Omar Iakub is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Notre Dame Prep High School for Azpreps365.com

 

Tracy Addison's stint as Notre Dame Prep coach was short but successful. She stepped into a pressure cooker last season.

Taking over a program with a record of 75-8 over the past seven years that includes a pair of state championships is challenging enough. Her resiliency was put to the test even more as sports teams across the globe battled the pandemic.

Addison's Saints won the 4A West Valley with a perfect 11-0 regular season record and a semifinals berth.

Now she is heading back East.

Addison announced that she will be resigning from the head coach position.

“Me and my husband are from the East originally and all of our family is there so we’ve been wanting to move back closer to them. The pandemic has definitely accelerated things as far as how badly we truly wanted to be with family on a more regular basis.”

Addison said the team understood.

“The trials and tribulation that we have faced this season has given them (players) an understanding of why I am doing this,” said Addison. “When I told them it was definitely a surprise at first but they all understood why.”

 

“Coach Addison has helped me grow out of my shell and not be afraid to speak up and voice my opinions, she makes me feel heard and because of that I am not afraid to voice my opinions anymore,” said De Avila.

Said freshman Chloe Grindall: “My first impression of her was that she seemed like a very confident woman and someone that I can look up to for sure and she seemed so strong and so sure of herself and that’s kind of who I want to be one day.”

Addison was more than just a coach for players but a friend as well.

“I love her like a friend, she is very relatable so I think that makes it just that much easier for her to bond and make a connection with our team and because of that it allowed quite a few girls to make that genuine connection with her and trust her to coach our team,” said Chloe.

Addison knew she had a big job ahead. 

“Getting handed the reins of such a successful program is definitely an undertaking but expectations are obviously high to continue the winning ways because the program has been so successful here since inception.”

NDP got off to a rocky start.

“We were supposed to have tryouts at the end of October and those got pushed to the beginning of December,” said Addison. “We had no more than five practices before the winter holidays began, then the AIA announced the season was over for about two weeks, when it was reinstated we came back and had to quarantine two times because of positive tests.” 

Senior captain Isabella De Avila recalled the first game.

“Our first game against Deer Valley it was pouring rain, and having only practiced maybe only two times, we didn’t have the preparation needed so those were early learning experiences that became crucial in our success for the season.” 

Said Addison:

 “We kind of needed to go through that rough patch at the beginning for all of us as a group to truly understand where we were at as a group, what our goals were as far as winning state, and everybody getting on the same page.''

The Saints decimated Cactus Cobras in the first round of the playoffs and then won a close match against Walden Grove. The team's run came to an end against Salpointe Catholic in the state semifinals. 

“I would say our season was pretty successful considering we went 13-0 up until the semifinals where we lost, “said De Avila. 

 

“We were thrown into the fire from the start but it goes to show the teams resiliency to be able to push things aside, work hard on the field and get the job done,” said Addison. “I am just so proud of the girls for being able to do what they have done this year.

“I am a bit amazement for sure, because you never know what you’re going to get from your team, the timeline that was thrown at as with all the stops, our kids could have quit, but their resiliency has helped motivate me.”

As a former collegiate player, Addison has lived and breathed soccer her entire life. Strangely though, coaching was not a passion early on in life. 

“I realized at a young age I wanted to be a teacher and that morphed into coaching when I was in college, I needed a side job and one of my high school club coaches brought me in to coach. In order to become a coach, I had to go to coaching school which stoked the fire even more, learning there’s a science behind coaching, seeing the development and growth of a player, establishing those relationships with people and mentoring them. Helping them develop and grow, being supportive of them became everything that I wanted to do and be around. “

Addison’s study as a student to become a teacher and her experience as a player helped her in coaching. 

“In my book being relatable is one the most important traits to have as a coach. In my opinion the most successful coaches ever are the ones that develop the player from the inside out,” said Addison. “John Wooden is someone who I always look up to, how he developed players.”