The girls’ thirds soccer coaches strategize on Ayres field.
This week, reporter Grace Stapelberg ’20 sat down with the Head Coach and Assistant Coach of girls’ thirds soccer, Mr. Deron Chang and Mrs. Kristin Chin, respectively. They reflected on their overall coaching experience and on notable memories with the team.
Grace Stapelberg ’20: What’s it like coaching with (the other)?
Kristin Chin: Coaching with Chang is great. He’s super organized, very knowledgeable, and has a great ability to interact with the girls on the team. He makes it very fun but educational at the same time.
Deron Chang: I think the key element with Chin is that we clearly connect well with each other, and that helps the girls a lot on the field. The other thing is that I can tell Chin, “Oh, this is what we’re doing,” and she’ll know exactly what I mean without me having to explain it.
GS: Are there any coaching memories that stick out to you?
Chang: Two seasons ago, I think we won two games. For one of those I wasn’t actually coaching. It was Chin and the Headmaster, and that’s why we won.
Chin: The Headmaster loves coming to our games, and the girls play better when he’s there.
Chang: We’ve had so many little moments, as well.
Chin: What about when Larissa [Owusu ’17] tripped over the ball and fell on the ground?
Chang: There are so many Larissa moments, where she would have breakaways and then fall.
Chin: And we would just laugh. One time, somebody else scored a goal off of Larissa’s falling and we missed it because we were laughing on the ground.
Chang: And last weekend, we were playing… Who?
Chin: Andover.
Chang: Oh yeah, that small school. So an Andover midfielder had just released a ball deep into our zone. Our stopper and our sweeper were back there, and the ball was not coming at a high rate of speed. Our stopper ran up to kick it [Chin and Chang laugh] and she missed. She completely missed. Then our sweeper came up and also missed. [Both laugh again.] Then an Andover wing came up from behind and scored. It was the most painful thing, and the parents were all like: “Oh! OH!” You know, they got the double groan going! That one is going to be hard for me to forget.
GS: How would you describe your coaching technique?
Chang: Technique? You know, clearly, our goal is not to win because otherwise, we would have been fired long ago. Our goal is just to teach them how to be better players than they were when they first stepped onto the field. There’s a lot of room for improvement for kids who haven’t played the game before, and I think that is what’s so fundamentally satisfying to us as coaches and also to the girls who get to see themselves improve.
GS: What characteristics do you think a player on your team should have?
Chin: They really just need to be willing to learn, to try new things, and to be part of a team. That’s it.
Chang: Another thing I just want to mention: Chin and I are at a new field this year that we don’t want to leave because it is such a beautiful field. It’s close to the X and everything. If you put this in the article, it will be harder for them to kick us out next year. Just wanted to add that.
