Soccer Coach & Life Coach
When I was a fifth grader, I played for a local U15 soccer club that needed more players. Because my older sister was playing they let me, a ten-year-old, play as well. I was the youngest and only knew my sister. At the first practice, I was nervous to the point where I was sweaty without even moving due to my fear of everyone else being better than me. My sister and I found out that we were on Ken’s team. Looking back, that would be some of the best news I would receive, and Ken is now my Michigan Hero.
Ken saw the potential for a soccer player deep within me. He led me through the first practice and taught me that it is not how good you are, it's how much you try to get better. Ken didn’t care if we scored in our own goal, as long as we made an effort to improve and not make that mistake again. He always told us, “It’s not about what mistakes you make, it’s about how you choose to recover from them.” Ken carefully selected drills to work on at practice that would bring out the potential inside my whole team.
In my first season while picking uniform numbers, I wanted twelve or two. Because I was the rookie on the team, I had the last pick and was stuck with nineteen. To me, nineteen was a ‘nothing number’ and I had a sour attitude about it. …show more content…
One season, Sophie, the original PC (problem child), called Ken dad during soccer. Ken went along with it, and the new players believed he was her dad. When they learned the truth, it was hard for them to grasp because Ken acted like a father for the entire team. Another season my teammate’s close friend committed suicide, and struggling to cope with the loss, she told Ken about it. He paused the drill that we were doing and called the team together. He shared the news with the team and had a deep discussion with us. He told us that we are all important to him and he cared about us, so we should learn from the misfortune to be nice to all
When I was a fifth grader, I played for a local U15 soccer club that needed more players. Because my older sister was playing they let me, a ten-year-old, play as well. I was the youngest and only knew my sister. At the first practice, I was nervous to the point where I was sweaty without even moving due to my fear of everyone else being better than me. My sister and I found out that we were on Ken’s team. Looking back, that would be some of the best news I would receive, and Ken is now my Michigan Hero.
Ken saw the potential for a soccer player deep within me. He led me through the first practice and taught me that it is not how good you are, it's how much you try to get better. Ken didn’t care if we scored in our own goal, as long as we made an effort to improve and not make that mistake again. He always told us, “It’s not about what mistakes you make, it’s about how you choose to recover from them.” Ken carefully selected drills to work on at practice that would bring out the potential inside my whole team.
In my first season while picking uniform numbers, I wanted twelve or two. Because I was the rookie on the team, I had the last pick and was stuck with nineteen. To me, nineteen was a ‘nothing number’ and I had a sour attitude about it. …show more content…
One season, Sophie, the original PC (problem child), called Ken dad during soccer. Ken went along with it, and the new players believed he was her dad. When they learned the truth, it was hard for them to grasp because Ken acted like a father for the entire team. Another season my teammate’s close friend committed suicide, and struggling to cope with the loss, she told Ken about it. He paused the drill that we were doing and called the team together. He shared the news with the team and had a deep discussion with us. He told us that we are all important to him and he cared about us, so we should learn from the misfortune to be nice to all