Becca Wells: Hi From Becca - September Update
August went by fast, but September has flown by even faster. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in West Chicago for nearly two months. September has been a challenging month, but also really really good. Definitely starting to feel more settled with apartment-life and getting into a rhythm with office work and coaching. Very thankful to be more comfortable with the girls that I get to coach—the first few sessions were a little rough haha.
A Week as A Resident
Monday:
Coaches’ Meeting- These have been some of my favorite meetings to get to be a part of. We meet and talk about our teams—exciting things that are happening, challenges were facing, and everything in between. We also work together to plan a possible practice session that we could use during the week. Being newer into the coaching world, I feel like these meetings have taught me a ton. Yeah, they’re just very fun to be a part of.
Staff Meeting- In these meetings all the different leaders of our various outreaches (Urban, Youth Tour, Summer Academy, etc.) get to share any updates as well as share any upcoming events or deadlines that we need to be aware of. We always close these meetings with sharing prayer requests and praying together.
Office Work/Practice Planning- Usually when I’m in the office, I’m planning practice for the week or working on administrative stuff to help plan and prepare for the upcoming Summer Academy—which has looked like making a master fall calendar for all the colleges playing near us, formatting a new Summer Academy application, and helping with creating possible plans B, C, and D for the summer depending on what travel restrictions might look like.
Micro Leagues- Micro League started with month. This is two nights a week where we meet and coach our youngest players (k-5th grade). We get to train with them, teach them a Bible lesson, and them let them scrimmage. It has been a blast!
Tuesday:
Office Work/ Practice Planning
U14/U19 Girls Practice- I’m helping coach the high school girls team, and recently started leading the Tuesday practices, which has been super stretching, but also so so fun. I’m seriously love it.
Wednesday:
Residency Meeting- During these morning meetings I’m working through the Residency curriculum with some of the staff members. We’ve been reading some really insightful articles and watching videos that challenge us to reflect on our faith, work, and lives in general. I look forward to these meetings a ton because I think there helpful in exploring my strengths and weakness, where I want/ need to grow, and also consider things like purpose, calling, and vocation.
Micro Leagues-
Thursday:
Baby-sitting- I have been back baby-sitting two very sweet boys that I started babysitting in college. Time with them is always a blast. They’re moving away in October, which is a huge bummer, but I’m making the most of these last mornings with them.
Office work
U14/U19 Girls Practice-On Thursday I get to help train the goalkeepers. I will be starting this in October with the middle school boys and our girl goalkeeper!
Friday:
Mentor Meeting-One of the staff members is my mentor--she's awesome and I love her a lot. Every week we meet to talk and pray. She checks in with me and challenges me for the next week. These are always really good meetings and I look forward to them, plus there's always coffee involved, so what's not to like haha.
Chores/Grocery
Connecting with friends and supporters
Goalkeepers Need Gloves
This month I was able to buy some GK gloves for our single keeper friend. She was super excited when I brought them to practice. She put them on right away and wanted to give them a try. This is one small way your support is impacting these players!
Micro Leagues have Begun!
As I mentioned we started Micro Leagues this month! We have had nearly 50 players coming out to these nights of soccer. We divided the kids into to “Youngs”(K-2nd) and “Biggins” (3rd-5th), just to make the time as safe and fun as possible. I have been coaching the “youngs” and while the soccer may not be the highest quality, these nights with them have been a highlight of my time so far for sure. After training for the first part we then have “Halftime” where one of the coaches shares a lesson. I got to do this one night and loved it! I shared about commitment and hard-work and how we should give our best in all we do because the Lord gives us His best, and He gave of the best when he gave us Jesus (Colossians 3:23).
Scrimmages
Both the U14 and U19 girls have had scrimmages this month against some of our boys’ teams. The girls weren’t the hugest fans of this at first (ew, boys), but after the first half both teams kicked it in gear and started playing much better. Coaching during a “game” was new, and I l enjoyed it so so much. Man, it would have been a blast to have had a fall season.
Golf-Outing
September also included the Golf Outing. Which is a major fundraiser for our office. As a non-golfer this was my first time ever on a golf course haha. Some staff members golfed, but those that didn’t helped to run registration and helped to run fun contests for the golfers to win prizes. It was so good to see some of my supporters and catch up with them. While I might not be a fan of golf, the Golf Outing was a super fun day.
Exciting News
This past weekend I was supposed to be home in Ohio to share about the Eagles with the The Bridge Community Church, the church where I grew up. Unfortunately, I was not able to make the drive which was a major bummer.
Thankfully however I was still able to share through Zoom. It was a great morning "with" them worshipping and then sharing with them about the Eagles, the Residency Program, and how they they can join me in the work that the Lord is doing here through the Eagles.
After sharing, the congregation collected a "love offering" on my behalf. With this donation I am officially FULLY FUNDED for the remainder of the Residency Program. God is so good.
What's Coming Up
October 10th we will be having our Fall Festival for Micro Leagues. This is the closing of the Micro League Season and is a fun evening of soccer. food, and fellowship with our players and their families. Our U14 and U19 girls teams are hoping to continue to scrimmage often against other Eagles teams as this is fun and competitive and often times the best way to grow in soccer is just to play! This month we will begin visiting and video-chatting with college teams to share about the Summer Academy and recruit players for summer 2021. Sprinkle in fall festivities, candy, and all things pumpkin and I think October is gonna be another busy, but rewarding month!
Personal Stuff
This past month I joined a small group through my church. I'm very excited to be with them and to get to know these people better and learn from them, since most of them have been doing this life thing longer than I have. We're reading a book together by Dane C. Ortlund called "Gentle and Lowly". The author uses Scripture and other Christian writing to explore the heart of Christ towards his people. It has been a super good read so far.
September also included one of my very good friends getting married to an incredible guy--congrats Kelly and Landon! Their wedding was a blast!
Last week I was in a small car crash here at my apartment. A van backed into me while I was driving by. Those people that drive "mom vans," you have to watch out for them ;) Everything with insurance and all this seems to be working out, so hopefully Rhonda the Honda will be back to her self here soon.
Health-wise I've been doing ok. The headache have still been pretty consistent and I have been having migraines here and there which has been tough because I've had to miss practice at times. The beginning of October I will be seeing a specialist here in IL, and so I'm hoping and praying that he can provide some insight and possibly a solution to these darn headaches.
Prayer Requests:
Praise the Lord for being fully-funded! Thank you, thank you to all of you who have supported me or who continue to support me.
Praise for another month of safety and good health for our players.
Praise for times this past month of connecting with good friends and supporters
Be praying for our girls and their desire to come to practice, having no games this fall makes this a challenge.
Doctor's Appointment-October 1stCar Repairs
