Coach: Chad Allen
School: Douglas County
Sport: boys soccer
How many years have you devoted your life to coaching? What got
you into coaching initially?
I have been coaching varsity soccer for 12 seasons now, all of
them at DCHS. I started my coaching career in sub-varsity lacrosse
at Arapahoe; then a year as an assistant at CSU. My initial foray
into coaching soccer was as the assistant for a 7-year-old girls
team in Aurora about 15 years ago. And believe me, this woman coach
was in charge!
What is your history with soccer, as a player or otherwise?
What’s most exciting about it to you?
I was both a varsity soccer and lacrosse player at Arapahoe and
have played a variety of indoor and outdoor leagues in my youth. I
also played on my fraternity team at CU. We once beat another
full-sided fraternity team with six players (mostly my friends from
Arapahoe) and that was truly memorable.
Can you describe a moment or two when you found coaching to be
truly rewarding?
That is tough to pinpoint exactly. I feel like everyday I am
learning from the guys myself, and it is that interplay that makes
coaching rewarding, even after so many years. Each team has a
different dynamic, so to be able to look back and take something
from each group, each year, is rewarding for me.
Actually, just this season, one of my most successful former
players, Juan Obregon, came back from playing and graduating from
college in North Carolina and is now one of my volunteer
assistants. When I thanked him for taking the time to help, he
replied, “Actually, coach, I should be thanking you for allowing me
the opportunity to help you and the team this year.” That was
really cool.
As a coach, what is your No. 1 goal every time you walk into a
new season? What is usually the first thing you take care of
walking into the season?
My No. 1 goal usually remains maintaining the proper
perspective, that is making sure the lessons I impart on the field
are just as important as the ones off the field, hopefully more so
off the field. The first thing I take care of walking into each
season is trying to give each and every one of my players at every
level the sense that they are part of something unique and have
joined a legacy of special brothers that have come before them.
They are charged to carry that torch forward, just like I felt it
was my similar duty at Arapahoe H.S.
What is the first thing you establish as a coach in preparation
for the coming high school season?
The “raw material” I am dealing with, both mentally, physically
and emotionally. Who is returning, the grade levels, a sense of our
incoming freshman, our previous club experiences, just a sense of
what I am dealing with that may be similar or different from
previous years. Then we need mental toughness. That’s next.
We all know being a head coach requires a lot of time and
devotion. How much does family and friend support come into play
when trying to guide a successful preps sports program?
I could not do any of this without the support of my wife of 10
years, Lanier, and my two daughters Serena and Kathleen. It is
especially challenging having lived in Littleton and coached and
taught in Castle Rock for 12 years now that I need the support and
flexibility of my family and friends. My brother Chris is a HUGE
sports fan as well, so is my mom Kathy, and they are constantly
keeping up with not only DC soccer but our schools sports programs
in general.
They provided that competitive spirit and drive in my formative
years. Also, I cannot forget all my soccer buddies from ABK that
have consistently developed and maintained the wonderful soccer
program at that school. Not that I don’t want to beat them every
time I play them, however.
What is most rewarding about working with high school athletes
specifically?
Probably the differences I can make in their daily lives outside
of soccer, the personal connections I have fostered. To this day, I
have had numerous players that I have coached in the past either
take successful head high school coaching jobs or club jobs, in
addition to those that have gone on to play after high school, and
I am floored by how many come back and thank me for being there for
them in high school.
Your team just won the state championship, given your choice,
where would you want to celebrate?
Probably in my mentor and head girls soccer coach Ron Kingery’s
basement with our head football coach Jeff Ketron, our head
basketball and golf coach Jeff Riley, our head wrestling coach Gary
Hartman, our head softball coach Brian Stebbins and all the other
amazing coaches here at DCHS who have given me ample guidance and
support. They are all teachers as well, and I respect them
immensely.
What do you do for entertainment that doesn’t relate to
soccer?
I spend as much time as I can with my wife and two daughters,
traveling, and I like to attend DC, CU and Broncos football games
when I can. I really think I could have been a professional
football player, but I just wasn’t fast enough, strong enough, big
enough or tough enough. Oh well.