Youth Academy Coaching Director Kevin Flanagan was perhaps predestined for his role here at North Meck SC. Born into an Irish, professional coaches’ household, his love for football was instilled both by nature and was nurtured daily.
"My dad was a player till I was about five or six and after that he has been a coach. I have great, vivid memories of being at professional games and being in the dressing rooms with those guys. It was a very cool environment for a young aspiring player to grow up in."
The soccer culture was very different to the one the Flanagan’s were immersed in at home in Ireland but the opportunities in the American game are that fueled the Flanagan family to make the trip across the pond.
“There is avery big difference between growing up here and growing up in Europe. Over there you have full exposure to the game.
For me, each day was just school and football. Then football on the weekends, mass on Sunday and football again. When I moved over here I remember my brother and I had to stay up to 2 o’clock in the morning to watch a 30 minute highlight show about the Premier League and that’s all you got, Sundays once a week. To see where the game has come in 15 years just at nearly every level is extraordinary.”
Flanagan played midfield for NAIA Thomas University in Georgia and transferred to Division I Jacksonville University after two years for the remainder of his eligibility.
Like many coaches, this is where his playing career began blending with the start of his coaching career. Flangan helped with Florida’s Clay County Soccer Club during his time in college including starting to work in their Youth Academy.
“When I was in college, I always helped my dad and professional teams run their camps. As soon as I graduated I got into coaching at the youth level. Spring of my senior year there was a team at a local club that needed a coach so I jumped in there and kind of got thrown into the fire. It was a pretty interesting.”
Aside from the game being written in his DNA, Flanagan’s reasons for sticking with soccer is pretty simple.
“I’ve always loved this game. To be honest the coaching side of things is a way for me tostay in the game. Maybe it’s the purest in me, but I believe that we are all here for the same reasons. For the betterment of the game, respect for the game, to give back to the game and for the players.
The evolution of the game here in the United States is where my passion now falls. Developing these kids to further the game as players at the next levels or that’s them becoming coming coaches or showing matches in their future businesses.
You learn something new every day no matter how long you have been in the game and the education you receive through courses, mentors and good coaches is probably themost important thing. It’s been instrumental for me to have coaches to lean on to bounce ideas off of to learn from. At the end of the day you have more experience coaches around you that have likely been through a similar situation that can help give you advice to manage a situation.
It's not easy, not just anyone can coach. Even though we like to play simple, it is a very complex game. You can have 30 some coaches run the exact same session but it’s going to be different every time. You can pick up something from every coach along theway. I like to use the saying, and this is something that I stole, ‘a good coach is a good thief’ so having different coaches with different philosophies to bounce ideas off of is pretty cool."
Flanagan looks back fondly on joining North Meck SC in June of 2007. His first role was to serve as a ‘Youth Academy Liaison’ while also coaching in the U-12 age group as well. He now serves as North Meck SC’s Youth Academy Director. The program only continues to grow requiring his services full time and thus, reaffirming that the program it is indeed the proper way to develop youth players.
Now in its fifth year at NMSC the Youth Academy is approaching 200 boys and girls players. Readmore here
“With the induction of the Academy environment, we shifted our focus towards the individual player and their development. We were one of the first clubs in the greater Charlotte area to make that adaptation and progress in that direction.
Now that we are able to analyze this program across five years, we are seeing the advantages of it and witnessing the success of the program in the playersthat enter the Juniors program at U11-U13. The resources we have coaching these 8, 9 and 10 years olds shows how dedicated how committed the club is to these age groups and this program as well.”
Flanagan keeps his coaching philosophy for players in the youth game simple though there are many complexities of teaching this game.
“My coaching goal is to develop young soccer players, as individuals, teach them good sportsmanship and have them play the game the right way. I like the game to be played simple, pass and move, work together as a team. Overall, I look at myself as developing talent and not necessarily trying to win games.
The Academy program and curriculum emulates similar training systems from more successfulsoccer countries around the world. A positive training mentality is what Flanagan considers to be the most important thing a player can bring to the table. That’s often the most challenging part for youth coaches.
A big part of my philosophy is teaching these kids at a young age how to train properly. No matter what environment or avenue they train in their mentality is the most important. With many players, their mentality towards a game and mentality towards training are polar opposites. They need to bring their game day mentality to training that way they are even stronger on game day.”
In the long run, for Flanagan, developing these players isn’t necessarily about producing professionals or scholarship level players, although bringing the best soccer player out of every athlete is his goal.
“Personally, as a coach, the biggest thing I try to instill in my players is a love and passion for the game. And respect for the game and everything about it: the facilities, the coaching staff, their teammates their opponents, themselves, everything in general. Hopefully that spills over into future generations. What we’re doing with these young players is so much more than just soccer. I remember that through my experience as a player and probably being raised by the game myself. If a player that I coached can walk away from their experience with respect and love for the game, then that’s a win in my book.”
Flanagan insists that the game is much bigger than all of us involved. He will not compromise his values or lower his soccer standards which is the integrity NMSC demands from all it‘s coaches.
“It’s not about me. It's not about mom and dad. It’s about the players and their relationship with this wonderful little game. The more we can realize that, the better off we will all be. It’s a players game and will always to remain that way.
The best player in the world to me, is that youth player who has that peak performance in that game on Saturday morning who’s on top of the world the rest of the week. That 9 year old that’s just having a blast and loving the game at it’s purest form. For me that’s the best player and probably the most powerful player in the world as well.”
His ascent to the game’s top level began as a self-proclaimed “blue collar kid from the streets of London” where he worked up the ranks eventually earning trials with the U-19 and U-21 English national teams in the late 1980’s. Coach Bobby spent 14 years in England’s top flight competing for Norwich City, Coventry City and Nottingham Forest. 
“As a youth player, I was one of the best players in the country. I was always successful, but never was asked to captain a team. I was the funny guy on the team, but when I was 28 and with Coventry I was made captain for the first time. Doing the coin toss with Mark Lawrenson of Liverpool who was on the England Team at the time, with mom and dad in the crowd was a huge honor. That was one of the most rewarding and most humbling moments for me to lead my team against Liverpool that day for the first time. I didn’t know I had the skills to be a captain in my personality before and I did. I changed from being the funny guy in the dressing room to being the one my teammates turned to when the tough questions were being asked in the heat of battle."
The top players from North Meck SC were both anxious and nervous to take the pitch in front of a crowd littered with collegiate scouts from around the nation. Both teams were well aware of the fact that their performances this weekend could help determine where they will compete in the coming years at the next level. But after the opening whistle blew, those thoughts were as far away as Richard Barry Park as the players focused on the challenge in front of them- the Chicago Sockers.
Fans of the beautiful game gathered in the thousands at the “stadium field” to watch the highly anticipated matchup that was broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel. The level of play was superb but the competition, which was considered to be of the “friendly” format, was anything but- There was plenty of color on display during the match coming from both the beautiful desert sunset as well as what was shown by the referee’s hand. The match ended in a 0-0 draw.
