It has become a fall ritual: catching up with Bangor youth soccer in which my nephew, Nat, participates.

I don’t make every game, but I see enough to chart the progress of those who may wear local high school uniforms in the future.

Nat is 9 and in the fourth grade. I noticed a dramatic change in the skill and ability level from last year to this.

Finally. They get it. They grasp what this game is about. More often, now, they do what their coaches want. They don’t bunch up as much. Last year, everyone converged on the ball at once. Now they understand what position means; why it is needed; where and how to play.

They have learned the game is played on the whole field, not just where the ball is.

They are passing; actually looking for someone to pass to. Because they are passing, they’re setting up scores and making assists. They will play in goal. They play defense.

That is during a game. Practice, I learned, is a different story.

I had been told Nat’s team, “Score,” had two special coaches: students at the University of Maine in Orono.

I was pleased to discover I know them. Nicole Kelley and Stephanie Mazerolle are familiar names to the NEWS sports staff because these community volunteers are highly skilled athletes.

Nichole and Stephanie, Class of ’92, starred for Caribou High School – together in soccer, Nicole in softball, and Stephanie in tennis. They are no strangers to the term “champion.”

Stephanie is a junior at UMaine, majoring in biology and planning a career in research.

Nicole is spending her “junior year away” from Wellesley College in Massachusetts where she studies architecture. She has yet to decide whether to return or remain here. Both love soccer and have found it hard to give up.

Nicole played for Wellesley and will again, if she returns. Stephanie passed up UMaine varsity soccer for academics, but plays intramurals. Nicole is on her team this fall.

When I heard they were coaching, I was impressed. How many college students do you know who volunteer for early Saturday morning duty like this? Who do not mind facing 13 hot tickets with energy levels that match rockets primed for the moon? And not just once a week, but twice?

Practice is at 4 p.m. Friday afternoons. If the coaches had their way, the team would practice twice a week.

Nicole coached soccer for the Caribou Recreation Department and was looking for something similar while taking summer courses at UMaine. But youth soccer is a fall sport here. When contacted later, she agreed to coach and asked Stephanie to join her. They chose the oldest group, because they thought it would be easier.

In some ways, it is. Players of that age pretty much have the basic skills down pat. But, about those practices…

It’s a tough battle, they joked. “I think, us being a bit younger, they steamroll us a lot,” Stephanie said. “They are pretty much out of control in practice, but then they get into the game and they are great.”

The coaches have their roles. Stephanie is the relaxed one. Nicole wears the whistle. They love what they’re doing.

The coaches go into practices with great intentions, but “it all goes to pot” when practice starts. “We end up with balls bouncing off our heads a lot,” Stephanie laughed.

But they know the kids are learning and having fun. The kids like it when the coaches are on their team but not when they’re the opposition. One of the big thrills, I was told, is to steal the ball from the coach.

It is a learning and growing experience for everyone. The girls had a tougher time adjusting to the team’s pink shirts than the boys, Nicole said.

Stephanie and Nicole have found Bangor to be a friendly city. They were apprehensive, coming from a smaller town, but discovered the parents are as much fun as their kids.

Coaching and playing intramurals is keeping the coaches in the game. They hope their players learn, this year, about space, communication and teamwork. Most of all, the coaches hope the kids learn to love the game as they do.