(Writer’s Note: In deference to today’s subject, soccer will herewith be referred to as football for the entirety of this piece).
There’s something unique about West Liberty women’s football coach Barry Christmas that is hard to put your finger on initially.
No, it’s not his Manchester, England-born accent, though when Coach Barry speaks there’s no denying it. It’s also not his love bordering on obsession with football, especially when compared to the pigskin-loving people who live here in the Ohio Valley.
Besides, given the fact that Christmas was born in the shadow of the hallowed pitch at Old Trafford, the famous home of the English Premier League’s world-famous team, Manchester United, it was nigh impossible not to get sucked into that world.
It’s not that Christmas coaches football; it’s how he coaches football that makes him unique.
He’s a bit of an old-school guy, old enough to remember a time before saying one loved playing sports required a designation between actual sports and e-sports. Before he came to America at age 20, football was the all-encompassing force of his youth in England. He played every possible minute.
“If I wasn’t playing in structured games or in organized team training sessions, I was playing in pick-up games with friends or hopefully older lads, as that was how you got better,” Christmas said.
He also played indoors with his older brother, which led to its share of broken items scattered throughout the house.
Proved He Could Play
His every action was to improve his playing ability. As he progressed through youth, high school, city and county leagues (the U.S. equivalent of state-level play), that dedication kept upping his skills.
It’s what he expected from himself and it’s what he wants from his players. On a personal level Christmas is a friendly guy and loving family man to his wife and three children. As a coach, he demands excellence and accepts no less than max effort from his players. This is not a coach who will give unearned words of praise to a player going through the motions. He wants you to get better. He wants you to want to get better yourself and act accordingly.
That’s why he and his players experience success wherever he goes.
At Bethany, he helped the women’s team to its first winning season with a tough defensive strategy that saw the Bison post 18 shutouts during a three-season stretch.
He then came to West Liberty to get the University’s program off the ground in 2011. The first year was spent as a club team, and the Hilltoppers took the pitch for their first official collegiate match in 2012. The penchant for defense carried down Route 88. West Liberty posted the second most shutouts in the Mountain East in 2019 and gave up far fewer shots than most of its league counterparts.
He has the same philosophy when dealing with the youth level. He works with FC Wheeling as a director of coaching and assists with teams and practices, primarily on the girls’ side. Accordingly, these teams have also experienced success.
He’s the type of coach who appreciates players that, when faced with a lack of playing time, take that as a cue to work harder and improve their skills, as opposed to other methods of dealing with such a situation. It’s something he learned growing up in England, so he knows it works.
You first came to the U.S. in 1997. What brought you here the first time, and growing up in a country as mad about its football as America is about its style of football, was that difference an adjustment for you? And for someone growing up in Manchester, did you take in many matches at Old Trafford between either Man United and Man City or Arsenal? As a fan, what was that experience like, and can you compare it to anything you’ve experienced stateside?
I initially came here for six weeks in the summer working for major league soccer camps. I had begun my coaching qualifications as I got injured in the previous December. The injury was fairly serious, so I wanted to occupy myself with something as I couldn’t play. Growing up I was an avid Manchester United fan. When I say that, it was a matter of life and death for me. I went to a few games, but as I was so involved in playing myself, the games clashed most of the time. The atmosphere at the games in England is electric. Even in the lower leagues, the fans are constantly singing through the games and generating the atmosphere. When I came here and experienced sporting events, it was different. The experience is “the match” back home; here in the USA the whole experience is the event, the build-up, the in stadium experience, the seating, the rest rooms, the concessions, the jumbo score board, the side entertainment. It was new to me that the stadium tannoy played music to generate an atmosphere. I will say that since I have been here and returned home, things have developed around “the match” to enhance the experience back in England. I did experience Penguins hockey games here, WVU football games, and Pirates baseball. I enjoyed them but, it was a contrast to the boisterous chanting atmosphere created in football matches.
You went back to work with Northwich Victoria FC as the head of its youth team. How does the structure of club teams in England specifically and the U.K. as a whole compare to the U.S. in terms of structure, skill progression, dedication, and commitment? Have you tried to bring some of that here? Can you compare the quintessential British style of play to what you’ve experienced while in the U.S.? How does it differ? Does the American game even have what you’d call a definitive style?
