For the third year in a row, Mr. Camire was the passionate girls varsity soccer coach that led this year’s team to win 12 out of their 18 games. This season, the team played their way to the second round of the state tournament. On Wednesday, November 7th, they ended their season with a loss, four to zero, to Ridgefield. Though they were sad for it to end, the season was one to remember.

Their coach, the history teacher Joe Camire, has been coaching in the program for 10 years, and before that, was a player himself. He remarks that he was a “decent player,” but that he has “come to like coaching a lot more.” From teaching the players new skills, to encouraging the love of the game, and supporting the development of self-advocating young women, Camire spends his days on the field in many different ways. One of the seniors, Emilee Gebhart, loves that he “looks out for his players” and “wants to hear our input.” Camire explains that he tries to teach “the idea of strong women that are going to achieve on the next level” to his players.

In addition to the team, Camire has two daughters that he encourages daily. Neither daughter plays soccer competitively, but the younger “likes to go and kick a ball around the yard.” Following his health scare last year, balancing his personal life, work, and coaching has been difficult. He explains that “you prioritize your family first,” and that even though he loves both his job and coaching, his family comes first. Camire remembers that when he was dealing with his medical crisis, all he could think about was getting back to what he loves doing everyday: teaching and coaching. Camire firmly believes that even though there are many things on his plate, “if it’s important to you, you find the way to do it.”

After the innumerable hours spent with the team this year, there have been many fond memories to look back on and remember. His favorite memories from the season aren’t from game-winning goals or perfectly executed plays, but rather the casual moments after Saturday practices. The team would go to his classroom and he would begin “watching a game with my players, have breakfast, and talk about play or strategy and really enjoy spending time with the group.” Those small moments are what made the team a close knit group that sang and joked on bus rides home from away meets.

With 8 seniors graduating this year, the team is going to be drastically different next year. Drastically different doesn’t mean they won’t be competitive. Camire expects that “we have the opportunity still to be a competitive team, but we will need to grow in leadership, grow in understanding how to play together, and then grow together as a cohesive unit before we can achieve as much as we did this year.”