Kevin Mahlan was a baseball nut for much of his life. He played shortstop as a kid on Long Island, N.Y., and he even tried out for the New York Yankees.It wasn’t until his son Kyle, now 24, began playing soccer as a 7-year-old that Kevin discovered he also loved soccer. And now, father and son are working together as soccer coaches.Kevin, a former police officer in Orlando, Fla., last year moved to the Greenville area to coach soccer at Tri-County Tech, but after that program folded he worked as a boys’ soccer coach at Berea High School.Kyle worked with his father at Tri-County Tech and also served as the head coach of the girls’ soccer team at Westside High School in Anderson last year.And this summer, Kyle and Kevin have joined forces to operate soccer camps for kids in Clemson and Greenville. Earlier in the summer, the Mahlans ran a camp for fifth- through eighth-graders, and this week they put on a three-day camp for the community at Berea Heights Baptist Church.They hope to make the camp a yearly thing, Kevin says.The game of soccer, much like baseball, is all about the work ethic, says Kevin, who’s looking for a new full-time coaching position.“Teamwork, that’s the big thing,” says Kevin. “Also, individually, it’s your work ethic, which carries over further into life. Of course, the school work is very important. To me, being a teacher, you’ve got to get an education.”He’s has had a lifelong interest in exercise and fitness, and soccer meshes especially well with that passion.“I like it because it involves a lot of running,” says Kevin. “You have to be fit to play it. You can’t just go out on the field and expect to play soccer.”At soccer camp, Kevin and Kyle start with the basics: passing, dribbling, controlling the ball.“These kids have to learn that this is what we have to do to get better, and a lot of it is doing it on your own,” says Kyle.For Kyle, who played in the Gothia Cup international soccer tournament at age 12 and later on the Lakeland Football Club semi-pro soccer team, the game is a mental challenge as well as a physical one.“For me, it’s all about seeing how the game progresses, seeing who the best player is,” Kyle says. “I’m a tactician type of person, where I can predict where the game is going, how it’s going to flow. And just seeing that helps out in every other aspect of life. If we can teach that to the kids, it gets them better in school and gets them better in what they can do in their jobs.”The family that plays together: Kevin and Kyle Mahlan share a passion for soccer
Kevin Mahlan was a baseball nut for much of his life. He played shortstop as a kid on Long Island, N.Y., and he even tried out for the New York Yankees.It wasn’t until his son Kyle, now 24, began playing soccer as a 7-year-old that Kevin discovered he also loved soccer. And now, father and son are working together as soccer coaches.Kevin, a former police officer in Orlando, Fla., last year moved to the Greenville area to coach soccer at Tri-County Tech, but after that program folded he worked as a boys’ soccer coach at Berea High School.Kyle worked with his father at Tri-County Tech and also served as the head coach of the girls’ soccer team at Westside High School in Anderson last year.And this summer, Kyle and Kevin have joined forces to operate soccer camps for kids in Clemson and Greenville. Earlier in the summer, the Mahlans ran a camp for fifth- through eighth-graders, and this week they put on a three-day camp for the community at Berea Heights Baptist Church.They hope to make the camp a yearly thing, Kevin says.The game of soccer, much like baseball, is all about the work ethic, says Kevin, who’s looking for a new full-time coaching position.“Teamwork, that’s the big thing,” says Kevin. “Also, individually, it’s your work ethic, which carries over further into life. Of course, the school work is very important. To me, being a teacher, you’ve got to get an education.”He’s has had a lifelong interest in exercise and fitness, and soccer meshes especially well with that passion.“I like it because it involves a lot of running,” says Kevin. “You have to be fit to play it. You can’t just go out on the field and expect to play soccer.”At soccer camp, Kevin and Kyle start with the basics: passing, dribbling, controlling the ball.“These kids have to learn that this is what we have to do to get better, and a lot of it is doing it on your own,” says Kyle.For Kyle, who played in the Gothia Cup international soccer tournament at age 12 and later on the Lakeland Football Club semi-pro soccer team, the game is a mental challenge as well as a physical one.“For me, it’s all about seeing how the game progresses, seeing who the best player is,” Kyle says. “I’m a tactician type of person, where I can predict where the game is going, how it’s going to flow. And just seeing that helps out in every other aspect of life. If we can teach that to the kids, it gets them better in school and gets them better in what they can do in their jobs.”
