Coach Chris Lemay - Up Close and Personal

There are tens of thousands of youth soccer coaches and a couple of hundred of great ones and then there are the really amazing youth soccer coaches who connect with their players and inspire them to achieve greatness.  A greatness born from challenge and confidence.

Chris Lemay is one of those rare, great coaches.  Chris Lemay has won several Cal South State Cups during his time as a youth coach, three with the Del Mar Sharks and three with San Diego Surf.

Lemay won his first State Cup championship in 2003 with his U9 Del Mar Sharks team, half of whom are now at the U18 level and the other half are college freshmen.  Lemay also won with U9 and U10 teams again at Del Mar before moving to San Diego Surf Soccer Club. He won his first State Cup at Surf in 2010.

Colin Chesters, Director of Coaching for Surf Soccer Club says, "Chris is a great asset to the Surf program. Simply put, he is a winner who teaches the kids all the right things. He covers all the bases: discipline, mental aspects, tactics and technique. What makes him unique is his ability to coach 8's through 18's. He is surely one of Southern California's outstanding coaches."

Chris Lemay's Cal South State Cup History

• 02/03 Del Mar Sharks U9 Girls Champions
• 05/06 Del Mar Sharks U9 Girls Champions
• 05/06 Del Mar Sharks U10 Girls Champions
• 08/09 Surf Soccer Club U11 Girls Finalists
• 09/10 Surf Soccer Club U10 Girls President Champions
• 10/11 Surf Soccer Club U9 Girls President Champions
• 10/11 Surf Soccer Club U16 Girls National Cup Champions

SoccerNation News interviewed Chris Lemay to discover more on his coaching philosophy.

SNN: Why do you think you have won so many State Cup Championships?

Chris Lemay: I have been lucky to have quality players, and we’re in a very good environment.

I also attribute the success to a focus on the details that go into getting ready for competition. Winning is a byproduct of everything we do over the course of 12 months.  We prepare for success. I think I’ve found a way to get my teams to peak at the right time of the year.

There is a confidence about my teams.

My teams know they are fitter than their competition, they know they are well prepared. They have a quiet understanding almost on the verge of arrogance. That’s what I try to bring out in them. Both of my White teams expect to win State Cup; anything else will be disappointing.

SNN: Do you feel you expect more from your players than other coaches in their age brackets?

Chris Lemay: I don’t know exactly what other coaches do, so I can’t really say. I explain to my teams that when we come out to practice or to games that we want to create an environment where we are going to get better.

One of the things I won’t tolerate is wasted time.

Every time we come out to train, there is a purpose and a reason, and I expect that the kids are going to focus and give 100% both mentally and physically at every session. I tell them their parents invest a lot of time, energy, and resources for them to do this, and they need to do as well.

With my teams, I demand that they train as hard as they can every day.

In the past I’ve been unhappy when teams have not played up to expectations. I don’t think I ask them to do things they're incapable of, but certainly I hold them to highest standards of what their ability is. I want them to understand that if they waste time, that’s time you can’t get back.

At the same time we have fun off the field. I try to create off-field team activities that are less formal, in order to keep a balance.

SNN: What sort of team activities? 

Chris Lemay: Last year we won the National Cup with the U16 girls and two weekends later we were going to New Jersey for the ECNL event. As a reward, my wife and I took the team on the train to New York City and we walked around the city and had dinner. We also took advantage of the opportunity at Regionals to go white water rafting in Idaho on our off day.  My players work hard and  I think these kinds of team activities are important.

Soccer presents the opportunity to become a team member, and there are all sorts of life skills that can be learned from the game. Youth soccer also gives you the chance to travel the country and see things you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Last year there was a handful of girls who had never been to New York City, so for the rest of their life they’ll remember going to New York and having Italian dinner in Times Square with their State Cup Championship team.

SNN: How important is team bonding?

Chris Lemay: I’ve had a number of different teams that have won State Cups. I’ve had very technical teams, I’ve had very athletic teams, and I’ve had very skilled teams.

The one component that is always there is the chemistry. It doesn’t matter how good you are, if the chemistry is not right the success won’t come.

I’ve won State Cups playing in different systems and different styles of soccer, but the chemistry has always been there. The greatest example of the importance of team chemsitry and bonding is the U16 girls because I think we defeated a team in the State Cup final that was significantly better than us on paper.

SNN: How would you describe your style of soccer?

Chris Lemay: I try to encourage possession. I certainly try to encourage a cerebral style of soccer.  A more sophisticated style of soccer than other teams play.  

I want my teams to be dynamic and play at a pace that other teams become uncomfortable. That’s really our goal, to play at a pace other teams can’t play at.

SNN: When did you start playing soccer?

Chris Lemay: I started playing soccer when I was 4 years old.

SNN: Where did you grow up and what kind of club soccer did you play?

Chris Lemay: I think the reason I’m still as much in love with the game now as I was as a kid is because, from the age of 4 to the present day - and I am 34 years old - I’ve been on a soccer field nearly every day of my life.

