Coach of the Month
Dear Chris,
You have been chosen at this month’s Idaho Youth Soccer Association Player of the Month! Congrats! Below are a few questions we would like you to answer so we can get a better idea of who you are as a person and a player. We will be posting an article about you on our website for the entire month of January!
*Please answer the following questions and feel free to elaborate as much as you’d like! Space is not an issue:
-What team/teams do your currently coach?
I am a coach on the CGA Staff and work primarily with the ’02-’03 girls team. I also work with the goalkeepers in the club and community.
-What coaching licenses do you have? What is your coaching experience?
I have my U.S. Soccer D, C, B, and A licenses and my U.S. Soccer National Youth license. I’ve been a coach since I was 16 (coaching gymnastics and soccer), but have coached soccer professionally since 2001. I have coached collegiate soccer primarily, but have been involved in clubs that entire time as well.
-What experience do you have as a player?
I played collegiate soccer at Miami University in Ohio and then completed my eligibility at Houston Baptist University in Houston, TX. I played very briefly in Mexico in a lower division league and then played semi pro and professional indoor soccer for most of my career. I still play pick up and indoor soccer whenever opportunity and my schedule (and my body) allow me.
-What is your most memorable soccer experience as a coach?
I have had SO MANY amazing experiences that it’s really difficult to narrow it down to just one moment….But, coaching against one of my playing and coaching idols, Jan Van Beveren would have to be one of them. He was an amazing player, but an absolutely spectacular coach to his players. It was an honor to compete against him and I cherish the experience.
-What is your favorite team(s)/player(s)?
I grew up before there was much soccer on TV, but the radio station at the university where I grew up (Texas Tech in Lubbock, TX) would play a radio broadcast of the past weekend’s game on Wednesdays and I would listen to that whenever I could. For whatever reason, the person in charge almost always played the broadcast of the West Brom games. So, I’ve been a West Brom Albion supporter ever since. But, in terms of players, I was a goalkeeper, so I tend to support GK’s. I love the way Neuer plays and what he’s done to modernize the position. But, I was a huge fan of Fabien Bartez…he was a bit smaller (like I was) and unorthodox (like me), so it was easy to be a fan.
-Who is your mentor/hero and why?
I have three mentors: My gymnastics coaches (Wayne and Marilyn Downing) who instilled in me a love of learning in sport independent of results. They taught me discipline as an athlete and, more importantly, taught me to consider the needs of the athletes ahead of any kind of result or award. My first collegiate job head coach, Felix Oskam, is probably the best human being I know and from him I learned how to care for individual athletes in the mix of a team. Finally, Rich Hartis, who is with the England U17’s now, is by a wide margin the best soccer coach I’ve ever known. His ability to relate to his athletes and to make the information he’s sharing clear and understandable combined with his insane knowledge about the game make him an absolutely amazing coach to be around. All of my mentors are generous, athlete centered people who were kind enough to share their time, energy, and knowledge with me.
-What is your favorite quote?
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye” – Antione Du Saint Exupery, The Little Prince
-Tell us a random fun fact about you. (Ex: I can sing the alphabet backwards)
Hmmmmm….I still do handstands in WalMart to embarrass my children
Please attach/send a favorite photo of yourself along with this completed form towithin one week.
Congratulations again on being chosen as this month’s Coach of the Month! We will notify you when we have your article posted to our website: