{"id":37428,"date":"2015-08-03T17:14:36","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T21:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=37428"},"modified":"2015-12-30T10:30:09","modified_gmt":"2015-12-30T15:30:09","slug":"a-season-to-remember-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=37428","title":{"rendered":"A Season to Remember"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo credit: David Henry\/sweetdogphotos.com<\/p><\/div>\n

AC Connecticut did not win the PDL championship this year – that distinction belongs to KW United FC following Sunday’s title game win in Seattle. But in many respects, what the Nutmeg State selection did this season was far more meaningful than any trophy or award could signify.<\/p>\n

The Blues were led by first-year head coach Shaun Bailey, who was battling stage four brain cancer during the course of the 2015 season. Bailey, a name synonymous with Connecticut soccer after holding various posts at the youth and collegiate levels over the years, took the helm last winter after David Kelly stepped down.<\/p>\n

Despite fighting the illness \u2013 which he\u2019s fought since spring 2014 \u2013 Bailey was determined from the outset not to let his condition interfere with the task at hand, even though he admitted to hitting some speed bumps along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be draining,\u201d Bailey said. \u201cLike when we were 2-0 up (in a game at Western Mass on Jul. 3), we shouldn\u2019t have let them back into the game, and when it gets like that, everything starts going around and around in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, the mulling over the “what ifs?” makes Bailey very much a typical coach from an outsider\u2019s perspective. But taking a deeper look at what the former English pro, who said his doctors are optimistic about his prognosis, has endured this year showcased his commitment to his position, as well as his passion for the game.<\/p>\n

While the thought of hiring a coach with stage four cancer isn\u2019t the safest play in any sport, Connecticut general manager Robin Schuppert believed that Bailey, who served as an assistant on the squad in 2013, was the right man for the job even before he was diagnosed last spring.<\/p>\n

Bailey has served as the assistant coach for the women’s soccer team at Western Connecticut State University (WestConn)\u00a0for the last nine years. In addition to his collegiate coaching duties, he’d served as Director of Coaching for the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association, and prior to that played professionally for Colchester United FC, Harwich & Parkeston FC and Halstead Town FC in England.<\/p>\n

\u201cShaun Bailey\u2019s resume is pretty much unmatched in the state of Connecticut,\u201d Schuppert said. \u201cHe\u2019s big time. So to me, the natural thing was to give Shaun the gig. It was just a matter of him being up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bailey entered the season knowing he\u2019d need to good support system around him if was going to take the dual challenge of fighting cancer and taking on a new coaching job in a new league with equal fervor. So he did what anyone in his position would do: he employed the help of a few friends.<\/p>\n

Prior to accepting the job in December 2014, Bailey reached out to his fellow coaches at WestConn. After getting affirmatives from Joe Mingachos, Alex Harrison and Anthony Howard, the next step was to assemble a team, and keep that team together during the course of a grueling 14-game schedule that spanned eight weeks.<\/p>\n

\"sHAUN-5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t easy. Bailey\u2019s condition sometimes affected his train of thought, and he\u2019d stumble while trying to coach his players in training or during a halftime pep talk. Even so, his assistants would offer support whenever needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a great bank of knowledge, and it hasn\u2019t gone anywhere,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cIf he forgets a word, we\u2019re there to pick him up, and remind the players. We\u2019re 100 percent supportive of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bailey, who underwent regular MRIs to track his progress in fighting the cancer, also admitted to difficulties in simple tasks such as filling the out the team sheet on gameday, but that hardly gave pause to the coaches or players around him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t use the cancer as an excuse, we don\u2019t ever bring it up,\u201d Mingachos said. \u201cWe\u2019re just doing the best possible jobs to make this experience not only for ourselves, but for all the guys that are here an enjoyable experience, and the cancer doesn\u2019t even come into play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blues finished the season on 11 points with a 2-7-5 record, and did not make the playoffs. However, there were plenty of positives that Bailey and his coaching staff can take pride in.<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper Steven Sasso emerged as one of the best in the Northeast Division, while attacking midfielder Zach Zurita proved to be a fire-starter down the stretch.<\/p>\n

But the most evident sign that the season was a success nonetheless was the camaraderie established between coaches and players. While long practices on late weekday nights didn’t produce a championship-caliber season, Sasso said that Bailey was the embodiment of what it takes to succeed in both the beautiful game, and in life itself.<\/p>\n

“Passion and commitment,” Sasso said. “Passion for the love of the game, and once you\u2019re part of a team, stay committed, keep working for them. Don\u2019t work for yourself, work for the team. He has our backs, and we have his back, and we\u2019re all in it together.”<\/p>\n

Of course, the most impressive aspect of the 2015 season for the Blues was how the coaching staff and players all rallied behind their coach to show that nothing \u2013 not even cancer \u2013 could stop one man\u2019s passion for the game, and for coaching it, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen this position came around and he came back to some healthy where he could get back on the field, we just wanted to be here for him,\u201d Harrison said. \u201cAnd I think he\u2019s really taken it in and given it everything he\u2019s got and credit him, we\u2019re super proud of the guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Bailey, the 2015 season was nothing more than a testament to how the beautiful game kept the fire within one man’s heart brightly burning, even in spite of his condition.<\/p>\n

“I love the game, and I don\u2019t ever want to give it up,” Bailey said. “When they found out it was a brain tumor, and they told me it was stage four, I always said that I\u2019m going to make this the best life I can have. I could be out here for another 15 years – no one knows. But I want to be sure that I\u2019m happy regardless.”<\/p>\n

\"Shaun-121\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shaun Bailey didn’t let stage four brain cancer stop him from taking the reins at AC Connecticut this season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37436,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[84],"tags":[879,891,1291,880,892],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Shaun-Alex-1.png?fit=600%2C415","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37428"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37428"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40030,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37428\/revisions\/40030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}