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09/06/2018 12:00 AMSean Cole has helped the Valley Regional boys’ soccer team achieve a great deal of success throughout his first three seasons with the team. In his sophomore year, Sean and the Warriors won 12 games and advanced to the Class S State Tournament semifinals. Last year, Sean earned All-Shoreline Conference Honorable Mention as a midfielder for Valley, which finished the season with 11 victories. Now a senior captain, Sean is looking to guide Valley Regional to another memorable year in 2018.
Sean says that he learned a lot from the captains who preceded him. With Valley having graduated five seniors from last year, he’s hoping to perform just as well as they did now that he’s stepping into a leadership role.
“There’s definitely going to be a gap to fill. I learned from the seniors what it means to lead a team the last two years,” Sean says. “You have to let the team know what is to be expected and how they will be expected to perform and give it everything that they’ve got in order to help the team.”
Sean won’t be going it alone as a leader for Valley Regional. That’s because his longtime friend and teammate, Charlie Haughton, was named the vice captain for Head Coach Mick Fearon’s squad. Sean thinks that it’s going to be a great experience working with Charlie. The senior duo will also serve as captains on the lacrosse team during the 2019 spring season.
“We’ve played together for 8 to 10 years now. We’re very familiar with each other,” Sean says of Haughton. “I think it’ll be a good bond between us to lead the team and trust each other with what we need to do.”
Sean is looking forward to the soccer season. He believes that Valley already has a tight-knit team since the core of the roster has been playing together for quite some time. During the offseason, the Warriors strengthened their bond when they took a trip to England to play some matches overseas.
“This team has a core group from travel and youth soccer in Valley. A lot of the players took a trip to England,” Sean says. “It helped us bond and meet some good competition, and it helped us living together those 12 days.”
Coach Fearon knew that Sean was the right guy to lead the Warriors as a captain, and the athletes in Valley’s senior class agreed. Fearon makes the final call as to who earns captaincy, but he likes to get input from players and other coaches. Fearon is especially fond of Sean’s willingness to sacrifice for the good of the team. Sean scored two goals and handed out nine assists for Fearon’s squad last year.
“Sean’s been a member of the program for a number of years playing at the varsity level. He’s a player that is willing to sacrifice his goal-scoring stats to be an assist type of player, and he sees the field quite well,” Fearon says. “He puts the ball in areas that his attackers can get chances on.”
Sean’s relationship with Coach Fearon goes back a way. Sean’s older brothers, Matthew and Kevin, both played for Fearon at Valley Regional, and Sean likes having that familiarity.
“He’s been a great influence and a coach throughout the years. He’s always been a great role model for me. It’s great I’ve got a chance to be around the program for so long,” says Sean of Fearon. “My two older brothers...had good success and, when I joined the program, I got to know him even better.”
Sean mostly plays on the attack for the Warriors’ lacrosse squad. Last year, he led the team in points by recording 28 goals and 49 assists. Sean mans the midfield on the soccer pitch, but no matter which sport he’s playing, Sean wants to give his team the best chance at putting goals on the scoreboard.
“It’s all about commanding the midfield. It’s not always taking yourself to get through defenders, but dish the ball out, get it wide, and create chances for other players,” says Sean, who helped Valley boys’ lacrosse win the Shoreline Conference Tournament as a sophomore. “An assist is just as good as a goal. I want to share the ball and get others to participate.”
Always looking to help others learn, Sean also volunteers as a coach in the TOPSoccer program, where he works with players who have disabilities.
“High-school kids coach and mentor kids with disabilities. It gives them a chance to really learn the game at a slower place,” says Sean. “I’ll be one of the five to seven kids that will be one of the leaders setting up and coaching.”
As he gets ready for his senior season at Valley Regional, Sean thanks his father, Kris Cole, along with Coach Fearon and club coaches Patrick Dilger and Jim Castelli, for helping him become the soccer player that he is today.
“I started playing in 1st grade and, ever since 3rd grade, I had a great coach named Patrick Dilger. He definitely taught me how to love the game and stay interested. He helped me improve as a player and he helped me get to the player I am today,” Sean says. “I would also like to thank Jim Castelli and my father, Kris Cole, who helped coach us through the summer months and the winter, when Coach Mick Fearon is not allowed to coach with us.”