Well - I have to say that I am totally shocked at what I am going to write - after enjoying a great club coach - but I do think the coach should be a teacher. It is a school environment and it's a chance for a teacher to pick up a few extra dollars. Now - unfortunately for soccer - not too many teachers have ever played the game - so an outsider who was a player/coach would make an ideal assistant. Soccer isn't exempt from some of the egos involved with coaching - and a bad coach should be fired - no matter what the sport.

"One" of the reasons High school soccer will stay what it is, is because of the practice of "hiring one of there own". It should be about progressing the sport (not just soccer) instead of always caving in at union contract time and saying it must hire from within the ranks of the school. The good ole boy network that says a gym-history-subsitute teacher needs some extra money so find him something to coach has to end (but we all know it is not going to happen). Once a high school coach is in, in most cases, it is his to give it up, unless he does something really dumb. If they stay on the good side of the AD they have the job until retirement.

If LICENSED COACHES who know the game and how it has changed in the US in the last ten to fifteen years were hired for high school soccer it wouldn't have the reputation it has. (How many High School coaches you think have the most basic "E" license let alone a "B" or "A" license that even parent coaches must now have to coach a community team for teenage boys or girls)

The major sports, football and basketball, help give a school an identity. Minor sports, especially soccer, fall into the "Who cares" category when it comes to any sort of focus from administration. When have you seen an overflow crowd at a soccer game?
While those like Joe Trost do all they can to promote soccer, it's a European sport that's never going to get "major" attention. As long as the coach doesn't cause a controvery, no administrator is going to worry about the quality of their soccer program. It's just reality.

I think it is fair to go within the district first to find a coach, but I believe that that coach still needs to be "qualified" for the position. The next big question then is what does "qualified" mean? Previous HS coaching experience? Club coaching experience? Having a USSF or NSCAA coaching license? Are these all the things that the "good" high school coaches are known as having? I was at the IHSSCA coaching clinic this past weekend and there were plenty of coaches, both with years of experience, and those without that attended. But how do you determine the "good" from the "bad"? I agree you shouldn't just hire a science teacher to coach the soccer team, to just fill the spot, but I believe the times are also changing and there are many "qualified" teachers now in most districts (maybe not the school, but the districts) in which they can fill the positions, or at least those that are willing to learn and go to clinics like those to get better. Perhaps I am the optimist, but I think that IL HS soccer coaches who are just teachers and don't know what the heck they are talking about is getting over-saturated. Most now coach club in the offseason for extra money after teaching and continue to play on quality men's teams or have played college ball. You see a lot of big name HS players now from the late 90s in particular coming back to run programs at the HS level (particularly in the NW suburbs... Hamid Mehreioskouei from Schaumburg at Schaumburg, Sebastian Falinski from Conant at Dundee Crown, Brian Allen from Rolling Meadows at Crystal Lake South, Tim Harte from Conant at Conant (assistant), Lindsay Moore from Libertyville at Vernon Hills (assistant); just to name a few.

Good Question Mr. Trost!

High school sports recieve so much attention these days, perhaps too much. They are extra-curricular activities to support a student's EDUCATION. The coaches should be teachers. All elementary and high school coaches should be teachers. Playing soccer (or football or basketball...) is a game, not a job. We as a society must return ot that mindset. Once these 'kids' grow up and become adults, then it can become their job. For now, school is their job and a high school teacher should be their coach.

Phil

Yes,
However, do all former players necessarily mean that they are good coaches? I agree that we are losing sight of the purpose of HS sports, to teach teamwork and make that sport, soccer included, to be fun, but other points are also well taken where, sadly, there are administrators who simply want coaches who will do the least amount of damage to the program (and stay out of trouble) and also coaches who will provide them with the least amount of work in regards to scheduling and ideas, etc. Here is an interesting question for you Joe and one I'd love your thoughts on... should athletic directors be allowed to coach in addition to their role as an AD?... or is this partially the reason for all of soccer's concerns in Illinois?

TROST RESPONDS: I have always believed that a director of a department should not be allowed to coach, because at the end of the day - you can't promise that all sports will be treated equal. You hope they are, but there is no promise.

Sorry guys. If a sport is just an extracurricular activity (read not important) and the coaching doesn't matter. Then are we teaching that some things are important and some are not. I wont go there. As I see it everything is important, if you take up anything souldn't you do it well? If you teach to prepare for and excell in effort, shouldn't the school do the same? Bad coaching teaches mediocrity! Let the cream rise to the top. Teach that preparedness starts at the conception. Soccer non-lovers do not care. Soccer lovers do care. Put a coach that never playefootball in charge of a football team. They would care.

Joe-
Believe it or not, soccer may be ahead in the coaching game when it comes to all sports. You see, soccer is one of the few sports that have licenses (USSF - NSCAA) to determine how much knowledge and time a coach has put into his mastery of the game - Football doesn't - basketball? nope... baseball - not there either. Perhaps if the big three would have some of the filtering built into its coaching system like soccer, high schools could do a better job getting its teachers to get the training needed to be highly qualified in the sport they coach. This way - no athlete can be left behind.

Joe...that's a very tough question. Many high schools have been extremely lucky to have had high end high school coaches, ie; Danes with Viators, Nesci with Geneva, Begley with Hinsdale South...just to name a few. My daughter has played club her entire career and is now in her senior year as a hs player...her current coach is a math teacher and an ex-college player. With the past experiences that we have had through club soccer, I would rate this hs teacher/coach at or near the top of the list as qualified and knowledgeable.