Passing on their goals: East seniors transfer their love for soccer into coaching a recreational team

Seniors Ava and Ellie Peters weren’t quite sure if they wanted to spend their 18th birthday at the Leawood Rec Soccer fields coaching the Highlighter Dragons —  a third grade girls soccer team. But between their passing and positive attitude, the Highlighter Dragons scored their first — and only — win for that season, making it the highlight of their birthday celebration. 

For “Coach Ava” and “Coach Ellie,” winning soccer games was never the main goal for the Highlighter Dragon’s season. Instead, they focus on forming friendships and memories at Monday night practices and weekend games.

The Peters’  began playing soccer when they were just four years old for “The Cheetah Girls” — a team coached by their dad and other parents at their local recreational soccer fields. The team’s main purpose was to learn soccer basics and make friends, according to Ava. As they grew older and were ready for a more competitive playing field, the girls moved into club soccer.

For the twins, switching from rec soccer to competitive soccer in third grade brought a more serious aspect to the game. From being 45-minutes early for games to making sure they were wearing the correct uniforms, competitive soccer taught them the skills necessary to grow in the sport.

Whether it was leading East’s JV soccer team their sophomore and junior years or coaching at the recreational level — no matter what team they’d played for or how competitive it was — the Peters loved the responsibility of contributing to their team while working together.

“There are so many girls on the field that are all working towards the same goal,” Ellie said. “I think it is a really unifying sport, and I stuck with it because of all of the friends I made.”

So when they put on their coaching whistles for a Saturday Highlighter Dragons game, Ava and Ellie work together as coaches to help their team improve upon their skills — while making the most out of their social time, regardless of COVID setbacks. 

“Especially in a time like this, it’s really important for us as coaches to allow the girls to be social and relax and have fun,” Ava said. “There is so much seriousness in their world right now that I think a soccer team is a way for them to be kids again.”

The first 10 minutes of practice always start off with stretching, as each girl shares something positive that happened to her over the weekend or that day. Next is a structured dribbling or shooting drill followed by a game of Sharks and Minnows or “the dance party game” — a game made up by the Peters where each teammate dribbles to the other side and does a dance. The last 20 minutes are spent scrimmaging.

“When we don’t win they are still okay with it,” Highlighter Dragons player Lucy Even said. “[Coach Ava and Ellie] are just very encouraging and fun.”

The Highlighter Dragons team is made up of 11 girls from Corinth Elementary. However, given how the coronavirus has switched up the school year, the team is made up of remote and hybrid students. The Peters try their best to make sure that girls who might be at opposite ends of the alphabet have the chance to work on passing drills or partner up during Sharks and Minnows.

When it comes to game days, the Peters don’t expect their girls to be at the field 45 minutes early in matching uniforms. According to Ellie, the team shows up minutes before kick off in their bright yellow jerseys with miss matched socks. 

Once everyone has made it to the game, Ellie will typically manage the field and assign players to positions, having girls rotate defense and offense in groups of three and selecting one girl to wear the “golden penny” as goalie.

During the game, Ava will work with girls one-on-one and occasionally interrupt their chicken dance to let them know when the opposing team is coming down the field. Despite only winning one game, the Peters chime in with positive lines like “there are still 10 minutes left in the game” or “we’re doing great at passing!”

“One time our goalie got scored on three times and one of our own players ran onto the field in the middle of the game and said, ‘Hey, we are having so much fun and that’s all that matters,’ Ellie said. “It was so sweet and so authentic.”

Whether they were stressed about college applications or coronavirus, both Ellie and Ava looked forward to hearing about a teammate’s attempt at walking her tortoise on a leash during stretching sessions or smiling every time they are called “Coach Ava” and “Coach Ellie.”

“They remind me of what it was like to be a kid playing soccer when I was that age,” Ava said. “It means a lot to me because soccer was so important to me, and it means a lot that I can be a part of that to them.”  

After wrapping up the fall season, the Peters are excited to return in the spring and coach the Highlighter Dragons, in more ways than just victory. 

“It feels like we are looking at ourselves 10 years ago, but now we are helping them create friendships and soccer memories that other people have helped create for us,” Ellie said.