Welcome to Chicago!!
June 22, 2010 2 Comments
Hey Blogworld!!
What is shakin?! To those of you who are not on twitter or my facebook fan page you may not have heard the news… drumroll please… I was traded to Chicago this last weekend! Unfortunately the paperwork didn’t go though in time for me to be with the team over the weekend, but I have spent the time becoming a little more familiar with my new home. ++disclaimer No pictures to upload for now, so my excellent word choice will have to do as an adequate description++
I’ve never lived in a city before so this is quite an experience for me. No parking. No massive stores. LONG commute to practice. One grocery… 6 blocks away that you are supposed to walk to. BUT… amazing restaurants, busy night life, lots of eligible bachelors, local coffee shops, parks, active people. Did I mention the food? I am going to have to take up running or something like that to keep me from blowing up (and all you know what a statement that is for a goalkeeper). I am loving it so far, though its barely been a week. I found a church and some new friends my 2nd day in the city. Loving doing cool stuff with them already like ultimate frisbee in Lincoln park (no, I did not play. I’m not allowed). Looking forward to a beach trip this weekend maybe!
The team is amazing. Love my Red Stars. The transition for a player joining a team mid-season can be uncomfortable, but everyone here is amazing. Practices are crisp, to the point, and fun. The team is fun, and are really great people. The coaches are on point. Loving Nate the gk coach, its fun learning new things everyday. But the Red Stars have been a great change for me. As much as Atlanta was close to home and has a lot great things with the girls on the team, the stadium, the owners it was time to move on. Looking forward to this new stage. Keep following me on Twitter @whitgk or my fan page on facebook (Allison L Whitworth). Thanks for the support and I will try to update here soon!
GO RED STARS!!
D license
January 28, 2010 1 Comment
Well this last weekend I spent 3 days working on getting my first coaching license. If any of you have done that you know the joys of these kinds of experiences. The D license is where any college player or semi professional player begins their coaching training. Without that experience people such as parents or high school players need to begin with the E license. The learning that most collegiate or above players gain from the D is organization and understanding the reasons why their coaches have done practices. You don’t necessarily learn more about soccer, but how to organize practices and plan your coaching points. Anyway, I have met a few people that I can coach with some in the Atlanta Area. That will be super useful.
I plan to continue up the USSF licensing track to get my A so that I can get my national goalkeeping. I personally think there needs to be more goalkeeper awareness or incorporation of keepers into regular course because most people just dont know what to do with their keeper. With one year in between each course that means my C in 2011, B in 2012, and A in 2013 IF I can stay on track. Maybe I will be working with someone who will want to pay for these for me. Needless to say many great coaching relationships and contacts can come from these courses.
I have 2 more days left in the course this weekend so if anyone wants to wish me luck, I’d appreciate it… well mostly I want it to not rain ALL weekend.
Filed under commentary, soccer Tagged with Atlanta, coaching, soccer