Welcome to Our First Coach Profile!

The goal for the coach profiles is to spotlight local coaches who love the game and represent the KC soccer community. We’ll discuss their backgrounds, coaching philosophies, experiences, and their perspective on the growth of soccer in our area. The profiles will hopefully help local parents, players and fans get to know more about the people shaping the game here. Meet Sporting Blue Valley Coach Mark Smith!

Like our first player profile piece, this post is special to me . . . not just because it’s our first coach profile but because this was my son’s first coach! Mark coached my son (little KC) years ago. Like me, little KC (LKC) can sometimes be a bundle of nerves (especially when he was younger). We could not have asked for a more perfect coach for him at the time (which I think you’ll get a good sense of in the Q&A below): understanding; patient; and focused on the love of the game, learning, character, and the team, as opposed to just wins and losses.

LKC actually wrote a paper at school about how Mark was the kindest Kansas Citian he knew 🙂 (*shout out here to an even earlier coach, Fabio Caresia, who was with Sporting Blue Valley’s Futures/Juniors Program and shared a lot of the same attributes).

Through the years, and to this day, LKC has enjoyed taking private lessons from Mark off and on. Mark will focus on things we ask about, or he also has all kinds of things to do if we have no input! Mark also has a website (Smithway Soccer – The Soccer Training Answer), and I was glad to be able to include a link on our Resources page. I think what he provides is unique in combining free online stuff with access to related private training (Clinics – Smithway Soccer). He is a central midfielder who trains all aspects of the game. Mark has been coaching for almost 30 years – the last 20 for Sporting Blue Valley. He is currently coaching U8 (2018) through U15 (2011) boys.

Like Breanna Hays in our first player profile, Mark was kind enough to placate me by answering my questions. His responses were better than I could have ever asked for, and I think they help make it clear why I thought highly of him as a coach and why I sought him out for this. Again, hopefully I’ll get better at this as I go, so thank you Mark for being another guinea pig!

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Before the Q&A (Important Note)

First, I’d like to bump the last part of the Q&A up here to the top because I know it’s important to Mark (and people might have short attention spans 😊):

● KC – I noticed your email signature has “Psalm 33:3 ‘Play skillfully and shout for joy!’” I’m not a particularly religious person, but out of interest (and if this is something you’d like to put out there), how does this fit into soccer and coaching?

Mark Smith – Whatever success I have in coaching or playing is due to the gifts that God has given me. We have each been created with unique talents and skills to cultivate. I train every day to make those skills second nature. Then, when I step onto the field, I can just enjoy playing the game! Just because you’re competing doesn’t mean you can’t crack a smile once in a while.

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Q&A With Sporting Blue Valley Coach Mark Smith

Background & Inspiration

KC – What first inspired you to start coaching soccer?
Mark Smith – My natural inclination is teaching, so I took my favorite thing to do and headed in that direction. I have a K-12 teaching degree, but I have been blessed to never have to teach in a classroom. I have been able to coach soccer since I graduated from college.

KC – How did your own soccer journey shape the way you coach today?
Mark Smith – Growing up I was reading books and grabbing any video highlight reels I could find, and then trying to recreate what I saw. Then, after college, I learned more about technique from coaching alongside former professional players than I ever learned from any of my coaches.

Kids today are learning to play soccer in a too-structured environment and don’t have enough creative exploration in uncoached play. They are lacking the desire to simply beat a ball against a wall and make up games with their friends. The love and joy for the game is the intrinsic motivator that will drive improvement through the necessary struggle of learning.

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Coaching Philosophy

KC – What’s your core coaching philosophy or approach with young players?
Mark Smith – Psalm 33:3 “Play skillfully and shout for Joy!” If kids aren’t having fun playing and looking forward to practice as the best part of their day, then something’s wrong.

KC – Does that change as they get older?
Mark Smith – The discipline and competitive nature that comes with aspiration will definitely change. But hopefully the joy remains! That’s the reason I still play!

KC – How do you balance developing skills with keeping the game fun?
Mark Smith – Usually practical application of whatever skill topic is the focus for the day. I try to immediately put that into a game scenario, with varying levels of pressure based on the skill level of the players. I want them to have as many chances to problem solve as they can without a constant stream of direction in their ear. I believe the more you give the kids the answers IN GAME the slower their growth. I ask questions in practice, between games, or on the bench in a match, to try to make them think of things we’ve learned already, or perhaps come up with other options.

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Local Soccer Scene

KC – How would you describe the current state of youth soccer in our area?
Mark Smith – It’s at an unprecedented peak. Peter Vermes and the Sporting KC ownership group have completely helped revitalize KC and the Midwest soccer scene. Merging Tim Clark’s Blue Valley Stars and Chris Duke’s Nomads to become Sporting Blue Valley raised the level of competition and drove the overall youth scene to another level. Sporting KC then expanding the affiliate program throughout the Midwest has driven the passion and love for the game, providing many opportunities for kids to play.

