Old Colony Archives
Steady as she goes
Old Colony's Walker has no trouble coaching the boys
By Mike Rocha, Standard-Times correspondent
September 13, 2006
ROCHESTER – During Mary-Ann Walker's first season as the Old Colony boys soccer coach, her team lost one game 15-1, which makes her all the more appreciative of yesterday's 3-0 win over Norfolk Aggie.
It makes her appreciate the players she began coaching when her son Nathaniel was 6 years old. It makes her appreciate the fact that she's never had any real problem coaching boys. Coaching keeps her young.
"I love it. I've never had a problem with respect," she said. "I've coached since Nathaniel was 6 years old. Only my first team at (Old Colony). I took it over that first year, my first practice one of the boys cancelled my first practice and we had a big discussion and he became one of my biggest supporters and I've never had a problem with any of these guys. I just hope there will be other women coming out to coach guys because there's no reason why we can't do it."
When the Cougars lined up for a free kick, with Matt "Cheeks" Pacheco and Matt Arruda running interference, Shawn Ferreira stepped up and bent the Cougars' first goal in off the crossbar, Walker said to the parents, grandparents and spectators on the sidelines, "we got that down yesterday."
"He takes after his brother Scott," Walker said of Ferreira, a junior. "His brother was one of our leading scorers over the years. I think he could have beaten his brothers totals, but he slacked off at the end of last year. And this year's he's a captain. He's worked to being a captain. He deserves it. He's shown much more leadership this year than he ever has."
Walker keeps it interesting as she stalks the sidelines.
"Go fishing boys. Find the net," she shouts.
When the Norfolk Aggie goaltender bobbled, but made, two straight saves, she remarked to no one and everyone, "The goalie God is with him, boy."
Ferreira added another goal with an assist from John Delgado giving the Cougars a 2-0 lead at the half.
"When I came in I was nervous, scared," Ferreira said. "After playing with her for three years, she's taught me things I hadn't learned, and I've been playing for half my life. That's what makes her a good coach."
Before the start of the second half. Walker gathers her team and asks "Are we happy?"
The Cougars shout "no" in unison.
"ARE WE HAPPY?" she yells.
"No," they yell back.
It's no secret on the SouthCoast high school soccer scene that the Old Colony program has traditionally struggled with the tougher teams. But, theirs is a program with heart.
"It's character building," said Walker of that early 15-1 loss. "That first couple of years we had many losses like that. But (what) a lot of people don't know is we get a lot of young people who haven't played before and when you try to teach soccer in high school, I admire every player that comes out."
Walker teaches the Cougars to never give up, because she never did.
"It's the first group of young people," she said. "We had Johnny Bravo, he was a senior and we were told he had to drop down to the jayvee level that year. He didn't give up. I still see him today and the first thing he says is 'How's the team coach?'"
Pat Doten takes a pass from Brett Lopes and chips it over the Norflk Aggie goalie's outstrecthed arms and into the back of the net for a 3-0 lead 25 minutes into the second half.
Doten takes another charge at the net.
"Doten you're a man uncaged," Walker shouts.
After the last whistle blows, Walker gathers the team, tells them about practice today and the game with Avon on Thursday.
"Are we taking Avon?" she asks.
"Yes," they say.
"Really?" she shoots back.
"YES."
"ARE WE THE TEAM?"
"YES."
Photo by: Andrew T. Gallagher
Caption: Old Colony's Matt Arruda pushes the ball upfield during yesterday's 3-0 win over Norfolk Aggie.