Soccer momdoesn’t do justice to Horst’s mother, inspiration
Linda Horst and a fellow mother knew nothing about starting a youth soccer club.
They did not know who to call or where to turn.
All they had was a dream and a $100 donation from a local business.
Without either, Dynamo defender David Horst might not have played the sport he has turned into a nine-year professional career.
“We still find it hard to believe what transpired,” Linda Horst said. “In one sense, we’re not surprised because he always said he wanted to be a professional soccer player, but that was never on our radar. Wenever gave it a thought.”
It is easy to find a youth soccer team in even small towns, but Pine Grove, Pa., is far from that. Nestled in a rural area on the eastern side of the state, Pine Grove’s 2013 population was 2,158 — up eight people from the 2000 census.
There is one traffic light in town. Three cars, Linda joked, is a traffic jam.
Football and wrestling are king, but Linda and husband Robert did not want their two boys playing football because of its violence. So when David’s brother Steven was old enough to play sports, Linda joined with another mother to form a soccer club.
The first thing they bought with that $100 donation was some wood so they could make goal posts and sand bags to anchor them. The Pine Grove Area Youth Soccer Association had 43 players in its first year — many of whom came from local Mennonite families who also did not want their children playing football.
David’s brother and sister Bobbi-Jo were old enough to play in the first year, but David was not even 2 years old. That did not stop him from running around during practice and trying to kick the ball.
“He grew up absorbing the sport without even knowing it,” Linda said.
When David turned 5 he got placed on an 8-under team. Throughout the better part of the next decade the PGYSA grew to more than 200 kids and had teams from U-8 up to U-15. David’s teams never lost, though that never was the focus. Instead, Linda and the other coaches wanted the players to have fun while learning to play.
One of Linda’s favorite moments came when David was 6. The team played to a rare draw. David came off the field saying he had fun so the result didn’t matter.
David is the only player from the league who went on to a pro career, but the impact went beyond that. Linda said she has cherished the relationships she forged from it. Her coaching made a bigger impact on David, too. Today he coaches youth players and has used a lot of things he learned from his mother’s coaching.
She also taught him a lot about leadership and dealing with adversity, something he said he has used in the last month since he was replaced in the Dynamo’s starting lineup.
“Right now is a good example,” David said. “She always told me to keep working hard, keep my head down and keep doing the right things to try to earn my place back.”
The Horst brothers took flak in their town for not playing football or wrestling, but everything has worked out well. David, 30, has his mother to thank.
“She was always making sure we were learning and having fun at the same time,” David said. “At a young age, it’s about building a love for the game. That’s really what my mom did for us. She made the game fun, and we loved it.”