KC – Is there anything that makes our local soccer community special?
Mark Smith – Our city is diverse and represents many different cultures in both youth and adult leagues. It is awesome to see.

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Player Development & Goals

KC – What do you hope your players take away from your teams—on and off the field?
Mark Smith – I hope my players take away a deeper love for the game. I hope that I am able to instill character traits and habits that will extend far beyond the soccer field. There are many things that are learned through team sports that can be applied to life.

KC – How do you measure success beyond wins and losses?
Mark Smith – If I’m measuring success by wins and losses, I’ve lost sight of the life lessons my players can learn. To be honest, they learn more by losing than winning. Don’t get me wrong, I want them to give their best, but winning and losing must be kept in perspective.

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Community & Growth

KC – How can the local soccer community better support youth players and coaches?
Mark Smith – First, I can’t tell you how many kids have come to the sideline crying saying they can’t handle their parents yelling at them. Parents need to sit back and simply enjoy watching their kids play. It’s a lot less stressful that way! If parents support and encourage their players, the kids will be able to apply what they’ve learned and benefit from not being distracted. Secondly, parents and coaches want good fair referees. However, we are chasing potentially great referees out of the game because we are not giving them a chance to grow and learn by constantly berating them.

KC – What’s your vision for the future of local soccer?
Mark Smith – I would love to see as many neighborhood futsal/soccer fields as there are tennis courts. Pickup soccer is where the game is truly learned and mastered.

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Website

KC – Your site https://www.smithwaysoccer.com/ has a ton of info, training programs and videos on it. When did you put this together, and what was your inspiration? Is this something you still work on? Anything anyone should know before taking a look at it?

Mark Smith – I first wrote the juggling program 25 years ago as a way to try to encourage my kids to juggle with a goal-based progression, not just a strict “how many can you get” goal. The hidden achievement is they gain a comfort level on all surfaces and at various ball heights. They start to take away the fear of settling a ball out of the air.

The curriculum came out of parents asking yearly, “What can my child do to get better?” In answer to that question, I created a bi-weekly, 10-month program. The program would cover 80% of the technical skills required for a typical game.

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Quick / Random

KC – I remember seeing a spreadsheet sent out by the club with a list of coaches’ favorite candy, favorite stores (I think for gift cards around the holidays or something), etc. Your favorite store was Aristocrat Motors. Any car in particular if I’m ever feeling generous?
MS – Well, to be perfectly honest, it was a joke, but an Audi R8 V10 would be great!

KC – Granted soccer is not everything . . . but is there anything soccer-specific, either playing or coaching, that you’re most proud of?
MS – Soccer is not just my job, but my favorite thing to do! The fact that I have been able to teach hundreds of kids to enjoy this game that I love, is probably the proudest thing.

KC – Who’s your favorite current/recent professional player? If my son uses the resources on your site and continues taking lessons from you, will he soon be as good as them? If not, can I get my money back? [looking back as I finish up this post, this was a stupid question where I was trying/failing to be funny – but I liked his answer, so I’m leaving it 😊-KC]
MS – Watching Messi play is a very easy and obvious answer, but without more videos of Pele around, the GOAT argument will always be there. The first player I ever started to emulate though was Marco Van Basten. Fantastic 3x Ballon d’Or winner before his career (with Ajax and AC Milan) was cut short.

Your son’s ability to enjoy putting the time in and embrace the struggle of getting really good at something is a much bigger indicator of potential success. Too many kids dream of being a pro without understanding the dedication and sacrifice it takes to do the boring fundamentals that will get you there. Also, I spent the money on food already…

KC – Do you have any pets? Can we have pictures?
MS – Not right now. We love dogs, but our last dog passed away a few years ago and we haven’t had the heart to replace her.

KC – What do you enjoy outside of soccer?
MS – Being home with my family, watching movies, playing video games, road racing (some day).

KC – It’s pretty likely socKCer.com will eventually be the most popular site in the world. Anything else you’d like to take this chance to put out there?!
MS – I wish you all the success in the world! When I am really really famous, you can claim you did the first interview! 🙂

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Closing Thoughts

Well, the kids crying about their parents yelling was certainly an eye-opener ☹

And I couldn’t agree more on Mark’s point about pickup soccer and hope for more soccer culture. LKC had a pre-season soccer team party this past summer – they played basketball, they played football, they played tag, don’t believe they played any soccer – and this was a soccer party! Maybe it’s just that they play soccer with each other enough!

Mark, thank you so much for all your help. I’ll check the prices on that Audi R8 V10 and get back to you!

Everyone please check out Mark’s site Smithway Soccer – The Soccer Training Answer and the link to private training Sporting Blue Valley Private Training!

– KC