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The next day, the Senegalese native received a package.

"When I got the Fed-Ex package the letter had no letterhead, and the second thing was it was asking for my credit card for a hotel reservation because it mentioned that I needed to go to Houston for my award," Diouf said. "I told a co-worker of mine and said it might be a scam."

It wasn't a scam. The letter was from U.S. Youth Soccer, the sport's national governing body. Diouf had won the Alaska Youth Soccer Coach of the Year and the Region IV coach of the year. In U.S. Youth Soccer, Region IV is one of four regions and encompasses all of the states west of the Rockies.

He leaves Thursday for Houston to see if he is awarded national coach of the year at a Friday ceremony.

"It was surprising," Diouf said. "I'm not very much involved in all the social activities the club puts together. I don't have much time. I'm focused on coaching these boys."

While Diouf's award may have come as a surprise, his passion for soccer and the success of his team are undeniable. With two youth state championships under his belt, it was easy for team manager Paul Bertholl and Raphael Betit to nominate Diouf for these awards.

Diouf's journey from Africa to Alaska to being named one of the four best youth soccer coaches in America has been a search for opportunity. Ten years ago, Diouf left his native Dakar, Senegal, in western Africa for the United States in a quest for education.

"I was 20 and came to get an education and a better life," Diouf said. "You don't want to leave but you couldn't see yourself being successful in life here."

Diouf left Senegal behind in 1996 and lived in Jersey City, N.J., while going to school in Manhattan. Though Diouf left Senegal, he brought his love of soccer with him overseas.

"I played in every school level back home," Diouf said. "I played in some neighborhood leagues, but I wasn't good enough to play in an A-League or professional league.

"I always like coaching. When we played in pick-up games back home, I was always in charge of developing the game formation. So I was thinking about coaching very early but I never put in any work."

Diouf moved to Juneau in June of 1999 and worked with the Legislative Affairs Agency. He quickly fell in love with the town.

"Juneau is very welcoming and the social life is very reminiscent of where I'm from," Diouf said. "I can go into my neighbor's house and have a meal with them. In Juneau, I'm not saying I can do that here but it's very similar. You feel very part of the community and very welcomed. It feels like home."

He continued playing soccer in a Juneau men's league until an ACL injury in 2000 forced him to hang up his competitive boots. The injury became the catalyst for Diouf's coaching career. Diouf became a recreational coach shortly after the injury.

"I felt I had something to give to the kids so I decided to coach," Diouf said. "Some parents from the (Juneau Soccer Club) approached me and said they have some kids in the league and saw what I was doing with the boys and thought they could use someone like me."

That group of 9 and 10-year-old boys entrusted to Diouf and manager Paul Bertholl became the Jambaars.

The name - "warrior" in Diouf's native tongue of Wolof - proved to be the perfect group for Diouf's innovative brand of soccer and practice.

In a short time, Diouf's infectious love for the game and innovative coaching style trickled down to his players.

"I was very lucky to have these kids when they were 10 and 9," Diouf said. "They had a very high skill level. It's very unusual to see that skill level at such an early age, and I was able to slide in and build from that. It was definitely good but we still work on fundamentals, even after four years, because there's so much to learn about the game that it's never going to be over."

The Jambaars fly through a practice with plenty of mini-scrimmages and lots of ball-control. Players take a ball in practice and immediately kick it close to the wall. They constantly dribble and move their feet.

One particular drill involves three different 3-on-3 games at once, with the goals consisting of two pylons spaced about 12 inches apart. Diouf weaves in and out of these games, offering advice and encouragement while his players work up a sweat trying to score in such a narrow goal.

Diouf also has his team watch professional games on television and quizzes them on different concepts he's trying to employ.

Since taking over, his team has transformed into what he calls "soccer demons."

"We play year-round," Jambaars center midfielder Max Smith said. "There's lots of kids that play when we don't have practice. We play on our own. I play for hours at least, and I always have a ball on my feet and a lot of the kids do to."

Diouf's ability to translate his passion to his players has created a powerful soccer force.

The Jambaars made their presence felt in 2004 by outscoring opponents 20-0 en route to capturing the Alaska Youth Championship.

They repeated the feat in 2005, scoring 22 goals while conceding just six.

"When they're playing, I like to see a very compact defensive style," Diouf said. "Meaning it's old-school soccer, basically. Not many team around the world play that."

Because of his players maturity and intensity, Diouf unleashed his soccer demons with an intense game strategy practically unheard of in youth soccer circles.

The team employs an offensive 3-5-2 formation, emphasizing possession while putting tremendous pressure on the opposition. The real innovation, however, comes on defense. Opposed to playing a more traditional zone defense, the Jambaars play a straight man defense.

It's the equivalent of a full court man-to-man press in basketball terms. This "1v1" defense, as it's called in soccer lingo, takes incredible conditioning and coordination.

This frantic defense plays right to the Jambaars' strong work ethic and athleticism.

"It's a lot of hard work because you have to keep running," 13-year-old sweeper Nathan Fosket said. "You need to be in really good shape. Lots of conditioning."

Diouf recently earned his B.A. degree in business with a management emphasis from the University of Alaska Southeast and works for the Permanent Fund Dividend Corp. and Fireweed Place.

He started the Men's Classic League for players 30-and-over and is also a FIFA certified referee.

The Jambaars also receive significant help from Bertholl, who handles most of the Jambaars' administrative duties.

"The kids really got his respect," Bertholl said of Diouf. "He knows the game real well so it's easy for him to be able to help correct something if someone's not doing something properly."

Diouf and his Jambaars will travel to Boise, Idaho, in June to play for the Region IV championship.

Until then, the team and their coach will continue to play and practice with the same passion that has made "The Beautiful Game" the most popular on Earth.

"What I've been putting in these guys' heads is that no matter where they go they can play and having this award will help me a lot," Diouf said. "That'll be in their heads that no matter where they go, they can compete regardless of where they're from or who they play."

• Tim Nichols, sports editor, can be reached at sports@juneauempire.com