Brookfield/Elm Grove Monthly

By Tony Mooren Freeman Correspondent BROOKFIELD — The teaching continues. Just months after suffer- ing a stroke in January, Bob Gansler is back on a soccer field evaluating tal- ent and offering advice for Elm Grove Soccer Club. The 73-year-old Brook- field resident who guided the U.S. Men's National Team to its first World Cup appearance in 40 years in 1990, and who is widely credited with helping soc- cer gain national accep- tance and prominence, could be taking it easy. But, as Catholic Memori- al High School girls coach John Burke, the state's winningest coach (453 vic- tories) says, "He so loves the game that the first thing he does after bounc- ing back is coach soccer. It's who he is and what he does. "He even timed his medi- cal condition around soc- cer." The stroke occurred dur- ing the soccer offseason. "He's just someone who has such enormous credi- bility with coaches and players. It's a blessing to be around someone with that much knowledge," Burke continued. "I know that I've benefitted from his knowledge of the game." Gansler admits that once he really got into the game as a youngster he was hooked. "Soccer's in my blood. I'm a lifer, and as long as people think I make some sense some of the time I'll continue to try to help. I just enjoy it," Gansler said. "I keep telling people that I think I'm back to being pretty close to nor- mal, but the question is, 'Was I ever normal?' I ain't getting any quicker, and maybe (the stroke) just sped up the slowing-down process. I consider it a shot across the bow, and now I have to be a little more pru- dent in my decisions: Get the right amount of rest, watch my diet and exer- cise." It's interesting that soc- cer did become his sport, however. "I was born in Hungary and I don't remember kick- ing anything but horse apples there," he said. When he was five years old, Gansler's family "was evicted" to Germany, "and soccer was the game there. We played every recess and watched the men play on local fields on the week- ends," he said. When he came to the U.S. at age 10, Gansler said he missed the sport but played baseball and basketball — at Marquette High School. He was good enough in baseball as a catcher to be in the "Best of the Braves" youth program, and he was a member of the school's first state-championship team. "On Sundays, I'd play basketball in the afternoon and soccer at night," he said. "I had to make a deci- sion." The winner was soccer, despite its small following in the U.S. "It's a good game in developing coordination and stamina, and it's not that expensive. One ball serves all," he said. "I'm not one of those guys who says that this or that sport sucks and soccer is the best. No, it's a choice. For a long time the ethnic com- munities kept it going." Gansler was a member of the U.S. National Team during the 1964 and 1968 Olympics, and he later started the high school pro- gram at Marquette when he taught there. "I'm a firm believer in evolution, and there's been one in soccer," he said. "There was no youth soc- cer in Wisconsin when I got here. We worked hard to get the sport into the high schools and to gain accep- tance and credibility and the sport's evolved." Gansler sees coaching as teaching. "I'm not that bright a person," he said. "But I've been at this for a long time. I've begged, borrowed and stole things from other coaches and then employed them — but only if it was right for the kids. "You have to know who you're dealing with, and you get to be a better coach by teaching. There's 11 players, but you play defense one at a time and you have to figure out what you can do with whom." Gansler coached the U.S. U20 team to a fourth-place world finish a year before the 1990 Olympic squad. "That team pretty much maximized its ability," Gansler said. "It's not about being perfect but get- ting the most out of your- self and others." Which is why he's still out there helping. "I watch the coaches, I watch their teams and I give them feedback," Gansler said. "I'm not there to tell anyone what to do, but I give them some ideas. If it helps a little, great. I'm glad that I'm doing it, because I know it does me a lot of good. I'm still enthuasiastic about it. If I can't bring my enthusi- asm any more, then I'm done." But that hasn't happened yet. Freeman Brookfield & Elm Grove • Page 7 AUGUST 2015 Visit our showroom: Monday-Friday • 9 am- 5 pm 20880 W. Enterprise Ave., Brookfield, WI 53045 262-782-7185 www.snkpump.com From Ordinary to EXTRAordinary FULL SERVICE Kitchen and Bath REMODELERS 245469001 It's the most colorful of seasons! is autumn plan your next family-fun outing in Waukesha County. Check out our Fall Fun Guide for local events, concerts, pumpkin farms, haunted houses and much more! p Brookfield & Elm Grove T H I S M O N T H Inside the September edition. There's no slowing down Gansler Former U.S. coach active in Elm Grove club just months after stroke Submitted photos Bob Gansler, the former U.S. Men's National Team coach, currently helps coach in the Elm Grove soccer Club just months after suffering a stroke. Submitted photos Bob Gansler, the former U.S. Men's National Team coach, talks with Elm Grove Soccer Club players during team tryouts.

• Cover