I was 16 and the game was at home against Marquette Soccer – one of our biggest rivals. After being up against them, they started to come back. It was the 80th minute and the referee blared his whistle. We had lost. It was like lightning had struck me down.

I happened to be on defense. I felt that it was my fault since we were winning and our defense couldn’t hold them back

After the game, everyone had left but me. I sat outside on the wet grass, late on a school night. I put my head into my knees and pondered about the game. Constantly asking, was it my fault? Could I have done anything better? Will they be mad at me?

I had been sitting there well after the game concluded and coach Schnese was exiting the stadium when he realized there was still a car in the parking lot. He turned to me, instantly noticing something wasn’t right.

I told him everything. I remember the first words he spoke after listening to me ramble. He said softly, “I’m here for you.” He talked me through everything and was able to calm me down. While still sitting there and decompressing, he got a text from his wife. It was a video of his baby who just said their first word. He started to cry and so did I. 

At that moment, I realized that coach Schnese is a human just like I am. He works at a Target Distribution Center where he has to manage and deal with people who seemingly appear to be constantly off-task or very annoying to deal with. Combine that with having a kid and then dealing with a boys high school soccer team – now that’s a challenge.

I could tell that he was stressed certain days after a hard day at work or a frustrating experience with his child…but he always let it go while at practice. If a practice didn’t go well, he would keep himself up, late at night, thinking about what he can do better next time. The following days, we would have a talk with the team explaining what we can do to be more productive and how we can be better as individuals and as a team.

Coach Schnese is a pleasure to be around. Not only does he look like Thor, but he is as fast as the flash. He is a genuine leader who has the ability to listen and give advice. He taught me many valuable lessons that I will forever remember and cherish. Every practice, he would attempt to make us better soccer players and humans. 

I will always remember how he treated me and our team. He truly is an amazing person, coach, and father.

A year later (my senior year), I was given the opportunity to play for him again where my season was cut short due to injury. That year, for Schnese’s first time ever, our record against Marquette was 3-0.