PSW Q&A: Gino Leon, Varsity Girls Soccer Coach at Bishop Ireton High School

By Charles Boehm

Last November, wet weather forced the postponement and relocation of the finals weekend of the Virginia State Cup, bringing the event into the same weekend as the finals of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference’s soccer season. This conflict created a difficult choice for several girls who played for both Lee-Mt. Vernon Soccer Club’s Under-18 Patriots team, which advanced to their division’s State Cup final in Richmond, and Bishop Ireton High School’s varsity girls team, which had reached the WCAC championship game against St. John’s College High School.

Potomac Soccer Wire subsequently profiled the situation, which to us encapsulated the hot-button topic of “club vs. high school” which is on the minds of so many in American youth soccer these days. We spoke to Patriots coach and veteran Washington, D.C.-area soccer personality Lula Bauer for the story, and shortly after our piece ran, we received an angry letter from a reader who felt we had shown bias in not including the perspective of Bishop Ireton coach Gino Leon.

So we reached out to Coach Leon, a longtime standout on both the area’s club and high school scenes who also coaches club soccer at Burke Athletic Club. He graciously shared his time and wisdom with us in a wide-ranging interview. Here are several noteworthy excerpts from that conversation.

PSW: First of all, congratulations on a great season for the Cardinals [who narrowly lost the WCAC final 1-0 to St. John’s]. It’s fair to say you object to the idea that you pressured Helena Barber, Ciana Puglese and Gabby Goddette to play for Bishop Ireton instead of Lee-Mt. Vernon SC that weekend, right?

GL: I did not pressure the kids. Besides teaching the kids soccer, I’m teaching them life lessons, and they had to choose for themselves. I cannot pressure them one way or another. I’m a travel coach as well and I know exactly what these kids go through and quite frankly, who suffers. The kids are the ones who suffer. Who’s at fault here are the two committees [VYSA and WCAC]. They should get together and work something out for the better of the kids. But I never pressure the kids to play for me only or solely.

We lost, although we should’ve won the WCAC final. We dominated the whole game – but that’s a whole different issue, the ball just wouldn’t go in the net…Then you got bums going on the discussion forums who don’t have a clue about what went on in the game but they start jabbing at you – that can hurt my reputation as a coach. I just didn’t appreciate it.

The kids are the ones that suffer, both physically and mentally – it’s very stressful on them. We’ve got to give these kids break. During the high school season I give them a lot of breaks, I know they have a lot of travel commitments…the kids have to decide on their own what to do. I weighed the pros and cons to them, on both sides of the table, but I cannot make the decision for you, you have to decide what’s best for you and your team. It’s unfortunate to be in this position but you’re going to face things like this in life and you’ve got to decide what’s best for you – and that was the extent of it. I even spoke to a couple of kids about it – I was at school and they were shocked that Ms. Bauer made those comments.

[When the schedule conflict occurred] I immediately emailed coach Lula and said ‘Thanks for your support, sorry that this is happening. I can imagine how you’re feeling and I wish you a lot of luck.’ And I congratulated her afterwards, after the win.

PSW: This situation is one example of the larger “club vs. high school debate,” isn’t it?

GL: It’s tough on us, for the coaches alone now – can you imagine what the kids are dealing with mentally? Keep in mind they’re kids, not adults…The travel program has helped [college] recruiters because in one weekend they can catch three or four kids in a couple of games.

it’s more practical for recruiting purposes, and that’s why pretty much everything has gone the other way as far as high school losing its glamour, let’s say. [But] the high school experience is beautiful, you take that with you forever. Travel, don’t get me wrong, but you only see the kids once or twice a week and at games, and high school, you see each other all day long – look at the bonds that they’re building.

PSW: There are also rumors that the Elite Clubs National League [the nation’s top girls’ youth club competition] and the U.S. Soccer Development Academy may forbid their players from taking part in high school soccer.

GL: Think about how selfish that is. You’re taking away the high school experience, you’re taking away the chance for those kids to be recognized in the hallway [at school], announcements made over the PA system – do you know how good that makes the kids feel? Once again, they’re kids – they’re not professionals, they’re not adults, they’re kids. They walk proud in the hallways

How can you forbid a kid from playing high school soccer? Seriously. It makes them a lot better person overall.

That’s my role as a coach, not only to train them and develop their soccer skills, I’m teaching them life lessons that they can carry out in every aspect of life later on, and pass on to the next group. We seem to forget that. We’re coaches, we’re counselors, we’re friends, we’re teachers, we’re role models.

PSW: You make valid points. But can high school soccer match the overall quality of club soccer, and the preparation it provides for advancing to the upper levels of the game?

GL: I think so, if the support is there, if we put a little bit more emphasis on high school soccer…High school has lost its luster a little bit, but you still have some very good high school teams out there, that play soccer the way it’s supposed to be played instead of this ‘kick and run’ thing…Some schools get away with it still, but you’re not developing the players. But I do, and now with this new rule that they’ve passed, you can actually practice [during the offseason] on what they call ‘green days.’ However, you only get 12 days per offseason.

[U.S. Men’s National Team coach] Jurgen Klinsmann stated, and I’ve been saying this all along: this is the only country where you have to pay to play good soccer. All around the world, the clubs go to the poor areas where they have a lot of street soccer, and that’s where you find your gems. And they offer scholarships and whatnot. Over here, if you want sound training, you have to pay a good buck to get your kid to develop. It’s amazing. That’s not done anywhere in the world.

Are [coaches] in it for the money, or are they in it for the passion of the game, to develop players? That’s what I’m here for – I could care less about the money. Soccer is my life. It runs in my veins.

[ +Click here to see PSW’s original article about the Va. State Cup-WCAC scheduling conflict ]