De Graef admits she was a little nervous taking on the role as head coach of a boy’s team, but quickly realized the type of athletes she possessed.
Female coaches look to turn male soccer programs around
By Angela DaPrato - Citizen Sports Writer
She tries not to say too much during games. But during practices, Monterey Trail boys soccer coach Shauna de Graef has her team’s undivided attention.
They all listen intently as the first-year head coach instructs her team to limit their dribbling and be more aggressive at the goal. She may be young and a female but she had no problems gaining the respect of her athletes.
“We respect our coach just as much she respects us,” said junior defender and captain Jas Bains. “There are no problems whatsoever. We are just happy to be here. There is nothing else we’d rather be doing than this.
“She is just a regular coach like everybody else,” continued Bains. “She motivates the team to do things and she is a good coach. She is going to lead us to some good things. I think we are going to have a good season with her. She is not any different from any other coaches just because she is a woman; we have the same amount of respect for her as we would for all our other coaches.”
Since Monterey Trail began its varsity soccer program three years ago, the Mustangs have had a different head coach each season.
“We just wanted a good coach we could go far with,” said Monterey Trail senior goalie Jose Calderon. “We didn’t have a preference or anything, we just wanted a coach who showed up.”
Thus far de Graef has done a lot more than being present at practices and games. Since taking the job in August, the 25-year-old has worked on establishing a stable soccer program at Monterey Trail.
“If I started something I put all my effort,” said de Graef. “I already anticipated being here for a while; I mean at least four years to see the freshmen all the way through. I would like to see things improve and being here one season wouldn’t be enough to do that, and honestly I get too involved.”
With the help of her husband, Johnn, who coaches the junior varsity boys and her father-in-law, Hans, the de Graefs have turned coaching the Mustangs into a family affair.
Shauna is not the only female boy’s soccer coach in the Delta River League. Florin’s Jennifer Hilleary-Zdobnikow guided the varsity boys to a 6-4-2 record as of last Friday.
Valley, of the Delta Valley Conference, is also coached by a female, Krissy Collyer.
“I like coaching boys better because I can push them harder,” said Shauna de Graef, who has had experience coaching co-ed teams in her family business, Cleat’s Soccer. “I can be more aggressive with my coaching style with guys than I do with girls. I love the JV girls. They are so much fun and they are willing to learn. I just have more fun coaching guys because I can push them harder and raise my expectations when it comes to sprints, distance runs, going for headers in the air; they are willing to try everything at least once even if they are scared they do not show it.”
De Graef admits she was a little nervous taking on the role as head coach of a boy’s team, but quickly realized the type of athletes she possessed.
“I didn’t know how it was going to be,” she admitted. “For whatever reason Monterey Trail gets the stigma of bad kids, so I was a little apprehensive at first but this is a really good group of guys. I’m impressed by what they are doing and it shows me that I pretty much gained their respect and trust.”
Despite the lack of games this season, Monterey Trail is currently 4-3-1 and, although there’s been some frustration along the way like not having an adequate field, de Graef has enjoyed her time thus far.
“A nice goal would be to finish at .500, but the best goal would be to make it to section playoffs,” de Graef said. “It is for sure something the seniors want to do. I think for sure this team can make it to playoffs, it’s just a matter of finding cohesive jell to keep everybody moving and a better understanding of positions. I don’t play a dribbling style game, I like quick counter attacks, nice passes, kind of a Dutch style opposed to a Latin American-Hispanic style which dribble a lot, so we like to pass the ball around and then try to change our point of attack.”
For de Graef, her goal is to continue to challenge her players.
As an athlete, de Graef always wanted more from her coaches and always wanted to improve her knowledge of the game. Although she started playing soccer her freshmen year in high school, de Graef started coaching at the age of 14 after attending some CYSA coaching license courses. Since then she has been an USSF license holder and is constantly upgrading her license.
De Graef also played last year for Cosumnes River College as a starting midfielder, but will hang up her cleats this season as she concentrates on coaching and the family business.
Cleat’s Soccer is a 19-year-old training and camp program for competitive and non-competitive soccer athletes.
“I ended up learning a lot when I was playing about coaching and what I want to do with my teams based off experiences, good and bad,” explained de Graef. “I tried to use my experiences to try to motivate the guys.”
Besides trying to continue to educate her team, de Graef runs an efficient program and emphasis fundamentals.
“I always want to make sure that I never overlook fundamentals because other coaches have a tendency to put unrealistic expectations on their players,” de Graef said. “I like to make sure they have the fundamentals. I’m always letting them know what their jobs are and what they need to do, holding them responsible. The boys are open to having a more authoritative coach. They don’t really take things as personally, so that’s kind of one of the reasons why I took the varsity boys.”
For Monterey Trail athletic director Rick Arcuri, having the de Graefs runs the soccer programs is everything he had hoped for and more.
“Shauna and Johnn are quality coaches and they’ve proved that with the women’s program,” Arcuri said. “In terms of knowing soccer, knowing how to work on skills, techniques, getting the kids better, and being good role models that’s what the boys needed. Just some structure, discipline, and consistency. I was real excited when they were able to commit.
“We are not trying to prove a political statement or anything, Shauna is a quality coach and she can coach,” emphasized Arcuri. “She’s got a positive attitude and has a confident belief about her and in the kids.”
Johnn agrees and believes his wife will shock a lot of people this season.
“I honestly think people won’t take her serious and that is going to kill them because they’re going to underestimate her,” said Johnn. “We are just not here from three to five but we are talking at night afterwards, it’s kind of like a family project.”
