Being a student requires you to balance several areas of your life, such as school, work, sleep, social life and more. To devote yourself to a sport on top of it all likewise calls for an extreme amount of hard work, dedication and grit. The women on Parkland’s soccer team represent these three qualities with their coach, Kip McDaniel, a lead role model.
This is McDaniel’s first year as head coach for Parkland’s women’s team. He says this season “is very much a learning season. [We have a] great group of girls, great team chemistry, great team bonding.” He adds, “[we] definitely have a lot to learn every day so it is great to see them step up and challenge themselves and always keep progressing.” When it comes to coaching, he uses the acronym ‘K.I.P’ to remind his players to ‘keep it positive.’
McDaniel elaborates on this mindset by saying that “if you have the skill, the touch, the drive, the passion, the grit, that’s going to show day in and day out. So if you’re actually giving it your all every single day, that’s going to have ripple effects not on [just] you but on your teammates.” This plays a part in keeping the team together, being successful “and having some fun on the field too.”
laying all of his life, McDaniel’s passion for soccer knows no bounds. McDaniel, born in Champaign, “got very competitive with IFC” in his childhood. He details further that he played for Central High School, “went to Parkland College,” and then played at Illinois State University. At ISU, he and a friend started a club team there. He explains that the team played against many schools, including the “University of Illinois, Chicago, Saint Louis, Indiana and Iowa.”
While he played, he was a sweeper, or the last man standing. McDaniel details that he thrived in this position because he “could help be the voice and vision of the field. Help with direction, let players know if there’s a man on…I love kind of having that leadership role.”
Surinee Nash, a freshman player, thinks along the same lines as her coach. She details her motto as “to keep my head and keep it up.” Nash goes on to explain, “it’s really important to have a really positive mindset because once you let that negativity kind of seep in it’s an automatic loss.” Nash started playing soccer around 8 years old and “played more center back and at one point was a goalie.” However, at 12 years old, the coronavirus pandemic started, and Nash had to stop playing for a while. Just getting back into the sport this year, Nash plays on the Parkland team as a “right or left wing and a center forward.”
She explains that the wing positions on offense are responsible for helping the forward with making goals. Moreover, on defense, Nash details that the wings have to stop the “runs made by the other team” and aid the midfield in keeping possession. She enjoys the wing positions because they are “more supportive roles” due to having a “clear view of the entire field.” Nash adds that she also enjoys it because there is “a chance to play defensively and offensively.”
When it comes to practices, Nash explains that practices technically start at 3:30 p.m., but they are usually all there 15 minutes before. After that, they warm up and complete passing drills. Then they get into the main part of the practice, “scrimmages or shooting or working more on positioning.” She further details that “it depends on what our coaches are looking to improve more.”
Nash shares that the season had “a rough start” because there were not many players, “eleven” to be exact. She goes on to explain that during her first game, the team had no substitutes, which led to “a whole 90 minute game of just everybody on the field which is pretty crazy.” However, the number of team members has increased since then, and that has made practices more “consistent,” according to Nash. She goes on to say because of the increase in team members, “our skill is increasing” and that “it just keeps getting more fun.”
The team’s next home game is Saturday, Oct. 5 at noon. Come out, show your support, and have fun with the team.
