PWSI coach and referee are honored

Stephanie Myrick spent her first two years of high school playing for Woodbridge’s jayvee soccer squad.

All was good. Until a catastrophe struck.

“I tore my ACL,” she said.

Now a senior, Myrick remains involved with soccer as a referee for Prince William Soccer, Inc.

And she was rewarded on Feb. 26 as the 2009 U.S. Youth Female Soccer Young Referee of the Year.

“I had no idea I was going to win,” Myrick said. “I was really happy and real excited. I was looking for my parents. They were really proud. It was a moment of achievement.”

Myrick is not the only PWSI associate to be honored. Aaron Brunner, a 1996 Hylton graduate, was named U.S. Youth Soccer’s Boys’ 2009 Competitive Coach of the Year.

“This award means everything to me,” Brunner said. “You’re recommended by colleagues, the Region I staff and national staff. It goes through a lot of different people. For them to recognize me as an individual is pretty special.”

The campaign for both to be rewarded started with PWSI general manager Mike Yeatts, who recommended Brunner and Prince William Head Soccer Referee Barry Sherry, who recommended Myrick.

Once Yeatts and Sherry filled out their respective nomination forms, Myrick and Brunner received the Virginia Youth Soccer Association awards. Both were then named the Region I Young Female Referee of the Year and Region I Boys’ Competitive Coach of the Year.

They then received their national awards at the Feb. 26 awards gala in Fort Worth, Texas.

“I believe the game is for the kids,” said Brunner, who was coached at Hylton by Ken Krieger. “Once you realize it’s not about you, it’s not about what you win or how you lose. It’s where you develop players year after year. What can you instill in those players to make the soccer ball [their] favorite toy? Player development is the most important.”

Myrick began as a referee at age 12. Now in her fifth year, she has learned about the demands which come with officiating.

“It’s all about people management,” she said. “You have to learn about the player and coach and those are all different mentalities. The main aspect that my dad has told me is, ‘Everyone’s not yelling at you, they’re yelling at your shirt.’”

Myrick, a former PWSI player, is a grade seven referee, the highest level she can achieve for her age. She is a referee for boys’ and girls’ matches and has been a referee for some Olympic Development Program matches and State Cup Finals. She has been chosen to referee next year’s Region I tournament in West Virginia.

“Being a referee is being the controller of the game,” Myrick said. “You have to make sure everyone’s happy. It’s kind of like you’re in control of the game. You have to be calm and cool the whole time while still laying down the law.”

Brunner, a 2000 graduate of New Hampshire University, works with PWSI’s U4-U12 age groups as youth director of coaching.

He planned on coaching soccer despite thinking about a career as a teacher or guidance counselor.

Now that he is a coach, he attributes his soccer knowledge to Krieger’s teachings.

“I feel I’ve always been a good student of the game,” Brunner said. “I’m always looking for information. Coaching development is a long-term process as well. As coaches we must continue to progress.

“It is important for coaches to find good mentors that have been around the game for a long time, that are good teachers who are willing to take the time and critique you and break your coaching methods down to where you can continue to come better as a coach.”