What are you most passionate about?
I am most passionate about creating spaces where young people feel seen, heard, supported, and confident in themselves. Growing up playing sports has always been more than just the game and score for me. It taught me communication, resilience, discipline, leadership, and teamwork. I love helping players grow, not only as athletes, but also as individuals who believe in their own abilities on and off the field, track, or court.
Why did you join Let’s Play!?
I joined Let’s Play! Because I believe in its mission of making sports accessible, positive, and community-centered for young people. I wanted to be part of an environment that prioritizes joy, inclusion, and development while also helping them build confidence and lifelong skills through soccer.
What have you enjoyed in your experience working with Let’s Play!?
One of the things I’ve enjoyed most is watching players grow over time. Throughout my time at Let’s Play! I’ve enjoyed watching players become more confident as the weeks went by, become more communicative, take risks, and understand skills that they’ve been working on. I’ve also enjoyed the sense of community I felt among the other coaches, players, families, and even staff members.
What background, education, training, or experiences prepared you for what you are doing now?
Some of the biggest influences on my coaching journey were the coaches I had growing up. They taught me more than soccer, basketball, and track. They taught me confidence, discipline, resilience, and, most importantly, to always believe in myself. Many of them were there for me during important moments in my life, and their impact stayed with me long after the season ended.
Those experiences are what inspired me to become the kind of coach who helps young people grow both on and off the field. In addition, my experiences as a player, my professional background in community engagement, mentorship, and program management, and my education in international affairs and development have strengthened my ability to work with diverse groups of young people and to create positive, supportive environments where they can thrive.
What’s your vision for the community you serve, and how can others contribute/support?
My vision for the community I serve is to help foster a community where every child feels encouraged to participate, grow, and belong, regardless of skill level or background. I want each and every child to always leave feeling confident, with positive memories, lessons they can use throughout their day, and newly formed friendships. I believe others can support this vision by showing up consistently for the young players, encouraging teamwork, sportsmanship, and even volunteering/mentoring, and helping make youth sports accessible and welcoming for all families.
Who were you inspired by as a young player?
As a young player, I was inspired by the older players, coaches, and mentors who would stop by to work with us on our skills and talk to us about how their experiences in sports had helped shape who they were. I was also very inspired by many players on my team, who pushed me to be better every practice, every game, and even during the off-season.
What is the best piece of coaching advice you ever received?
The best coaching advice I’ve ever received was to “focus on progress, not perfection” and to “control what you can control.” These two have always stuck with me because everyone makes mistakes, players, coaches, referees, etc. I found these to be the best things players and even coaches can focus on: their effort, attitude, response to challenges, and preparation.
