Since The Reporter still isn't published online, here is the article verbatim from the Nov 18, 2009 Springfield Reporter back page 20, Sports section. No byline was given, but Thank You to whoever wrote it.
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WINNING A STATE TITLE
It's More than Just What Happens on the Field,
And Numbers on the Scoreboard
And Numbers on the Scoreboard
In his seven years as coach of the Springfield Cosmos boys soccer team, Paul Kendall has racked up a lot of wins. But it took a deeply disappointing loss - one of only two losses his team sustained this season enroute to a Division II title - for the coach to realize the true meaning of winning.
The Cosmos October 18 loss to the Hartford Hurricanes, a team they had beaten earlier in the season, left Kendall despondent. The following day, he opened his journal to put down his thoughts. And he wrote down the question, "Why do I coach?" It was in thinking of the real answer to that question that he realized: athletic success comes down to more than wins and losses.
"Why do I coach? What am I here for? What's my purpose - to win a state championship?" he wrote.
"Or - To teach a kid manners, to see to it that a player has food at night, to help a child be nice to his parents... to care for, to love these great young men.... to influence, to change, make better, a young man's life?"
Kendall's first goal had been to win the state title: the loss drove home that the goal may not be realized, that only one team can be state champions, and those who fall short are not failures. All that was really in his control is that it be a good year for his players - all his players - and that meant more than just on the field.
What that meant for Kendall was the total package: the fitness and desire to be successful on the field; and the personal and family stability necessary to be successful on the field and off.
"There's more to it than just on the field," the coach says. And he saw his role not just as coach on the field, but as a coach in their lives, coaching them not just as soccer players, but as individuals. That meant keeping an eye on their academic success, their social life, even their family life.
And he did not have to do all that alone, as his team leaders helped their teammates keep all facets of their lives in focus. "This year was just a great year for that," Kendall says. "All those things came together."
Kendall told his players early on that tensions in their school and family lives can affect their performance on the field.
"It's a difficult time for some of the kids. It's tough times out there," Kendall says.
A couple of his players come from split families, and they didn't always know where they would be sleeping at night. Others come from families deeply affected by the recession, and didn't know if they would have one nutritious meal in a week.
Kendall and his assistant coaches quite often provided when parents couldn't. They made sure no one was excluded from a pre-season camp held in central Vermont, even though there were a few players who could not afford the fees. The coaches often had to chip in so no one went hungry during the traditional hamburger stops after away games. And Kendall bought some groceries for a player who had eaten nothing but ramen noodles for a week.
More importantly, Kendall says, the team bought into the concept that every individual is important, and team members took it upon themselves to help their teammates in difficult times.
Kendall knows that on more than one occasion, players took teammates into their homes so they knew they would have a place to sleep.
And then there was a teacher in-service day - a day off for students - when the team captains took a player who was struggling academically to the school, and waited while he wrote two papers so he could raise two failing grades and stay eligible for athletics.
And there was a championship medal for senior Cooper Nelson, who could not be on the team this year because of a foot injury. His former teammates made sure he shared in the Cosmos glory.
Kendall has always stressed to his players their responsibility to others, not just their teammates, but to the program and the community. Everything they do on the field and off, is a reflection not just on themselves but on Cosmos soccer.
That's why he has always had his players go out into the community in small groups and perform service projects. Each season, at least one practice session is given up, and players go out to pick up trash, maintain public playgrounds, or work at the Family Center.
And each Saturday, many players volunteer as coaches with the youth soccer program, an activity they especially enjoy.
In total, Kendall estimates his players performed over 150 hours of community service this fall.
Kendall feel the work in the community makes the kids feel more a part of the community, and thus more inclined to be responsible citizens.
"Kids will be kids. Kids will mess up," Kendall says. And in his seven years of coaching, there have been a few minor incidents. But everything came together this year, with the older players helping impress on the younger that, perhaps they should not go to this party the night before a game, that maybe the coaches institution of a curfew the night before a playoff is not arbitrary, but could mean the difference between a win and a loss that will be remembered the rest of one's life.
Perhaps the biggest success of the program is that "The kids help to monitor themselves," Kendall says.
Kendall has long involvement in scouting, and he brings his Scout values to the team, particularly the tenet "Do a good deed daily". He said it was rewarding to have players come to him and tell him how they helped their mothers do this or that, that they were looking for ways to help others.
But no good deed goes unpunished, as Kendall has learned. Religion is a big part of Kendall's life, and his suggestion to players that they attend church with their parents was criticized by some parents. Kendall's goal was not to promote any religion, just the values that universal to all denominations.
Kendall does not want to be portrayed as the savior of Springfield soccer. He is quick to point out he is not proud of everything he has done as coach. He has sometimes taken the games too seriously, lost his cool, yelled at players during games when he felt they were not playing to potential.
But the years of coming to understand what some of Springfield's youth are up against, and the epiphany following the Hartford loss, helped put it all in perspective: they made him realize winning isn't everything, that winning isn't the end, but the means of helping kids experience some success in their lives.
And for Kendall, that, even more than the title, was the season's greatest success.
(c) Springfield Reporter November 18, 2009
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For me, the story behind the trophy that Paul Kendall tells is more than a feel-good triumph just in time for turkey dinner. It really hit home. Some of it echos what I wrote exactly one year ago when I posted this blog entry (http://floforall.blogspot.com/2008/11/thanksgiving-springfield-reporter.html) - about The Reporter and a long-awaited Vermont high school state football championship. About how kids struggles at home can deeply affect their lives in school and on the field. How sports can take the role of 'family', let kids experience success in their lives, give them a positive outlet and a stake in the community. Kids like those today who struggle - but go on to win a state championship trophies.
Maybe you're thinking it sounds a little bit melodramatic, with the Disney ending and all. But lemme tell ya... I know a kid who went 1-8 in the fall of his senior year at SHS about three decades ago, who still had something to hold on to. And that something was (and still is) much bigger and longer lasting than that lonely number '1' in the win column.
Happy Thanksgiving! As I try to count my blessings out here on the left coast, win or lose, I'm grateful to everyone in the community that helped me grow up (at least a little bit, don'cha'know...) in the 05156.
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