Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 26, 1994 TAG: 9405260157
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN A. MONTGOMERY SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Which parent can leave his or her job at 4:30? Do you own a station wagon? Do you know anybody who can get free drinks?
If any of the answers is yes, you're hired, and you just have to do it for one year. Oh, and by the way, have you ever coached before?
The Roanoke Valley Youth Soccer Club, however, takes its coaching a bit more seriously. Nearly all of the coaches within the program have advanced national certification and many have been involved with the sport for years.
Steve Bodley, who runs the U-16 Women's team, was one of the organizers of the Star program. He was instrumental in getting the different communities to band together and start competitive traveling squads.
"Teams from Raleigh Court or South Roanoke would play out of town, and it was obvious they were getting hammered by a United Greensboro or a United Richmond," Bodley said. He feels the solution was obvious.
As president of Roanoke Star, Bodley was pivotal in the 1986 hiring of Danny Beamer. "I gave up coaching for a while," said Bodley, whose stepsons are now adults.
"But after Danny came on, and things got going well, I came back. I think soccer is the most exciting youth game there is," Bodley said. "If you're watching 8-year-olds play basketball, and the score is 4-3, it may be cute, but it's not exciting."
Bodley, 48, has been involved with soccer in Roanoke for 16 years.
Philip Moore, 48, also has been coaching for 16 years - half of them in Richmond before moving here to work for Fibercom.
Moore has three children who have played in the Star organization. His oldest child, Trey, was Timesland's soccer player of the year in 1991.
"I like the independence a child gets to exercise in soccer," Moore said. "I've coached other sports, and everything is set up [according to a designated play]. In soccer, once the whistle blows, and the kids are on the other side of the touch line, they have the opportunity to show their creativity.
"Soccer is constant fluid motion, and people have to be aware of what's going on at all times."
Dean Jones, 47, coaches the U-16 Green team. Last summer, his U-15 squad capped its year by winning the Laval Cup in Montreal.
Jones' son Bryan is on his team. Jones' first association with coaching came as a parent helping instill discipline.
"Sandy Paterson, who was president of the Williamson Road Rec Club, was coaching my son's team," Jones said. "Sandy liked for the fathers to come. The more I worked with Sandy, the more interested I became.
"I enjoy watching the kids progress," Jones said. "I think I'll stay with it even after my kids leave."
Scot Luke, 27, coaches two teams, the U-10 and U-12 Whites.
"I think the younger kids are so much more enjoyable," said Luke, who also plays adult soccer. "When they learn something new, they just light up."
by CNB