Garfield Coach Comes Through -- Sullivan's Perspective Honed By Tragedy

The Garfield girls soccer players have seen Coach Kim Sullivan play. They know from practice, from garbage-can soccer games, that she can slice through a defense and finish with flair.

Less obvious at practice is what Sullivan has done for women's soccer or what she has overcome. Long before she helped her club team, the Zenith Bohemians, win this summer's over-30 national championship, Sullivan became one of the first Washington women to receive a Division I soccer scholarship. She graduated from Holy Names Academy in 1982 and went to the University of Connecticut, one of 12 Division I schools that offered women's soccer scholarships.

"We were kind of the pioneers of girls who showed that it was OK to be a jock, and it didn't mean that you were a tomboy," said Gina Cassella, a Mariner High School graduate, former member of the U.S. national team and Sullivan's teammate with the Bohemians.

Sullivan played her way onto the cover of Soccer America magazine in 1984, but tore her ACL the next summer and lost her dream of reaching the national team.

She left UConn and returned home, beginning a difficult rehabilitation. That rehab now seems minor, compared with the 1989 fire that killed both of her parents and destroyed the Sullivan family's Capitol Hill home. The fire "kind of put me out of commission for a while," she admitted.

Sullivan grew closer to her four older brothers and five older sisters, she said, and eventually went back to the UW, graduating in 1991. She had lost part of her family but had gained perspective.

"Soccer is great, but it's just one part of life," Sullivan said, adding that her mother used to call her "Soccer Bum" because of her one-track mind. "My parents supported my playing soccer, but they were much more concerned with my development as a person."

Sullivan pursued that development and earned her teaching certificate from Seattle Pacific University in 1993. One of her constants was club soccer.

"The cool thing about Kim (is) she's just out to have a good time," said Amy Allmann, a former national-team goalkeeper who plays for the Bohemians. "I think for her, that's soccer. I'm sure that helped her through her ordeal."

Allmann has also seen the other Sullivan, the competitive one who takes over soccer games. Before Allmann joined the Bohemians this year, the two had always played on opposing teams.

"I hated playing against the teams that Kim Sullivan was playing for. She'd get up in your face and talk, and she was never afraid to come at the goal," Allmann said. During Bohemians games, "it was fun for a change to see her get the ball and not worry, just sit back there and think, `Hah, hah, let's see you stop this.' "

In May the Bohemians beat the defending national champions from San Francisco in the West regional final. They advanced to July's national championships in Chicago, where they beat teams from New York and Dallas for the crown.

Sullivan is one of several national-team-caliber players on the Bohemians' roster, and according to Cassella, she may be the most fun to watch.

"You can always count on Kim in a game to do something that I would call entertainment value," Cassella said. "It wouldn't just be a simple goal, it would be something fancy."

Along with Sullivan's skill, her teammates agree, goes a rare zest for soccer.

"There's people who will come out and play any time somebody calls them," Allmann said. "She's the one that's always calling people."

Sullivan often finds herself listening while with the Bohemians. Because many players also coach, including Allmann (assistant women's coach at UW), Cassella (former girls and boys coach at Bothell High School) and Lesle Gallimore (head women's coach at UW), halftime huddles provide considerable insight.

"When somebody tells me to do something, I know they know what they're talking about," said Sullivan, who in addition to coaching Garfield and a U-15 club team also teaches reading and language arts at South Shore Middle School.

Sullivan didn't spend her entire summer with the Bohemians. She also worked at the UW women's soccer camp, where Allmann noticed her coaching acumen.

"I'm surprised how patient she is with the kids," Allman said. "A lot of people can show how something should be done, but she can do it and make it fun. If (kids) mess up, none of them are hanging their heads."

Several of Sullivan's players agreed that her practice plans are unusual.

"A lot of coaches have played soccer and they have the same drills," Garfield senior Katie Stockert said. "She has us do a lot of innovative drills."

One such drill involves switching quickly from offense to defense. Another forces players not only to pass, but to communicate before they kick or receive a pass.

Finally, there's garbage-can soccer, where with a garbage can for a goal, players work on their aim. It's there that Sullivan shows the Bulldogs how she plays.

She just doesn't show what she has been through.