First Round Winners

I started playing soccer when I was four - 21 years later, I guess I'm pretty good. As a teenager, I played on our club's Division I Gold team - we won State Cup when I was 16. Soccer was a huge deal where I lived. Parents shelled out tons of money to enroll their kids in our club. We had trainers from all different parts of the globe, all with strange accents, pushing us to become real footballers.

When I was offered a chance to coach my own high school soccer team, I was floored. The school I would coach at was about an hour away from where I grew up; the town is Manvel, Texas. It's so small, that I actually missed the highway exit my first drive there. Let's just say I was in for an unusual awakening.

I received a letter from the previous coach telling me not to expect too much - she said the heart is there, but the talent minimal. Minimal compared to what? I thought. Would that be like a Super Blue player (1 step below gold)? The first time I saw their club team play, I had some serious reservations about my expectations and what I had gotten myself into.

Their club team played in a cow pasture! Where were the carefully manicured fields, the foreign trainers barking in their funny accents, and most importantly, where was the skill level and refinement I was used to seeing? Little did I know, the talent and heart were there, waiting to be unleashed.

During my first day as a high school coach, I was told on several occasions that Manvel was not a soccer hot spot - the town belonged to football (of course, it is Texas), softball, and baseball.

I was determined to change that. As headstrong and motivated as I believe myself to be, it was not I who accomplished that, it was my soccer girls.

I have been privileged and blessed to work with the most unbelievable young ladies anywhere. We worked together these past three years to achieve extraordinary things. They have broken the stipulation that Manvel is not a soccer town.

Every season our team has progressed: we've earned more wins, beaten stronger teams, and advanced to the regional quarterfinal in the state playoffs.

But that's only what defines us on paper. It's our proud motto and core of beliefs that outlines the girls' soccer program.

Our headlining pillar: Succisa Virescit - in Latin, it translates to, "Chop me down, I grow back stronger." Before our 2010 season started, I challenged the team to come up with a defining concept, something we could rally around and define ourselves by. Of course they would pick something I couldn't pronounce! But it worked - whatever obstacles we encountered, we always went back to this phrase.

We turned every negative into a positive: we lose senior starters, we gain five talented freshmen; our starting goalkeeper breaks her leg, a freshman goalie steps up; a player breaks her tailbone, she plays for the rest of the season; our District Offensive MVP strains her quad, she plays the rest of the season, and so on, so on. You get the idea - soccer is one of the toughest sports; we take hits with less padding, we sprint up and down a field nonstop for 80 minutes, and more often than not come out with colorful bruises and contusions that we display with pride. It didn't matter what we were dealt this season, because we dealt with it. That's what teams do - they either come together or they fall. We came together against everything.

Another defining pillar of our team is service - we promote service to the community and school. Our team has volunteered at an elementary school's fall carnival, raised money for Manvel CARES (Community and Athletes Raising Expectations through Service), and every Thursday, right after breakfast is over and the bell rings for first period, we clean the cafeteria to give our hard-working cafeteria staff a breather.

My soccer girls are the epitome of what it means to be selfless.

No one could ask for better kids, on the field or in the classroom. We push to maintain strong academics and positive student-teacher relationships. Our players hold the respect of their peers, teachers, and administrators. I tell the girls to be models of good students, and they are. I can't count the number of compliments I have received about them from other teachers. We have made this a respected program at Manvel High School.

If our program is this great, why would we even need this grant, some may ask? Well, while we've worked hard to turn Manvel into a soccer-friendly zone, financially it is still difficult to get the support we need. Every year I spend my budget to the penny to get my girls the best equipment possible. We do several fundraisers as well, but it is never enough. Every season I think, I should have purchased this, or I should have bought that. Soccer is a money sport - equipment is expensive, and you need a lot of it!

The truth is, there is nothing my girls do not deserve. They work harder than anyone or any team I know, and it's high time they're recognized for their accomplishments.

If we win this grant, it could do wonders for our program. It could turn "cow pastures" into soccer fields. If we don't however, we will still be great. Succisa Virescit, right?

Our team: http://www.alvinisd.net/education/components/album/default.php?sectionde...