|
Bulawayo is the second-largest city in Zimbabwe. Inside the Matobo National Park, you'll find "The Bald Heads," balancing rocks that seem to levitate. You'll also find rhinos. And there are neighborhoods with wide tree-lined streets and suburban lawns with kids playing football, or as we call it, soccer.
Durban is the second-largest city in South Africa. With 2.4 million people situated along the east coast of the KwaZulu Natal Province on the Indian Ocean, Durban is large enough to support two pro soccer teams, the Manning Rangers and the Zulu Royals, and a large fan base for the most famous soccer team in the world, Manchester United.
Neathan Gibson was born in Bulawayo 35 years ago. At four, he moved to Durban, the city he calls his hometown. Now he finds himself living in another second-largest city, Grand Rapids. His love of the game of soccer - "I love it with a passion. It's been in my blood since I was five" - and his ability has taken him around the world. He's won NAIA college soccer championships in Florida, and scored professional successes in Malaysia, Sweden, Japan and Finland. He's played both indoor and outdoor soccer with pro teams in San Jose, Colorado and Des Moines. He won a league title with, of all teams, the Rochester Rhinos. He landed in Michigan with the West Michigan Edge in Holland. Now, Gibson is the new Director of Coaching for the newly renamed Grand Valley Soccer Club.
"I'm very excited about this," he said. "We've renamed ourselves the Grand Valley Soccer Club instead of the Grand Valley Premier Club because we also play at the national level. We'll have some top tier teams, different teams and coaches for boys and girls. We'll open it up for all players between 13 and 18 years of age. And we have an Olympic Development Program."
The club decided to drop "premier" from their name because more of their clubs were playing in the Super Y and National Leagues, the highest levels of organized youth soccer. A National League team features players in the Under-14 and above age-groups and plays against other top Midwest teams. Grand Valley Soccer Club's Super Y League is one of only four teams in the state competing at this level, and is the only national youth league in the United States. The SYL is for the cream of the crop, the elite U13-to-U19 age bracket, to play other teams at the highest competitive level possible.
"We want to provide a challenging environment for talented and motivated players through things like the Super Y League ODP," he said. The Grand Valley Soccer Club has a number of graduates competing at the collegiate level at, among other places, the University of Michigan, the University of Indiana, Valparaiso University and programs in Western Michigan.
"There's a decent level of soccer in this area," Gibson said. "The population is a little smaller, so there's not as much of a talent pool. But the talent that is here is very good."
Gibson grew up playing soccer, earning a soccer scholarship at the College of Boca Raton. "That's beautiful down there," he said. He knew enough to know that soccer as a profession is tough and short, so he earned a Business Administration degree with an Accounting major. He's worked as a CPA, but is now able to devote his full attention to being the Director of Coaching.
"One of the things we're bringing is a philosophy for player development. We follow a very strict code of conduct - for players, coaches, parents and team managers - that not everyone (on other teams at this level of soccer) seems to follow. This code of conduct is for both the players and the coaches. I'm not going to force anyone to play for Grand Valley," he said, "but when they do they'll be held to this code of conduct 100%."
As Director of Coaching, Gibson is responsible for all the coaches of all the teams. But he hasn't seen the need to make a lot of sideline changes. "Our coaching staff is the best on this side of the state. Three of our coaches have their 'A' license, which is tough to get." The 'A' license is issued by the United States Soccer Federation only to coaches who have played at the professional level for at least five years. "About 30%--40% of the applicants don't earn their 'A' license," he said. "I got mine two years ago, the first time I tried."
Players from all over West Michigan, "everyplace from Traverse City to Lansing, Kalamazoo, Holland, up and down the lakeshore, Grand Rapids, Muskegon," try out for spots on Grand Valley Soccer Club teams. "We've even got one girl from the east side of the state."
That broad geographical reach provides "a talented little youngster" like 12-year-old Nermin Crnkic the chance to play with slightly older kids and make himself a better player. "Nermin is typical of a kid who might be overlooked" if it wasn't for the outreach program Grand Valley Soccer Club has. Crnkic was born in Bosnia and brought superior soccer skills with him as he played for the Georgetown Rangers the past few years. Now he's on a Super Y League team.
With tryouts scheduled next month, the soccer club is finding ways to upgrade the program.
"One of the things we're doing is getting rid of the geographical restrictions, so you can try out for a Grand Rapids team or a team along the lakeshore, or both, if you want. We've got tryouts in both Brewer Park in Grand Rapids (84th street, west of US-131) and at Harbor Lights in Holland." The Brewer Park tryouts are June 15, 16, and 18, with the Harbor Lights tryouts scheduled for June 17 and 19.
Neathan Gibson only has to look inside his own home to see the fruits of his worldwide travel. He met his wife, Denise, in North Palm Beach, Florida. Their five-year-old son Jack was born in Finland and their 19-month-old son Nash was born in Iowa just ten days before they moved to Michigan. They're very happy living in the area, and he's thrilled about the opportunity to take what he's learned from a lifetime of play to give back through coaching and player development.
"My playing career is over," he said, though he will play for fun this summer on a team. But although he's learned to call it soccer, "it'll always be football to me."
For complete details on tryout dates and times, go to www.gvpsoccer.com
|
|
