The Board received an email from one of our younger team coaches regarding the last-minute formation of a competitive team to support the Kick For a Cure tournament this past weekend. We thought it would be good to share with our membership since it illustrates what the club is about and a reflects the strengths of our player development, community philsophy, and depth of coaching.
From Jeff Scott, SDSC GU9 Coach: [content added for clarification]
"Friday night I got a text around 6:00 PM from Raffi [Ruotolo] telling me that he needed to fill a bracket for his Kick For a Cure tournament. He mentioned that Anya [Bohun-Chudymiv] had some kids and wondered if I could loan her some of mine. Then I found out this was for a GU-10 (next year’s GU-11) age group that plays 11 a side, and that some of Mike Gentry’s and Kenny Daum’s kids would be playing too. After a couple e-mails and phone calls it became clear that we would possibly have enough kids but that Anya couldn’t coach them and neither could Mike, Kenny or myself. I called Steve Camara and asked if he could fill in for the 1st game at 12:40 and told him I could take the 2nd game, even though we both had plans. He agreed. By Saturday morning we had 19 kids who could make one game or another from four (4) different teams in three (3) different age groups. My kids and Anya’s kids would be playing not only up a year or two but playing 11 a side for the first time in their lives.
The first game ended up being a forfeit, as Steve had to loan the other team players just to play (that team had a full roster for its other games). The girls played wonderfully. They scored five goals and didn’t concede, although it went in the books as a 1-0 result. I showed up at 5:00 to see them play a good Scripps Ranch team. We had some new faces from the morning and some kids weren’t able to come back but we dominated without scoring and tied 0-0. I had church this morning so once again Steve stepped up to the plate and incorporating new players still he managed a comfortable 1-0 victory over Avengers setting up a final showdown with that same Scripps Ranch team. I hustled over to the field and helped Steve coach the girls to a 3-1 victory and the tournament championship.
These girls were amazing, playing with kids they didn’t know, coaches they had barely met, on a field they had never seen, in a formation none of them were familiar with. These parents were so unselfish to give up their weekends at a moment’s notice. Special praise needs to go to Lisa Brown who did an amazing job getting all these kids on the roster and outfitted in uniforms. Our kids played with style and skill, dominating possession while staying organized. We out-passed and out-worked these other teams, and it is a testament to all the coaches these kids play for that Steve and I were able to seamlessly fit them together, get them all equivalent playing team (we sacrificed no one child for the sake of winning games), and see them laugh and have fun as a group. There was no thought of “this team’s kids” or “those younger kids”. It was just SDSC kids and families enjoying the weekend. In all the years I have coached it was one of the best moments I have been able to experience. I appreciate the opportunity to coach in this club and look forward to continuing to create a special family here in the San Diego Soccer Club."
