From the time I was six years old, soccer consumed my life. I started at a recreational level, advanced to a competitive division, and eventually on to high school. I’ve put countless hours into learning the game. I never thought my soccer career would include coaching until one summer when two friends and I signed up to coach a recreational soccer team of nine year-old girls. Initially, I thought it would be a cakewalk, my previous coaches managed my teammates and I with ease. I soon realized that the ease of managing a team had come from years of experience around the game. Having never been on the opposite side of the perspective, I felt helpless when I had to convince nine year olds that playing soccer was more fun than picking daisies.
