by: Leslie Gomez and Allie Webster

It’s normal for a sister to look up to her older sibling. It is no different for Gracie Currin. “I’ve always looked up to her, like, even when I was little,“ Gracie stated. 

Lily being the older sibling, Gracie started things after her and followed in her footsteps. Lily started soccer, so did Gracie. “My sister of course, started things before me, so when she played soccer, it made me want to play soccer,” Gracie said. 

With both sisters playing the same sport at the same time, obviously, they would be on the field together throughout their childhood and into high school. When Lily graduated from Lee County High School last year, the Currin sisters thought their time on the soccer field together was over.

That changed when Lily signed on to be an assistant coach for the Yellow Jackets this year.

“I wanted to stay into soccer and I love the girls and I love the atmosphere and the sport,” the elder Currin said.

Lily felt the need to pass her skills onto the next generation of players coming in. While also coaching her former teammates she also coaches her younger sister, Gracie, a junior midfielder at LCHS.

Gracie admits that she doesn’t have as much respect as she would any other coach, saying, “I think it’s harder coming from her because I feel like I can say something back when I really shouldn’t.”

With Lily now being on the sidelines coaching Gracie, there are some pros and cons of the older sister coaching the younger sister. When Gracie sees something that needs to be changed within the team, Lily listens to that and takes action, because Lily was just in Gracie’s position, playing with the same team that she’s now coaching.

”If I feel like there’s a problem or if there’s something that I see, I feel like I can talk to her rather than the other coaches,” Gracie explained. “She will be understanding, because she was in our position literally last year.”

The LCHS assistant soccer coach admits that coaching a sibling is 10 times harder than coaching a regular player, saying, “I have certain expectations and I know what she can do and her abilities and I believe in her most likely more than what she believes in herself.

“I feel like I can talk to her about how I feel about maybe what happened at practice or how our team bonds together,” Gracie explained.

Gracie may find what Lily says hard to take in, but it is also good advice. Lily knows how this team plays after playing with them for four years. The advice she gives is not only as a coach, but as a former player as of last year. 

“I have been through all types of challenges and setbacks as a player that I have learned to   grow from,” Lily said, “so I feel like I can help others by guiding them through the same things I went through.

“She was in our position literally last year,” Gracie added. “So I feel like she understands us a lot more than other coaches.”

Despite the challenges the sisters have faced with the new player/coach relationship, they have both enjoyed this season with Lily on the sidelines coaching Gracie instead of playing on the field with her.   

“I love coaching her,” Lily said. With Currin on the sidelines as an assistant, the Yellow Jackets are 5-3 overall with a crosstown game against Southern Lee looming Tuesday night.