United They Play
I've mentioned before that my daughter attends Friends Select School in Center City and is on the girls soccer team. A team that recently regained varsity status after a several year hiatus, They're Back.
My husband was reading the sports section today, lamenting the Phillies loss (more or less, sort of, since he's really a Dodger fan from way back), when he comes upon this article, with the smiling face of our daughter prominently featured:
The athletic director gazed across his desk. In his hands were the keys to one of the most unsuccessful girls' soccer programs in Southeastern Pennsylvania.Keith Pompey of the Inquirer glowingly describes the team, successful in its spirit while not so much in scores, in One for all - and all for one. Yet the desire is there:Opposite him sat a head coaching candidate who appeared unlikely to turn things around.
This candidate had never coached at the high school level. A graduate student at Temple University, she didn't even have the time to attend coaching clinics. And though a former high school and club soccer player, she was more known for her softball background.
"But I knew she was right for the job after the second question I asked her," Friends Select School athletic director Tim Litz said of Jen Carlo.
Litz questioned whether Carlo know the history of the Friends Select soccer program.
"She said, 'Yeah, I did research.' It struck a nerve with me," Litz said.
In Carlo, Litz hired a candidate unlike he had ever seen. She had a vested interest in seeing the girls' soccer program succeed.
"She has gone beyond what I expected," Litz said.
What Carlo has done is change the attitude of a program that had been the equivalent of an intramural team.
Still struggling in terms of wins and losses, the Falcons (1-6-1) now possess a sense of team unity that had been lacking in seasons past.
"I am teaching these girls life through soccer," said Carlo, who is determined to turn Friends Select into a winner in three seasons. "But it's about the way these girls can face adversity now, and still have the courage and desire to succeed."
Carlo has done more than introduce a weight-training program and new level of expectation in practice. The Falcons are ordered to participate in numerous team-building exercises.
Each senior is required to mentor a freshman teammate throughout the season. The seniors must e-mail Carlo progress reports about the rookies.
The coach also supplied the team copies of Go for the Goal: A Champions' Guide to Winning in Soccer and Life. The girls are required to read the book, which was authored by former U.S. women's national team star Mia Hamm.
Friends Select's biggest show of solidarity involved colorful stones and a pail.
At the start of the season, each player had to select a stone that she had to hold onto for the entire season. The players painted their jersey numbers on one of side of the stone. They had to write something inspirational on the other side.
All 26 players on the team put their thumbprints and initials on the outside of a pail.
"Prior to the games, the girls take out their stones and put them into a team pail to signify unity," Carlo said.
That stone may well be their team motto.
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