Celebrating our Passion for Soccer
Posted by: Andrew Kewley | Colorado Rapids Youth Soccer Club Director of Coaching
Like many of you, my passion is the game of soccer. I love everything about it; the tactics of the game, the techniques (and concentration) the game asks a player to perform to solve problems, the movements and athletic qualities required to play the game (at all ages and abilities) and the social bonds and ties the game creates. In particular, I love sharing this with other people as it was once shared with me. I believe this is why I have found myself in the game still long beyond my playing years. I am truly honored to have the ability to teach and share this game with so many people from such diverse backgrounds.
From day one, soccer was around me and was an ever-present in my life. My father was a professional soccer player, and eventually a coach, so some of my first and fondest memories are from the soccer field. My father first started his career playing for Liverpool FC in England, eventually moving to the U.S. in the first foreign wave of players that came to play in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The NASL is essentially MLS’ older brother. Over the course of the next 15 years as a player, his career took him from the Dallas Tornados to the Wichita Wings of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) . The MISL was a high octane, well marketed, version of full sided soccer, and was really responsible for bringing soccer to the country as it had a mix of teams in big markets on the two coasts along with a lot of small market teams in the Midwest. The MISL was also responsible for getting this country through a barren soccer period between the 1980s through the early 90s. It was the only viable professional league in the country after the collapse of the NASL. This eventually led to the creation of the MLS and why we are all here at the Rapids today.
My experiences as a player, as a coach and as a fan of the game is what I hope to share with you as the reader. Why I give you a brief background is so you understand why I care and am passionate about the game and what drives the topics I am speaking about in my blog.
Before I leave you in this first post I would like to share a video with you on Liverpool’s current manager Jurgen Klopp. Whether you are a coach, player or fan, you will enjoy this video. The passion Jurgen brings to his work and the experiences that have shaped him into arguably one of the top soccer managers in the world is amazing. He speaks on so many things that are important to us here at the Rapids such as leadership, team work, responsibility, sportsmanship, winning, work ethic, etc. These core values drive everything we do at the Club. In the coming posts I will show you how we are using these core values to shape our players, teach our coaches and build what we believe is going to be the model club in the country.
