Head Boys Soccer Coach Mark Shannon - Broken Arrow

•    Tell us about your background and how you ended up in Oklahoma? I was born in Los Angeles, CA but grew up in Chattanooga, TN.  I graduated from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, GA in 1990.  I met my wife Kathy there.  She is from Tulsa and we moved here a year after I graduated from college in 1991. 
•    What is your coaching background? I began coaching soccer when I was 17 years old.  I have continued coaching since then.  When we moved to Tulsa, I coached soccer at Broken Arrow Soccer Club.  Honestly I was a terrible youth coach!  We won a lot of games but I was expecting the little kids to play like big kids and it just wasn’t happening.  I began taking coaching education courses and realized that I needed these before I EVER began coaching – the amount of frustration that it would have eliminated would have saved me a lot of money in headache and upset stomach remedies!
•    What drew you to coaching?  I started coaching when one of the kids on my high school team said that his little brother needed a coach.  I made a phone call and next thing you know I had my own team.  What has continued to keep me in the business of coaching is the realization that my playing days are over.  I mean the body just doesn’t heal like it use to, but I still have that drive and the competitive edge.  I think I have a knowledge and understanding of the sport (which is NOT complete) that I can teach.  It is extremely rewarding to see an “A-HA!!” moment when a kid finally gets what you have been trying to get into their head and they do it!!
•    What was winning a state championship at Cascia like? We had 4 state championships in 2 years at Cascia Hall(2 boys and 2 girls).  What was it like??? It was AWESOME!! And I have found it to be infectious – I want it again!
•    What’s the best movie you’ve seen in 2008? Good grief – are you kidding??? It’s soccer season!!!  No time for movies!!
•    Who are your role models in coaching or working with young people? Everyone that has had a part in my soccer education – a coach, a teammate or an instructor in a course I have taken has served as a role model for me.
•    What is the potential for U. S. soccer? The sky is the limit!  The soccer athletes that are being developed right now in America are tremendous. We are on the back edge of a soccer generation that has played and are now coaching and so they are passing it on to their kids.  I believe in the next few years we will be able to really compete with the best in the world on the men’s side and really make a definitive statement about our capabilities.  Of course the women have already done that and I think we are now in very capable hands with a new US coach.
•    What do you think is the most significant development for soccer in the last 10 years? The Fox Soccer Channel.  It runs 24-7 with games, highlights, news etc.  It’s always on at my house!
•    What do you think is the most important life lesson you’ve learned through your involvement with athletics either as a player or coach? If you are going to get involved with something – give it your all.  Don’t just do it halfway.
•    What’s something about yourself that might surprise your team? I have never been tossed out of a match as a coach.  A player? That’s a different story!
•    What’s your favorite vegetable? A tomato.
•    You have a son (Thomas – signed with Memphis) who is graduating this year.  Does that create more pressure for this season’s success? Oh no…no extra pressure at all.  Whether he is there or not I always have that pressure!!  We are just going to come out and work hard every day together. 
•    What will be the best indicator for you as a coach of how well your team will play at the end of the season? Are we smiling and happy when all is said and done or do we have our heads hung low?  Honestly I am more concerned about what kind of people they are going to be after they graduate.  Are they going to take the life lessons that soccer has taught them and become good people?  I hope and pray they will be a benefit to society and not a problem.  Time will only tell.  My coaching staff and I really try to set a good example and pay attention to all of the off-field problems. Not only are we coaches but we are also mentors.  The kids look to us and watch how we handle situations…hopefully we set the proper example.
•    What do you think your teachers in high school thought about your future? Very interesting question…They probably thought that I would stay in Chattanooga and end up doing something with soccer, but no doubt that I would be successful at something. The more interesting question would be what did I think about my future?  I would never have dreamed that I would be a 4 time state champion coaching soccer in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Man, I didn’t see that one coming at all!
•    Thanks for your time coach and best of luck!