Tom Davidson is a veteran soccer coach in the area now coaching the Ozark girls team, one of the area’s best programs. He formerly coached at Kickapoo, and has mentored both boys and girls teams over the years.
During a recent tournament he allowed the Ozone to follow him through a game that you can see on the accompanying video. And he also talked about his team, his sport, and the difference between coaching the genders.
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There’s a lot of very funny personalities on this team. Everybody has their own little quirks and ways of getting fired up. And this group of girls likes to have a karaoke machine party before we get started. If that’s what they need to get ready to play, I’m not ever going to get in the way of that.
They’re so good at flipping the switch. They get out there on the field and they’re very serious. More than anything, I’m just a game-manager. It’s about what we call in soccer…shape. Making sure they’re in positions where they’re supporting players and moving the ball.
We want to create an environment where they feel they can go out there and try their best and know that they can make mistakes and the coach will still have their back.
Soccer is one of those games is very much a player’s game. The creativity of having the ball at your feet and having all these different options is always a chess match.
The differences between men and women are huge. On both sides of it it comes down to respect and trust and it feels like sometimes you can earn the girls trust a little quicker.
They’re very loyal, whereas the men are kinda prideful with each other. Sometimes they have to figure out who’s boss and something has to happen for them to have it kick-in that the coach is right about that.
It’s a great group to be around. They really like cutting up with each other which is fun for me too. I’m going to miss it when it’s all over this year because it’s been a really fun year for me so far. Hopefully we’ll have a chance to be with ’em for quite a while at the end of the year ‘ya know.”
