Not read part 1? View it here.
First of all, Chris explains how he earned his stripes and got to be part of one of the biggest football clubs in America.
This goes to show, hard work does pay off. In a time where many people question attitudes of young footballers, Chris's story is fantastic, he hasn't got to where he is now through connections or Luck, he has got there from working his way up, and from the sounds of Things, he certainly hasn't reached his peak, and even bigger things could be ahead for the local lad. He is still only around 30, and is young for someone in his position.While I was playing football for a college in Florida, during the summers I would work for a company (UK International Soccer Camps) here in LA, coaching community football camps all over the West Coast of America just to earn money for when I went back to college. After I finished college the company offered me a full time job; working in the office and also coaching a local team. So I drove across America to start my career as a 'soccer coach'. I was living in a small town about 60 miles outside of LA, not very exciting at all but being in my first year out of college, had to go where the money was and where it was cheap to live! I volunteered with a couple of different youth teams/clubs, including LA Galaxy and college teams just to gain some experience and try to get my foot in the door. Finally got a job offer to coach a couple of teams from a bigger club, FC Golden State, and moved to Pasadena where they were based. Volunteering with Galaxy was starting to pay off and was working with them more and more regularly. I took as many coaching courses and licences/badges as I possibly could and just tried to build my resume like any other person would trying to work their way up in a any other job. Tried to network as much as possible and build my reputation which is where I find myself today. It's been a hard path so far and by no means nearing the end!
I asked Chris what he currently does out in the states, and I was surprised by the answer. I was expecting Chris to tell me he was doing some sort of coaching at L.A Galaxy or FC Golden state, as I mentioned in the article 'American Dream', however this is a massive underestimate of what he actually does.
Instead of working for 2 teams/organisations, Chris currently works for 4.
His main or what he calls his first time job is with L.A Premier FC, Chris explains
I work for LA Premier FC which is a youth football club based in Pasadena (I was formally with FC Golden State in a similar role). This is considered my full time job. I have three teams which I coach and then games/tournaments on the weekend. I have a Boys Under 8 team, a Boys Under 16 team and a Girls Under 17 team.
In the US the structure of youth soccer is different. To play on a club team, the kids have to pay fee's. It can range between $1600 - $2200 a year depending on the club. Our fee's are $1850 per year. Obviously the price to play will depend on where a parent wants to take their child. Some teams do not charge fee's as they do not pay their coaches, so it is normally a dad running the team where as our coaches are billed as professional, qualified coaches.
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| Chris during his time With FC Golden State on a visit to Old Trafford |
It is interesting to hear how the youth structure is so different, in England, the clubs some times pay to get hold of the players with the best potential, where as in the US it sounds the other way around.
He went on to explain about his other roles
Also work for the State of Nevada for whats called Olympic Development Program. Every State has an ODP team which is made up of the best players from that State (different age groups as well starting at U14). Then the States compete in a Regional Tournaments - West Coast, East Coast, Mid West etc. The US National teams at U14 and up select players from these teams as its the best players. As you can imagine at the tournament there is a lot of interest. My role is Director of Goalkeeping for the State of Nevada. It's handy as all our trials are held in Las Vegas!
I also coach a female high school team. Here the high school has only one team, made up of the best players regardless of age. As we know at home each year has their own team so its completely different. This is just seasonal though as the high school season is just from Nov - Feb.Chris' detailed explanation of his roles, gives us an insight into the differences between football in the two countries.
I also coach the goalkeepers at the University of Redlands. As you may be aware playing football at university/college in America (College/university is the same thing however we classify college and university as two different things in England) is a very good standard. College players are 'drafted' (aka selected) every year by MLS teams. How it works is the worst team in the MLS that year has the first pick of all the college players and it goes down the line. Again, so many rules involved. A scholarship isn't just for foreign players. Many American players get scholarship money also. Basically a scholarship is an amount of money that the coach is willing to give you to pay for your school fee's (tuition, room, board etc) out of his team budget. Some players will receive 100% scholarship money and therefor have all their fee's payed, some may get 75 % or 50% etc. Some colleges may have a big budget, others not so big. So it's a very competitive environment. This year we at the U of R has a player selected by Philadelphia Union in the MLS.Finally as you will know, Chris is connected to MLS giants, L.A Galaxy, Chris explains his role there
As you've seen I also work for the LA Galaxy. I've worked there for just over 4 years and have basically been involved with just about every aspect of the club. My main role is working with the youth programs. Its similar to football in the community at home but on a larger scale. We hold many different camps year round at the stadium complex and also in various communities around LA and even further. Camps range from:
- Community Camps - all ages and abilities are welcome. Main focus on having fun, learning and making the camp a great experience for the kids.
- Elite Player Camps - Players must have played club soccer for a number of years, be 13 or older and of a high level. We have invited players who are good enough that we have seen to train with the Galaxy Academy on a trial basis.
- Residential Camps - where the players can stay over night. We have a lot of people from all over the US and even beyond attending these. Ties in with the Elite Player Camp.
- Academy Identification Camps - We will generally go into a community where we know there is a high level of teams and put players through their paces to see if the are good enough to trial with the Academy at their age group.
- Goalkeeper and Striker Camps - Specific training for gk's and strikers.
- Community Clinics - going into an area and putting on an hour or so training session for local kids to get them excited about the Galaxy. We will make these an even and have a player come to sign autographs etc.
