The Volunteer 

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The coaches in Elgin are all volunteers and may most likely they are a parent to one of the players.  Many soccer associations are run by volunteers that dedicate not only time, sweat, and money, they also give a lot of their heart and soul to make an environment that is fun, competitive, and educational.  Many parents do not understand how much a volunteer coach does for a team.  The coach sets up practice schedules, may hold several coaching certificates and national licenses that they spent their own time to get in order to be better at what they do.  The coach sets up a line up and when no one lets the coach know that a player cannot make it, they must make last minute adjustments.  For any one hour your child spends with them, the coach has already spent that much time thinking about the practice or game and even writing down notes.  During practice, the coach also takes the time to work with the kids as much as they can, given the time constraints to which they are limited to in practice.  Your child may be only 7 years old but may have a coach that coaches a competitive division 1 team or has had experience coaching at that level.  Your coach may be heading to that level soon with your child as well.  There are many select teams that are competing with, and many times, beating, coaches that are paid to be there.  Keep in mind, a volunteer coach is always learning something every time they are on the soccer field about how they can do their job better, but the pay is always the same, nothing.

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The coach is supported by many people that make their job possible, the youth sports board members.  These are individuals that you can easily say “If you want something done, give it to the busy person”.  The board members have regular jobs and family time and requirements just like any parent does.  Many of the board members are also coaches, referees, team moms, team managers, and generally there to support in multiple capacities.  They make the time in their own busy schedules to ensure that everyone’s kid has fun and has a safe environment to participate in youth sports.  The only time anyone talks about the board in a youth sports is to complain about something.  Seldom does some one on the board hear that the 20 plus hours they put in over the summer to make sure the fields were in a playable condition for opening day in the Fall is appreciated.  No one say thank you to the person that puts in 40 plus hours to registrar players and verifying ages and trying to get all the kids that want to play somewhere.  No one appreciates the time spent getting players trained to be referees and spends time and money to make sure it happens.  The board members know they work for the kids and that is the reason why they continue to do their job thanklessly, costing them their own time and money the same as the coaches. 

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These volunteers know that the child’s safety comes first, and the fun comes second.  Someone in there, the board members and coaches are also teaching life lessons to the youth.  You don’t always win and if you do win, you respect your opponent for making you work hard to earn the win.  These coaches have to go through background checks and several hours of youth sports safety training including concussion protocol and child molestation recognition training on their own time.  In the end, when you see one of the volunteers or volunteer coaches out in public, their only reward is to hear a parent or a player say “hello” or “hello coach” and know that  they have helped another person in the life lessons of working hard as a team to achieve a cooperative goal.

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Thank you to all the hard-working volunteers that make Elgin Youth Soccer successful season after season!

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James Sides

President EYSA