The Northern Star sat down with first year women’s soccer assistant coach Christie Chappell. Chappell spent the last four seasons as an assistant at North Dakota State with coach John Ross.

She talked about why she came to DeKalb, when she started playing soccer, why she did, how she decided to become a coach and a lot more.

Northern Star: What went in to your decision to come to NIU?

Christie Chappell: Well, I’d been at North Dakota State for four years and the head coach (Ross) moved on to another school. I really got along really well with coach John while I was working as an assistant with him there, and really believed in his message and what he’s trying to do with this program, so it was kind of a easy decision for me.

NS: What did you like about his coaching style that made you want to follow him to NIU?

CC: He always is looking to make the student athletes improve. He has the experience from his playing career and from being around the game a lot, that he’s really able to teach the kids. You know, little ways that can really improve their game and it’s a good opportunity for me to be able to learn from him in that respect.

NS: When did you start playing the sport of soccer and what drew you to it?

CC: Well when I was 10 years old I was watching my brother play soccer and I just kind of followed him around quite a bit. I wanted to be just like him and so he started playing soccer. The natural, you know, progression, was for me to play as well and once I started playing I couldn’t really stop. I kind of fell in love with it right away.

NS: What do you love about the sport of soccer?

CC: I mean, I love how much work rate you have to put into playing and how it’s definitely a team sport. You need all 11 players that are currently on the field but you need everybody who’s a part of the program and players that, you know, maybe are on the bench and come in. You need all the support staff that’s helping you out, you know, I love the whole process of putting together a team and just the game itself is, you know, I just really enjoy it.

NS: What made you want to become a coach?

CC: I just wanted to kind of give back to the game. You know, I’ve had a lot of really good mentors and coaches in my lifetime and they’ve taught me a lot of things about life and about the sport itself. I want to kind of follow in their footsteps and be that role model and that person for other young people

NS: What are some of your duties in practice and on game days?

CC: I was an attacker, so I do a lot of work with the forwards and attacking mids. On game day, I get, you know, the girls going with the warm-up and everything they need to do to prepare and then towards the end of the warm-up I [am] working with the forwards, just getting their last couple shots before the game starts.