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Wednesday, July 1, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Draxler steps in as new head coach for girls soccer
By rongi Yost
Correspondent
Thomas Draxler has
stepped into the role of head
coach for the Outlaws girls
soccer program.
Draxler moved to Sisters
nine years ago when he was
hired as the boys JV soccer
coach, and he has been coach-
ing for the Outlaws ever since.
Draxler has been the girls JV
coach for the past two years, is
very familiar with the program
and the players, so the transi-
tion to the head coach position
should be an easy move.
Thomas grew up with four
older siblings who all played
soccer, and he has fond mem-
ories of playing the sport,
which started for him at age 3.
“Soccer was always para-
dise to me,” said Draxler.
“There’s nothing more joy-
ful or happy than the smell of
cut grass, the way the fields
are laid out, and the freshly
painted lines.”
Draxler attended Alma
Heights Christian Academy,
a small school in Pacifica,
California, near San Francisco.
Thomas was able to join the
varsity squad as a sixth-grader,
which resulted in seven years
of varsity experience.
“Usually schools don’t
allow that,” said Draxler. “I
was fortunate to get that privi-
lege. I was a little kid that got
to play with the big boys. My
brother was a senior and I got
to play with him.”
E v e n t u a l l y, D r a x l e r
became one of the “big boys.”
Thomas played center-mid-
field through high school.
“I scored so many goals,
but I had seven years to do it,”
he said with a chuckle.
After high school, Draxler
took a gap year and went on
a mission trip with YWAM
(Youth With A Mission) to
Cape Town, South Africa. He
worked on a hospital ship,
which held clinics for the poor
in ports around South Africa.
Thomas jumped right back
into soccer, and played two
years for Vanguard University,
in Orange County, California,
and while there played at the
outside-midfield position.
Draxler took a break from
soccer at that point to focus on
his majors, music composition
and English, and graduated in
2005.
In the summer of 2006,
Thomas was in Sisters visiting
relatives, and learned about
a coaching opportunity at
Sisters High School.
“Marsha Marr (Miss Sew-
It-All) saw me on the soc-
cer field playing in a pick-up
game with the high school
boys and girls, and she told
me they had an opening for
a boys soccer JV coach,” he
recalled.
Draxler decided to apply,
and was offered the job.
Draxler told The Nugget that
there weren’t any jobs avail-
able in Southern California,
so he was excited to take the
job offer.
“Previous to that, I hadn’t
even considered being a
coach,” he said. “It hadn’t
even crossed my mind. I never
imagined that you could get
paid for being on the soccer
field and having fun.”
Thomas was the JV coach
for boys soccer from 2006-
2011, and during that time
worked with both the boys and
girls on skill development.
When both positions for
head coach and JV coach
opened up on the girls’ side
in 2012, it was natural for
Rob Jensen (director of soccer
operations) to ask Draxler to
move over to the girls’ side
on a permanent basis to help
lend stability to the program.
Thomas has been with the
girls program ever since as the
JV coach.
The girls head coach-
ing position opened this past
spring, Thomas applied, went
through the candidate process,
and after a month, Athletic
Director Tim Roth called and
offered him the job. Draxler
will enter the head position
with several advantages: he
knows the program, knows the
girls, and knows their skills.
Draxler told The Nugget
that he is looking forward to
thinking and breathing soccer
with the girls over the next
several months, and shared
what his top three priorities
will be.
First, Draxler wants the
girls to have so much fun
each day that they can’t wait
to come back the next day for
more.
“I’ve always experienced
soccer with that kind of deliri-
ous ecstasy, and I’m open to
experiment with any ideas,
whether traditional or bizarre,
in order to provide the same
experience for the girls,” said
Draxler.
Secondly, Thomas wants
to allow the game of soccer
to speak to the girls about life
and life-skills, such as having
courage under pressure; win-
ning with grace and losing
with dignity; growing through
mistakes; and riding the self-
esteem roller-coaster.
“Soccer is an artificial
environment where players
exercise real-life skills, and I
concede, reluctantly, that other
sports do that as well,” he said
with a grin.
And finally, Draxler stated
photo provided
thomas Draxler is the new head coach for the outlaws girls soccer program.
that he wants to train the girls
to score more goals than their
opponents score.
“It’s a roundabout way of
saying that I want the girls to
win, but that’s what it really
takes to win,” said Draxler.
“There’s so many skills, tech-
niques, and team-tactics that
contribute to scoring goals.
I’m never going to run out of
practice plans.”
Thomas told The Nugget
that he is excited about explor-
ing how the coaches and
players can grow each day,
in social skills, game knowl-
edge, and general empathy for
others.
“One of the things soccer
teaches is being in other peo-
ple’s shoes, making sacrifices
for your team-mates, and
treating opponents as friends
when the game is over.”
Draxler noted that he’s
grateful to Nik Goertzen,
Audrey Tehan, Rob Jensen,
and Scott McAllister, who all
mentored and advised him,
and got him to the place he is
today.
“Their mentoring and
advise has been invaluable,”
said Draxler.
The girls soccer program
is still in need of a JV coach.
If interested, contact Athletic
Director Tim Roth at tim.
roth@sisters.k12.or.us.
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