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Saturday, March 1, 2008
A Players' Coach
Western Arkansas, AR
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Colby Keesee is a players’ coach because she’s been there. She’s been an athlete, a student and an employee all during the sporting season.
Beginning her athletic career at Fort Smith Southside, Keesee played two sports: basketball and soccer. She excelled and was able to reach the state finals in both sports, but her true passion remained on the court.
“Basketball was my first love,” Keesee said.
Like most high school relationships do, her love soon changed upon graduation. She earned an athletic scholarship to play soccer at Arkansas-Little Rock and fell in love all over again.
“College soccer was amazing, but it was a lot of hard work,” Keesee said. “I was able to travel to a bunch of cool places and play top-notch programs that I may not have had the opportunity to at a smaller program.”
Foreshadowing the future, the midfielder learned many helpful aspects of the game while playing soccer for the Trojans, which would help her as she quickly headed into her career. After earning her bachelor’s degree in health sciences at UALR, Keesee accepted an assistant coaching position on the sidelines of the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville — A spot on the field she wasn’t really used to.
“It’s kind of hard transitioning from a player to a coach because you want to get out there and play and fix it,” Keesee said. “You really have to learn to instruct them and get them in the right mindset.”
This mindset often can be difficult because of the worries from class, a job or both.
But Keesee has walked in both pairs of shoes and cleats, so she can relate and give the needed advice to succeed.
“It has been helpful for the players here that I have been through it,” Keesee said. “We have set up schedules to help the girls maintain their academics because here at the Ozarks, academics are a priority because most, if not all, are on some sort of academic scholarship.”
Coaching woes can take their toll on a young coach, but that doesn’t mean she has to do it alone. In fact, Keesee spends some of her free time picking the brains of a few of her former coaches, like Ann Fitzugh.
“Ann Fitzugh was a real mentor that I went to for everything, and I still talk to her to this day about anything I need, like questions or coaching advice,” Keesee said.
All of these experiences are preparing Keesee for her ultimate goal: to be a Division I college coach and also to eventually get her “A-license,” which is the highest license a soccer coach can attain.
Keesee recently took a step in the right direction when she was named the interim head coach at University of the Ozarks and hopes to be notched as the Lady Eagles’ head coach after the coaching search is completed. One valuable quality she boasts on her soccer resume is experience as a players’ coach.
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