My Father played D1 college soccer at George Madison University. I was born in New York, and at that time the New York Cosmos were playing in the NASL. My dad used to take me to games when I was two, and I would be cheering for Pele.  I think my love of soccer was bred into me.

When I was a little older, my Father transferred with General Motors from New York to Detroit and became part owner of the Detroit Rockers, an indoor professional team in the National Professional Soccer League.

When I was 10 or 11 years old, I would be in the locker room with the professionals before the game and then on the bench during the game, picking up water bottles.

Some of the players would go out on the field before warm up just to pass the ball around, and I would go out and kick the ball around on the field with them. 

I’ve been around game my entire life. I played club soccer in Michigan and then went on to play in college at Eastern Michigan University, which had a D1 program back then. Unfortunately the program was dropped with Title IX the year after I graduated, but I got my four years in and had a great experience. Then I played semi-professional soccer with the Michigan Madness.

SNN: What kept you from going pro?

Chris Lemay: I would like to pretend I was good enough to play in the MLS, but I don’t know. To be completely honest, I think my biggest gift is my soccer brain. I could see things at the level to be a professional, but maybe some of the things I could see, I couldn’t critically perform.

I did have three MCL tears in my right knee and one in my left that slowed me down. I sat out one entire year of college. But I think I’m a better coach than I ever was a player.

SNN: Why do you coach at Surf?

Chris Lemay: I can’t envision coaching anywhere else. It was a simple decision for me. I want to be at the best club where the emphasis is on the most elite players. I coach at Surf for the opportunity to coach in the ECNL and to coach the best players in the biggest games.

SNN: How do you balance being a coach with San Diego Surf and running your successful soccer tournaments, Soccer in the Sand?

Chris Lemay: They are two separate entities. Soccer in the Sand is my job from 9:00 to 2:30 and then I’m on the Polo Fields until dark. That’s really how I do it. I’m a business man for most of day. Soccer in the Sand is my income for my family, but coaching is certainly my number one passion. I could walk away from Soccer in the Sand tomorrow, but I’ll never walk away from coaching.

SNN: How do you select players and then bring the best out in them?

Chris Lemay: I look for the best players. I think the recipe for success is having a group of like-minded players with similar athletic ability and soccer talent, and then putting them in a situation where they have a good coach and a good supporting organization.

Typically the kids I do well with and who do well with me are ones who are hungry to realize their full potential. I’m looking for players who have the same type of passion for the game as I do.

SNN: What is your favorite team to watch?

Chris Lemay: Besides my U-13 girls, I think FC Barcelona is the most entertaining team to watch, but most people will probably say that.

I watch a game a day. I enjoy watching high-level professional games. I don’t follow any one team in particular. When I watch the games I don’t watch as a fan, I think I’m always trying to dissect them. I watch what they do and how they do it, and then I think about how I can bring that to my team.

Recently, I watched the Champions League game between AC Milan and Arsenal, and I enjoyed it. I saw some things from AC Milan’s defense that I liked, and we’re going to do a session around what I saw in the game today.

SNN: What are your thoughts on U.S. women’s soccer?

Chris Lemay: I was fortunate enough to be at the WPS semifinals last year in Rochester, New York. I saw Alex Morgan and Marta as well as a girl who played for Ada Greenwood at USD who is a backup goalkeeper. It was an exciting atmosphere. It is important for today's young girls to see a future in soccer.  It is critical to have opportunities for our pro female players to play in a professional environment because it provides our country with better trained and more prepared players to pull into our national pools.

For me, it’s about the Women’s World Cup.

The way I judge myself as a coach, ironically, isn’t on how many State Cups we can win.

I want to be a part of helping our Women’s National Teams to get better by producing extremely high-level players who can compete on the world stage. My biggest goal is to turn on my TV and watch some of my ex players contributing for the U.S. That’s why I do this and that’s what I aim for.

Coach Chris Lemay at Carlsbad Cup

SNN: Is there anything you would like to be better at or like to change?

Chris Lemay: I’m always trying to improve. Always learning.

I think I’m a little closed off with my players' parents. I think that I could be a little bit more approachable at times. I always have an open line of communication, but I would like to be more open.

I think the kids know me, but I don’t think the parents ever really get to know me. I don’t think I always represent myself as well as I could. I am not sure I come off as a nice, friendly guy. I care about these kids a lot and I put a lot of time, energy and effort into what I do and I hope the parents know it.

Going for the Cup: Lemay's Surf GU10 Team is now in the Cal South State Cup Semi Finals   Back Row (L to R): Cloe Frese, Samantha Ward, Haley Mossmer, Paige Linden, Bailey Malinowski, Hanna Karl   Center Row (L to R): Marisa Bubnis, Keziah Inniss, Tatum Lenain, Angelina Ludena, Kayla Oertle   Front Row (L to R): Payton Acheson, Skyler Wallace