Chris Altobell: As an athlete in high school and in college I really enjoyed the relationships I
developed with teammates, coaches, and competitors alike. To train with teammates
over the course of a season, working toward a common goal, and sharing the exhilaration of victory and the pain and disappointment of defeat creates bonds that last a lifetime, which are tough to replicate in other parts of life.
This is my first year away from coaching youth soccer after a nine year run, but it’s no different. The relationships with former players are priceless. Some of the players were 5 and 6 years old when I started coaching. Now they’re finishing their freshman year of high school and it’s so fun to watch them grow into young men.
D’Adamo: What have you been doing since graduating from high school?
Altobell: After graduating from Justin-Siena I went St. Mary’s College (Moraga, CA) with the intention of kicking field goals for their football team. I soon discovered the commitment of playing football would greatly interfere with the college experience I wanted, so I left the team and eventually picked up rugby. It was a perfect match for me because it blended my soccer and football experience. My senior year I met the woman who would later become my wife. We’ve been married for over 20 years.
After graduating from St. Mary’s I had a 13-year career in the Electronics Recycling field, moved to Granite Bay in 1999, obtained my MBA from UC Davis, and opened up an insurance agency in Roseville eight years ago.
I have a 17-year old daughter (Sydney) and a 15-year old son (Casey), both of whom play high school and club soccer. Being a big part of their lives is important to me, much like it was to my parents.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite class at Justin-Siena High?
Altobell: I have three favorites:
Marsha Niemann’s PE Class: It was so much more than playing sports. She’s a legendary volleyball and basketball coach so she always taught the proper technique and held us accountable to doing it correctly. She even taught the proper way to manually keep score in bowling, which was a huge part of our final exam. Yes, she gave us a final exam in PE.
Gary Rose’s Geometry Class: He was so organized, so precise, and was very good at communicating the logic behind the material. His expertise in Geometry carried over to
the football field as the wide receivers coach. He had no tolerance for imprecise routs
and helped me understand how to use angles to get open when my speed would not.
Mr. (Walter) Carreiro’s Spanish Class: He was a very good teacher but an even better person.
In fact, he was my Confirmation Sponsor and he chaperoned a small group of students
on a post-graduation trip, so he became a big part of my life. We still keep in touch today.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite athletic moment at Justin-Siena High?
Altobell: During the summer of my senior year there was a lot of optimism for the football
program and a lot of the players were working out on their own in preparation for the season. This was long before anyone thought about year-round training. Our head coach, David Shipp, unexpectedly left the school toward the end of summer to take an administration position and be the head football coach for Benicia High School, whom we happened to play in our season opener that coming fall.
It was the right move for him and his family, but it really left our program scrambling. There was definitely some bitterness and we used it as motivation for our matchup against his team. We still lost. I was able to connect with him at the 50-yard line after the game. As we shook hands and congratulated each other, I could feel the bitterness leave my body. We had too much good history to let his departure affect our relationship going forward. He brought me up to varsity as a sophomore so I got to play for him for a couple of years. He was a terrific coach.
That moment gave me a lot of insight into the unique relationship that can be formed between coaches and players, and it’s something I took with me as I transitioned from player to coach later in my life.
D’Adamo: How much do you feel you have grown personally since graduating from high school and how much of that do you trace to athletics?
Altobell: My parents provided a lot of life lesson seeds for me early on, but playing sports was the soil, sun, and water that nurtured a strong root base. Whether it was the relationship between effort and results, learning how to lead, how to be a good teammate, performing under pressure, mental toughness, or how to win and lose with grace – those are lessons that I learned through sports that I refer to every day as a parent, business owner, and coach.
D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?
Altobell: My dad was my soccer coach growing up so he was very influential in deciding to coach my own son. He was a great teacher and always made practice fun for everyone. He had a great perspective on making sure everyone played and felt a part of the team. I’ll never forget he taught our team how to anticipate the direction a soccer ball would bounce based on the way the ball was spinning in the air. He taught us all the fundamentals but he always added fun nuances of the game.
My mom instilled in me a great sense of empathy. She’d always challenge me to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.” Treating people the way I’d want to be treated wasn’t enough. It was far more valuable to treat other people the way THEY wanted to be treated. To me, it’s one of the most important qualities a leader can have.
I have an uncle who was a sports nut, but he passed away about 25 years ago. He had four girls so he always treated me like the son he never had. Whenever I visited him in Southern California he’d take me to watch a high school football game or even a girls volleyball match. He didn’t know anybody on either team but he just loved the atmosphere. His love of high school sports rubbed off on me.
D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like
to meet.
Altobell: I would love to have lunch with John Wooden. He was such a pioneer in coaching because he cared as much about developing the player off the court as he did on the court. My lunch wouldn’t be so much about learning more about coaching as it would be to thank him for passing along what worked for him over the years.
There are a lot of great youth coaches but the best ones share what’s worked for them instead of keeping their ideas a secret.
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