Welcome Coach Daniela
SoCal Youth Sports would like to welcome Daniela Guevara to the coaching team! Daniela joins us as a graduate in Biology from UCLA and an accomplished coach, having worked in a wide variety of roles and responsibilities. We are excited to welcome someone of Daniela’s character and quality to our program on our venture to redesign and rebuild grassroots sport. Read more about Daniela’s story…
“Hello, my name is Daniela Guevara, and from a very young age, I have never been more in love with something than I have with soccer! My passion for soccer has only grown throughout the years, and it makes me the happiest woman in the world. I know that soccer will be my world for the rest of my life, and I can’t wait to share my love and passion for the game with all of you!
I grew up in the best city in the world, Los Angeles. It was here, at the age of 5, my incredible father introduced me to my beloved sport, sharing his joy and knowledge of soccer with me. As a former professional soccer player in Guatemala and with years of coaching experience here in LA (as a B licensed soccer coach), he was able to teach me everything I needed to know to become a highly-competitive soccer player. From tying my cleats and showing me how to wrap my ankles (to prevent injuries) to faking out an opponent, my dad provided me with all the necessary tools I needed. He gave me the confidence to take on any challenges ahead.
Growing up, I was always the only girl in a team full of boys, playing against more boys. Many girls could find that intimidating or scary, but I found it exhilarating! Playing against boys made me super competitive; it made me stronger, polished my soccer skills, and helped grow my confidence. I wasn’t just competing against the boys; I was thriving against them! I played in my elementary, middle, and high school teams and several league teams. All I could dream about after graduating high school was playing in college and seeking the attention of recruiters to become a professional soccer player. However, soon after graduating high school, my career as a soccer player suffered a colossal setback as I tore my anterior cruciate ligament. It took me about two years to recover from my tear after surgery and return to the field. But, as fate would have it, I suffered a recurrence of the injury a few months later while trying to make my comeback. I decided to undergo a second reconstructive surgery because nothing in this world would keep me from playing my beautiful sport. My recovery lasted two more years, and by that time, my eligibility to join the women’s soccer team at UCLA had expired. It left me devastated that my dream of playing college soccer, followed by having a professional soccer career, had somehow slipped through my fingers. But, like always, where one door closes, another one opens, and I was ecstatic to open it!
My love for soccer did not diminish; it only strengthened. I was able to end my academic career at UCLA on a high note by becoming a full-fledged biologist. I also got to play again, successfully winning back-to-back intramural field soccer and futsal championships. A year after graduating, I wasted no time when it came to playing soccer. I played as much as my heart desired to make up for all the lost time spent in bed and therapy, recovering from my former knee injuries, and watched as many soccer games as I could. At the same time, supporting my teams and learning from the pros, and to my surprise, one day, a friend reached out to me and recruited me as a soccer coach for children. A blessing!
I had been volunteering to coach soccer ever since I was in high school but, this time, that door I had opened had officially marked the initiation of a professional career as a soccer coach. I am now a fully certified soccer coach with about 15 years of coaching experience. And I am blessed to be the one to introduce young children to the beauty of soccer day-in and day-out. Having soccer in my life instilled in me values such as: being hardworking, committed, never giving up, thinking fast to decipher and resolve complicated situations, being independent, and also having the ability to work well with others. It has also ensured that I was being proactive in making healthy life choices throughout my entire life. Soccer has afforded me so many beautiful experiences that I can only be thankful for every day. I have met people from all over the world, some of whom have become life-long friends, learning new languages, being exposed to other cultures, and helping me succeed on and off the field.
I hope my passion and enthusiasm for soccer will inspire the next generation to play and stay in the sport and give them the opportunities I enjoyed as a child. I hope to see you all out on the field!”
Welcome to SoCal Youth Sports Daniela!
What’s Happening At SoCal Youth Sports?
The Jamboree
To mark our first birthday, SoCal Youth Sports will be celebrating with our first Nanosoccer Jamboree! The Jamboree is a full morning of festival style soccer where our participants enter to play scrimmages, in teams, against other teams and children from inside and outside of our program.
Our purpose for the jamboree is to celebrate development of the children, and to further encourage their enjoyment for the game and engagement with the game.
What Is Nanosoccer?
Nanosoccer is a tiny version of the game, field size, teams the children would make and numbers played on the field. The children will playing 1 versus 1, 2 versus 2 and 3 versus 3 to best support their individual development.
With the youngest children being egocentric (limited awareness beyond themselves) nanosoccer is designed to support their development by creating a playing environment relative to their age, stage and psychological development. Nanosoccer is a more effective version of the, game from a developmental standpoint, than other larger forms of the game because we are:
- Increasing the amount of game time for your child
- Increasing the time on the ball for your child
- Increasing the number of touches of the ball for your child
- Increasing the number of actions (dribbling, protecting, shooting, etc) for your child
- Increasing the opportunities for your child to make decisions for themselves.
- Increasing repetition of failures & successes for your child
- Increasing the technical demands for your child
- Increasing the intensity and physical demand for your child
- Increasing the variability of movement for your child
Scores are not kept! There are no winners and losers. There is no league table, no championship or no all stars.
This is a development only mentality. The festival is to celebrate true development in children and build a love and affection for the game.
Children Ages & Game Formats:
- 4 & 5 Year Olds – 1 Versus 1 – 2 Goals – Teams of 2
- 6, 7 & 8 Year Olds – 1 Versus 1 + Goalkeeper – 1 Goal – Teams of 3
- 9 & 10 Year Olds – 2 Versus 2 + Goalkeeper – 1 Goal – Teams of 4
More information will be released over time.
How Does It Work?
Sign up as an individual and be placed in a team join a team already created or create your own team for the day. Each team will require a Team Liaison. The Team Liaison’s role is to manage the teams movements off the field to games and at games, support the fields coach with substitutions etc. If you are creating a team we will assign you as the Team Liaison initially. This is not a coaching assignment and no knowledge of soccer is required.
Play Up/Down Request
We are aware that children are in very different stages of development regardless of age, therefore we are giving you the option to play up and down*:
- For those who seek more challenge you can request to play up
- For for those who are new to the sport in their age group you can request to play down.
For more information or to discuss your spot at the Jamboree please Contact Us.
*Play Up and Down requests are subject to approval from our coaching team. Please email Matt via Matt@Socalyouthsports.com if you have any questions.
You can cancel up to 5 days in advance of the Jamboree on your Class Portal
