With the 2024 fall season in action, women’s soccer has a mentorship program with a local youth club team, Blaize FC. Richland Campus’ head women’s soccer coach, Stephanie Peel, not only coaches the Richland women’s soccer team but also coaches her daughter’s U9 (Under 9) club team.
Peel explained that the team is out of the same area and school.
“It’s my daughter’s soccer club out of East Dallas and all the girls go to Solar Elementary, which is a Dallas ISD elementary school.”
As Peel got older, she has always wanted to coach youth in some way.
“When I was in high school and college, I started coaching 5 and 6-year olds, , 6-year-old players, and then also was coaching elementary kids … That’s how I got my start as a coach. So since then, I’ve always looked for opportunities. Even when I became a high school coach and became a college coach, I still wanted to maintain that connection with coaching youth in some way.”
One aspect Peel takes advantage of is the balance between youth and maturity.
“The youth players bring a really fun, fun youthful energy to it that I think could be a good reminder of just that excitement that we all had for the game when we just first started playing. I see that a lot and then the older players bring sort of the wisdom and the experience to it,” Peel said.
“I see the younger players are benefited clearly, because they have role models, someone to look up to, someone kind of giving them advice. That’s a different voice than a coach. They hear from me all the time, but to have a different voice explaining or sharing something in a different way and someone who’s a little closer in age than I am who they think is cool, and someone they can look up to I think has been really valuable for the younger players.”
The college players have a chance to see the game from a coaching side as well.
Peel said, “They have to think about how to explain something in a different way… I think that the older players are getting a lot about it, a lot out of it, also in terms of service and giving back. They’re not just thinking about themselves as players, but they’re having to think about, like, you know, players coming in behind them and what they can offer and how they can help and support.”
Freshmen player Stephanie Trujillo explained how being a mentor has benefited her.
“I think for me it would be a little bit more confidence because I remember as a little girl that’s something anyone struggled with in soccer is confidence.”
Peel hopes to keep the mentorship program going and growing.
“I definitely want to keep the relationship going throughout not just the fall season, but also the spring season,” she said.
