In the summer of 2014, I was asked if I would like to help coach a new team that was being formed by the Special Olympics and the LA Galaxy.
I had just finished teaching summer school and was looking forward to a vacation before starting the new school year. However, this team was something that I knew I wanted to be a part of, and I couldn’t pass the opportunity. It’s been four years, and we’re starting our fifth year with another great team, and I’m thankful that I get to coach such beautiful people.
People who know that I’m a coach on this team have told me that I’m lucky to be able to coach this team because of the places we’ve traveled to, or the people we have had the privilege to meet, or all the Galaxy gear we’ve been given. Yes, all those things are great I respond, but that’s not why I coach. Coaching the L.A. Galaxy Special Olympic Unified Team has allowed me the chance to give much more than I ever knew I had, and in turn, have been given more than ever expected.
Playing “Unified” is a motto that I strongly believe in and is one of the motivations behind my decision to coach. To “play unified” provides people with a disability (athlete) and those without a disability (partner), the opportunity to play alongside one another on the same field. I coach, to promote all the aspects that come along with playing unified, such as equality, creating friendships, role models, and providing opportunities for the athletes and the partners that they otherwise might not have.
The friendships that are made on these teams are incredible to witness. Friendships that lead to partners picking up the athletes on the weekends to exercise together or asking an athlete to play on their recreational soccer team. I coach to be able to coach “play unified.”
For the past couple of years, before every game, I’ve told the team to play the “LA Galaxy way.” We play as a team, compete while maintaining an elevated level of sportsmanship, respect everyone on the field, and play hard while having fun. Winning is always good to achieve, and as a coach, I’m happy for my players when we do win, however, our team is more than just about winning. Whether we win or lose, we will play our way, and that’s important for me to try and instill in our players. I coach to make sure this team plays the “LA Galaxy way.”
Coaching this team has become a very special and important part of my life. We have even branched off and started a second Special Olympic team that competes during the Galaxy offseason. The relationships that I’ve developed with the players and coaches are something that I cherish. I’ve grown close to many players and their families, and have many fond memories of them.
One of my favorite memories was when I had the privilege of taking two players to the MLS All-Star Game in Chicago to represent our LA Galaxy S.O. Unified Team. These two amazing young men impressed everyone they met and represented our team with highest regards. The experiences that we shared on that trip, I will remember forever.
Coaching also affords me the opportunity to work alongside many great people. Everyone from the Galaxy staff, Special Olympics staff, friends, and even family, without them I know my experiences here would not be anywhere near amazing. I coach for the relationships that I’m able to make with wonderful people.
As a kid growing up I never played soccer; I fell in love with the game as an adult and coaching allow me to pass on my love for the game. I enjoy teaching the sport of soccer, watching the players develop their skills, witness the growth of the team playing as one unit, and watching the strategies and skills that we practice translate to the game.
We have players that have played on this team for many years and watching their skills develop from when we first met them till now is incredible. Defenders that didn’t know the correct angle to take, to them starting on defense for four years. A shy and timid goalkeeper in year one, with a goalkeeper diving for balls and blocking penalty shots to win the game. Finally, a quiet, soft-spoken striker who hadn’t made a goal in practice, scoring from midfield and getting mobbed by his teammates in adulation.
It’s those moments in a player’s career that makes coaching such a fulfilling job. I coach for the love of the game and what it bestows upon my players.
Coaching the LA Galaxy Special Olympics Unified soccer team has given me more than I can express. Making sure that I give back more to these players than I receive is what I strive for.
There is so much in being a good coach, being a positive role model, parental figure, teacher, friend, supporter, etc. I attempt to be all those for the players on this team; it’s what I signed up for. I write this as I sit in my office in front of my “Galaxy Wall.” It’s a wall that is made up of medals, team pictures, memorabilia, and great memories from the past four years. I look to it for inspiration, reflection, and on tough days when I need my spirits raised.
It reminds me now of my favorite team memory, immediately following our road victory in Dallas. As we were walking off the field, I noticed the remaining audience members in stands running down to get the autographs from our players.
Parents holding their children over the side of the railings, to get a chance to high five our players. Children calling out our players names for an autograph, and our players with smiles on their faces as they granted those pictures and autographs. A little girl runs back to her mom with excitement and jubilation screaming, “I got her autograph mom.”
The only thing I could do is stand there and watch. This overwhelming sense of fulfillment filled my heart more so than the victory that we had just achieved.
That’s why I coach.