When I had the spell back home in 2002 – 2005, I was the head youth team coach for Northwich Victoria (16- 19-year-olds). It was a small professional club. (Tier 5 of the professional level) My role as the coach of that team was to develop the players so they could be offered a contract with the first team. Obviously, on a day-to-day basis we wanted to prepare to win the games we were playing in but, the head coach of the first team wanted to see individual players progress under my guidance to be sufficiently developed to compete in the first team. I loved that role; there was a balance between winning and developing that suited how I wanted to coach. At times players can get lost in the development phase when the only focus is winning. The level Northwich was at meant, we sometimes gained young players released from top clubs (deemed not good enough for that level) and sometimes lost players who had been scouted by top clubs because we had, had a hand in enhancing them to be deemed valuable at a higher level. The competition for places at that level is the main motivational driving factor. Young players are desperate to play professionally, so rarely did we have to work to motivate them. In our youth squad we had 24 players, and for match day we could only dress 16! Parents NEVER came to me to complain about non-selection or playing time as they would have known I would have just released their son! In the flow of the match we could only make three substitutions. So, of the 16, 11 were starting and the other five might not get on the pitch. Again, NO communication from the parents (A little different here!!) It meant Mondays training session was insane in terms of intensity as players who had not been selected were bursting to prove they should be for the next match. I think at times we could use some of that mentality to enhance the environment in youth sports here. There have been a couple of teams that I have worked with that I tried to create that feel but, you have to be careful. American youth soccer is full of coaches claiming to “play the Dutch way” or adopt the “Brazilian approach.” I think there are aspects we can take from other football cultures, but I don’t think a cut-and-paste approach from another method is a wise choice. There are cultural, environmental, and geographical reasons that mean a smooth fit from another philosophy doesn’t match up. I don’t think we can pretend to be something we are not here in the States. When I was in England as a player and a coach, I was involved with teams that had a variety of playing styles so, I am not sure I could label a “British approach.” In my experience, I think players win games, not a certain approach, formation or style. I think it’s wise for coaches to try to develop players to be able to play the games a whole, not in just one style, particularly in the formative years of the players’ development. As players embark on the college end of the journey, then it becomes more about cutting the cloth accordingly as a team to suit the qualities you have. (I do think we are still trying to enhance our players’ understanding of the game and developing them but, at that stage, within the framework of the team)
What first attracted or brought you to the Ohio Valley specifically, and what’s kept you here all this time? You coached for six seasons at Bethany, two with the men and four with the women and followed that by not only getting the West Liberty program off the ground but also turning it into a successful program.
One of the towns I was in with major league soccer camps way back in 1997 was Glendale. I worked a high school camp for John Marshall high school. I stayed with a family there, The Myers family. They were, still are, wonderful people. The Myers family and community made the other guest coaches and me feel very welcome. As the week-long camp progressed, the boosters floated the idea of me coming to help coach the team for the fall season as they were short of assistant coaches. I finished my contract with MLS camps and returned to the area mid-August and helped the high school teams until the end of the high school season. I went home in November 1997; I was playing back home but struggling to regain my full fitness, so I actually returned to work for a coaching company in New Jersey in March 1998. I stayed in close contact with people from this area and actually decided to start a coaching company with a friend of mine based in this area called English Premier soccer. We created a professional reputation for consulting with clubs in West Virginia and ran camps in the summer where we flew in other British coaches to work for us. I formed a relationship with FC Wheeling (Formerly, Wheeling Eagles) and was a coaching director for them. I met my wife in this period, so I formed roots here. After the stint at home, we returned in 2005, and soon after my return the opportunity to get into college coaching at Bethany presented itself. I was the men’s assistant for 18 months and was then offered the head women’s job.
Speaking of the Hilltoppers, you have a nice balance of local and regional players intermixed with some international flavor on the roster. Given the current pandemic restrictions, has it hampered your ability any to continue to scout and talk with potential recruits, either for any last-minute additions to the 2020 team or even beyond? For the international players, what’s your selling pitch for convincing them to not only come to America to play, but West Virginia and West Liberty in particular?
Our roster has a blend of international players within it. The United States has led the way in women’s soccer, so the appeal for international players to come here, experience it, and compete is a strong attraction. For a long time in many European countries women’s soccer has been the red-headed stepchild compared to men’s struggles for funding and coverage. (That has changed in the last couple of years, but it’s still behind.) When we communicate with possible recruits and outline, because of title IX that opportunities are equal here, it’s appealing. The facilities that West Liberty has constructed for our student-athletes are wonderful, so the environment created is attractive. The current crisis has hindered the recruiting cycle and process. Recruiting typically starts 2-3 years out. In June we can begin communicating directly with recruits going into their junior year. We are communicating with many 2021 recruits right now. Usually, we would have invited 2021 recruits we were serious about to come to campus to join in a practice with the team in March and April. Obviously, all those plans were scuppered. All youth soccer tournaments were canceled too, so, identifying 2022 recruits in detail that we would then reach out to in June has also been hampered. All the schools are in the same situation though, so moving forward, we will have to adapt the typical recruiting process while staying within the NCAA recruiting rules.
You work a great deal with women’s teams now, not only collegiately but on youth and developmental levels. Why do you think the United States women’s teams have been able to experience far greater success on the international stage than the men, both in FIFA and Olympic play?
Like I touched upon earlier, the men’s game worldwide has traditionally been in the fore in other countries, so the USA has been behind. As it has grown more popular, the men have made inroads in terms of competing on the world stage. Equally, in other countries the women’s game hasn’t had the same support as the men’s, so the women from the USA have had a head start. Football (soccer) in many other countries is the leading sport here; soccer at the professional level is behind football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, so the athletes have many choices. I think the amount of choices perhaps dilutes the product going into international competition. The college game (soccer) hurts the men’s development specially for international competition as the rest of the world plays year-round and the college game has defined seasons, so players here in comparison to other countries have less playing opportunities. On the women’s side, the college game provides the players with perhaps more playing opportunities than their counterparts from other countries because it is more structured in comparison because of the balance that title IX creates
