By K. Q. THOMAS, Four Points News 

Thousands of Four Points area children have had the benefit of 25 seasons of team-based recreation, thanks to Galan Manske. A Steiner Ranch resident since the mid-1990s, Manske is commissioner for the Four Points chapter of Neighborhood Sports, an Austin-based non-profit for youth athletics.  

Every season presents its own set of challenges including this spring season, which has been on hold due to the coronavirus stay-at-home order. 

“Mother Nature and her unpredictable weather can (typically) be our biggest challenge,” Manske said. “There is so much that happens between seasons and within seasons that no one ever sees,” he added. “Lots of details to manage to make it add up to what we strive for – a fun, exciting, and seamless experience for players, coaches and parents on game day.” 

Manske and his wife, Kathryn, have five children: daughters Lauren and Emily, and sons Christopher, Reagan and Connor. All of the children have been involved with Neighborhood Sports in Four Points in some fashion over the 13 years. 

Kathryn plays a volunteer role each season, making sure team uniforms and equipment are available and in good shape. “She’s paid visits to our vendor in California, met personally with their president and has given them great feedback to improve service and product offerings for our league and area participants,” Manske said. “So, it’s been a true family effort all around.”

Neighborhood Sports programs are scheduled year-round, with camps, clinics, after-school programs and leagues. The organization premiered its flag football program in Steiner Ranch in Spring 2004. Manske was a volunteer flag football coach that first season. 

“I really enjoyed the sport, the experience and the professionalism of the league administration,” Manske said. “It was great to be able to practice and play right in my neighborhood.”

Soccer

Manske also coached other sports, including soccer, in another Austin-area league. He soon preferred Neighborhood Sports’s strategy. He approached Hector Santiago, program director for Neighborhood Sports, about starting a soccer league offering. 

“Hector said, ‘We don’t do soccer, but if you put a program proposal together, we’ll take a look.’ I did, they liked it, the HOA approved it, and here we are 25 seasons later.” 

Neighborhood Sports serves thousands of youth each season in the greater Austin area. Soccer has been especially popular in Four Points. The first season started with children ages four through eight, with over 200 participants. The program grew to include those ages nine through 12.  

“For Steiner Ranch/Four Points soccer alone, we’ve touched just under a thousand kids per season at peak,” Manske said. “But I’d say our preferred sweet spot is from 500 to 800 in terms of overall program administration, field availability and usage, etc.” 

Players

He said in Four Points, if a child is not playing soccer, chances are they’re playing flag football or both.

“It’s really fun to have a group of boys and girls from the same school, or even the same cul-de-sac, come together to play as a team. Helps to build lifetime friendships for parents and players,” Manske said. 

Manske is a strong proponent of the benefits of team sports for children. The experience teaches them key life lessons — how to work together for a common goal, face adversity and handle both winning and losing, he said. 

Team sports benefit all skill levels and abilities, Manske said. “We welcome the young ‘Peles’ of the world, but we also love our ‘flower pickers,’  and provide them an opportunity to learn and grow with the game.”  

Coaches

He also appreciates that the Neighborhood Sports model allows parents and coaches to get engaged directly with their kids and friends versus “farming it out” to others.

“We are blessed to have a tremendous group of parent volunteers who are the backbone of our league, coming back season after season in service to our area youth,” Manske said. 

“Taking a few hours out of the week to work directly with kids as a coach is so good for the soul, and that quality time with your kids is irreplaceable,” he said.

Coaches and players can put undue pressure on themselves to win as the only measure of success. Or they can be tempted to quit prematurely when they are meeting that urge to win. 

Long distance

Manske’s coaching career is his avocation. In “real life,” he works for 3M Co. in supply chain and process and systems management. As a 3M employee, he recently spent 18 months living and working in Singapore. The location halfway across the globe from Four Points, combined with the 13 or 14 hour time difference, made his work with Neighborhood Sports a huge challenge, he said. 

“Great partners on the ground back here in Austin helped keep the ball rolling, with the Internet and email making it all possible,” he said. “And, personally, it was a fun and rewarding way for me to stay connected with the neighborhood throughout.”

Referees

A point of pride for Manske is the creation of the Soccer Referee program. At age 13, after aging out of the team program, youth can continue in the league as employed referees. That program can be intense, Manske said, and includes apprenticeship training and testing. The program now has fifty or more referees and trainees on the payroll in any given season. 

“Depending on how you run the math, with two seasons per year, that’s between 650 and 1,300 area jobs for teens over the years,” Manske said. “But we have such a wealth of talented, driven and accountable teens in the area to pull from, and it’s a pleasure to help them get started with a job in the real world.”

Resiliency

Early in the soccer program, Manske was cleaning up  after a soccer coaches meeting, while Hector Santiago was holding a meeting of flag football coaches. Manske remembers the moment vividly. 

“‘See that guy over there?” says Hector, motioning to me. ‘That’s Coach Galan. He’s coached in our flag league every season, and he runs our soccer league. ‘He’s never won anything, and he keeps coming back.’ I waved, while everybody laughed. 

“Never winning. That was certainly true when we started the first all- girls flag football team in Steiner Ranch. That first season we did not win a single game and rarely even scored. But we stuck with it, worked hard and improved. Three years later, we were playing for the National Championship. Resiliency.”