Written By: Grace O’Bryan and Ashley York
As the Lower School 4th Grade Teacher and Upper School Varsity Girls Soccer Coach, Mr. Declan Traquair has a very interesting and inspiring past. Born in Coatbridge, Scotland he “has been playing soccer since he could walk,” he says. As a child, he grew up playing club soccer from the age of 5 to the age of 16. As one of seven siblings, all of his brothers are involved with the sport, whether it is coaching college and high school teams or playing the video game FIFA.
At the age of 18, he moved to the U.S.A. from his home in Scotland to attend Young Harris College, located in North Georgia. Mr. Traquair found the move challenging for two reasons. First, he now lived 3,500 miles away from friends and family. Second, as a student athlete, he had to juggle both school work and soccer. During soccer season, he traveled all around the Southeast to Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. One strategy he discovered to help with his workload was to use the long bus rides to game as an opportunity to catch up on school work. This experience informs the advice he gives to the young athletes he trains: “find a balance.”
Something he has learned during his time at Pace is to make friends with students and every class brings something new. Known to his students as “Mr. T”, his students find that he is easygoing, funny, and kind. He works alongside Mrs. Wanda Gold, his associate teacher, or better known as a shoe fanatic to her students.