It is an honor and privilege to speak with you tonight. I was asked to talk about the early days so we can see how things have changed. When I started coaching 30+ years ago. I was young and had hair. Now I am old and shiny.

I started as an assitant coach on a girls rec team, the East side Junior girls. We played 11 a side on large fields with full size goals. We played into December. Games were played in the snow. Some players wore cleats while others wore sneakers. Participation awards were a small embroidered patch for the players first season. An embroidered star was awarded for each season thereafter. Much has changed, but in my opinion something has remained the same, the love in this organization for people and for soccer.
Love motivates people:

To be age group and district coordinators.
To be field and equipment coordinators.
To be training instuctors.
To be directors and officers.
To be tournament coordinators.
To do many jobs in the organization that I am not aware of.
And while not part of SAC Love motivates people to referee our games.
Love motivates all of us to see children play soccer.

With the help of everyone in SAC and many outside of SAC we are dedicating these beautiful soccer fields. These are classrooms to help our players learn the game of soccer and the game of life.

Over the years I have talked with hundreds of SAC coaches and in my opinion they love their players. They want their players to grow and develop as players and as people.

The coaches take great pride in helping the players learn:

How to be a gracious winner and how to be a gracious loser.
How to take risks and learn new skills.
How to get along with teammates even when personalities don't mesh well.
How to deal with the frustration inherent in the learning curve.
How to encourage each other.
How to perservere through losing streaks and not give up.
How to accept that a call in a game may not be fair.
How to learn from mistakes and see them as anormal part of life.
How to build team work because soccer and life are a team sport.
How to measure self-worth by how hard a person works.
How to measure success not by a won loss record but by how they play the game.
For a team can hustle and not win, a team rarely wins without hustle. Hustle is number one.

A lot has changed in 30+ years. A lot will change in the next 30+ years. The love in this organization has remained and will remain the same. I am glad some things never change.

Thanks for Listening
Bill McCormack