area.  In the second period, we were awarded a PK by a different official (only one ref on the field...the other had a contact lens issue) but she paced from the goal line, and put our kick fully halfway from the spot of the opponent's kick to the line.  Clearly unfair.  To the Nordic coach's credit, he said nothing.  But the younger coaches didn't seem to either notice, or feel sure about saying anything...And fresh off the red card situation, it just didn't seem right.  So I asked the ref to back up the kick, which she did, though not quite all the way.  I'm hoping the principle of the thing was sufficient.

At any rate, just as the various appreciative compliments I've received over the past few years from families and players do, these instances make me determined to be a better role model and educator than yesterday. In all the car time with Neil, Travis and Andrew, it was clear to me that though these boys are bright, confident and optimistic, they are just as aware of all they have yet to learn, and are anxious to become excellent - perhaps in coaching, but I suspect in whatever field they land in.  So I suppose this post is a thank-you from me to them, but also a notice that their efforts, helpfulness, generosity to the club and community has been noticed, and impressed at least one adult!  If you see these boys about, or Ty Banker, Steven Keil, Gabby Babowicz, Sarah Brown, or any other young OSSC helper at the Junior Academy, Mini-Kickers or team sessions, be sure to thank them.