By Frank Rajkowski, SJU Writer/Video Producer

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - When the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic postponed the Saint John's soccer team's season until next spring, it opened the door for sophomore forward Brandt Belisle and two of his teammates to experience the game from a new perspective.

As coaches.

Belisle (below left), a global business leadership major out of St. Croix Preparatory Academy in Stillwater (Minn.), just finished a stint as the head soccer coach of a U12 youth team in nearby Sartell, just miles away from the SJU campus.

Assisting him were sophomores Matt Anderson (right) and Aidan Becken (middle). Their team just completed a six-game schedule, which stretched from mid-August through September.

"I always wanted to coach," said Belisle, who saw action in nine games for the Johnnies as a freshman last fall, scoring one goal and notching an assist. "When I get older, I'd like to be a high school coach. So this is something I've always wanted to do.

"If it was a normal fall, and we were playing, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it because of travel and all that. But when everything got postponed, it made this opportunity possible."

Belisle was first approached about the position by a coach in the Sartell Soccer Association with whom he played in a men's league in St. Cloud this summer.

He then recruited Becken and Anderson to help out. The three worked with their players two times a week for about 90 minutes during the just-completed season.

"I love working with kids and seeing the passion they have for the game," said Anderson, a defender out of Omaha's Creighton Prep, who had three goals and two assists while starting 15 games as a freshman last fall.

"And they look up to us as college athletes, so they're excited when we pass along what we know about the game. It's a good thing to be able to do out in the community."

Their players actually coined nicknames for the trio, dubbing Brandt Colonel B, Becken Dr. Juice (he's pre-med) and Anderson, who stands 6-foot-4, as Shrek.

"Given the situation with COVID, we can't do a whole lot right now," said Becken, a Prior Lake (Minn.) High School graduate, who saw action in four games as a freshman defender. "So to have an opportunity like this, which helps us stay connected to the game and see it from a different perspective, was really cool."

SJU coach John Haws '99 said he loves it when his players try their hand at coaching.

"It gives them a new appreciation of everything that goes into it," he said. "They see what it entails – that things like practice plans just don't come out of nowhere.

"I think it helps make them even more well-rounded."

The three plan to continue their work with youth soccer in Sartell, helping out with indoor camps on Sunday nights this winter, and they have already invited their players to come watch the Johnnies play next spring.

"Soccer at the college level is extremely competitive," Belisle said. "Then you get to play with younger kids like this who, every time they score a goal, celebrate by hugging every member of their team. Or they do a knee slide like they just won the World Cup.

"And it reminds you why you started playing the game in the first place. The fun they're having rubs off on you."