A commitment to coaching

Husband-and-wife team earns commission’s annual award recognizing vital volunteers

By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
   Debbie Arps said she remembers feeling disappointed as she watched her two daughters, at 5 years old, sitting on the bench instead of joining in with the rest of the recreation soccer team.
   ”The coach at the time wouldn’t let the girls play,” Ms. Arps, of Collins Road, said. “There were two other girls there, too, and the four of them became very adept at patty cake and cartwheels.”
   For Ms. Arps and her husband, Doug Rowe, this as an opportunity to get involved in Hillsborough recreation and maybe give all the children, including their twin daughters — Amanda and Alyssa, now 13 — an opportunity to play the game.
   About eight years later, they’re still coaching the team — which now boasts an even number of boys and girls. Their coaching helped earn them the Hillsborough Recreation Commission Volunteers of the Year annual award.
   A plaque was presented to Ms. Arps at the Dec. 6 Recreation Commission meeting. Mr. Rowe was unavailable to receive his award in person because of prior work commitments.
   ”I was shocked to receive the award because I didn’t know it existed,” Ms. Arps said. “It is a nice surprise to get recognized.”
   Ms. Arps said that when she and Mr. Rowe — who both played sports when they were in school — learned that the coaching job was a volunteer position, they signed up right away.
   ”At the very least, we wanted to let everyone play equally,” she said. “We wanted to ensure that the girls wouldn’t have to go through this again.”
   According to Ron Skobo, chairman of the Recreation Commission, the first Volunteer of the Year award was given in 1995 as a way to continuously honor a member of the community for dedication to children’s recreation programs.
   ”This year’s Volunteer of the Year award was given to Ms. Arps and Mr. Rowe for having volunteered for recreational soccer for many years,” he said. “They have done both fall and spring soccer and helped the program during the revamping years by helping referee games before we had regular referees. We wish we had more people like them volunteering.”
   Ms. Arps, who has also taught physical education at the high-school level, said they have followed the team over the years, coaching most of the same children during that time. She said there is always a core group of people, including her daughters, who remain part of the team, with a few new kids recruited each year.
   For the team, this hard work pays off, as Mr. Rowe said that not only is there a waiting list to join the team, but the players are mostly undefeated, even against teams that are mostly male.
   ”I feel we have an advantage because the girls tend to play a little harder than the boys,” he said. “Sometimes other teams will try to intimidate us, but our team has always played well.”
   In addition to the improvements in the team’s performance, Mr. Rowe said the players have been given better equipment over the years. They now have real uniforms instead of T-shirts, and have regular referees at the games.
   ”The teams have solidified over the years, and the recreation department has come so far,” he said.
   Mr. Rowe said that because he and his wife are FBI agents, their profession aids in their coaching efforts, although sometimes the work takes them away from their coaching duties.
   ”We bring what we learn about teamwork on the job to the team,” he said. “But we are both on call at all times, so sometimes it takes us away. After Hurricane Katrina, my SWAT team was deployed to New Orleans for three weeks, but other parents helped with the team.”
   Despite their work sometimes interfering with coaching, it was one specific FBI case that brought the family to Hillsborough in the first place. According to Ms. Arps, she was working on a civil rights case in Hillsborough in 1997 — at a time when the family was looking to buy a new house — and spent time speaking to the police chief.
   ”I asked the chief what the worst crime was in Hillsborough, and he said bicycle theft,” she said. “I said, ‘I want to live in a place where that is the worst crime.’ “
   While both Ms. Arps and Mr. Rowe said they are happy to be living in Hillsborough — where they have the advantage of living in a large town without it being a big city — they said they will also continue working with the team as long as they can.
   ”As long as we can and are here, and the parents want us back, we will work with the team,” Mr. Rowe said. “We have seen the kids grow and mature.”