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| I Love Coaching High School Soccer |
I have loved soccer ever since I first played it at Whitmer High School in Toledo, Ohio, in 1956. The transformation from football linebacker to center striker in the old five front offense was simply exhilarating. After high school I found myself playing, coaching and officiating other sports, but in the back of my mind was the desire brought on by soccer. Soccer was introduced into our elementary school when my sons were in the first and fourth grades. After two years on the sidelines I decided I could do better. Oh, the heady days of the New York Cosmos on TV and YMCA soccer in Pennsylvania with 30-plus second- to fourth-grade children on a team.
Coaching elementary school soccer and high school futsal in the East Grand Rapids, Mich., recreation department was next. Then after watching my oldest son play high school soccer in Michigan came that “I can officiate better than that” moment. I was fortunate to have trainers who were former FIFA and NASL officials; they had come over from England and had played professionally in Europe. When I was unable to perform as an official any longer because of a heart condition, I applied for a high school coach position in Lowell, Mich. An association with Suzanne Martin of the MHSAA led to my appointment to the committee for assigning officials for the state championships
Ever since I became associated with high school soccer in Lowell I understood that the path to playing collegiate soccer for most outstanding players was an academic scholarship, with grants and loans. Consequently I always have preached high GPAs. My best player attended Albion College on a full academic scholarship, and his brother received a scholarship to Western Michigan. The younger one coaches high school soccer in California, and his brother officiates NCAA soccer. I still remember the thrill and pride I had when six boys from one graduating class played collegiate soccer for schools that were in the NAIA and in the lower NCAA divisions. The satisfaction a high school coach gets from a championship-caliber team that also is academically at the top of its class is enormous. I still consider all-state or all-conference along with valedictorian or salutatorian a perfect combination for an outstanding soccer player. I have learned that many times the moms know more of what the coach is doing than the dads. When mothers tell you that at the honors ceremony for graduates it seems that the entire soccer team won an award or scholarship you can be sure that her smiling daughter standing next to her already has gotten the message.
As a non-faculty coach I always have had to work hard to get students to participate by visiting our school system throughout the year. For girls coming out of middle schools, the debate is whether their choice should be soccer, volleyball or cheerleading. Girls make it more a group social activity, and as a grandfather I smile. I believe that when these girls grow older and become young mothers, the ceiling on popular acceptance will shatter, and soccer will become the preferred family activity.
High school soccer really is the first time many youngsters comprehend that their coaches have “expectations.” Many high school players do not come from club teams, and it is important to mold them into becoming “overachievers.” We coaches are their soccer teachers and in some aspects they learn more about life from us than others. At Northwood High School we emphasize the importance of performance during training, the match, in the classroom, and in their association with teammates and opposing teams. A good friend of mine gave me this motto to coach by: “Smart Kids Win Championships!” Every season, players and their parents provide a new learning experience. Each coach has to draw upon life experiences to mold a solid association with the school, parents and players.
This year, I look forward to a unique opportunity. At Northwood – the fifth year for the program and my third as coach – we don’t have a JV team yet. Consequently 14 incoming freshmen are moving up to our varsity program. Our league is a relegation league. This means if this team of enthusiastic overachievers performs as well as last year’s, we would be the team that moves up to the league’s Division I conference. It historically has a team in the top 10 of Ohio’s upper division. Ohio has only two divisions for girls soccer.
We have only three seniors and no juniors this season. As one of the smallest schools in our division we have the opportunity to move up and see if we can measure up to the next level of competition. What an opportunity to develop a program. It’s the soccer way: if you’re good enough to win at your level, you get to move up and show your stuff. I love it! What will make this even more precious to me is the fact that last April I suffered a heart attack. I decided that my time coaching wasn’t over, and I fully intend to enjoy every minute of it.
For several years I have wanted to try a more flexible system of soccer formations. It’s the American football and basketball in me. I have often thought that although we have many formations in soccer, teams tend to stick with one system. I generally prefer the 1-3-5-2. But I will challenge myself and my players to try something different. I’ll enjoy every minute of it just like the first time more than 50 years ago when I lined up in the middle of the old English 1-2-3-5.
John Turkal, Northwood HS, Northwood, Ohio
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