JBoe's Team Advances

One of the objectives of the Maranatha Soccer program is to produce young men and women who can coach soccer and disciple young people at the same time. Whenever possible, we like to highlight alumni who have moved on to the coaching ranks and who are coaching with an eternal mindset.

I did not coach Jason Boe. I was his teammate for a time - you might remember him from the Top 11 Men post from a year or so ago. For several years now, Jason has been the head men's soccer coach in Minooka, IL. Here is a news article about how his team is advancing through the playoffs. It is a good story and we wish Jason and his team all the best. In the article, Jason has an opportunity to reference his faith in Christ in a public way. I am certain that even though Jason is coaching soccer in a secular setting, his players know for Whom he lives:

"This is business for us," Minooka coach Jason Boe said. "We're not surprised by this win. Even though we upset Bloom, it's not a surprise to us. Because we know what type of players we have on our team, the leadership that we have, the ability that God's given us. And it's not a surprise. We're basically telling the world, 'We're here. Welcome to our world.' "

Here is the thing: Jason would not have the opportunity to coach and mentor and disciple in a public school if he did not possess athletic talent and training. The doors of ministry for someone who knows their sport and walks with God are wide open right now.

There are three young men and two young ladies who will be graduating from our soccer program this season. All of them love God and know the game of soccer. Furthermore, a person who can survive the rigors of 4 or 5 years at MBBC, can survive almost anything. Their character has been proven. If you are looking to hire someone for your business or ministry in the coming year, you must consider Daniel Kaminski, Tim Reinert, Andrew Swift, Kristen Kowalcyk or Shasta Miklowski. I can't promise that you will compete for a state title like JBoe, but you will never question their faithfulness or competence.

I'm just trying to get a couple of them to stick around and be my assistants next year. . . -C

Field Test

Last Monday, the members of the Techniques of Coaching Soccer class gave their field tests. The field test consisted of preparing a training plan, administrating that plan and actual on-field coaching of their classmates. Each student was in charge of a 10 to 15 minute session then all of them participated in the sessions run by others. The whole exam took almost 3 hours. I would like to thank Daniel Backhaus, Dan Campbell and Chris Jochum who were not a part of the class, but participated in the exam so that we had enough players to execute the drills that were given by the coaches. They all did well, especially considering that almost half of the class had never played soccer previously. Here are some more pictures: