Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 27, 1993 TAG: 9305270456
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Executive Director Danny Beamer oversees two squads, U-15 White and U-19 White. The latter is the club's most advanced team, and several of its alumni have received college scholarships.
Three other coaches - Jeff Allen, who lives in an apartment at Beamer's home; Blacksburg's Steve Hutton; and Collinsville's John Everett - also supervise two teams each. All teams practice in Roanoke.
"Many coaches within the club hold national and advanced national licenses," Beamer said. "The club encourages all coaches to pursue obtaining national licenses, and funding has been allocated for this purpose."
At least partly because of the club's demanding coaching standards, Beamer has gone nearly 50 miles outside of Roanoke to recruit appropriate personnel. Although the club modestly pays its coaches, "no one does it just for the money," Beamer said.
Hutton, a 1988 Cave Spring High School graduate, played in the club two years. "It was a lot smaller then than it is now," he said.
Hutton earned a National Soccer Coaches Association of America advanced national license in Boca Raton, Fla., in January and is pursuing a sports management degree at Virginia Tech.
"I took this semester off," he said. "I hope to be back in the fall."
Hutton's schedule couldn't exactly be called a vacation. He coaches the U-10 White and U-13 White teams. Additionally, he runs the Patrick Henry High School soccer team, a separate program from the Roanoke Valley Youth Soccer Club.
High school practices are every weekday at 3 p.m. The U-13 squad works out Monday and Wednesday at 5 p.m., and the U-10s practice Tuesday and Friday at 5 p.m. "That's nine practice sessions a week," he said.
"And three games. Sometimes more." Hutton holds his club practices at PH.
Collinsville's Everett heads two girls' teams, the U-16 and U-19 units. The former team is made up primarily of freshmen and sophomores, while the latter's roster is basically juniors and seniors.
Everett manages Beltone Hearing Aids in Martinsville, with a territory that extends from Halifax to Grayson counties. "I know Route 58 real well. I could be in Independence or South Boston with an upcoming practice at the PH track. I just work around it."
Everett, 43, coordinated Martinsville's traveling soccer teams for seven years, and became closely associated with the Roanoke club's Stars through the Commonwealth Games held each summer in Roanoke.
Everett also is a past president of the Blue Ridge Classic League, in which the Roanoke boys' teams participate. Everett holds a state "D" license, and intends to earn national certification.
The girls' teams belong to the Central Virginia Girls Soccer League, an affiliation that allows the team to play other all-girl teams. The drawback is that, due to relatively fewer numbers, many of the girls' home games are played in Charlottesville.
"Our girls took traveling soccer to the limit, obviously," Everett said, "traveling two hours each way to play home games. But giving up a whole day of their weekend to play showed them what commitment was all about."
Everett said his teams have won 93 percent of their games during the past two years, and two of his players have earned college scholarships.
Everett's teams will play in an exhibition Saturday night at River's Edge as part of the Crestar Festival Soccer Tournament. (There were insufficient entries in the girls' divisions to fill out tournament brackets.)
Rather than pit the U-16 team against the U-19 team, Everett has made a minor adjustment. "I'm going to play all my undergraduates against the graduating seniors and some Star alumni," Everett said. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Allen, 25, is under the watchful eye of his supervisor even during the off-hours. "It works out pretty well," Allen said. "I live in the bottom of the house."
Allen coaches the U-13 Green and the U-16 White teams. "I love it. I've played soccer all my life, and I think I'm a better coach than I was a player."
Allen received his national coaching license at a clinic at the University of North Carolina last year.
Allen's Green team practices twice a week at PH. His White team, made up of high school players, practices in the fall at North Cross. They are not permitted to practice during the spring because it's high school season, but a recent change in the Virginia High School League rules does allow the team to play weekend games.
For the past year, Allen has been a manager at Play It Again Sports, a sporting goods store in Hunting Hills Plaza that sells new and used equipment. Prior to that, he worked for 2 1/2 years at The Soccer Stop, a retail store that Beamer owns. Allen also formerly coached the Cave Spring High School junior varsity program.
Clinton Morse (U-10 Green) is a relative novice in the Star coaching fraternity, but he raves about the opportunity to learn.
"Of all the major sports, soccer provides the most comprehensive training for its coaches," Morse said.
"There's a complete system of licensing. You find a time when it's convenient, and you take another course. It's organized, accessible training. That's important to us dads who didn't grow up playing soccer."
by CNB