Steve Cothran
presents Keith Shrum with this year's award.
|
Steve Ballentine
with Keith Shrum. |
|
2007 SCYSA Coach
of the Year
The comprehensive nature of coaching means that
a coach must have a number of qualities that differentiate
him or her from others in ways that include sportsmanship,
education, safety and prescience for the game. Barry Whittington
has all of these talents while maintaining the work ethic
to sustain them day in and day out.
Coach Whittington has coached the H-V
Storm Girls for more than eight years, helping many of
the same girls develop into strong players and excel beyond
their individual potentials. Perhaps his success is wrapped
in fundamental ethics; his expectations of each player
focus on the credo “do to others as you want them to do
to you.” This methodology instills sportsmanship throughout
all his players and brings a special sense of community
to everything he touches.
Setting goals for his players is also
something that Coach Whittington teaches, encouraging
the kids to aim high and go beyond the seasonal games
to participate in summer training camps. The level of
success for individual players has as much to do with
boosting their spirits as it does training these players
to live up to their physical capabilities.
Another quality that SC Youth Soccer recognized
in Coach Whittington is his commitment to the procedures
that bring soccer players to the field. Behind the scenes
volunteers must find the stage for the players to flourish.
As Club President, he organizes tournaments and contacts
teams from other areas to compete. Each year he puts together
a Relay for Life soccer game to benefit the American Cancer
Society. If being a coach and administrator weren’t enough
for him already, he hosts referee clinics as well as attends
certification courses on his own time for the purpose
of maintaining (and advancing) his own knowledge of the
game.
Wendy Jarrell recently commented on her
first meeting with Coach Whittington: “I remember the
first time I met Barry and was inquiring about soccer
for my daughter. He kept going on and on about his girls.
Later I asked him how many daughters he had. He said none!
He was referring to his soccer team. He is an outstanding
coach and leader for our organization.”
SC Youth Soccer appreciates the contributions
of this fine coach and the ways he continues to bring
quality to his soccer team as well as the whole state
soccer community.
