I Want More

A couple of months ago, I was living in Preston, England and coaching for Preston North End Women´s Football Club in the Northern Premier League.  About a week before I was to return to the States, I was walking home from Preston to Bamber Bridge, about two and a half miles of walking path built on a disused tram-way.  It was about one in the morning on a clear cold night and I paused to watch the train on the tracks about a mile west of me, cross the River Ribble and slow into Preston Station, making one its last stops before Scotland.

I felt the damp cold on me, thought about the good fortune of working with a great manager, a talented squad, and to be surrounded by people who love and respect me.  I said out loud, ¨If this is my high water mark, I can live with that.¨

But now as I write this at my desk, hearing the train pull into the Greensburg, Pennsylvania station on its first stop of the morning on its daily journey to New York, I want more.  I want to take what I´ve learned coaching first team, senior football, in one of the top women´s league in the world, and apply those lessons to help make the youth players I work with better.  I want to achieve more, put a player on a national team again, make it to the professional level, win more.

So this blog is about applying the lessons from the top of the game to a youth setting.  This spring, I´ve worked with three different soccer centers in four locations, with players from U8 to U14.  This summer, we will try and assemble a U14 girls team to compete at the Classic/Cup level and see what we can accomplish.  I am still on the books as Development Consultant at Preston North End WFC, and we will look to overcome the technical issues for me to contribute video analysis to the squad.  And finally, I am working to establish a relationship with Corby Town FC with match and video analysis, and try to help them push on from Conference North to the Blue Square Premier.

Now that I have had a taste of the game coached, managed, played, done properly, I want more.  I have a lot more to give, and I think there is much more for me to acheive.