Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes shares advice for local young athletes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Many of us once had dreams of playing a professional sport, but somewhere along the way, adversity always hits and the road gets bumpy.

Former KC Wizards player-turned-Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes knows all about that dream and journey.

Vermes is the longest-tenured manager in major league soccer history. This past weekend, he became the first to ever coach 500 career matches with the same club.

KCTV5 asked him for his advice, for local athletes of all ages, and all sports.

“You’re going to have ups and downs in your pursuit of being a pro. I don’t know that I’ve met anybody that’s had a steady rise in their profession. There’s always been peaks and valleys. This is why I think it’s an incredible life lesson. You’re going to have moments that don’t go well. You have to stay away from the blame game. You have to take the responsibility yourself to understand that there are times when you don’t do the work you’re supposed to, or you didn’t perform to the level you should have, or in the heat of the moment you made a decision that resulted to losing a game.
If you’re afraid to face that ‚even if you become a pro athlete, you’re going to have a very average career. I think you have to have three things inside you. You have to be self-aware, and be able to self-assess and self-correct. If you can do that, I think that’s what leads to success in either being an athlete or a profession that you’re pursuing. If you can’t do that, the only reason why someone can’t do that is they haven’t found what they’re passionate about or they consistently want to blame others for their failures. Get in a place where you can truly be self-aware of where you are, self-assess what you’re doing, be honest with yourself, and then self-correct. Because it doesn’t matter how much someone else wants you to do it, you’ll never be successful at it.”
Sporting KC manager Peter Vermes

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