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Portrait of a middle aged high school soccer coach

Nick Martin teaches Latin at the McCallum high school here in Austin. Known for his manic style of teaching and tendency to go off on tangents in free time, he's ostensibly one of the more "fun" teachers. However, some do not recognize him as a Latin teacher, but rather, a coach. Nick Martin coaches the boy's varsity soccer team here at McCallum high, leading a squadron of twenty-one spry young men into the physical and glorious game of soccer. Today, we look inside the nuances of being an efficient coach.

"Coaching." Martin says. "It's a lot more difficult than most people would imagine. It isn't just drills, you have to make sure that your team works as a cohesive unit on the field, and part of that includes making sure that they're in the right mindset. If a kid just went through a bad breakup, they will likely will not be giving their all on the field. Sometimes you gotta delve deep into each individual's personal problems; act as a mentor for these occasionally really messed up teens." He shakes his head a little. "It's tricky stuff."

A couple of years ago, Martin was put in charge of a fresh batch of Varsity high schoolers, the majority of which were freshman. He knew that an inexperienced band of 14-15 year old newbies would not be able to compete with the rest of the interscholastic competition. So he decided that that year, the main goal would not be to win the tournament. It would be to train the team for the next one. They worked and trained like usual that year, and when the season's results were in, they finished dead last. But, they knew that this was not the end. The next year they fought and fought and made it into a tight second place finish. It was magical.

In the end however, Nick Martin only accepted the coaching position for one reason. It wasn't the thrill of winning, not the satisfaction from watching a team grow and evolve, not even so he could bond with the team. "I like soccer." he said. Three words, and Nick Martin aligned himself with most of the planet in loving to watch and play the most popular sport. Amazing.