Dad-Daughter Days at Mountain View Soccer Something to Savor
DALLAS – When Angelique Garfias was growing up playing soccer, she just wanted her dad to say something to her. Now she hears from him all … well some of the time.
That's because she plays for him, Jesse Garfias, the head coach of Dallas College Mountain View women's soccer team.
"It means a lot because he was never my coach when I was younger," Angelique said. "I always watched his college games when he was at (Dallas College) Richland or here. He was always on the sidelines, but didn't say much. I would score or make a good pass, and he wouldn't cheer or anything. I was like, 'What are you doing?' Now it's just, 'Good job,' sometimes. But as far as if I make a bad pass … yeah."
Dad-daughter expectations are high. Angelique understands this playing for her pops after years watching him tutor all the older players.
"I basically started walking on a soccer field because my dad was coaching at Cedar Valley," she said. "Watching his older teams play … I'm the oldest of four siblings, so I didn't really have anyone to look up to. I got to look up to his older teams and older players, and how they play, the effort they put in and what's needed to be successful, so I got it from there."
That's for sure. As a freshman in 2021, she scored 11 goals, and had 14 assists for 36 points. She was the third-leading goal scorer on the team, and was second in points. Garfias ranked ninth in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III in points, and was tied for 20th in goals scored. In a match against Dallas College Richland on Sept. 28, 2021, Angelique scored the gamewinning goal in overtime. It came at the expense of her former club coach Scott Toups, whom Garfias coached with while he was part of the Thunderducks' staff.
Sidelining soccer
Following that season – one in which the Lions went 9-4-3 overall, 7-2-1 in the Dallas Athletic Conference, advancing to the Mid-South District championship – she made the decision to step away from the game to put her focus on academics. It was a difficult choice, especially considering the year she and her team put together in 2021. Carryover effects in sports can get contagious. Angelique made the tough call to take a break.
"I think last year was very good for her," Jesse said. "She definitely needed a break, school, soccer … She felt she was taking away from the team, and I just explained to her, 'It's OK to take a step back to take two steps forward.'"
That's where we are today as Mountain View gets ready to kick off the season 8:30 a.m. Friday at University of Arkansas Rich Mountain in Mena, Arkansas. Angelique returns as the leader on a team full of new faces, but plentiful in good vibes. The year away helped her to not only improve her craft on the field, but zero in on her studies, and appreciate the sisterhood of soccer.
"It definitely helped me recover and learn more about the game," she said. "Taking a step back, and working by myself, working on my footwork, stuff I needed to get better at. The year I took off, it definitely helped me mentally, on the school side."
Now she is back at it, ready to roll with dad for her curtain call at Mountain View.
"It means a lot because I know that it's one last chance to win it all here," Angelique said. "This place is really special to me because they just took me in. All the teams I've had, normally they would say something about my dad being my coach, but loved me even more for it because there's no favoritism or anything. The group of girls we have this year, I really want to win it for them."
And playing with dad, well that just means more opportunities to share those times she yearned for when she was younger.
"All of our moments are laughing, either at each other, or maybe someone else," Angelique said.
Chuckle at this
Coaching your kid comes with questions and sometimes eyeballs, but it is highly uncommon. The Garfias have stuck to soccer in this father-daughter dynamic.
"It's been, not necessarily an adjustment, watching her grow up on the field next to me, but all of my coaching career," Jesse said. "Could be some headbutts at time, but it's no different from any other player. I think it goes back to what she said, when I would go to the games as youth players, keep to myself. I'd let them live in the moment because I've been there, done that. I'd be as supportive as I can. Even though sometimes, I'd be like, 'What are you doing on your phone? You're playing the game. Don't watch me.'"
Angelique chuckles at this. Maybe in this case, she's laughing at herself. But that's what makes dad and daughter bonds special – when the only two people who really get it are them.
Angelique spent part of the 2021-22 season on the Lions basketball team. She appeared in nine games, grabbing 3.6 rebounds per game and shooting 31.3 percent from the field. In one game, she attempted a three-pointer, scrambled after the ball for the rebound, missed the layup, rebounded again …
It went on and on. Dad was watching.
"I think I got like a double-double on just that one play," she said. "He's just up there crying laughing. I just thought that was so funny because if that happened in a soccer game, he'd be like, 'Come sit on the bench with me.' But it's just a good time, and he always brings it up if I do something dumb or whatever."
Believe it, there aren't many dumb moments.
"Overall, it's been great," Jesse said. "Her truly understanding how I coach, the style I coach, she becomes a coach on the field for me. It came from playing. The things she achieved as a high school player, and the opportunity she had, to have a player come in like that is pretty cool.
"The way she focused on the game, the way she trained is a lot of my philosophies. Seeing that it works, and not only her, but a couple players I've had – she's known every single team that I've coached – and they become extended families. A lot of people say it would be a hard adjustment because it's tough to coach your own kid. But at the end of the day, it just becomes an extended family.
"I'm just excited for a new year, excited for her and this team. She's a natural leader. She just has that aura about her. You see it in practice. They just kind of gravitate around her."
Hey dad, she's been gravitating toward you all her life. Now she's just getting the chance to live out on the pitch.