Family Time

Matt Clark has had more than a rooting interest in following his daughter, Grace Clark, and her contributions to the success of the Gwinnett College women’s soccer team this fall. He’s also been on the sidelines as an assistant coach for the nationally ranked team.

This has created a season that’s been filled with plenty of special memories for both as the 2024 season heads into postseason play.

Grace has started 36 of the 38 matches she has played for GGC during the past two seasons, scoring two goals and assisting on eight other tallies while splitting playing time as a midfielder (2023) and defender (2024).

“I give her a kiss on the head before she steps on the field and that’s when my role as ‘dad’ stops and I become ‘coach’,” says Matt.

Head Coach Dr. Mike Giuliano brought Matt onto the coaching staff this fall after he had lent his soccer expertise as a color commentator on the team’s Grizzly Digital Network match broadcasts during the 2023 season. He had coached collegiate soccer at multiple schools after playing professionally as a goalkeeper with the Milwaukee Wave, Memphis Americans, Chicago Shoccers, Montgomery Capitals, and Koblenz FC.

Giuliano had known Matt since 1990, and that relationship grew when Grace decided to join the GGC program after playing at NCAA Division I Gardner-Webb University (North Carolina). 

“It has been an amazing blessing. I have not been able to spend this much time with (Grace) in so many years, outside of summer breaks. I went from being the ‘soccer dad’ to helping broadcast the games to now being a coach,” says Matt, who commutes from his home in Shelby, North Carolina, to attend team practices and matches – leaving as early as 3:45 a.m. “Grace wants feedback on how she’s doing in practice and games. I think it has helped our father-daughter relationship being on the coaching staff this year. She asks me a lot of questions during the game because Coach Giuliano is doing a lot of the overview coaching of the team.”

Grace has not had the opportunity to be coached by her father since she was five years old, but Matt has always been available to help develop her soccer skills, along with providing words of encouragement about her play on the pitch.

Sports have always played a significant role in Grace’s life. She got her first experience on the soccer pitch when she was three years old while also playing basketball at a young age. Her mother, Kim Brewton, is an assistant coach for the women’s basketball team at Middle Tennessee State University. 

Grace ultimately chose to concentrate on soccer.

Matt adds, “Grace is truly a coach’s kid, with her mom being a basketball coach and myself in coaching. She is instinctually one of the smartest players I’ve ever coached, whether it is professionally, collegiately or at the club level. That brings her expectations even higher and how she interprets the game and how she can change the game tactically.”

Coach Giuliano made sure Grace was supportive of bringing her father on board the coaching staff for this season. 

“I was all for it because he is a great coach and would be a great asset for us,” states Grace. 

However, both father and daughter admit that Matt’s coaching style can be rather direct when necessary to get the best performance from a player to help the team.

Coach Giuliano states that Matt has had a valuable supporting role on the team – on and off the pitch – this year. “He sees things that Coach (Andrea) Kaminski or I do not see, or he sees things from a different perspective. That’s an important asset to have on a coaching staff. Most importantly, I think he’s been very fair with his coaching of Grace.”

The next opportunity Matt and Grace will have to share the pitch and spend quality time as father and daughter will come as the No. 22-ranked Grizzlies (11-6-1) play in the semifinal round of the 2024 Continental Athletic Conference Championships on Monday, November 11, starting at 5 p.m., at the Grizzly Soccer Complex.