A One-On-One with My Former Coach

I have decided to sit-down with my former soccer coach, Mr.Barresi. This interview happened because I felt that I needed closure on one of the most difficult parts of my life. It is true, I, Matthew Werner was cut from the soccer team after playing only one as a freshman. Now as a senior, I decided to take a stroll down memory lane and participate in a one-on-one with my former soccer coach and mentor, Mr. Barresi. 

To start, Mr. Barresi is a math teacher and head coach for the varsity soccer team here at OP. He has been coaching for eight years and has loved every year of it. Mr. Barresi discussed with me some of the similarities and differences between a coach and a teacher. In his eyes, Mr. Barresi views the most important similarity between coach and teacher is treating the coaching as if he is teaching. Mr. Barresi wants to not only coach his players but also teach them lessons that will help them on and off the field. Another point he makes is the use of math as a coach, especially statistics, and engages players as much as he would if he were in a classroom with students. Mr. Barresi makes things more of a teaching moment instead of a command and values questions such as why did you do this or how did you come to this conclusion, both on and off the field. One difference Mr. Barresi finds between that of a coach and teacher in the style of communicating.  

Now we get to the basis of the interview between Mr. Barresi and myself. I asked Mr. Barresi bluntly why did he cut from the soccer team and if there was a personal vendetta. Mr. Barresi quickly assured me that it was not a personal vendetta which I was inclined to believe. As I asked the question so bluntly, Mr. Barresi added that I just was not good enough. However, Mr. Barresi reminisced to when he did cut me and he felt bad about it, but I told him that I knew what had to be done. He tells me that will always live in his memory which gives me a great feeling of solace. I then went on to inquire how team morale was after my sad departure. Mr. Barresi told me that the team was fine and that they were able to survive in the wake of my absence. From there, I asked Mr. Barresi to evaluate my skills on and off the field. He told me that I used my humor to my advantage, but I do not take advantage of it which I think really encompasses who I am as an OP student. After a slight pause, I asked Mr. Barresi what skills I posses on the field and after contemplating it, Mr. Barresi told me that there were not that many, unfortunately. However, he added that I was a good communicator if that means anything which it does to me. My final question in this segment of the interview, I asked, “Mr. Barresi, do you ever lie awake restlessly at night and second guess your decision to cut me from the soccer team and if you had the choice would you do it again.”  The answer will shock you. He said that he does not stay up late at night thinking about my cut. However, he did go on to discuss whether or not he would do it again. Mr. Barresi said that it could have been possible that he let me play on for another year. 

Moving on to my final segment of the interview, I asked Mr. Barresi a couple of questions about the OP soccer program and some of its players. Furthermore, I asked Mr. Barresi what direction he would like the OP soccer program to take in the future. He began to discuss that he was once an OP soccer player himself and now the head coach and believes that the program has been going on in the right direction. The program gets to play against much better competition which is a testament to the growth of the school over the years. Additionally, Mr. Barresi tells me that his goals are to have conference and state championships for soccer, but in the last five years, OP has moved into a very competitive division. OP plays against top tier teams and can compete with them. Mr. Baressi stated, “It’s one thing to hold up a bunch of banners from your conference when you’re playing schools that you are just better then… so I think it’s a good thing that we are where we are at.” My final question to Mr. Barresi was who he thinks we’re the most promising soccer players he has coached at OP. Mr. Barresi told me that there are three standouts: Jack Bizub, AJ Kopaz, and Marcelo Freire. I would be at the top of this list if I had not been cut, but that is neither here nor there. 

I am glad that I got this chance to sit down with Mr. Barresi and once and for all discuss my cut from the soccer team. In a way, I feel that it may have been a blessing in disguise. If Mr. Barresi were to keep me on the team, I feel as if I would be pressured to continue and play at a division one school. That would be too much pressure to attempt to balance athletics and academics. But who knows, I am still young and have many more years to kick the soccer ball around and just maybe if I work hard enough, play at a professional level. In all seriousness, I truly admire and respect Mr. Barresi as a teacher and coach and was glad to be a player on his team, even if it was only for a short period of time.