Michael Goodrich, head coach of the NSU women’s soccer team, has just completed his 16th season with the team and has kept the same positive attitude every year.
Goodrich credits many people for sparking his interest in the sport. South Florida in the 70s didn’t offer him much exposure to soccer; he didn’t play in an organized league until eighth grade. He got his first taste of the sport at age 8 when his neighbor from India would play in the front yard with his children. Goodrich learned a lot from watching and became particularly interested in the way other countries play the game.
“Only soccer on TV was twice a week. I would get English Premier League highlights on Saturday and German Bundesliga on Sunday,” said Goodrich.
Goodrich is aware that the way he coaches today is different from the way he used to do so 10 to 15 years ago. He has learned to develop his coaching methods for the more modern-day style of soccer.
“Modern soccer is all about attacking. Different positions are getting involved in the attack as opposed to when I played. [The game] certainly has changed over the past 20 years,” said Goodrich. “Some of my early coaches were Dutch, so I learned that philosophy from them — that everyone can be involved in the attack.”
Goodrich got started coaching soccer because of his love of the sport. The passion he saw in his coaches in various other sports that he played made an impact on him, and he wanted to have that same impact on his players.
“I hope I’ve been able to accomplish that,” said Goodrich.
Although this past season didn’t turn out the way he had hoped, he sees it as a great learning opportunity.
“It was a great character season. It certainly demonstrated the character of the young women on the team. They never quit. They always battled, and they should be proud of that,” said Goodrich.
He believes that, though there will always be ups and downs, what matters most is how he and his players respond. This past season can certainly be placed into the downside category.
The team had a lot of expectations of doing well going into the year and was poised to do so early on. Goodrich had coached his team to a 4-1 start, including a win over the nationally ranked No. 14 Lenoir-Rhyne University, but the Sharks only won one more game after that.
“We just weren’t getting the results,” said Goodrich.
Despite the way this past season finished, the coach and his team will have the same expectations going into next season as they have had every year Goodrich has been in charge.
“We expect to win now. We realize we need to prepare to win and be in a position to win. We want to compete for championships and that’s where we’re at going into 2014,” said Goodrich.
Goodrich wants to be remembered for what he taught all his players over the years. He will be remembered for not only winning on the field but building the program, the athletic department and NSU.
