In her senior year at Shawnee Mission West High School Kansas, Sarah Gonzalez wrote in her yearbook that, in five years’ time, she would be back at the school, teaching math and coaching soccer.

Well, after playing soccer at the University of Kansas and then taking on a junior varsity role, Gonzalez has made her dream come true.

She is now 18 years into her time at Shawnee as both a math teacher and head coach of the girls’ soccer team. 

At the United Soccer Coaches Convention in Philadelphia last month, SCW caught up with Sarah to find out more about what it is like coaching at your alma mater, why mentorship is so important to her, and the struggles she has faced over the course of her coaching career...