I recommend Heinz Consten, who used to train my travel soccer team in Rahway from the age of 9 to 14years old. I owe it all to him for giving me the feet and superb first touch that I have today. Since 2009, He has helped me by preparing me for international competition with the Portugal National Team as well as being a soccer coaching mentor. His disciplined approach to training young players provides them the ability to be confident and creative with the ball. I strongly suggest that you use him year-round. He is great with kids and really teaches players how to be truly comfortable with the ball at their feet. It's incredible to see how players have progressed after working with him on a consistent basis both as a player and a coach.

Lissette Brandao
Current Player, Portugal Women's National Team
Captain, NJ Wildcats, USL W-League
Former Division I Captain, Rutgers University Women's Soccer Team

April 19, 2011

Everybody loves to hate the “person who changed my life” writing prompts. To say that they’re cliched at this point is nothing if not an understatement. Regardless of the fact that this poor horse has been beaten to death and beyond, when my junior English class was assigned journals to help come up with ideas for college essays, this was among the prompts:

Describe a person whom you have encountered who, in some fashion, has changed the way you look at life or possibly changed your life.

Normally, this sort of prompt elicits fabricated or too-sweet-to-be-true dribble about one’s parents, grandparents, or best friend. I, however, found that I was not remotely tempted to resort to that sort of subject matter; I knew straight away that I wanted to write about Heinz.

When I first started working with Heinz, I was a mute, sullen middle-schooler with atrocious posture and equally bad soccer skills. Years later, Heinz told me that at the time he hadn’t thought I was going to stick with the sport at all; I’ll be honest, I didn’t either. I attribute my perseverance to his patience and refusal to accept anything but dedication and hard work from the athletes under his tutelage. I am walking, talking evidence that Heinz is not as concerned with an athlete’s natural talent as he is with an athlete’s work ethic and discipline. This is not to say that he is an embodiment of the self-esteem movement who lavishly praises mediocre work and gives everyone a nice shiny trophy for participation at the end of the day -- far from it. The reason Heinz drove me to improve so dramatically is that he does not brook persistent mediocrity and has even less tolerance for entitlement and arrogance. After initial shock, intimidation, and frustration, I embraced the opportunity Heinz provided to become a better athlete though hard work, grit, and focus, aided, abetted, and guided by his patient, clear, and concise coaching. I was schooled not only in soccer, but in self-discipline and goal-achievement as well.

I improved dramatically over the years after I started working with Heinz and became one of the “regulars.” That said, I have not continued to play soccer after high school; I took up rowing in my junior year of high school and never looked back. I now row for a Division I program, and have found the lessons Heinz taught me to be invaluable. Rowing is not “fun” in the traditional sense; if you ask one hundred rowers why they row, you might be able to find one who can give you a straight answer. Your legs feel deadened after a race, your hands bleed, your back aches, and nothing can ruin your day like a bad row. At the same time, few things are more thrilling than a good row, more exhilarating than winning a race, or more peaceful than the glassy, flat water early in the morning. Heinz’s emphasis on hard work, discipline, and determination to improve have given me the mentality needed to enjoy rowing. Had I not worked with Heinz, there is no way I would be mentally tough enough to stick with rowing today. I learned from him that there is pure joy inherent in pushing your limits, buckling down to achieve a daunting task, and clawing, panting, and fighting your way toward success rather than having it fall into your lap -- and, indeed, that true success never does just fall into your lap.

Lauren Baumgartner
 

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