Northshore girls’ soccer coach Ryan Lazaroe is no stranger to the game of soccer.
Lazaroe has coached at Northshore for 20 years — including the last four as the girls’ head coach after spending 16 years as the boys’ head coach.
Now, he has a new challenge after being selected as an assistant coach with the US National Paralympic Blind Soccer Team.
“I think a lot of people think when a person has a disability that they can’t do much on the soccer field, but that’s not the case,” Lazaroe said. “Blind soccer has been around for 20 years. It’s been in every Paralympic Games since 2004, but now, our country is taking the time to build a national team for blind players. So that was intriguing to be a part of something brand-new and something that we hope will be a very successful national team. The other opportunity is how many times do you get to represent your county and be a part of something bigger than yourself? I’m excited to help grow the game and be a part of something special.”
It’s a part-time position, so Lazaroe will still lead the Panthers this season. He spent the last week in San Diego for the blind national team’s first selection camp.
“I think I’m doing something every day, whether it is contacting players and making sure they are up to date on their development plan or something else. We’re building a player pool and building a national team. I guess it’s part- time, but there is always a part of the day where I am thinking about what I can contribute as an assistant coach,” Lazaroe said.
Lazaroe’s experience reads like a laundry list of coaching jobs. He’s the associate head coach at the New Orleans Jesters and the Director of Coaching for Slidell Soccer. In addition, he’s a coaching instructor for three different organizations as well as the under-18 boys head coach for the Super Clubs National Team, Director of Coaching Education for the State of Louisiana and serves as a coach with the Olympic Development Program for Region 3 .
When he’s not coaching, he also works part-time as a medic for Acadian Ambulance Service.
Communication is key
But coaching the US Blind Soccer Team is a new challenge. Teams are made up of five players — four field players and one goalkeeper. All the field players must be blind and wear eyeshades, while the goalkeeper must be sighted or partially sighted. Teams also have off-field guides to assist them — Lazaroe will be the guide in the final third of the field. However, guides can only assist when the ball is on their end of the field.
The ball makes a noise due to a sound system located inside the ball that helps players orient themselves. As a result, spectators must remain silent while watching the game until a goal is scored.
Blind soccer is played on a rectangular field that measures 40 meters long and 20 meters wide. Kickboards cover the entire length of the field to prevent the ball from going out of play. Matches are 30 minutes long and divided into two 15-minute halves. Each team can request a one-minute timeout in each half. During the last two minutes of both halves, and in case of extra time, the timekeeper must stop the clock for a free kick, kick-in, goal kick and corner kick.
It’s essentially sighted soccer on a smaller field, but Lazaroe said the difference is that coaches must be their players’ eyes.
“The communication has to be absolutely superb. At the high school level or college or pro, a lot of sessions are more visually based. If you come out to a practice session, you have goals, sticks, pennies and all of this stuff laid out out. With this position, the ability to communicate is the most important thing. It’s a challenge, but it’s one I’m excited to tackle,” he said.
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