Politi aims to raise Sudbury’s soccer youth to a new level

Sitting by a local pool, talking about Sudbury’s youth soccer system, Panhellenic club head coach Giuseppe Politi appears content and collected. He leans his back against the pool wall and speaks freely, for minutes at a time, without pause.

This is his natural habitat.

The soccer players of tomorrow swim metres away in the pool, as some of his hand-picked Panhellenic coaches, Jon Hussak and Guillermo Estrada, put on a diving competition for the young footballers, drawing cheers and boos from the youth, depending on the outcome of the dive.

A parent of one of the youth asks Politi, “Why aren’t you swimming?”

“I’m scared of water,” Politi jokes. “I’d stay in the shallow end.”

He turns back, smiling, and continues talking about coaching, Sudbury’s multi-club soccer system and his goal to develop soccer in the city — a task that does not scare him in the least.

Politi grew up playing soccer in Sudbury.

In high school, he played four years on St. Charles College’s senior men’s soccer team, winning four city championships. By the time Politi was playing U18, he was playing club soccer around Toronto for Glen Shields SC in Vaughan, ON.

His first year of university the following year, Politi played down in Florida for Saint Leo University, but was forced to return home for “personal issues.”

Back in Sudbury, he played three years for Laurentian University’s team, notching three seasons on SC Italia’s premier team during the summers. Politi then traveled south again for University, to complete his master’s degree in business administration and play for Brock University.

His experience on the field honed his thinking about how soccer is fundamentally taught, and fuelled his enthusiasm for the head coach program.

“It’s not just players, it’s coaches too,” he says. “The head coach program is about coach and player development.”

Politi says there is no use for him to go out and train a team once, when he can train the coach and allow that coach to better his players consistently.

That is the idea behind Panhellenic’s head coach program.

“There was a lack in terms of the grassroots soccer,” he said. “The coaching needed to be better. Player development needed to get better.”

The idea of head coach programs in Sudbury stemmed from southern Ontario. It’s a popular idea for large clubs to hire a head coach to help out other coaches in the club.

It’s been a few years since Politi retired his cleats to take a more active role in coaching.

On the surface, that seems normal. Many players do that when their prime years are behind them.

But for Politi, 26, he is still in his prime.

“There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing someone reach their potential,” he said. “I wake up with an urge to coach.

“People always complain that there is so much wrong with Sudbury soccer, but I look at it the other way. Instead of pointing at the negatives, look at what we have and how to make it better. We can’t just give up. The head coach program is something I’m doing to try and help.”

Jon Hussak, who plays for Politi on Panhellenic Zeus and coaches a U-15 team under him, said Politi is a great fit for the job.

“He is the perfect guy for the position,” Hussak said. “From being his assistant and being a player (for him), I can say that. You can ask anyone in the club that knows him as a coach and (from) when he played. You can learn a lot from him.”

Politi has helped Hussak sharpen up his coaching skills.

“He’s almost a technical director. This is my first year coaching and I’ve learned a lot from Giuseppe already.

Technically, mentally and even through the game I’m always learning. He’s taught me a lot.”

One of Politi’s biggest coaching accomplishments came recently when he was assistant coach to a national title-winning York University team.

Politi originally planned on working in the field of commerce and accounting. He landed a job in Toronto working for accounting firm KPMG for six months.

“Looking back at my career choice, you have to find something that fits your life and your passion. My passion is soccer. I love working in a more social environment, teaching people the game.”

Politi prefers coaching people to crunching numbers.

“It’s a better fit for me. I had to give up everything to work (in KPMG). (But) I needed soccer in my life.”

Politi is currently a National “B” Licensed coach, and is expecting his results back from writing the American National “B” License.

If he has it his way, he’ll be at the forefront of raising the next generation of footballers in Sudbury.