Book Private Soccer Lessons with Coach Katie
With 10 years of college coaching experience, I have coached teams and individuals one on one. My favorite thing to do is break down the skill into steps first and then revisit it as it fits in with the game as a whole. I will never tell you to do the WHAT without the WHY!
Philadelphia, PA
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Get to know Coach Katie
About Me:
A three-team All-Centennial Conference selection, Katie Van Aken ’12 returned to the Haverford College women’s soccer program as a volunteer assistant at the start of the 2014 season. During her playing career with the Fords, Van Aken was a first-team All-Centennial Conference selection during the 2009 and 2011 seasons, earning second-team All-Centennial Conference honors in 2010. Van Aken went on to earn second-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors during her senior campaign in 2011. She was also named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll during each of her final three seasons.
Van Aken helped Haverford qualify for the Centennial Conference playoffs in each of her four seasons. She scored a career-high nine goals during her 2009 season, while recording a career-best 22 points (eight goals, six assists) during her senior campaign. Van Aken broke the school record for game-winning goals (15) prior to her graduation and now ranks second all-time in that category. Her 30 goals and 72 points ranks fifth and seventh, respectively, in Haverford’s program history.
How I can help you improve your game:
I believe that the best soccer players are students of the game. Of course speed, skill, and athleticism are all important but what sets good players and great players apart is the ability to make good decisions with the ball, make your teammates play their best, and outthink the opponent. I can help athletes improve their understanding of the game while also building up their technical skillset and working on specific goals that they have for improvement.
What a typical training session looks like with me:
A training session looks different for every athlete and I would tailor the session to what the athlete wants to improve on. In most cases, we would spend some time on skills, getting tons of reps in and creating muscle memory (i.e. one touch shots from inside the 18). Another option would be to review film from a past game (either the athlete's or event a professional game) to talk through decision making, alternative movements, and work on recognizing key moments in the game.
Career summary and accomplishments:
After graduating college in 2012, I began coaching the Drexel University Women's Club Soccer team which I did for 6 years. In 2014, I returned to my old college team as an assistant and I have been coaching there every since (10 years).
Best coach I ever had:
My college coach was easily the best coach I ever had. She loved the sport even more than we did and it showed it how much she cared about us as players but also as people. She put a lot of energy into making the team culture something that we would remember and I believe that was a big part of our success.
What athletes and parents should know about me:
I went to an academically rigorous college and played Varsity D3 soccer there. As an assistant coach for that team now, I have perfected the art of coaching the intellectual soccer player. I enjoy breaking skills down into steps and finding ways to monitor incremental progress. I played forward for my college career but I can work with players in any position both on individual skills and field movements/strategy. I am also a strong advocate for teaching the why. I will spend time explaining why to the athlete so it means more to them when they are making that decision in a game.
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