Sean LeVine with wife Joline and youngest daughter Izzy. (Photo poached from Joline LeVine)
Leading by example. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
One of Whidbey Island’s most influential coaches is heading in a new direction.
Sean LeVine, who has helped shape the games and lives of hundreds of local soccer players over the past quarter-century, announced this week he was stepping away from being an active coach.
His statement:
This week I “retired” from coaching soccer on Whidbey Island — an endeavor I began in 1995 as my little brother’s team needed a coach.
For 26 years I have coached both boys and girls of all ages, including all three of my daughters.
There are no words I can put here that can adequately describe what these experiences have meant to me and my family.
Thank you to all the parents, coaches, board members, and players who have made this an overwhelmingly positive part of my life, and for offering soccer to the youth in our community year after year.
It has been an honor and privilege to have served by coaching kids in a sport I love.
LeVine, who is a paramedic with WhidbeyHealth in his non-soccer life, is a member of the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.
He was inducted in 2015 as part of a particularly-impressive class which included Brad Sherman and Tyler King, among others.
During his time on the pitch, LeVine worked with numerous soccer squads, but his Whidbey Islanders girls teams had an especially-big impact.
Bringing together players from North, South, and Central Whidbey, including oldest daughter Micky, those teams went toe-to-toe with big-city clubs on a regular basis, winning frequently against top-level competition.
Sean LeVine was a master at bringing out the best in each player, while also devoting extensive time to making sure his proteges excelled away from the pitch.
Many of those Islanders, and countless other kids he coached, went on to attend college, some playing soccer, with a great deal of success.
LeVine was also one of the easiest coaches to work with, a guy who would shoot me detailed info and clever quotes even when he was likely tired after an early-morning wakeup, a long off-Island trek, and a series of games.
The continued growth of soccer in Coupeville is the result of a lot of people working their tails off, often without getting (or asking for) full credit.
People such as LeVine, Jim Copenhaver, Kyle Nelson, Reese and Michelle Cernick, Scott Rosenkranz, and Robert Wood — just to name a few — have been invaluable.
Whether this is really the end of his coaching career (he’s just hitting his mid-40’s, so a comeback is not out of the question) or just a cool-down period, LeVine leaves Whidbey soccer in a better place than he found it.
One of the legends, even if he blushes a bit when you call him that.
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