‘04 Girls Premier Player Highlight: Kate (“KP”) Plachy – Goalkeeper

By Mike Plachy

Kate was born a competitor. I mean this in the literal sense. She was born at 5.75 lbs at birth, compared to her twin bother’s birth weight of 8.0 lbs. She apparently had lost the competition for in-utero maternal nourishment to Ian. Now, this continued sibling rivalry centers around intense foosball games and epic ‘who is doing the dishes tonight’ conflicts. Regardless, this early, and on-going competitive vibe in her life has benefited Kate greatly with her progress as a ‘keeper and soccer player in general. As we all know, ‘keepers enter every game knowing that they could be viewed by themselves, their teammates and the crowd as either heroes or goats, depending on their performance. Stepping out on to the field each game implies an acceptance of either of these possibilities. It is a passion for competition that motivates a ‘keeper to accept the challenge of each game and the great responsibilities associated with it.

When she was about 4 years old, her mom and I quickly realized that dance and gymnastics were not going to be a part of Kate’s future. Being tall and strong at a young age, she seemed to initially prefer activities requiring effort and strength to those involving grace and finesse. Despite her good intentions at that time, KP’s ‘spotting’ of a fellow gymnast resulted in a physical manhandling of that poor young lady as KP ‘assisted’ her to the ground during a stunt. Meanwhile, she would practice every sport on her own for hours, alone in the backyard. She was passionate about any activity involving a ball. It was obvious at that time that she was developing both great hand eye coordination and throwing arm. I used to feel deep sympathy for her dodge ball opponents during PE class at school back then.

It wasn’t until Kate returned to soccer following an ankle fracture at age 7 that she was began playing goalkeeper, as she was unable to run at that time due to pain. The huge smile on her face following her executing impressive saves revealed her immediate love for this position. She also had an extraordinary ability to shrug off mistakes back then. Perfect attitude for a ‘keeper! Committing to play full time ‘keeper for her Ethos team several years back helped to set her on her present path, and to ultimately meet Coach Danny for goalkeeper training at The 10 about 3 years ago. She is now “all in”, both as a ‘keeper as well as a player on this phenominal ‘04 Premier team. Soccer is a huge part of Kate’s identity. Soccer is her passion and seemingly, her future.

In addition to being a part of this ‘04 Premier team and helping it to progress competitively to a top 10 national ranking, KP also had some great moments playing for her high school team this past season. Highly recruited as a Freshman, she made Varsity as the full time ‘keeper. The ORHS Varsity team won sections this past year, with Kate earning “All League” honors as a Freshman. These moments are priceless for her, and I know so many more of these type of experiences are on the horizon both for her Primier team, as well as for her individually.

Several role models have helped kate with her progression as an athlete as well as her development as a young lady to date. She has been fortunate to have had phenomenal coaching her entire career to date. These men have been not only technically excellent Coaches, but great role models as well. Hope Solo’s athleticism and accomplishments as a goalkeeper are inspiring to her. The Women’s National Team has been an amazing source of inspiration for her as well, with their team energy, passion and absolute ‘refuse to loose’ attitude. I think Kate sees every woman on that team as an example of what’s possible for her, both as an athlete as well as a woman in our society.

As her dad, I cherish witnessing every moment of her career at this point. Some of my favorite memories are really just watching her train with Coach Danny at ‘keeper training each Monday evening. The athletes and level of competition during this weekly event are truly impressive and are definitely more entertaining for me than Monday Night Football. I can’t wait to witness the progress of Kate as a player as well as of this team over the next few years.