I've spent years on the side lines watching my son play soccer. He started out when he was five and I volunteered with the recreation department in our home town. It was fun and a definite learning experience for someone who knew NOTHING about soccer! The first thing I learned was how in over my head I was but I persevered.
From the moment he stepped on the pitch he loved it and he came back year after year, deciding soccer was his whole life. Fast forward a few years to when he was 11 and he decided to give up all other sports and focus on soccer only. He decided at that age his goal was playing in college. We did what any insane parent would do trying to be supportive of an 11 year old's dreams and we signed up for travel soccer.
I just thought I was in over my head with recreational soccer. Travel soccer was a whole different ball game. Before we signed up I had heard some things about the coach and the club and knew just enough to be completely and utterly intimated. But like any good parent, I started volunteering to help the first year. As time went on and I volunteered more and more I fell in love with not just watching my son play the game he held so much passion for but the sport itself.
I spent the next 7 years learning everything I could, trying to help the club wherever I could, eventually joining their board of directors. The time I spent as the team manager of the competitive program and on the board of directors solidified my passion for soccer. It wasn't just soccer I loved though. It was the bond you make with the kids and parents that you interact so much with. It was the desire to help these kids play in the here and now but offering encouragement to take the sport further than club soccer. Watching these kids as they grew, up and developed their soccer skills further, learned how to deal with adversity, celebrated their wins and being there to encourage them after their loses was an honor.
As time went on and I volunteered more and became involved in other aspects of the soccer club I knew one thing for sure: I wanted to do this forever, long after my son went off to college. As the second half of his senior year came around it became clear staying on with the club he was leaving wasn't an option for me but I knew I wanted to continue to work with and help kids with a passion for the game.
When my relationship with the club I volunteered with ended, it took less than 10 minutes for me to decide I was going to start my own club and I registered CMH Soccer Club and applied for non-profit status.
And here we are, CMH Soccer, officially up and running and looking forward to encouraging players to take this game and do something with it; to challenge themselves and show themselves soccer can be more than just something you do for fun at school.
Soccer can take you anywhere you want to go....
Комментарии