My name is David Drafton and I am an Up2Us Sports coach at DC Stoddert Soccer serving at Seaton Elementary School in Washington, D.C., where we primarily teach and play the game of soccer. The kids and staff are amazing people to work with and I really could not have asked for a better site to be at.

With that being said, kids are kids and need guidance and direction as they continue to grow and develop. When we first started playing soccer, I could tell that the group was not familiar with the skills you need to have to be successful - passing, shooting, spreading out, etc, and honestly that was ok. They just knew that the ball needed to go in the net by kicking it. They just wanted to play and have fun, which is exactly what I wanted from them. One day I noticed that the kids were doing throw-ins incorrectly every time the ball went out. Instead of throwing over your head, the kids were throwing the ball like a football. The ball went out during a play and I told the kids to freeze and showed them the correct way to throw a ball in. Then had a player do a throw-in the right way and play continued. For the rest of the day, every time the ball went out the kids were showing proper technique to throw it back into play.

Little did I know from that one small teaching moment would spark a curiosity in the kids to learn more skills to be successful at the game of soccer. From then on, I had kids coming up to me asking about proper technique to shoot the ball, pass the ball, where to be if you don’t have the ball and more. I even had kids asking me in-depth questions on the rules of the sport and my favorite professional team and player. This is pure growth within the game of soccer that I’m seeing. The kids learned a small but valuable skill that sparked a bigger interest in the sport than just playing. It showed that they can learn a skill in soccer and gave them the confidence to learn more. The kids are still playing and having fun but now they are diving deeper within the sport. Small impacts lead to greater outcomes!

David has been serving as an Up2Us Sports coach since 2019 at DC Stoddert Soccer thanks to support from AmeriCorps.