After officially taking command of the Western Air Defense Sector during a ceremony last March, Col. Peter Stavros turned to the youth sports coach side of his personality to explain his leadership style.

"There are three basic rules I tell my players when I'm coaching little league," Stavros said during the ceremony at McChord Field. "Keep your eye on the ball, always listen to the coach and be cool. And just as in baseball, the same rules apply at WADS."

Stavros stays true to the same mantra while coaching the Blue Dragons, a McChord youth soccer team made up 9- to 11-year-olds - including his two sons, Niko, 9, and Dino, 7 - from both Army and Air Force families

His team is happily buying in to the mantra, as each Blue Dragon player recanted the golden rules word-for-word in unison when prompted by their head coach during a practice last week at Rainier Field on McChord.

"Especially during this time of the year, it's good for them to get outside, run around and learn some skills when it comes to team building," said Stavros, who also coached youth baseball and soccer when he was stationed in Louisiana.

While Stavros is heavy into the motivational coach speak and keeping players focused on their drills, it's his wife, Jamie, who organizes the schedule for practice and runs the skill drills.

"He likes to talk, I like to run," said Jaime, who played Division I women's soccer at the University of Louisville. "I watch a lot of instructional videos (to prepare for practice). He's the voice and I'm the skill."

The husband and wife team have built quite a successful soccer dynasty over the years. During their time in Louisiana, their youth soccer teams went undefeated for three straight years. While the record was a big deal to Niko and Dino, the colonel was more proud of the fact kids liked playing for him and his wife.

"The true measure of success is if they want to keep coming back (to the same team)," Peter said. "It's not just about kicking the ball around. It's more than that. It's about learning the basic skills and being part of a team."

Soccer is also a uniting factor for the family. In addition to the league on McChord, the Stavros brothers also play in an indoor soccer league in Tacoma. The practice at McChord is twice a week with games on Saturday, and the Tacoma league also has practice during the week and games on Sunday.

"Every night but Wednesday they are doing soccer," Peter said.

And when the boys aren't at practice, they're constantly dribbling a soccer ball around the house.

"Our family is big into fitness and finding ways to be fit," Jaime added.

The colonel admits that the time outside and away from his duties at WADS gives him a chance to focus on his family and put the mission in the back of his mind, if only for a few hours.  

"You only have so much off time," Peter said. "You want to get to spend that time with your kids."

But the parallels of his job and youth coaching are closely aligned.  "You have to clear and concise with what you tell them, and they have to be a good teammate," he said.