“My admiration is always won over by those who have the winning mentality.”

CAREER

18 www.sportlife.co.uk 19january 2011

MY JOB AS A...

SOCCER COACHNot many people can say they truly love their job, underpaid,

under appreciated and little job satisfaction? We’ve all been there. But how about bagging yourself a job which allows you to travel, pays well

and includes a sport you love?

While most guys his age are hunting for any post-graduate job they can get their hands on, twenty-four year old Simon Wigley is working his dream job as a

soccer coach in Kansas City, USA. After originally travelling to the USA in May 2009 to be a summer camp coach Simon was offered a nine-month contract as a Challenge Club Trainer, of course he accepted.

“I work with the club during the spring and fall seasons. Sandwiched between that is the main revenue of our company, the summer camps. For this period up to 900 British coaches fly over to coach 100,000 kids on around 3,000 camps nationwide.” As CTT Simon takes on the role of ‘camp director’ during the summer, direction camps throughout the mid-west, which covers nine states including Minnesota and Oklahoma. This is the busiest time for the coaches, they drive to new camp locations weekly, which can be a anything from the next town up to a fourteen-hour drive.

Coaching kids aged three up to sixteen, the preparation for games is bound to differ, “with the youngest group of kids aged three years it is heavily focused on fun, muscle memory and basic movement. With my oldest and most talented team they undertake high intensity training sessions, which involves anaerobic fitness, technique improvement, game-situations, tactical assessments and small sided games. The older they become, the more you switch from technique to tactical.” With kids so young, it can be difficult to motivate the team when they lose, “I find it helps to praise certain parts of the performance, result will always come second to performance.”

“The best bit is the job itself, working with kids is a privilege, there is a lot to be said about the

satisfaction you achieve when you notice improvements in players you work with.” Aside from the most uplifting job satisfaction, the role has some pretty good perks “In one week alone we were taken out on a million dollar ‘houseboat’, went scuba-diving, fishing, cliff diving, were given free passes to the local amusement park, VIP tickets to a theatre show in town, country club passes for the week and golf course access.” Though it’s not always the best job in the world, from kids who just aren’t interested to families who are a little strange, coaching can bring bad weeks too, like travelling ten hours to sleep on a fold out bed in a garage, “It can be challenging to maintain your professionalism throughout the week, overall though the best absolutely outweighs the worst and it is certainly a job I would never complain about.”

“I have no sports related qualifications at all apart from the required FA courses attended to qualify as a coach, for the coaching, qualifications are weighed more by your FA level badge, than a degree for example. However I would need a sports related degree to pass the

approval of the US Immigration, so I will be studying a Masters in International Sports Management, which when I graduate will lead me to a job as Regional Director of the company.”

So how exactly does someone go about getting into the soccer coaching industry? “For me, it was a combination of being recommended by a friend and attending a recruitment day, I grew up playing the sport throughout school, college and university. While at university I studied for my refereeing badges and did a stint officiating at the Sheffield United Academy, the coaching began when I got involved in the University Men’s team and began running fitness training sessions” After qualifying as a coach Simon took on an ‘U14’ girls team in his home-town, then spent the summer coaching in the States. “Immediately after my first summer I was promoted to a CCT (challenge club trainer) so I stayed for the fall.” He returned this year

to complete a full contract and says that although the summer camp job was just post-uni exploration, the quick success and promotion lead him to seriously consider this as a career.

Like anyone working in sport, Simon has his idols, “ Paul McGrath is my ultimate hero, a man who just played the game at a different level to everyone else and was a true warrior. I admire all those who have achieved success through adversity and really sacrificed to reach the stage they achieved. my admiration is always won over by those who just have ‘the winning mentality.’”

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Simon with two other coaches and some of the children he coaches.

Simon with a family he stayed with during his time in the USA.

So what does the future hold? “I have been in discussions with my current employers about working full time as a Regional Director. This would make me head of a region and responsible for sales/marketing/operations and logistics. I would also be coaching elite teams on the side as well. So hopefully in 5 years time I will be successfully running a region’s worth of soccer camps and coaching three or four competitive travel teams.”

In a job that can often feel more like a holiday than employment Simon has certainly made some memories, “I’ve picked up numerous moments, with host families, long road trips between camps, vacations to places like the Lake of the Ozarks or trips to Chicago.” Camp coaching sure does seem like an ideal job, “everything just rolls into one fantastic experience that I would recommend to anyone who has a passion for sport, and an adventurous attitude.”

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Pictures by Simon W

igley, words by N

icole Cook