Monica Simes

My nominee is my wife. I first met my wife in Turkey when she was a professional football player. She helped her team to five consecutive league titles (three of which were undefeated) and a Champions League final 16 round. During her playing career she was alway the motivator and driving force of the team. Somewhere down the road, the stars aligned and our friendship grew in romance. Her final year saw her tear her ACL and I offered to care for her at my house where she wouldn't have to move very much. But I knew that being sidelined was not the end of the story. She had that extra mile in her and I knew she would continue in football long after she retired as a player. All nighters of studying formations and tactics, one coaching certification after another, and some coaching camps sprinkled here and there finally gave her the qualifications she needed. Then one day as we were driving back from visiting my grandfather's grave, I received a call from a local club official. He said he was calling me because he knew of my grandfather who was a club legend, and he had seen the sports agency that I own. He got straight to the point and asked me if I had a good coach in the books for a women's team that they were starting. I was stopped in my tracks because this could have only been a sign from my grandfather, and I glanced over at my wife who at this point was asking me "what, what, what?" I told the club official that I had just what he was looking for and agreed to bring the coach to a meeting the next day. I hung up, turned to my wife, and said she had just "accepted" her first coaching job. She took this third division team to the top flight in minimum time, then transfered to the team she won those five consecutive titles with and carried them to the quarter finals in the national playoffs. Her next stop was to a team in her native Romania, where she guided her team to their first silverware by winning the FA cup. However, if you ask me, her greatest success came off the field as she mothered our newborn son on her own. Unfortunately, I was tending to my terminally ill mother at the time and couldn't make the move. We had discussed whether this move was the best thing for our family. As far as I was concerned, she had no choice. Her success was noticed quickly, and she was offered a contract by Farul Constanta - owned by former Barcelona and Real Madrid player Gheorghe Hagi. This new team in the top flight was far from an established force but promised a lot of potential. Her first year at Farul resulted in my wife winning her first championship as a coach. The team started off sloppy and were 9 points behind the leaders at one point, but they came together and finished 9 points clear. Champions League came knocking for this new and inexperienced team. They eliminated their opponents in the first round. Next was Valerenga against whom they went up 1-0 before frustratingly succumbing to a 1-3 loss. This season, the team finished the regular season undefeated are the favourites to win a second title in the playoffs. When I asked Monica to marry me, I told her that the best thing I could offer her was not a huge house or a large savings account but it was my family name which is written on gravestones on World War I and II battlefields and which I have always tried to keep clean. Her reply of promising to better this name after taking it was something I will never forget and a promise she has kept already. But I know she will do it even prouder.