4 Years of Coaches Comments on Zach from Willie Waters

The following comments were sent to me by Willie.  These comments are extracted from his speeches given  at the end of year Captains Party.  The speeches address the team as a whole and then roll to a narrative on each player as Dusty's did.

Hi Mark,

I cannot believe the soccer is over and miss every second of it. Here are the paragraphs that I have written about Zach over the last 4 years, lots of similar themes each year and ones that you should be proud of:

Freshman year:

Zach’s quiet demeanor made me nervous about how he was fitting in with the group. I quickly began to realize that part of the reason Zach was being quiet was that he was determined to prove to all of us what he could do on the field and let his play do the talking for him. The goal scoring was nice but what I find most impressive is how hard Zach works. He is not intimidated by anything and the passion that he plays with made his teammates better. Even as a 9^thgrader, there were games and training sessions where Zach set the tone for us. He would run through a wall to give us a chance to win and his energy is infectious. I know that other teams will be accounting for him next year which he should use as a challenge to get even better in the offseason. It is going to be fun to watch Zach progress as he has a chance to become one of the most dangerous players in the ISL.

Sophomore year:

Similar to Jory, our season took off when Zach found a higher gear. No one is harder on Zach than he is on himself which makes it difficult at times to figure out the best way to reach him. He is the type of player that every coach wants on their team because he sets a physical tone and you know will give you all that he has each time out. Early in the season, we were worried about his confidence as he struggled to score goals and it clearly was weighing on him as he tried doing it all by himself. However, once he got that first goal we all saw how dangerous Zach is. He didn’t score a goal until the 9^th game but then was the hottest goal scorer in the league as he ended with 9 goals over our next 8 games. Teams that thought they just had to key on Elijah were in deep trouble as Zach punished them with goal after goal. Even more impressive than the goals is Zach’s work ethic. You would think that a kid that plays as hard as he does every Wednesday and Saturday would have to take it easy in practice. However, it is quite the opposite as he plays with the same ferocity in every practice. Even if his teammates don’t notice, he is making them better every day. Zach also became more vocal this year and we will need even more of Zach’s voice next year if we want to be a top team. He is as dangerous as anyone in the league already and it will be fun to watch him and Elijah together next year. I know other coaches are worried.

Junior year:

We have now been fortunate enough to have had Zach on our team for three years and he has had a major impact on each of those seasons. I remain amazed by Zach’s ability to give his best effort every single time he puts on his cleats. He might not have his best day technically each time but there has never been a day where anyone can question how hard Zach is working. I remember talking to another coach in the league in the middle of the season and he was complaining about how his kids were being lazy in practice. He asked if I had any tactic to use in practices to make sure they gave their best effort. I thought for a bit and then realized probably all I would need to do is send Zach down to their practice. He never quits on a ball, he never stops chasing a defender and he refuses to stop until the ball goes in the net. We never went in a slump this year because Zach wouldn’t let it happen. We had lots of kids like this but when you have a striker willing to throw his body around and do anything that it takes, that energizes everyone. We certainly were a different team at Nobles without Zach and it was unfortunate that he got hurt, but how he forced his way back on the field down the stretch was inspiring to many of his teammates. Zach is a lead by example type of player and as a coach if you have one of your best players willing to run through a wall for his teammates, it makes coaching a lot easier because we never once had to worry about not giving our best effort.

Senior year:

Zach also fits that mold. From the first scrimmage in Maine his freshman year, it was clear that he was a difference maker. 89 points later, that description is even more fitting and you can add all sorts of other superlatives to that mix. The points and game winning goals will be remembered forever but the thing that I will never forget about Zach is how hard he works. Every player that has ever played with him should thank Zach for how much better they got because they had to go up against him in practice. It is mind-boggling to me that a kid could work as hard as he did day in and day out. I cannot think of one practice or game that I left and thought, “I wish Zach had given a little bit more effort today.” He always left it on the field and I admired that every day, not as much when he was screaming at me about my reffing, but when he refused to quit. I always say that I want our identity to be that teams think we are hard to play against. Zach is that identity. Defenders have nightmares about him and teammates can never let up because their effort will be exposed by Zach’s. His emotional investment and competitive nature made him better but even more important was that it made Brooks soccer better. I will miss him tremendously as he has made me a better coach. I never want to let Zach down because he never let me down in 4 years. Thank you for countless memories Zach.