EVERYTHING SPORTS IN SPOKANE

 

Following the guidance and principles he was taught over the course of his youth, he has grown into a role to be able to share his experiences and expert advice to an audience that will listen: director of the Spokane Soccer Club.

While he has coached at both collegiate and semi-pro levels, his niche and purpose has been realized at SSC as he has more than tripled the amount of teams involved in the club since he took the reins three years ago (from 10 teams in 2005 to over 30 teams today).

“That’s pretty exciting,” Faridnia said. “The biggest thing is that each kid, at whatever level they are, will have a chance to play and have quality coaching. Within that, it’s not only soccer, but learning things that will hopefully help them throughout life.”

The club, which is limited to those 19 and under, has had great success recently, as 11 of the SSC teams are playing in the Washington State Premier League (most of any club in Eastern Washington, according to the SSC Web site).

The year-round nature of the game, thanks to indoor fields in the area, can sometimes provide burnout for young athletes, which may drive someone away from the game. Faridnia says their proactive involvement with the kids is one of the main reasons burnout is less of an issue at the SSC.

They make sure to provide adequate vacation time for the kids, regardless of skill level or ability, so the burnout doesn’t persistently grow on them. The signs are visible from how the potential burnout victims carry themselves in practice or in competition. Their touches on the ball are not as sharp and some coaches can recognize the traits right away.

“I think that is one of the main reasons we’ve had such growth,” Faridnia said. “We’ve really been trying to track that burnout – we give almost the whole month of July off to every team. When I played, we played all summer, tournaments all the time.”

However, with the extreme growth comes the stress of dwindling resources. A February staff retreat made Faridnia realize his staff had its work cut out for them.

“Our staff is kind of strained because it’s getting so big,” Faridnia said. “Next year, when we get more people involved, we’ll be able to handle it better.”

The assets future staff members must have to succeed with the SSC goes beyond the pitch.

“Whether it’s being able to have a job, get a career going, being a doctor, being a teacher… we stress that with all our coaches,” Faridnia said.