Directors Behind the Scenes – Ben Atkinson

Wednesday, November 13, 2024

In just a few short years Ben Atkinson has grown from coaching a single SJP girls side to a regional director in the program to taking on the director role for the Shadow Junior Program early this fall.

A local entrepreneur, that same mindset has made him an excellent element in what is essentially the start-up phase for young soccer players and coaches that are in the program.

“The SJP is our chance as a community to engage youth players, and to encourage a love for the game of soccer. With that goal in mind, my primary responsibility as a director is to create and maintain an inclusive, positive, engaging and most importantly, a fun environment for all of our players in the SJP.

“Managing our practice environment, creating effective curriculum to engage our players and help them develop, and have fun while doing so,” Atkinson says are parts of his responsibilities in the role along with “supporting our coaches, working with the club, and our leagues to provide the best game environment possible and communicating with parents with updates on the development of their players.”

With a lot of teams and new coaches under his guidance, overseeing the developments of those involved with the day-to-day interactions with the players is a key element of the director.

“One of my favorite parts of this position is when a coach reaches out and shares their success during a practice or a game weekend, hearing what their team improved on or highlighting what a specific player did well, especially when a team may have been struggling with a certain topic or getting a certain result during a game – for example, building out of the back successfully. Being able to share in that joy, excitement and accomplishment when the team/coach achieves that goal is wonderful. We have some fantastic coaches and being able to support and share in their positive moments is awesome for me.”

Another marquee moment for Ben as the director – who fittingly manages a wedding/event venue – is the time in which players move on to the next level.

“Another that is equal to hearing about coach successes is when our players graduate from the SJP and find success on one of our premier teams.

“When they see me at the field and come up and say hello, and how much they are enjoying the next step, and share everything they are learning and how their games are going, – all of it – is why I do this. Developing a love for the game in youth players and having them share their experiences is the best.

“I fell in love with soccer when I was eight years old. That love continues up until this day and being able to see a past SJP player light up when they are sharing their experience, and to be able to see that they love playing, and competing and getting better, is why I – and I am sure all of our coaches – do what we do.

Ben still coaches teams, but it is his extra team that is an important part of what he does.

“I view my “team” as a director as all of our fantastic coaches in program, which means it’s a big team! I get to share in their success and help support them when needed.”

His quick transition from a U10 coach to a director has come with a lot of help and mentorship.

“I have had the opportunity to learn from some of the most experienced coaches/directors in Spokane. Many of them have had over 20+ years of experience managing, coaching and directing and I always see to pick up something new, or something to improve on whenever I speak with them.

“Similar to when coaching, you find out what works and what doesn’t work pretty quickly! Making those subtle adjustments to improve the environment is important, and there is almost always something that can be tweaked and improved. Most of what I have learned the past two years, is really hammering down on the fundamentals of effective communication, timely scheduling, planning the environment, and when all of this is executed correctly, you will create a positive and engaging environment for your club, program, and community.”

Those traits are also something that has been important away from the field where he helps manage three businesses.

“I am fortunate to help with a couple of our family-owned small businesses in Spokane and Idaho [Sweet Frostings Blissful Bakeshop, Lyman’s Cabin event venue and Mobile Cash Solutions merchant and ATM services]. We are very involved in our community with these businesses, and I am a huge advocate for supporting local – being able to support other businesses and our community members here in Spokane is a huge motivator for me.

“With that in mind the Spokane Shadow is a local grassroots club that has had a huge impact on the local soccer community, and I am really honored being a part of it. The impact that we all can have in our community is massive when we support our own, and it can create a really great place to live and be a part of.

Get to Know Ben more with his Get to Know a Coach profile [+]