Sibling goals

It’s a normal April day in Iowa. It may not be the best weather for a soccer game – the wind rages and the people watching on the sidelines shiver – but the members of the team still carry on unphased. Players from both West and Ankeny run across the field as their coaches yell supportive criticisms. One player on the West team catches your eye as he darts to intercept a pass – jersey number 20. Your eyes track him across the field, when suddenly, you see something strange – a very similar looking figure guarding West’s goal. But how can that be? A person can’t be in two places at once, and they certainly can’t grow that much hair that fast.

They aren’t the same person. Sitting across from you, Jack Chen ‘16 and Henry Chen ‘18 look very much alike. They may not be twins, but they are brothers, and they both play for the boys varsity soccer team at West.

Both boys started playing soccer during junior high. At first, Henry was conflicted about which sport he should play.

“I think in eighth grade I was either going to do soccer in high school or basketball, but since Jack was doing soccer, I decided to do that with him,” Henry said.

Each brother has a different role on the team – Jack is a goalkeeper, while Henry plays center back. In addition, they both bring unique aspects of themselves to the table.

“They both bring a strong personality to the team. It’s good to hear them joke around but at times you can get them focused and serious,” said Coach Brad Stiles, who is currently in his sixteenth year of coaching soccer at West.

When they’re not playing for the varsity team here at West, they spend their time playing club soccer. Jack plays for the Unified Team, while Henry plays for Inferno. However, being on different teams doesn’t stop them from working together.

“We’re on different teams for club, but it’s pretty open so I can go to his practices,” Henry said.

The spring of 2015 was the first time Jack and Henry were on a team together, when Henry started playing on the varsity team with Jack. Being on the team together definitely provides some advantages to the duo.

“Since practice time is the same, we can get rides together and we get to see each other play soccer more and don’t have to go watch other games,” Henry said.

Aside from the difference in hair length, both brothers have their own unique personalities.

“They are different in their demeanors. As much as you might take their both calm personalities to be the same, they are different when it comes to their competitiveness in situations on the field,” Stiles said.

Both boys have also seen a change in their sibling dynamic since they started playing on the team together.

“I think we work together better now [in real life], since we play together too,” Jack said.

Henry definitely agrees. “I’d say [being on the same team] has brought us a lot closer. Soccer takes up a lot of our time, and we’re that much closer since we’re spending all that time together,” he said.
However, the large amount of time the pair spends together does come with its disadvantages.

“When we’re both on the field, we can always see when each other mess up,” Henry said jokingly, and Jack laughed in agreement.

Last season, the boys varsity soccer team didn’t fare as well as they would have liked. Stiles is hoping that they can improve this year with the help of the Chen brothers.

“Last season was a bit of a rollercoaster for us. Lots of things didn’t go our way and we did some things wrong that we’ve fixed as a program,” Stiles said.

The boys varsity soccer team has plenty of tough competitors this season, from Linn-Mar to Bettendorf. The whole team certainly has a lot to overcome, but no matter what happens, the strong sibling relationship between Jack and Henry will stay strong.

“When Jack makes a good save or does something well, Henry celebrates with him. And same thing on the field, when Henry can step into a tackle, you can kind of see Jack pump his fist a bit off to the side,” Stiles said, “there’s a lot of brotherly love there.”