Barry O’Driscoll is our City in the Community coach for the East Harlem Community Club. He has been working with the same group of kids for a few years and has witnessed their development firsthand. Here is what Coach Barry has to share:
Name.
Barry O’Driscoll
Where are you from?
Originally Manchester, England. Now residing in Harlem.
Which school/community club do you coach?
I coach the East Harlem Community Club.
How long have you been coaching?
Four Years
Tell us about your school/community soccer program.
The East Harlem Community Club began three years ago. It was put together as a vehicle to follow kids who began their soccer lives in our afterschool programs at Lexington Academy, Harlem, through elementary school to middle school and beyond. As these kids moved to many different middle schools, we wanted to give them the opportunity to stick together and continue playing soccer. Each Tuesday and Thursday we meet at Lexington School in Harlem and walk together to Randall’s Island where we have a great field for a two-hour practice. The group has over 40 kids registered who regularly attend. In the first year, we put together a U12 team to compete in a local league (NYFILSA) on Saturdays. This has since grown to three teams — U11, U13 and U15. The original U12 team now makes up our current U15s.
What are some of the challenges youth faced in your school/community you coach?
Like many inner-city areas, the opportunity to do something safe and active after school is very limited. Parents may not be able to be as engaged in a child’s life. Perhaps both parents work multiple jobs and cannot be around. The resources are not there to give the kids something positive to do. The program offers a safe environment for the kids to get together. Our group gets a large open space that is theirs to enjoy; no buildings, roads or obstacles to get in the way. Without the opportunity to play soccer in this club or another similar program, an important and influential time in the kids’ lives could be missed.
What impact does soccer have on the kids you coach?
There are so many. You can take a step back and see the change and growth of kids in the program over the past 3-4 years. They all get something from it. The more talented players have used it to really practice and improve their game. They want to play in high school and beyond. There are kids who, a year earlier, you would never have thought they would be interested in athletic pursuits, but now they are challenged and motivated in every practice. There are girls in the group who were very quiet and timid, and they are now joking and having fun and have gained confidence. The biggest single effect I think is that this group has a sense of togetherness. They all look out for each other and have made best friends within this club. I feel the soccer club gives the kids a foundation for something consistent in their lives.
What do you teach the kids through soccer?
Big picture, a major focus is health and nutrition. We want them to exercise and be as active as possible. Wherever we can get the message across about eating right we do. We incorporate this message into games and exercises we do throughout practice. One of my personal focuses is on encouraging togetherness and the idea of working for your team and looking out for the group. When you meet this group, you cannot help but feel you are part of something.
An anecdote on one of the kids you coach or a class you coach.
Kids develop at different stages and being consistent and involved in their lives can bear fruit in many different ways. One of the kids has been in the program since the beginning when he was in elementary school. He always did well, showed up every day and even when he left elementary school he came back to help the coaches with the afterschool program. Despite his commitment you always felt he was playing within himself. There was always more he could do. Recently, I have noticed a change in him. He started to play with more confidence and express himself more on the field. He became a driving force on the team. He recently told me that he knows what he wants now. He wants to be a professional and is working hard towards that goal. I love to hear this as I always encourage them to aim to be the best. For me, even if he falls short of being a professional, something we all know is very tough; his journey to get there will open up doors and opportunities that he never would have known existed. It may get him to college or maybe into coaching or teaching, who knows? What I do know is having that goal can only help lead him to a bright future.
Coach Barry would like to thank the MCFC NY Supporters Club for their ongoing support of the Community Club.
