Katherine Skarbek: Twins Staff Coach
Personal Info:
Originally from Louisville, KY, Katherine played her club soccer for Mockingbird Valley Soccer Club, and competed for the Louisville Collegiate School in high school soccer. She played on the boy’s team her freshman year, and worked with her coach to form a girls program in 2001. The girls team at LCS just completed their 10th season, which makes Katherine feel old. In 2004, she committed to play at Wake Forest University and played for 2 seasons from 2004-2006. Ranked as high as #7 in the nation, Katherine saw action playing at right back and up top at forward.
Katherine is in her 6th year of being involved with TCYSA. In the fall of her junior year at WFU, Katherine began to coach with the club, and continued to play club soccer at Wake Forest. In May 2008, Katherine graduated with a degree in Health & Exercise Science and minor in Entrepreneurship. In January 2012, she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, one of the 7 summits, and 3 other mountains to raise money for 3 different organizations in East Africa. She wore a TWINS shirt to the top of Mt. Kenya, and brought a soccer ball with her up Kilimanjaro!
Coaching Education:
USSF National "B" License
NSCAA National Diploma
USSF National Youth License
Coaching Experience:
TCYSA Staff Coach, 2008-Present
TCYSA Skills Coach, 2006-2010
North Forsyth High School Varsity Head Coach, 2009
SoccerOP Skills Trainer, 2008-Present
Playing Experience:
Winston Salem Hispanic Women’s League
Wake Forest University, Division I Atlantic Coast Conference Program
Mockingbird Valley Soccer Club, Louisville, Kentucky
The Louisville Collegiate School, Louisville, Kentucky
Awards:
2 NCAA Tournament Appearances
3 Year Louisville Collegiate High School team captain
2003 Honorable Mention All-State
2003 All District Team
2003 All Metro Team
2002 All District Team
Education:
BS, Wake Forest University, Health and Exercise Science
Getting to Know Katherine:
TCYSA - How young/ old were you when you decided to coach?
KS - A part of me has always wanted to coach...I started coaching when I was in high school...running a soccer camp at my school for k-5th grade and coaching a 3rd and 4th grade basketball team my Junior and Senior year in high school. I really decided to pursue coaching my Junior year at WFU when I began coaching the 92 Gold challenge team for Twin City.
TCYSA - How did you get into coaching?
KS - In every sport I’ve played, I have always had to be a vocal leader. I played center back in soccer, point guard in basketball, and catcher in softball so I was always calling plays or organizing people. My dad coached my soccer and baseball teams for a while when I was really young. He’s such a great teacher and I’ve always wanted to be as much like him in that respect as possible. That was definitely a big part of it as well.
TCYSA - What do you like about coaching?
KS - The best part is getting to work with the player’s day in and day out. When a player finally gets something in practice one week, and then they do that skill perfectly in a game...that’s what I love. They see themselves improve and their confidence skyrockets. That’s the ultimate reward for a coach.
TCYSA - What has been your greatest coaching moment?
KS - Seeing my 95 silver girls pull out a win in state cup over GYS Gold. We won 1-0, and I think we might have had 1 shot on goal. GYS completely dominated with possession, and had about 30 shots, but my girls were so determined to come out of there with a win that they made it happen. I was so proud of them. Also, last fall my academy boys performed a perfect corner kick and scored a header goal. It was amazing. I told the story to about 30 people who didn’t understand why it was such a big deal, but it made my week.
TCYSA - What was your greatest moment as an athlete?
KS - Tough question. I made a 3 pointer at the buzzer in high school on my Senior night, and we won, which was sweet. I don’t have a specific moment that I can look back on and say that it was the best though, just being part of a team is one of my favorite things in the world.
TCYSA - When you stop coaching one day, what will you most want to be remembered for by the athletes you have coached?
KS - That I knew life wasn’t just about soccer, that it’s about something bigger. Hopefully they remember that I cared more about their development as a person than about their soccer skill. I also hope they remember my terrible half time jokes.
TCYSA - What aspects of sports have you learned to appreciate since you have been a coach rather than an athlete?
KS - The amount of organization and planning that goes into a single season of a sport, and the amount of patience you need to have with your teams. It’s a lot of hours, collaboration, and preparation that help make a season run smoothly for a team. My high school soccer coach Thomas Travis was a master at this part of the game. We definitely were not the best team skill wise, but he had us prepared to compete every day. I owe a lot of my patience as a coach to him...poor Travis was coaching 20 high school girls, and I’m sure we shared way too much information with him about certain things. My teams do that to me today...I just pretend I don’t hear and continue to set up my cones. Life as a coach is always entertaining.
