Throughout my soccer playing career I have had many coaches, and thinking about it I have had probably more than the normal amount. However, with all the different coaches and playing styles I have come across, I can honestly say there have been only two coaches that have influenced my decision to become a coach, my coaching style, and my interactions with players.
When I was younger I had coaches who taught me the basics of the game such as using my turns, passing, receiving, shooting, etc. Then, in the fall of my u14 season I joined the Chicago Fire's youth Pre-Academy team and that's when I met Matt. Matt wasn't anything like my previous coaches. From the beginning he demanded excellence out of me as a goalkeeper and even more as a player. I was so use to being able to get away with mediocre and inconsistent game-play as long as I made a couple saves here and there. Matt forced me to challenge myself in training, which then started to translate to my game. By the end of my u14 year I was a totally different player. At first I played soccer because I thought I was good at it, but Matt really made me love the sport. I started to see that soccer wasn't as black and white as I had thought, and that there was more to being a great player than just passing and using turns. It was during this time I knew I wanted to be a coach.
As I continued my soccer career, I ended playing college soccer at Olivet Nazarene University under coach Dave. Matt showed me how to develop players and make them great individually, but coach Dave showed me how to develop and organize a "winning" team. This is when I started to learn tactics, the different roles players played on the field, and what it takes to lead a team. It probably also helped that I was a goalkeeper, so I was able to sit back and observe the entire field and help coach from there. To me, the keeper's box was a technical coaching area on the field. Coach Dave gave me an understanding of the game that I had an idea, but never fully grasped until I was under his coaching. It wasn't just his coaching, however. Another thing I loved about coach Dave was his passion for the game. He always gave his 100% effort in everything he did to make sure that: 1) we were developing as players, 2) to make sure we understood why we were doing the things he wanted us to do, and for us not just to blindly follow his tactics, and 3) to make sure we played for each other and the program. I remember some of his speeches he would give pre-game put me in a certain mindset that helped me perform well, and the way I succeeded was a reflection of his coaching style.
Matt made we want to coach and develop players, and coach Dave made me want to coach soccer as a game. I will always be grateful for the many coaches I had and that I was able to take a piece of their idea of how the game and how it should be played. I had the pleasure of playing for some of U.S.'s best youth coaches such as: Brian Plotkin, C.J. Brown, and Alex Hernandez. However, Matt and coach Dave will always hold a special place with me as I use their types of coaching styles every day. I did not always agree with their coaching methods (because what player does), but respect is something that is not easily gained as a coach, and these two have my upmost respect.
*This post was dedicated to the coaches who made me love coaching in general, which is different than the coach(es) that made me love goalkeeper coaching. But that is another post for another day.*
-Chris
