Chuck Sekyra, the women's soccer coach at Seattle Pacific University, obviously loves his job. His manner is crisp, friendly, intelligent. He seems perpetually eager for the next practice, the next opportunity to work with his players, whom he appreciates as much as they appreciate him.
Other coaches love their jobs too, but there's clearly something special going on in the SPU program. Sekyra's record after six seasons coaching the Falcon women is 114-11-10 - that is, his teams have won 10 games for every one they lose, with a few ties thrown in for good measure. Would that other Seattle sports teams had such a record.
What's his secret? Hard work. Passion. A deep knowledge and love of what the world calls "the beautiful game."
Of course, Sekyra (pronounced Sek-ra) and his staff recruit. "We scout kids at the premier level tournaments, in Las Vegas and Houston," he says, and also in regional tourneys. But most of his players are home grown products. Nearly half come from Washington state and all but one - senior defender Claire Grubbs - hail from the western U.S.
It doesn't hurt that Sekyra has deep roots in the Puget Sound area soccer community. He is head coach of the Washington state girls ODP (Olympic Development Program) Under-16 team and a Region IV ODP staff coach.
"We look for talent, of course," Sekyra says, but he's always on the lookout for that something extra. "Kids are attracted to SPU because they know we have a top program," he admits. "But there's a camaraderie about the team. They're a sort of family. So we look for kids with character, who can put other people before themselves."
This comes clear in the observations of his seniors, who have been with him for four years.
Midfielder Meredith Teague, from Redmond, says playing for Coach Sekyra "has been a great experience. He's all about communication. I'm always learning from him. As a co-captain this year, I've also learned a lot about leadership - what being a leader means.
"We have a great bunch of girls," she adds. "We all get along so well."
Midfielder Shannon Oakes, from Boise, chose SPU in part because of its "great nursing school," but also because of its top soccer program.
"Coach Sekyra," she says, "really cares about us. He's a really good coach who played at a high level himself. He gives you free range to make choices [in the game] and he prepares us for every match."
A 1989 graduate of SPU himself, Sekyra played on two NCAA championship teams and was assistant men's coach at SPU from 1998-99.
In his first five years at the helm of the SPU women's program, Sekyra has taken his team to the NCAA tournament five times, including two Final Four appearances. He was named 2007 National Coach of the Year in 2007, and Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times.
Before coming back to his alma mater, Sekyra was a member of Lesle Gallimore's UW women's soccer coaching staff, where he assisted in recruiting, scouting, and training session development. In his first year at UW, the Huskies had their finest season, winning the Pac-10 championship, earning a No. 2 seed, advancing to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen and going 18-3-0.
During his tenure, Washington's record was 40-16-5.
Sekyra is justly proud of all his players and feels supportive of all of them.
Having chosen players with both talent and character, what does Sekyra hope to add to his young student athletes? "I'd hope they would walk away with the feeling that they can accomplish anything they want to in life," he says - "that they're confident in their beliefs and who they are, and that they feel great about who they are."
Not surprisingly, that description could well be applied to Sekyra himself.[[In-content Ad]]
