Vixen has a ball coaching Amherst goalkeepers

By Laura Clark

Published: May 22, 2008

Rising Sweet Briar senior and starting Vixen goalkeeper Kristen Johnson earned respect with a new set of players, the Amherst boys soccer team, the best way an athlete can: she shut them down in scrimmages.

Her prowess in the goal helped ease her transition as a volunteer coach for the goalkeepers on the varsity and junior varsity.

“At first, it was hard for the guys to accept a girl to come in and try to be their coach,” head coach Tom McBride said. “But when they saw her play the position, and they started listening to her, it quickly dissolved.”

In her second season working with keepers Andrew Bray, Jon Ascencio and Matt Granger, Johnson or “K.J.” as the team calls her, saw the players mature.
Bray, the starting varsity keeper, became more vocal and advanced in arguably the most technical position on the soccer field.

Bray learned to read the spin of the ball and to watch the attacker’s knees for a clue to the shot’s direction. He learned to make a diving save without hurting himself.

“Basically, it was his maturity level in goalkeeping, since you have to be able to display leadership qualities and stay composed when things don’t go the way you want them to,” Johnson said.

A health and wellness major, Johnson realized maybe coaching was somewhere in her future, and that she liked coaching boys.

“I’m with girls all the time,” she said. “It definitely made my experience more fun because for me, boys are easier to get along with.”

Boys take criticism and directions differently, and Johnson found the dynamics meant she had to work hard to teach certain skills. Often, she would make a point by illustrating her own experience at the goal.

“A lot of times he’ll say things I hear her say all the time, so I know where it came from,” McBride said of Bray. “He’ll come out and call the ball, and call (the defense) off. He’ll direct them left or right.”

Johnson also earned the goalkeepers’ respect by working them harder than McBride or former coach Kevin Fabulich, now Johnson’s head coach, ever did.

“We had these cones, and we had to do certain things over top of them: jumping one foot, left foot, right foot, two feet, as fast as you can go side-to-side,” Bray said. “She knew I hated it, but she made me do it every day. She made things interesting. Hard at times, but it helped me out a lot.”

As the Lancers finished their regular season, Johnson had to head home to Federal Way, Washington for the summer. She keeps in touch with McBride and the players through email, instant messaging and Facebook.

“It’s kind of difficult not to be able to see (the postseason) in person,” said Johnson, who plans to help next season as well. “Because the relationships I established, being able to connect on a better level – it was harder to leave.”