Making goals in professional soccer is crucial to a player’s game, but what Houston Dynamo midfielder Mike Chabala stressed to Pomeroy Elementary School students recently was that setting and achieving personal and academic goals is far more important to their success as students and as citizens. 

Chabala visited with the third and fourth graders as a part of the soccer team’s “Score at School” program. The team partners with schools in the greater Houston area to provide this program to their students and teachers. “Score at School” is an in-class incentive program designed to help motivate students to achieve educational success, while also serving as a tool for teachers who are seeking unique tactics to help enhance their classroom activities. 

“You can do whatever it is you want to do, and don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t,” Chabala encouraged the students. “You’re the only one who can make yourself become what you want, but you have to be the hardest working individual you can be to get there.” 

Atkinson, Burnett, Gardens, Jensen, Kruse, Meador, Stuchbery, Teague, Williams and Richey elementary schools as well as DeZavala Fifth Grade Center are currently Pasadena ISD’s participating schools in the incentive program. Dynamo players John Michael Hayden, Erik Ustruck and team captain Wade Barrett have all served as guest speakers for the program. 

Participating schools receive a welcome kit and in-class tools to help make the program a success. They have the flexibility to set their own goals and integrate the “Score at School” program into their curriculum. Students receive a folder and bookmark. They set three goals of their choice, and after a student successfully completes all three of their pre-assigned goals, they receive a free ticket to a Houston Dynamo game at the University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium.  

Pomeroy Principal Liz Ortiz said she is excited about being a part of the program because it will open up many opportunities for her students. 

“I think it’s important for our students to learn how to set reasonable goals,” she said. “From their visit with Mike, I hope our students learned the value in setting short and long-term goals. I hope they also learned there isn’t an easy route to success because it is paved with hard work, dedication and a good attitude.” 

Chabala attended Clovis West High School in his hometown Clovis, Ca. where he was named as the soccer team’s most valuable player. While he was skilled at the sport, Chabala told Pomeroy students that school wasn’t always easy for him and he had to work extra hard such as spending an extra 20 minutes on math homework every day after school before playing soccer. 

“My mom wouldn’t let me play soccer until I had finished all my homework after school,” Chabala told the students. “I wasn’t very good at math, and I wasn’t making the best grades, so I had to push myself harder. I wanted to go to college and get a degree so I would have something to fall back on in case soccer didn’t work out for me.” 

Although he began playing soccer at three years of age, Chabala said he only decided a couple years ago that he wanted to play the sport professionally. He told the students that working hard and setting goals helped him reach his goal of becoming a professional athlete. 

“I didn’t just wake up and become a professional soccer player,” Chabala said. “I had to work hard, make a lot of sacrifices and set goals. But I had to make short-term goals such as studying more and going to college to reach my long-term goal of becoming a professional soccer player.”

After Chabala graduated from Clovis in 2003, he attended the University of Washington on an academic scholarship. While playing for the Huskies, Chabala was named to the Soccer Times Third team All-American, NSCAA Third Team All-American, First Team All-Far West Region, Second Team All-Pac 10, Honorable Mention All-Pac 10 and Pac-10 All-Academic Honorable Mention. 

“Learn from the role models in your life and apply what you learn from them to your own life and how you live it,” Chabala said. “Just remember that the little things you sacrifice now are the things that are really going to help you in the end.” 

One third grader Julio Gamez said he enjoyed listening to Chabala because he likes to play soccer, too. “I learned that you if you work hard and don’t play too much, you can be like Mike,” he said. “You have to do your best, and try the best you can.” 

Ortiz said this program helped reinforce what teachers were working with students on during TAKS.  

“The teachers work with students on setting goals during TAKS preparation,” she said. “They discuss how many questions the students need to pass the test, and this helps the test not seem so impossible. I hope they realize that setting these kinds of goals in their every day lives will also make their dreams not seem so impossible and will give them a path to making them come true.” 

After Dynamo player 17 chatted with the students, he demonstrated some of his goal-scoring tricks with his lucky soccer ball. Chabala also answered some questions the students had as well as talked to them about some of the goals they had set for “Score at School” such as improved conduct, homework grades, attendance and dress code compliance. 

“It is such a privilege for our school district to have professional athletes such as Mike and other Dynamo members who are willing to share their own experiences with our students,” said HOSTS coordinator Ginger Lay. “They serve as role models who our students can really learn from and relate to. I think interacting with people who are in the real world and who have been exactly where our kids are now really shows our students that anything is possible as long as they work hard and stay focused.”