BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

Kicking it off with soccer coaching

By Peyton Walsh, age 14 and Sara Monk, age 15 | December 27, 2022

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Peyton Walsh, Emily Kate Walsh, Sara Monk

KEEP THE BALL ROLLING Second Baptist freshman Peyton Walsh (on left) and Memorial High School freshman Sara Monk (on right) had a blast coaching the 8U “Killer Flames” team, including Peyton’s sister Emily Kate (middle).

Peyton Walsh and Sara Monk have always loved playing soccer with Spring Branch - Memorial Sports Association. This fall, they coached a team of second and third graders.

Peyton Walsh

When I was young, I looked forward to playing SBMSA every year. I always had the best coaches who made me want to be better every day. My younger sister Emily Kate also loves soccer, so this year Sara and I had the idea of coaching her and the other second and third graders. Once we drafted our team, Sara and I felt we had a solid foundation to build from. Although we were competing against 37 other teams, we won eight of our nine regular season games and entered the gold bracket. We won one playoff game and ended in the top eight! We are so proud of all the girls’ accomplishments and hope they will continue playing soccer. We hope we taught them life lessons that will stick with them the rest of their lives. Watching them play on the field reminded me of what it felt like playing against Sara when I was younger. We learned so much from them and want to continue coaching.

Sara Monk

I’ve been playing SBMSA soccer since I was in kindergarten. I always got so excited when August came around and the season was starting. What made me always love the sport and SBMSA were my coaches. My dad has coached me in SBMSA the past 10 years and made it the best experience possible. I wanted to give younger girls the same experience. Peyton and I decided to coach her younger sister Emily Kate. We had never coached before and didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t know many of the girls, but we felt confident with our team – the Killer Flames. We fought hard in each and every game. We finished in first place in our division and qualified for the gold bracket. We were so proud of the girls and how they played every single game. We hope all the girls had fun and learned something new this season. Coaching and watching the girls improve every single day was so much fun for Peyton and me.

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