Jessica Lewis
For The New Era
Shari Smith, athletic director at the Sweet Home Boys and Girls Club, had a problem earlier this year.
So many first- and second-grade students were signing up to play indoor soccer that there weren’t enough coaches.
“We had more kids this year than normal,” Smith said. “We needed more teams.”
She said the numbers for that particular age group are up. “We have 90-plus kids signed up for coach-pitch (baseball and softball),” she said.
Smith contacted Al Grove, the boys soccer coach at Sweet Home High School, for help.
Grove called a meeting of boys and girls soccer team members in the Sweet Home High School library and asked students if they would be interested in signing up to coach. Seven students were.
Each high school student was assigned a team. Some coached with parents and some with other students.
Blake Roberts and Faith Helfrich, both juniors who have been playing soccer since the first grade, worked together coaching a team of eight players for the season, which ended last week.
“When you play, you usually only play one position and you know it,” Helfrich said. “Coaching, you have to know every position.”
Ruth Hernandez, a sophomore who has been playing soccer for two years, coached a team of nine on her own.
“You have a different perspective coaching than playing,” she said. “There’s a difference between watching them play and being out there on the field, and it’s much harder being a coach.
“I love watching them improve and the effort they put into it. I just had fun and I felt like I was a kid around that age too.
“I just had a really good time. They made me want to become more involved and it helped me really prepare for my career,” said Hernandez, who wants to work with children – perhaps as a teacher or social worker.
The other high school players who coached this season were Matt Grove, Mitch Grove, Sarah Nelson and Brady Severns.
The soccer teams practiced twice a week for two to three weeks, then played games twice a week, Helfrich said.
“My favorite part was probably when they comprehended something and you saw them doing it on the field,” she said.
Roberts, Helfrich and Hernandez all said that they enjoyed the experience and that if given the opportunity, they would probably coach again.
“I liked how you can influence the kids and just getting to hang out with them can be fun,” Roberts said, noting that there wasn’t anything about the experience that he didn’t enjoy. “Sure, you have to deal with the kids sometimes if they’re not happy, but it’s not too bad,” he said.
Smith said that the arrangement benefited both the coaches and players.
“It’s good for the high school kids and the little kids really look up to them,” she said.
“They did a really good job of coming to every practice with a plan and rotating kids in and out of the games. The parents were very happy with them.”
Grove said that coaching the Boys and Girls Club soccer teams has a lot of benefits for the high school students and was a great opportunity for them to give back to the community and build relationships with the first and second-grade students.
“I think it has been really good for the high school kids to work with younger kids to make a practice schedule and have the responsibility of being at practice and managing a group of first- and second-graders,” he said. “When you teach something you have to know it really well, so it helps (the high school players) learn more.”
Roberts said he enjoyed the fact that it was so evident that his players were having fun “because they really show it on the outside.
“It’s a good thing to do in your spare time,” he said of his coaching gig. “If you do it right, the kids will look up to you and you’ll be a good example.”