COACH OF THE SEASON - PAM BEARD DDYSC 04 PREMIER LADY WOLFPACK HEAD COACH

 

Our one and only DDYSC 04 Premier Lady Wolfpack Coach, Pam Beard has been nominated as The Coach of the Season. Coach Pam holds an USSF B License and has joined us from TYSA in 2016. She has an extensive coaching background and played for Clarkston High School, Berry College and GA Tech respectively. Below you can read her brief interview:

DDYSC: You're currently coaching DDYSC Girls 04 Premier team can you give us some highlights about the team?

Coach Pam: "This is my first team at DDY.  We had a number of players new to DDY and a mix of players from the prior year’s U12 and U11 team.  So, lots of players who had not played together much. We struggled a bit in the beginning.  I started with defending principles, then playing out of the back.  We started to have close games, but just couldn’t win one.  The girls were getting a little down, but I could see they were trying what we practiced.  So, we started with little goals.  If we scored, we got popsicles.  Then, we moved to if we scored in the first half, we got popsicles.  Then progressed to seeing if we could score in the first 15 minutes. Before we knew it, we were winning games, but more importantly we had teammates playing as a unit together. During our end of season tournament, we almost made it to the final, ending in a tie with a team that was a division above us.  Wow, what a ride.

This season we have hit the ground running. We are sitting in second place at the season mid-point.  We have some difficult games ahead of us, but what a great place to be heading into Spring Break!"

DDYSC: What would be three words that would describe your coaching philosophy?

Coach Pam: "Stay positive, expect mistakes.  Ok, that’s four words, oops.   If players are not making mistakes, they are not trying new skills.  If players are not trying new things, they are not developing into better players."

Favorite Quote:

Failure happens all the time. It happens every day in practice. What makes you better is how you react to it. Mia Hamm

DDYSC: What would be your best advice to parents since you also have a 12 year old soccer player in your household?

Coach Pam: "Keep it fun! Players know when they have had a bad game (most of the time), so let them hear that from their coach. The ride home is the worst time to tell them all the mistakes they made in the game. Instead, ask them what they think about the game, what did the other team do really well, what do you think the coach will work on at practice, etc. Let them do the talking, you might be surprised at what you learn.

Also, practice, practice, practice."

DDYSC: What do you think makes DDYSC different than some clubs that you have coached or compete against?

Coach Pam: "It is a community.  It is small enough that coaches know players in almost every age group. Coaches and players stick around and watch other DDY games just because it’s our club. Yet, DDY is large enough to produce some top notch teams and players.

DDYSC:  What's next for Coach Pam?

Coach Pam:  "Beat the 04 Elite Lady Wolfpack.   I might have to splurge on pizza and ice cream if we can pull that one off.   ;-)"