Soccer coaches are the glue that bonds the team together.
The coach trains and teaches techniques and shows players how to execute strategies to succeed on the pitch. Mark Davis is that person for the men’s and women’s soccer teams at Salt Lake Community College.
“Teaching young adults my set of techniques and drills will further enhance their abilities to play right and correct,” Davis says Mark Davis, the head men’s and women’s soccer coach at Salt Lake Community College.
Davis’s passion for the game has evolved as he ages.
“I [have] loved playing soccer since I was a young kid, but as I get older, I have this feeling to teach as many kids as I can the way of soccer,” Davis says.
Coaching a team requires plenty of time and dedication to learn the rules and make strategies. To recruit the right talent, coaches have their own ways of finding players.
“I am looking for the spark in these kids — not if they want to play, but have the motivation to play, while also having a goal in mind,” Davis says.
In order for his soccer teams to compete on a national level, Davis sets a lofty standard.
Gabriel Sanchez, a player on the men’s soccer team in 2018, says, “I love soccer, but when I want to play, the coach always makes me repeat what I said three or more times, which makes me upset, and in the end, I barely play.”
As a player for the Bruin soccer team, Sanchez feels a bit left out because of the coach’s way of showing him and everyone else how he handles the team matches.
Despite these challenges, it feels good when the success matches the expectations.
“My team is just great, they’re all really positive about everything, even if we lost one or two games … even if I didn’t get to play much, I was celebrating with my team,” Sanchez says.
In the end, soccer is a competitive sport where players need quite a lot of foundations to make it to college level or higher. To get onto the SLCC soccer team, students must first complete a recruit form, describing their background and personal records. Coaches will then send out invitations for an evaluation of a player’s skills to see if they are fit to be on the SLCC Soccer Team.
The 2019 soccer season began with the Blue vs. White scrimmage on Aug. 3. The women play their first match Aug. 13 against Idaho State University, while the men play Aug. 17 at Colorado Mesa University.
