League of his own

Yacine Hamchaoui nearly did not have a senior year in soccer.
He thought about graduating early from Van Horn, like many of his classmates. Then, when he did return, he saw only six players out for soccer the first day of practice.
“The beginning of the year, I was super happy, because we had a new coach who was a really good college coach,” Hamchaoui said of new coach Chris Corrie. “But the first day of practice, we only had six players. I didn’t know how it would work out.”
It worked out almost like a dream.
Players continued showing up – enough to give the Falcons a varsity team for Hamchaoui’s senior season. And he lived up to expectations.
After scoring more than 50 goals his junior year, Hamchaoui saved his best for last by tying a state record with 69 goals this season, leading the Falcons to the district finals.
Those accomplishments made Hamchaoui the runaway choice for the 2008 Examiner All-Area Boys Soccer Player of the Year.
Hamchaoui said he’s happy he won it this year after feeling slighted last year.
“It means a lot,” he said. “Last year I was mad. I wanted to be player of the year. I wanted to score as many goals as I could so I could be. It means a lot. It’s one of those things that I wanted to do and I did it.”
Hamchaoui immediately gave Corrie a showcase player for his first year as Falcons coach, taking over when the Independence School District absorbed Van Horn.
However, Corrie said he had no idea what he had in Hamchaoui until the first day of practice.
“He is such a fantastic player,” Corrie said. “And not only that, he is such a great kid. Good players make good coaches. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
In fact, Hamchaoui’s talents made Corrie alter the way he coached in order to maximize Van Horn’s results.
“That first day of practice, I knew the only problem would be how to get him the ball,” he said. “As the season went on, more and more players came out, and we had a great squad. We set up our whole game plan to get the ball to Yacine.”
Corrie implemented the “piano plan” for Hamchaoui, telling the players that Hamchaoui was like a “piano player” and they had to make sure to move the piano to help him play.
The game plan worked. Not only did Hamchaoui have a record-tying season. The Falcons played tough against all kinds of competition and had one of their best seasons in school history.
“It made me feel like I was worth something,” Hamchaoui siad. “Coach helped work to make us better, and everyone came together as a team.
“No doubt this is the best year I ever had.”
The diminutive Hamchaoui used a combination of good ball skills, an explosive first step and pinpoint accuracy in accomplishing those goals. In fact, Hamchaoui was so good at getting to the goal that once he had the ball, Corrie encouraged him to just finish.
“He’s the first player I ever coached who I told not to pass,” Corrie said jokingly.
Hamchaoui is hoping to take those skills to the next level. He’s talked to coaches at Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa – where Corrie was an assistant coach – and Rockhurst University.
“I really like Graceland,” said Hamchaoui, who still remains undecided as to his soccer future. “It’s like Van Horn in that there’s a real family thing.”
Corrie said Hamchaoui’s mentality is going to help him be a success at the next level, saying the senior would have scored at least 40 goals regardless of which high school team Hamchaoui would have played for. In addition Corrie, who had no stats left over from the previous coach at Van Horn, estimates Hamchaoui had at least 150 for his career.
“We played a Class 2 top 10 undefeated team in Staley,” Corrie said. “We beat them 4-3 and Yacine had all four goals. There’s no question he can score at any level.
“Most people try hard to score a goal, and do everything they can. He doesn’t do that. He expects to score. Every game, he expects to score a hat trick. That’s his mindset. He’s a goal scorer. And when he gets to college, nothing is going to change for him.”
Regardless of the goal numbers, the wins and everything else, Hamchaoui said the best part of this season was realizing one of the main goals of the Van Horn administration – personal growth off the field.
“I’m going to remember this year a lot,” he said. “I really improved. But I also made myself a better man.”