Nick TheslofHis grandmother taught him to ice skate across the time he was studying to stroll, which really did not grow to be a lot of a life ability as Theslof went on to play skilled soccer, not hockey.
But there was one other lesson Theslof discovered from his grandmother just by being round her. And it turned out to be infinitely extra invaluable.
“She was my function mannequin,” mentioned Theslof, the Galaxy assistant coach. “It was inspiring simply watching her transfer and speak as a result of she was somewhat completely different. You do not fairly perceive it, however you need to be at that stage.
“It’s one thing I understood very early. I wished to attempt to catch up and be nearly as good as my grandmother.
We ought to all attempt to realize and be nearly as good as Vivi-Anne Hulten, an Olympic medalist and 10-time nationwide champion determine skater within the Twenties and Nineteen Thirties, as soon as hailed as Sweden’s best feminine athlete. However, Theslof remembers her grandmother not for her medals, which she retains on show in her Lakewood residence, however for a easy act of profound braveness and character that got here to outline her.
As Hulten neared the medal podium after ending third within the 1936 Winter Gamesshe was instructed she ought to carry out a Nazi salute to honor German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. She refused.
“At that point, for a lady to face up for herself in that atmosphere in Germany, the quantity of integrity and braveness it value her, it is onerous for me to clarify,” Theslof mentioned. “He had a means of getting outcomes on the time. It wasn’t in regards to the skating. It was about his integrity.
Hulten, who left Sweden for the United States and taught skating within the Carolinas, Tennessee and Minnesota, ultimately adopted his household to Southern California the place he died in 2003 at age 91. By then Nick’s taking part in days had been ended by a critical Achilles damage. and he was on the second leg of a training profession that will take him to eight groups in 4 international locations, a profession wherein he would coach to a World Cup with Germany and win an MLS title in Toronto.
Galaxy assistant coach Nick Theslof throughout his time at Toronto FC in 2017.
(Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Images)
He might win one other MLS Cup this fall with the Galaxy, who took a giant step towards successful their first Western Conference title in 13 years on Saturday. But like his grandmother, Theslof won’t enable his profession to be outlined by shiny awards that may lose their luster over time.
“What’s essential to me is that everybody on this constructing is aware of who I’m and trusts me, is aware of I might help them,” mentioned Theslof, 48, who received a nationwide title at UCLA and performed within the youth program Dutch big PSV Eindhoven, nonetheless, stays among the many least celebrated members of a training employees that features three MLS all-stars and three nationwide crew gamers.
“My title shouldn’t be synonymous with the issues my colleagues have completed,” he mentioned. “I’m actually blissful for them. But I’m additionally blissful to be completely different.”
In this case completely different doesn’t imply inferior. And Theslof’s colleagues are properly conscious of his contribution to the work.
“Nick’s superpower, his capability to know how particular person gamers work with the ball, is spectacular,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney mentioned of his former UCLA teammate. “Nick does lots of managing and observing gamers, how they transfer and the way they transfer with the ball, with a view to create larger efficiencies or technical enhancements. It’s probably the greatest I’ve ever seen.”
This can be one thing Theslof says he discovered from his grandmother, who was 64 when he was born.
“Growing up, once I watched my grandmother educate ice skating and educating human beings the right way to carry out, I used to be at all times so amazed on the means she regarded on the physique and stability and the little technical issues that allowed individuals to carry out higher than they may. a traditional individual would do. perhaps not see,” he mentioned, sitting below an umbrella within the atrium of Dignity Health Sports Park final week after an early morning coaching session. “She would take time to actually sluggish issues down and ensure the human was transferring accurately. I discovered it fascinating.”
Theslof grew up taking part in hockey in Minnesota, the place his grandmother, who toured with the Ice Capades, ran a skating college whose purchasers included Herb Brooks’ gold-medal-winning U.S. hockey crew.
“One afternoon she got here to our home and Brooks was together with her,” Theslof recollects. “And we go to a hockey store and purchase a stick. I’ve had a really distinctive life and a few very distinctive experiences.
Although Theslof’s grandmother erected statues in her honor in Hungary and on the World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame in Colorado and carried out for the king and queen of Sweden in her 80s, she might be greatest remembered for her snub in the direction of Hitler and his spat with the legendary Norwegian determine skater Sonja Henie.
After being ordered to salute the German dictator, Hulten instructed interviewers many years later, she responded by saying, “I’m Swedish; I do not do it.
“I simply stared at him,” he mentioned. “He was a scary individual.”
The long-running feud with three-time gold medalist and ten-time world champion Henie was far more private and cruel, with either side buying and selling reducing insults. And though the rivalry has come to outline skating for a era, Theslof mentioned his grandmother had the final giggle.
“Sonja Henie dated my grandfather,” she mentioned of Gene Theslof, who was Henie’s skating accomplice earlier than he left her to marry Hulten.
Although Hulten helped information Nick Theslof on the ice as a boy, he shortly moved on to soccer and by the age of 15 was within the Netherlands taking part in in Eindhoven. He returned to the United States to win an NCAA championship at UCLA below Sigi Schmid earlier than accidents compelled him into teaching.
“People mentioned, ‘Well, you’ve got an excellent eye for coaching,’” Theslof mentioned. “I knew my grandmother coached quite a bit. For me, teaching was second to taking part in. I really feel like I grew up with kind of a training and educating and efficiency aspect.
In his first job, as an assistant at Ohio Wesleyan, he received an NCAA Division III title and later labored with Jurgen Klinnsman with the German nationwide crew and Bayern Munich, then at Chivas USA.
In 2014 he joined Vanney’s employees at Toronto FC, and the 2 have been collectively ever since.
“There’s somewhat little bit of effort in teaching, then you definately come out on the opposite aspect of the efficiency and you’re feeling good,” he mentioned. “I’m proud not solely of the successes of the groups I’ve performed with, however I’m additionally very happy with the gamers I’ve constructed relationships with.”