The Galaxy have also just started another professional team to play in a league below the MLS. They are the first to do so in America and its a massive step forward for football in America. Other clubs will definitely do the same thing if they can afford it. Its basically a reserve team (like Barcelona B playing in the third division) made up of young players who are being molded for the first team. They are there own entity, train separately and have their own budget etc. However players can be loaned to and from the first team to the Galaxy Two (as they are called) which has caused massive uproar in the MLS because there are so many complicated rules in the MLS such as salary cap and so forth. Also, the players are actually signed to the league, rather than the individual club. It's crazy and just one of the many reasons why, in my opinion, the MLS is restricting itself. So during the forming of this Galaxy Two team I was involved with working training the goalkeepers and helping identify the pecking order for potential GK players. We then also had an open try - out for any player (at a cost of $175) and I was involved with the scouting for that as well. Finally, I've actually trained with the team! Hahaa I know, completely random but fantastic experience. I was working there doing a camp one morning when my friend came over and said the keeper has been injured and they wanted me to fill in! My friend called me later on the night and said they wanted me to come back the next morning again - I thought he was winding me up as I was supposed to be going out for a few beers that night! Great experience.Upon hearing this, my first question was, does that mean you was training with David Beckham?
Yes, Beckham was in the training session as it was regular team training, plus a few trialists and youth team players. It was split at the beginning with the first team doing their own thing and the resi's off to one side then everyone coming together. That was an incredible experience. All I wanted was for someone to take a photo but because it was just a normal Tuesday morning for everyone else no one even batted an eye lid. It wasn't a long training session in fairness although it finished with an 8 v 8 game and the pace was rapid. I was concentrating so hard as to not embarrass myself! Some players stayed behind to do a bit of shooting and I ended up going in net. Beck's had a couple shots (one saved by the way!!!) before leaving early. All I remember thinking is that I was absolutely knackered (basically unfit from not playing anymore!), it was bloody red hot and I just wanted to get off the pitch and out of the sun but realised I would probably never be able to do this again so was literally the last player off the field that morning.
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| Chris on a Soccer camp, visited by Landon Donovan and David Beckham (Chris is stood next to David) |
Chris is not the first Rovers goalkeeper to face shots from Beckham, Neil Sullivan played against him, whilst at Wimbledon, however, this probably wasn't Neil's proudest moment, especially watching the ball fly over his head into the net, having been struck from the half way line. I asked what was he like in person? And Chris explained about how he is with the kids.
We do a lot of camps for the kids around the StubHub Centre (Galaxy's home ground) and sometimes we'll take the kids to watch the first team train. Beckham was always the first to wave at the kids, even while playing. He would always smile and give the kids a thumbs up or something which made the kids's day. If we saw Beckham around the ground he would always make a point to talk to the kids and take photos. The same with Robbie Keane to be fair. He's also very sociable and great when talking to the kids. Keane's son does some of the summer camps and Keane will always have a kick about with the young ones at the start before he goes off to training.
I asked what has been your highlight so far?
I've Met some fantastic people along the way through football, played in Vinnie Jones's team for a bit which was interesting, played footy in Robbie Williams's team and at his house for a couple years - that was pretty amazing as I constantly think to myself I'm just a normal lad from Rosso!Rubbing shoulders with house hold names and international superstars, I asked what the future holds for Chris.
The highlight so far has been working my up in the LA Galaxy and working with the Galaxy Two team. To be trusted to coach within the best football organisation in America is no small feat in fairness, especially working with the professional team.
On a personal level I think playing football at Robbie Williams's house and with Robbie is still unbelievable even to me. Just having a chat with him and a kick about like he's one of the normal lads. He sold his house with the footy pitch so gutted that came to an end!
Chris (in red) playing in Robbie William's team (seen directly below Chris)
Personally I am just trying to get more experience at a higher level of coaching, learn and educate myself all the time and see what happens. I've been in touch with a couple of professional and semi professional clubs who play in leagues below the MLS about jobs coaching in different capacities but nothing concrete yet. America is such a vast place and teams are popping up more and more but I don't think I would leave LA for the middle of no where! The lifestyle here is fantastic and it's been a long time coming so I'm happy living in Hollywood for the minute.Finally I asked Chris what advice he would give to someone who would want to follow in his footsteps.
As far as advice - I think people coming over here wanting to work have to realise their situation. Just like any job you have to prove yourself before climbing up. I get emails all the time from people saying "I'm so and so, played here, coached there, can you get me a job at the Galaxy?". People have a misconception that America knows nothing about football and anyone can do a job over here which isn't the case at all. Admittedly the structure for youth and professional football, in my opinion, does need some adjustments but the structure is being constantly improved even more so now Jurgen Klinnsman is in charge of the US Soccer Federation. Obviously starting at the bottom is never going to be desirable for anyone but you must always have a strong belief there are better things to come. If you put in the hard work in; people and organisations here in America will put the trust in you - but like anywhere else that trust has to be earned. To a certain extent you must also be brave and willing. People see the glitz and glamour of LA but that comes after the 80 hour work weeks to be able to put yourself in a desirable position. You also can't under estimate the sacrifice of not seeing your family and friends. Going years at a time without retuning home is hard not being able to see loved ones and there are always certain comforts that will be missed. I think lastly, it also starts with a journey into the unknown as no one can predict what might happen so you have to be prepared to make that jump and stick with the consequences and be courageous enough to fight your way up. You have to e willing to take that first step. That's the best advice I can give really, but America is the Land of Opportunity and I, plus many of my friends, can certainly attest to that.
Chris is a great example that if you work hard you can reach good stuff, it is obvious Chris will continue to grow as his experience and reputation grow. All the best for the future Chris!
Once again massive thankyou Chris for doing this, and I would like to let everyone know despite being miles away in a different time zone he has followed the relegation battle with as much passion as most. A true pro.
We look forwards to catch up with Chris in the not so distant future.
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