Sporting her navy blue Kappa soccer shorts and WAGS tournament t-shirt, first-year College student Dayna Koeninger laces up her cleats, drops her bag on the ground, grabs her water bottle and U.Va. soccer ball and heads onto the field. Koeninger is not a member of a soccer team here at the University. Rather, she is one of four student coaches for a youth soccer team, the Golden Eagles, in the Charlottesville area.
Although many students are involved with their own athletic teams, whether they be varsity, club or intramural, other students have taken their time and talents and put them toward trying their hand on the playing field sidelines.
Koeninger and first-year College students Jamie Talbot, Megan Downey and David Clark have teamed up to serve as coaches for the Soccer Organization of Charlottesville and Albemarle, a program offered through Madison House. The group is responsible for holding one-hour practices on Thursday afternoons as well as coaching games on Saturdays. They began their season in March and will have to return to the area for two final games after the end of the University school year.
"We all have busy schedules, but we make sure that at least two of us are there at every practice," Koeninger said. "It works out well though, because each of us brings a different flavor to the team."
The team is co-ed and consists of three girls and seven boys. Because it is a recreational team and the kids are young, a typical practice normally consists of passing and simplistic drills.
"After working with the kids for a while, we have found that they are able to handle simple drills that work on their awareness of passing to each other on the field and being assertive with the ball," Talbot said. "They aren't afraid to shoot it when they need to." Although the four coaches all work well together and provide the young athletes with varied perspectives on the game, they all became involved with the program for different reasons.
"I have participated in summer soccer camps for little kids for the past three years and been an assistant coach to a U-9 girls team," Koeninger said. "I can't play anymore myself due to injuries, so this is a great way to stay involved with a sport that I love."
Talbot, on the other hand, is using this opportunity to gain experience and is also beginning what he hopes to continue as a career after graduation.
"I want to be a teacher and soccer coach for the rest of my life, so I might as well start now," Talbot said.
After unsuccessfully attempting to become a coach for an older club team, Talbot talked with his high school coach, who knew of several programs throughout Charlottesville. They worked out the situation through Madison House; all that was involved was an application process and coaching orientation session.
The program, in addition to providing an outlet for students' soccer interest, also provides parents of local residents with a beneficial program for their children.
"The parents stay at all of the practices, but they let us do our own thing," Talbot said. "They are really supportive and appreciative of us because they realize that we are all college first years."
Third-year College student Themba Carr also is a student coach through Madison House, co-coaching a fourth grade girl's YMCA basketball team earlier this semester.
Like the first-year soccer coaches, Carr spent an hour each week at practice with the girls and attended games on Saturdays. She held a unique position, however, in relation to her players; she was in fourth grade herself when she started her own eight-year long basketball stint.
According to Carr, one of the challenges of coaching the young girls was taking herself back down to the level that she played in fourth grade.
"I had to make an effort to run drills that I knew the girls could handle. It was hard to get back to the remedial," Carr said.
Carr was assisted in her volunteer work by her co-coach, third-year College student Karen Partlow, and once again, found herself in a rare relationship.
Carr and Parlow were co-captains during their sophomore year of high school and shared their last season together playing.
"It is fun for us to relive our old memories," Carr said.
Despite the fact that Carr's team lost every game they played, the coaches' worries about the kids responses to their performance were calmed quickly.
"We were worried that they weren't going to have fun, but they loved it and had a great time," Carr said.
Along with volunteer opportunities, other students have found that coaching youth athletics is a great way to earn a few extra dollars throughout the year.
Second-year College student Allison Doughty began coaching the Charlottesville Gators swim team, a part of United States Swimming, by holding a paid position.
"This year when I came back to school, I decided that I needed a way to make some extra money," Doughty said. "I had coached swimming for four summers, so I figured that I would just try to get involved with it here as well."
In addition to the money factor, Doughty enjoys working with her kids. After spending seven hours a week with her swimmers, she has realized that she has gotten quite close to the older group of swimmers and loves the relationship she's developed with the teenagers.
"Before, I had never really worked with older swimmers, but now I love being with them," Doughty said.
According to Doughty, the kids always keep her amused with their astonished responses when she explains to them that she is only 20 years old and is not married.
Although some may scoff at the thought of student coaches, those involved are able to see the benefits of their work.
"I think it is a great set-up," Carr said. "It opens them up to the college experience and even though it is still really early, we can still make them aware of what school can do for them."
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