Congratulations to Larry Dunn, D.C. United's September Coach of the Month!

It was 1974 when I was asked to help with my eight year-old's team who did not have a coach. Since then I have coached teams in the age groups of 1966 boys, 1977 boys, 1982 boys, 1984 girls, 1987 girls, 1988 boys, 1990 boys, 1992 boys, 1993 boys, 1994 boys and 1998 boys. In six of those age groups I had the pleasure of attempting to teach my own children. As a young father, when I first started, I was as obnoxious as one could be. Eventually I quit coaching because even I could not stand they way I treated my own son. It was my obnoxiousness and the way I treated my oldest son that led to the spectator and coaches' code of conduct we now use at Team America and that was adopted by the NCSL.

However it was not until after I joined the Northern Virginia coaches' league and began playing weekly that I realized how ignorant I really was. I decided to learn how to coach young people correctly and the learning process began. Since I advised all of my children to play soccer until they were in to their puberty years I felt it was important that I take the courses to properly learn how to help children learn, grow and have fun using soccer as the tool. Many years ago I secured my D license but the real learning came from the players themselves and attending training sessions through the national organizations like NSCAA, USYS, US Club soccer and professional teams like DC United and the Washington Diplomats for the old NASL.

Much thanks for what I have learned and what I am able to do now goes to the many children that I have had the opportunity to teach and learn from over these 32 years, especially from my own children. Each of them was quite different than the other and each from a different time in soccer. My oldest taught me what not to do. My second oldest son allowed me to implement what I had learned in the classroom. His age group was Team America 77 a team that won four state cups and probably 90% of their games played. From this team I learned more about long-term player development. Some of the most useful teach techniques I learned came form my Team America 88 son's team. There I was able to realize that an individual players intellectual, emotional and physical balance was critical to their development. It wasn't until I started teaching my youngest sons Team America 93 that I was finally able to bring the pieces of learning, growing and having fun at the players pace into real focus. Now that is where the fun is as a volunteer coach, watching the light turn on in a player after years of patience and encouragement. The diamond does eventually shine in all children at some time if they are given the chance to learn, and grow at their own pace.

At Team America we do not hold tryouts for our teams the way many clubs do. When players comes to us, the questions asked are, do you love to play with the ball and do you want to go to college. If they love the ball then we try to find a place for them When they are 8 years old college is not yet part of their dreams but that is when we start talking about making college one of their choices. I believe that our job is to help these young people not just follow their dreams but to help develop the possibility of dreams while making the soccer ball their drug of choice. We do that by teaching the skills necessary to enjoy the ball and the confidence to play with it. We teach them that mistakes are part of the process and not to fear making them. We teach young players that the worst thing that happens when you make a mistake is the other team scores, but the best thing is that you learn how to win as an individual. We teach only individual play through the age of 12 and then start teaching team play. This individual development process causes us to lose games but win the individual competitions. After age 12 then players are expected to have the skills to learn to win as a team.

One of my greatest thrills in soccer came from my oldest son, who in spite of my obnoxious behavior when he was young, became a coach who won two regional championships and took our 1980 girls to the USYS nationals. Seeing that and seeing other players I have taught become coaches is what really makes this volunteer work worth every moment. One out of a thousand players might play this game past college but 999 out of 1000 will have the opportunity to become parents and coaches. Therefore our real job is to prepare them to become parents and coaches by the experience we give them and the lessons we teach. Winning is not everything but the effort to win is everything and the effort includes the preparation for good decision-making in life. Currently I am the volunteer coach for Team America 93 and Team America 94 as well as the volunteer teacher for Team America 98. That is a seven day a week opportunity that keeps me involved and young at heart.

If you know a coach that you would like to see as our next Coach of the Month, drop us a line and tell us why you think they deserve to win.

To nominate a fellow colleague for the August Coach of the Month, send an e-mail here. In your e-mail, be sure to tell us why your nominee should be selected for this award.