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=Professional Soccer Player and Coach, Chris Apple= Coach Chris Apple is a prime example of what College Coaches look like today, especially in the world of soccer. You will find that Apple possesses the characteristics of an impressive college coach through his background, statistics, philosophies, as well as goals.

=Chris Apple Overview= Chris is from Millersville, Pennsylvania, and Apple is a professional soccer coach and former professional soccer player. In the years 1988-1992, Apple attended The University of Rochester. Apple led his soccer team to three championships, and during this time he played midfield. After graduating, Apple traveled to Germany to continue playing soccer at the professional level. Apple later began to coach soccer at Harvard College. In 1993, he finished his coaching at Harvard and picked up a new coaching position at North Carolina Wesleyan College in 1994. From 1994-1995, Apple led his team with a record of 12-20-1. Then, from 1996 to 1999, Apple served as the assistant soccer coach at The University of Notre Dame and became the head soccer coach in 2000. Apple has been the head soccer coach at his alma mater, the University of Rochester, since 2001. In his time there, he has won four Regional Championships, four UAA Championships, and made five NCAA appearances. While walking the sidelines and coaching, Apple has a record of 123-29-21.

=Chris Apple's Early Life= Chris Apple is a former professional soccer player and coach who was born on April 9, 1970, in Millersville, Pennsylvania, United States. Between 1988 and 1992, he played midfield for the University of Rochester. He guided his squad to three NCAA tournament berths and three University Athletic Association championships.

=Sport Stats= Coach Apple has a very impressive coaching record, and his profile on the Rochester men's soccer website states that he "has coached the Yellowjackets to a cumulative 234-72-52." Not only does Coach Apple have an impressive all-time record with the Yellowjackets, but he also has a great playoff record, winning "Four ECAC Northeast regional championships [and] five UAA championships." he also made "12 NCAA [tournament] appearances, including the programs first final four in 2018." Coach Apple's all-time "career record is 253-100-55." This record includes time at Rochester University in Rochester, New York; Notre Dame University in Notre Dame, Indiana; as well as North Carolina Wesleyan University in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.



the graphs displayed above further depict Coach Apple's statistics. The graph on the left displays a graph of Coach Apple's all-time stat record. Impressively, Apple has maintained a low loss rate of twenty-five percent, a tie rate of twelve percent, and a win rate of sixty-three percent. Displayed in the graph on the right is Apple's stat record at the University of Rochester. At Rochester, Apple has maintained a low twenty percent loss rate, fifteen percent tie rate, and a high sixty-five percent win rate. Seasonal statistics, like win rate, total games won, and playoff records speak a lot about not only players but also the coaches. Sure, to win games you need to have talented players that can get the job done. However, it is vital for a coach to be present to keep their team humble and prepared. Coach Apples coaching records speak to this very well. As seen by the statistics presented above, Apple is a very successful coach, not just because of his ability to find and recruit talent, but also for his ability to channel his player's talent to generate program wins and tournament appearances.

=Coaching Philosophy= As it is known, the diversity between sports is very high, and some sports involve running while others involve swimming or even skating. You have sports like soccer; a game played with feet, football; a game played with hands or even softball; a game played with a bat. However, these differences not only take shape between sports, but they also take shape within specific sports. Every sport played is up for interpretation, many people choose to interpret these sports in different ways, leading them to develop their own philosophies or strategies. For example, in the soccer world, two opposing views on tactics and philosophies appear with two different coaches: Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho. Each of these coaches has two different philosophies and coaching views. Pep Guardiola has a very attack-minded philosophy, while Jose Mourinho has a very defensive-minded philosophy.

This same idea bleeds into Coach Apple's coaching. Like every other coach, Apple has his own unique style and philosophy when it comes to coaching. His philosophy is not just the way he views the game strategically, but it's also the footprint of how the game shaped him throughout his career. Revealed in an interview conducted by the University of Notre Dame, Apple's philosophy is quite simple, he states: "Soccer is one of those sports that’s a players’ sport, not a coaches’ sport. I like to think I’m the type of coach who empowers his players to have absolute confidence once the match starts." Unlike other coaching philosophies, Apple's philosophy gives his players more freedom to make their own decisions. However, These decisions are not blind decisions, they are calculated decisions resulting from effective preparation. In the same interview Coach Apple also stated: "During training, we teach our players and give them the tools to make good decisions and have success. In soccer, there are no timeouts during a game. You only get one chance to make changes, and that’s for 10 minutes at halftime. So, it's important that the players are prepared to make good decisions on their own during the game."

Ultimately, Apple's coaching philosophy is freedom with preparation. Due to Apple's belief that it is a player's game, the freedom of making their own decisions during games is vital for the success of the team. However, in order for this freedom to be effective enough for success, the players have to grow the confidence to make the correct decisions the way Coach Apple prepares them during practices.

=Long term goals= Apple has stated that he wishes to compete annually in the BIG EAST championship. Afterward, he wants to be on an NCAA team consistently. A quote from him from und.com states "After we’ve achieved those two goals, we need to shoot for national prominence and to become the next Indiana of the ’90s or Virginia of the ’80s. The highest goal we have is to become prominent in the national arena. Over the next several years, I think that’s achievable. It’s a very high goal, but it’s also attainable." As you can see from this quote, Apple seems to have a lot of goals that will make his teams different from any other college sports team. Lastly, he said that down the line he would like to work on his own book.

=Why we picked Chris Apple= My group and I have decided to do our assignment on a soccer coach named Chris Apple. Chris is from Millersville, Pennsylvania, and is a professional soccer coach and former professional soccer player. In the years 1988-1992, Apple attended The University of Rochester. Apple led his soccer team to three championships. At the end of the day, Apple's coaching philosophy is to combine flexibility with preparedness. Because Apple believes that it is a player's game, the ability to make their own decisions during games is critical to the team's success. Ultimately, we decided to pick Coach Chris Apple because of his discreteness. Although he possesses a great ability to coach, the amount of information about him is limited to articles written by previous colleges and other small media sources. We hoped to research more about Chris Apple and provide an overview of who Chris Apple is.

=Sources= https://www.rochester.edu/pr/Review/V78N3/0320_apple.html

https://uofrathletics.com/sports/mens-soccer/roster/coaches/chris-apple/889

https://und.com/meet-new-men-s-soccer-coach-chris-apple/

https://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/coaching-and-practice/annals-of-coaching-chris-apples-desert-island-drill/

https://everbetter.rochester.edu/2018/01/26/a-top-10-with-chris-apple-92/

https://www.empireunited.soccer/club/rochester/rochester-coaches/chris-apple-technical-director

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Apple

Aaliyah Newman, Dwight Boone, Hayden Gensler, Landon O'Brien