Celebrate Clive

Daily as I leave home every morning a colour photograph of a smiling soccer coach hugging a heavy trophy is there to encourage me as I approach the door. Scribbled on its border are his inspiring words, “Earn your right to play!”

           

This simple message is underlined by the fact that my soccer coach, Clive Charles, died six months after the photograph was taken and exactly nine years ago today. He was faithful to his ideals to the end, and his spiritual presence bids me to follow in his footsteps.

“Earn your right to play”? Clive’s motto referred in particular to the conditional right of each of the 20 women who were privileged to wear the purple and white jerseys, which proclaimed that they were jointly the University of Portland Pilots soccer team. Acclaimed as one of the best collegiate women's soccer teams in the USA, the team has included several Olympians (most recently London 2012 saw Christine Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt win bronze medals with Canada and Megan Rapinoe a gold with the USA), and Clive an Olympic coach.

Clive made it clear to us that earning a right to play applied to more than just the soccer field. It embraces all facets of life equally. In soccer and in life, he expected a high standard of
professionalism. Yet this was far from an intimidating requirement. He continually reminded us of his belief that each of us was quite capable of achieving the successes of which we dreamed. Thus we confidently strove to reach the standards that he held out to us each day, seeking improvements in our personal lives as well as our sporting and academic accomplishments.

It was the exposure to Clive’s philosophy that inspired me to pursue a career in sports - he was a living breathing example of the value sports has in society beyond just the pitch.

What was Clive’s secret? I think that it lay in his ability to listen carefully, to encourage, and to play to people's strengths. Surely, none of us is perfect, and none is self-sufficient. And yet at the same time, and to the limits of our differing abilities, we need to earn our right to achieve, to belong and to play. He built a team designed to maximize each of our individual strengths, so that we could all play our own integral part of that 2002 National Championship. We were truly fortunate in having Clive as our guide. Never forget: Earn your right to play.

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Photo credits: University of Portland Athletics