Why I Love To Coach

My father's love for the game of soccer is infectious! He shared that with me from my earliest days, having me start to kick a ball before I could walk. He was my first coach starting in kindergarten and coached me until my 7th grade year. Even after I played under new coaches, he continued to be my coach, training together in our backyard and working on foot skills, my 1v1, free kicks, and more. As my playing career came to an end I always knew I wanted to stay involved in the game that I loved so much and had such a passion for. When I finally started to coach in 2013, I joined as an assistant with the coach who taught me everything, my father. His knowledge and dedication to his players is truly amazing and the success that his players have had over the years is really motivating to me as I am now on my own coaching journey. Even now my father will be out and about and run into a player he had years ago, who is now an adult, and will remember their face and strike up a conversation with them to talk about their time together as coach and player. To me, it is really incredible to see the impact that a coach can have on their players. Not only are you able to help someone improve themselves in an athletic and sporting sense but you also have a unique opportunity to make an impact on their lives as a person as well. In the 6 years that I have been coaching I have now had the opportunity to work with U10, U14, and JV high school teams. Each were unique and had their challenges but they have all confirmed even further that this is what I love to do. I love being able to share what I have learned over my playing career and what I have learned as a coach with the new generations of players coming through. To see a proud smile on their face when they learn something new, to see the euphoria of scoring a winning goal, or when they experience a defeat and they learn from it and bounce back stronger...it is really something special. Now, as I am coaching along side my father as we build Academia de Fútbol Ventura together I look forward to all the players who we will help to find their own passion for the sport and hopefully one day, a few of them will go on to become coaches and continue the cycle.