Rockets • 2013-2023
On October 28, I wrapped up and retired from my coaching duties with the Rosemont Rockets soccer team.
For 8 years, Oliver and I were a coach-player duo.
We weren’t particularly successful in the W-L sense. We probably did slightly better than breaking even. Some seasons were pretty good in that respect, and one or two seasons were quite awful. But mostly we won at least as many as we lost. There were two seasons in which we won our division.
More importantly, however, was...well, how do I put this. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to spend that time, in that way, with Oliver and with many of his teammates. There were a few lads that were on the team for as many or nearly as many years as Oliver and I.
It was a subtle bonding experience that allowed me time to spend with Oliver in a focused way, participating in an activity that we both enjoyed, and hopefully built good habits and learned valuable lessons.
I enjoyed being on the sidelines each Saturday–while admitting that the losing Saturdays could be quite unpleasant, but how do you enjoy the ups if there are no downs?–with my little rotation chart and clipboard, many times watching more than actively coaching. It wasn’t necessarily a feeling of “power” per se, but it felt rewarding to be leading those young players and putting myself in front of them and their supporters with a sense of purpose, however modest.
It was a lot of work and sometimes those players made me so mad I could spit; there was at least one season about halfway through my tenure that I thought I was done coaching for sure and I was often glad by the end of the season that it was the end of the season. But, if I may toot my own horn, that’s maybe the definition of perseverance and acknowledging the whole “take the bad with the good,” reality.
Oliver was a pretty good player, too. He was usually focused and serious about his role. I cannot remember a time, or a general attitude towards the game, when I had to force him to practice or get dressed for a Saturday morning game. He wasn’t obsessed with soccer but he (we) enjoyed it enough to make the effort every season for 8+ years.* As further proof of his commitment, he missed pretty much the entirety of the 2022 season with a broken arm but still came to dang near every practice and game to support his team.
He wasn’t usually the fastest or strongest on the pitch, but he was usually the smartest. He could see the “run of play,” he could anticipate, and he could do his job with great effectiveness in the position he had. There was at least one season he played up top where he was an effective goal scorer. But mostly he played defensive winger and was rarely beat.
We went into this year knowing that it was likely to be our last. We almost didn’t have a team because most of the Rockets are U16. But we decided to play up in the U19 age group, became a co-ed team, and hoped for the best. There was definitely some anxiety and low expectations about playing in that age group on my part. Additionally, Oliver decided to join his high school cross country team this year, and they not only practiced every day after school, had meets every Saturday morning on practically the same schedule as the soccer season.
But we made it work, approached this year with the realization that it was going to be our last together and ended on a high note by winning our division.
On three, “Go Rockets!” 1...2...3...
[*To keep the record straight, Oliver started playing soccer, microsoccer they call it, in 2012 on a team called the Stingrays. I coached him in 2013, also microsoccer, and then he played for one year on a U8 team called the Rhinos. That was 2014. I took up the whistle and clipboard again in 2015. Oh, and of course, the season was cancelled in 2020.]
