PLYMOUTH – A lifetime of service to Plymouth’s youth was honored on Sunday as Dennis Cole got a much deserved thank you from those that he took such great care to serve for 35 years.
Since 1982, Dennis Cole has been a fixture in the local soccer scene. He has volunteered thousands of hours to ensure local soccer players could learn and enjoy the game of soccer. Dennis has been a coach, tactician, teacher, field painter, mentor, assignor and referee to name a few of his roles.
“I played soccer in college at Manchester,” he said “They found out that I had played before and they told me ‘you’ve got to coach.’ So they put together a team and I started to coach up until the time my son graduated I did rec and travel both. Then I started refereeing with my daughter Amanda and we refereed as well as coached. Then after my son graduated I started refereeing high school games as well as recreational games. It’s been a long time and kind of love affair. I’ve enjoyed soccer, I’ve enjoyed the kids and their parents, I’ve enjoyed being part of their lives.”
The teams that Dennis has coached have won numerous tournaments and league championships around the state from Fort Wayne, Zionsville, Columbus, Goshen and the local NCSA tournament. Whether the games were for rec, travel, or boys or girls the focus has always been on the players — teaching them the finer points of the game and having fun. To further inspire players, he also arranged a clinic with the Notre Dame Women’s soccer team and a trip to watch them play and get autographs after their National Championship.
“Kids are everything,” He said. “I love the game and it’s going to be hard to walk away one of these days. I keep getting nudged that maybe it’s time I move on, but the next year comes around and it’s, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ I love when the kids come back all these years and say ‘hey, this was my coach, or ‘I remember you when you had hair,’ and what’s really neat when you get kids coming up from other towns and it’s really nice to be recognized by the players and coaches and fans and that they appreciate what you’ve done for soccer and for their kids.
It was a love affair with a game that didn’t start until college and may never have happened at all if it hadn’t been for his football coach.
“I went to Manchester to play football,” he said. “I told the coach I wanted to play flanker and he just looked at me and said ‘Really?’ and walked away. That told me something. Some guy on our dorm floor said ‘hey, you ought to go out for soccer.’ I’d never played before. I made the team and played all four years at Manchester college.
“I got the bug. When you are extremely fast you can play. I learned the basic skills. That’s what I tried to teach the kids – the basic skills – but not only that, how to win and lose as a family. A lot of times you learn a lot from losing – you learn the character of your team, the character of yourself, and can develop your team better. Those are skills that carryover into later life, those same hard working skills you can put into action in your job your life.”
In addition to coaching, Dennis has refereed more than 1,000 games and accepted the very difficult task of assigning hundreds of referees to games all around the area. Dennis has also mentored young referees, some of whom have been recognized locally by the “Ted Ummel Young Referee Award” that was given to Katie Berg and Micah Harner — who have also received state honors.
The game has been a family affair for the Coles. From Dennis coaching his daughter Amanda’s and son Sam’s soccer teams, to his wife Cindy — who could always be heard on the sidelines offering her support for the family. Sam also refereed games, making it a complete family affair. With the support of his family, Dennis has supported soccer in community in immeasurable ways.
When the time comes when Dennis may actually “retire” from the sport he loves, he knows how he wants to be remembered.
“I think I’d like people to say that I cared about the sport,” he said. “That I cared about the players, that I didn’t care about the wins, I just wanted everybody to have fun whether your a player or a fan.
Adding with a laugh, “And sometimes it’s really hard for the fans to have fun.”
“My advice to anybody who might be thinking of getting involved is simple – you have to love soccer.”
