- April 29, 2024
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Flagler Palm Coast's Samantha Jennings and Taylor's Aaliyah Galarza battle for the ball during a drill at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
Ava Castro (center) smiles as she waits with fellow soccer players to run through another drill at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
Ava Castro (left) and Vannessa Renteria battle for the ball during one of the drills at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
Flagler Palm Coast assistant soccer coach Cat Bradley observes the drills at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
Eastern Florida State College women's soccer head coach Scott Carswell (right) and assistant coach Eddie Raleigh (left) pose with Flagler Palm Coast and Taylor High School players on the last day of the FACA soccer clinic at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex. Photo by Michele Meyers
Flagler Palm Coast girls soccer head coach Pete Hald (left) and Eastern Florida State College women's soccer head coach Scott Carswell speak to the coaches after the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
FPC player Miranda Spencer goes for the pass during a demonstration game at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
Flagler Palm Coast players Katherine Ouellette (left) and Ivy Chen go for it during a drill at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
Flagler Palm Coast soccer players Sam Jennings, Ivy Chen, Heidi Michaels and assistant coach Cat Bradley. Photo by Michele Meyers
Eastern Florida State College women's soccer head coach Scott Carswell goes over the next drill with Flagler Palm Coast and Taylor High School players on the last day of the FACA soccer clinic at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex. Photo by Michele Meyers
Hollywood Hills High School boys soccer coach Mark Dieujuste takes notes as Eastern Florida State College coach Scott Carswell talks at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
Flagler Palm Coast soccer player Heidi Michaels gets to use her hands during a demonstration game at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
Taylor High School's Hannah Renteria laughs as she grabs the ball in mid air as Flagler Palm Coast's Savannah O'Grady runs away with the jersey during a game at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
Eastern Florida State College women's soccer head coach Scott Carswell prepares for the next drill on the last day of the FACA soccer clinic at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex. Photo by Michele Meyers
Flagler Palm Coast player Ivy chen shoots against teammate Miranda Spencer at the FACA soccer clinic. Photo by Michele Meyers
High school soccer coaches gathered for the annual Florida Athletic Coaches Association girls soccer clinic on Monday, June 26, for three days of indoor and outdoor sessions covering various aspects of coaching a soccer team.
The Shores Resort & Spa located in Daytona Beach Shores was the host hotel for the event where the coaches could attend business lectures for half of the event prior to heading to the Ormond Beach Sports Complex for skills training and demonstrations.
According to the FACA website, the association was founded in 1936 by a group of head coaches in the member schools of the Big Ten Athletic Conference. It was designed to support high school coaches in every sport by offering educational information geared toward the business of coaching a team, sport specific training and liability insurance. The organization currently has approximately 8,000 members.
Flagler Palm Coast High School’s girls soccer coach Peter Hald has been a member of the FACA for 33 years. For 10 of those years, he was the north regional coordinator and for the past three years, he has been the girls soccer state chair and spearheads the annual event. FPC is currently a member school which means every head coach gets a free FACA membership.
“Two main events that we do are the All-Star weekend where we go to a location and have the North play the South and the East play the West and the winners play,” Hald said. “The second event is the state clinic. It’s an opportunity for us to bring in advanced coaches. We bring them in to help high school coaches in their growth and development as a coach.”
...The second event is the state clinic. It’s an opportunity for us to bring in advanced coaches. We bring them in to help high school coaches in their growth and development as a coach. — Peter Hald, FPC girls soccer coach, FACA girls soccer state chair
Indoor sessions were held in the Bill France Ballroom at the hotel. Lectures included recruiting rules, marketing players, program branding through graphics, program fundraising, fitness and information about sport related health concerns.
Outdoor sessions at the sports complex were run by multiple top-tier coaches. Mike Pickett, head coach of the St. Johns Country Day School and the North Florida Soccer Academy; French native Thomas Chameraud, Embry-Riddle assistant men’s coach; Lucas Zachary, Stetson University goalkeeping coach; and Scott Carswell, the head women’s soccer coach at Eastern Florida State College, ran the outdoor training sessions.
Carswell resigned from coaching the girls soccer team at Merritt Island High School after 17 years, three state championships and an offer to coach at Eastern Florida. He has been there for four years and has been sharing his expertise at the FACA soccer clinic for three.
He asked Hald what topics he thought would be relevant for high school coaches.
“A big topic is fitness — making fitness fun,” Carswell said. “How can you incorporate fitness into the games you play instead of just having your players take off and run sprints. I was kind of surprised. It was hot as heck but when we got into those games, because it’s competitive and fun, the kids were into it. We try to paint a picture for the coaches, and those kids gave us exactly what we needed them to do. They were working hard as opposed to ‘oh, get on the line, we’re going to run sprints.’”
Carswell wants the coaches to know their players and what they need.
“I think coaches need to know what they are working with,” he said. “If it’s too easy for good players then of course they don’t get challenged, but if you make something too hard for kids who aren’t ready, then it just becomes frustrating. Our big thing to them is it doesn’t have to look like what we did today; you just got to figure out what your group needs, what size they need, how much time they need, all those different factors.”
Taylor High School girls soccer coach Claudio Paulino and Hald brought their teams to assist the coaches with demonstrations and instruction. This was FPC senior Savannah O’Grady’s second year at the clinic.
“It’s good to get new coaching styles from different coaches and learn from them,” center midfielder O’Grady said. “They are definitely demanding more and making you use your soccer IQ. It’s just helping build off of your game. I think that it impacts you as a center mid because you need to be aware of 360 degrees. You have to know what’s going on all around you. I’m definitely going to take it into the next season.”
Coach John Mendoza drove from Tampa to attend the clinic. He coaches at Cambridge Christian School following an 11-year stint coaching at the University of South Florida. Last season, the Lancers finished their regular season undefeated.
For him, the most important factor about attending the clinic was having the opportunity to talk with other coaches from different districts, not only about soccer, but about dealing with team issues — academics, class attendance and emotional aspects.
“We are all trying to do the same thing,” he said. “We’re trying to grab a student athlete and mentor that kid academically, mentor that kid athletically and emotionally. When they’re done playing soccer we want them to be good citizens off the field as well. We are given an opportunity to mentor these kids on and off the field.”
Mendoza asked FPC assistant coach Cat Bradley where O’Grady is going to college. He was told she did not have a school yet. He contacted three coaches for the midfielder.
“I love helping other kids,” he said. “Sometimes their coaches don’t have connections. When I see that kids want to play but no one’s really looked at them, I’m like, ‘I’ll make some phone calls for you.’”
