For Dana Hills’ Kaitlin Dickmann, It’s All About the Team

Ask Kaitlin Dickmann about her proudest moments, and they likely will involve something that her club soccer team achieved beginning when she was 10.

Ask Dickmann about her life outside of soccer, and she will probably recall the many fun times with her family and their getaways to their second home in Baja California.

Ask Dickmann about her career choice, and she will talk about her recent interest in art history (things others have accomplished) or marine biology (the preservation of life under the sea).

When Dickmann, a senior at Dana Hills High and one of this season’s leaders on the Dolphins’ girls soccer team, speaks it’s never about “I,” always “we.” She will say, “What can we achieve?” not “What can I achieve.”

That kind of unselfishness, combined with a natural athletic ability, soccer aptitude and team-first attitude, has made Kaitlin one of the best liked and most accomplished young teens in high school sports this year.

“Girls want to play like Kaitlin, act like Kaitlin, and soccer-wise be the type of player Kaitlin is,” Dolphins coach Sheena Jarvis said. “She loves to have a good time, and with her infectious smile and laughter, everyone else around does too. 

"She's more humble than any girl I've ever seen and more times than not, she doesn’t get the recognition she deserves.  Regardless if you are a freshman or senior, she always makes her teammates feel comfortable and as much a part of the team as anyone else.”

Dickmann isn’t flashy, she’s not outspoken or the rah-rah type, and she plays the most unglamorous position in soccer: defender. But that’s just the way she likes it. If she has a philosophy in life, it would be to work hard, do your best and move on.

However, that doesn’t mean she doesn’t get noticed. Dickmann has performed most of the direct kicks and penalty kicks for the Dolphins this season -- she is three for three on PKs -- and on corner kicks, she will fill the middle looking for a loose ball to scoop up and shoot. And then there’s that little scholarship offer she signed two weeks ago with California. The Golden Bears’ coaches and scouts certainly noticed her.

Dickmann just lets the results do all her talking.

“I do my work, stay under control and do my best,” she explained last week after her final regular-season match for Dana Hills, the new Sea View League champions. “I don’t mind not getting noticed. I don’t care who gets all the attention. I believe that you do your best for the team and good things will happen.”

Jarvis reaffirmed as much. “I can tell all the good ideas come from her when other girls decide to mess around. You tell her to do something, and she gets it done—no questions asked,” she said. “She's one of the hardest-working girls I know and is unbelievable on the field.  She's the best defender I've ever seen at her age.  She's soccer smart, confident, skillful, very patient and gets the job done.”

Dickmann started playing soccer the usual way — AYSO, Spring Select and All-Stars — all at the age of 9. By 10, she had convinced her mother, Patty, that she wanted to join a club soccer team, the Southern California Blues, coached by Chito Gerhardt. By her second year she had moved up to the Gold Team, the top team, which was quite a change for a quiet girl leaving her friends behind.

The following year, the Blues had changed head coaches. Enter Randy Dodge, who also coaches the Aliso Niguel boys and girls soccer teams.

“He’s one of the best coaches ever,” Dickmann said. “He taught me so much and created a team that will always be together.”

Maybe the greatest lesson Dodge taught Dickmann and her teammates was how to lose gracefully and persevere.

In Under-16s, Dickmann’s Blues team went through an exhausting round of matches in Arkansas before losing in the national finals to the Texans. In Under-17s, the Southern California Blues were the team to beat, Dickmann said, but they fell short in the national finals in Boston and finished third.

Last July, the Blues traveled to Kansas and were placed in the toughest bracket of the nationals, Dickmann said. The Blues beat local rival Slammers, 3-0, and then in the finals defeated a team from New York, 1-0, to win the national championship.

 “I remember we played three games prior, then had one day off to relax,” Dickmann said. “The night before [the final], we talked about the team and how far we came, and everyone was crying. Each time we didn’t win, it made us stronger. We worked really hard those years. The group of girls we had, we were so extra close. To win it our last year together made it worth it. Nothing compares to our club team.”

Jarvis, who played on the Dodge-coached Blues and is an Aliso Niguel alumnae, said she understood where Dickmann was coming from when she joined the Dolphins program four years ago.

“I know what Kaitlin has endured while growing up playing soccer, so I can confidently say that there aren't many girls like her,” Jarvis said. “I have put a lot of pressure on Kaitlin this year, demanded that she become a more vocal leader, which she has, and she has become one of the biggest leaders on our team.”

Dickmann comes from an athletic family. Her father Jack also played soccer at Dana Hills and later was a member of the U.S. men’s water polo team. Her mother was also an athlete, and her younger sister Megan plays both soccer and water polo. Dickmann played volleyball as a freshman and worked hard to become the starting setter after no previous experience, but the next year she decided to focus on soccer and help the Dolphins establish a competitive program.

Beginning her junior year, Kaitlin began receiving letters and emails from colleges across the nation. She decided early on that she wanted to stay in California, so she limited her interests to Cal, Stanford, Pepperdine and UCLA. On Nov. 16, Dickmann had narrowed her choice to Cal and UCLA and decided on the Golden Bears.

“I knew I wanted a big school, a big sports school, with a football team,” Dickmann said. “I went off a feeling. When I visited UCLA, I was nervous and excited, but when I went to Cal I was just excited. I felt relaxed there. I think being in club will help me adjust to college life because we traveled so much. As long as I stay healthy and work hard, I think I will have a good time there and hopefully play a lot.”

Before college, however, Dickmann has a little unfinished business at hand, namely the CIF Southern Section Division playoffs. The Dolphins finished the season losing only once in 17 matches and were 6-0-2 in winning the league title. Dana Hills tied for fifth with Santa Margarita in the final Division 1 coaches' poll and was ranked No. 3 in Orange County by the O.C. Register.

When the Dolphins open the playoffs Thursday at home against Redlands East Valley, Dickmann said her focus will be on winning the program's first division championship since 1989, which was a couple years before she was born.

“We need to be focused,” Dickmann said. “These are big-time games for us. It’s like the nationals of club in CIF. People don’t see us as being a powerhouse, even though we won league. We have the talent; we just need to make a name for ourselves. We don’t even need the publicity as long as we work together. That’s all that counts.”

If ever a team was the reflection of one player, this year’s Dana Hills soccer team and Kaitlin Dickmann seem to be one in the same.