ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Anyone familiar with soccer in Florida is aware of the illustrious career of St. Johns Country Day School coach Mike Pickett.
In his 26th year as head coach in Orange Park, Pickett has won 14 state championships and holds the record for most consecutive championships, winning 11 in a row from 2012 to 2022.
While speaking to News4JAX, Pickett said his accomplishments may have been fulfilling at the beginning of his career, but he quickly realized he was searching for something more meaningful.
Pickett also graduated from St. Johns CDS in 1983 and won back-to-back state championships with the school in ‘81 and ’82.
“After I won the first state championship, I thought I’d be fulfilled, and I wasn’t,” Pickett said. “To fulfill what I want to do is to continue to teach life lessons and enable these girls to go out and live successful lives...it’s about the journey more than the mountain top.”
One of those girls that he coached is his daughter, Carson, who attended Florida State University, plays professionally for the Orlando Pride, and is a member of the United States Women’s National Team.
Due to a “congenital abnormality” at birth, Carson was born with a left arm that is shorter than her right and without a completely developed hand, making her the first player with a limb difference to start for the USWNT.
And while Mike acknowledges that she’s an amazing soccer player, it’s the work she does off the field that makes him truly proud, which includes the time she spends with kids in the Lucky Fin Project, a nonprofit that provides education on limb differences.
“What she’s doing off the field trumps anything she could ever do on the field,” Pickett said. “In every stadium she plays in, she takes time after the game to meet with any Lucky Fin kids, so the impact she’s had off the field just makes us so proud.”
“God gave her a platform, not a difference,” Pickett adds.
He also runs the North Florida Soccer Academy, and gave some advice for young players who want to become professional soccer players.
“First, have goals and set a plan to go with the goal because a goal without a plan is a wish,” he explained. “Second, don’t play the comparison game, don’t do what someone else is doing because that may not be the best for you...Finally, find a positive environment and the person who is training you believes in you...don’t let anyone turn your sky into a ceiling.”