Latest / I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth / I Hate Soccer #107- Tyson Wahl, LA Galaxy Academy Director

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I Hate Soccer #107- Tyson Wahl, LA Galaxy Academy Director · I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Tyson Wall is the Academy Director at the LA Galaxy.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: He had a long career in the MLS.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: He was drafted by the Kansas City Wizards in 2006, and then he was selected by the Seattle founders in the 2008 expansion draft.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: He also had stints with uh the Montreal Impact, Colorado Rapids, and finally with the Columbus crew.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: After his career, Tyson helped kind of build the Austin FC Academy as the Academy General Manager before really just moving home back to Southern California.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, we talk about how the LA Galaxy goes about their structure, uh, his development philosophy on players, as well as just the overall health of doctor in the United States.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, this is before the World Cup started.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: This is about a month ago uh recording.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, but enjoy this episode.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Please share it, like it, follow, subscribe, uh, and send this to anybody that is interested in how these MLS academies work.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: I hate soccer.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: More of like who you are and what your background is.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like you've known Louise since you were 13.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: Idaho ODP events.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we go we go way back when when ODP was the main driver of uh talent identification.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, we were on some like 1984, 1985.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna date myself a little bit.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: You're in 84?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: 84.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in 85.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was born in 80.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I guess I I still go by what we grew up in.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I was born in December 84, but I was in 85.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: ODP, I was 84 out of Michigan, but yeah.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Idaho.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: They did the they did the regional camps there.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you went like local to the select, then you made your state team.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then they finally did the regional piece.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: And both him and I, him and I were there with a pretty good group of players.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Were you in part of Region 4?
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: Region Four.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Southern So Southern California.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, you're from South California.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I grew I grew up in kind of a hotbed of of talent.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: And uh now lucky enough to work for the galaxy, um, and and work with players from that area from my hometown.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: Got it.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I I grew up in uh I grew up playing for Irvine Strikers.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: There's a top top club, and they're they're here, they're here on the fields.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And um yeah, several several players in my kind of cohort, the age, uh ended up doing pretty well.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Do you ever miss the ODP days?
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know that this is what this has become, and I do think that this is worlds better than what we grew up in.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: But do you ever miss the ODP or rejobs?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: I would say, yeah, to I mean, I was a kid, so I missed to being a player at ODP camps, which is fun.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, in terms of the system, the only thing I would say is that that seemed uh it seemed like there was a lot of clarity with few fewer pathways, and that was the that was the main way to get identified.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, now there's MLS next and other leagues and other US national team ID events.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there's just a lot.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's a lot, and back then it did seem I was a player, so totally different scope.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it seemed like it was just more clear.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that means better, but more more clear.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: How long have you been with the Galaxy?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: I've been with them for three years.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Where were you before that?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I was uh at Austin FC.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: So um I had a playing career.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um played for 11 years in the league, lucky enough to do that.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then when I finished, I started coaching.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: I coached for LA Galaxy Orange County, who was an affiliate of the Galaxy at the time.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: And my wife and I, we we loved Austin.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: She loved it there.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: So we we moved to Austin and I started kind of coaching and and learning as a young coach um for about two to three years with a local club there.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I was just really right place, right time, uh, had established myself in the youth space a little bit, and I got an incredible opportunity to uh to actually launch Austin FC Academy.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um that was only that was that was that was 2019, 2020.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: So six years ago.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: 2020.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, great, great experience.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and then I was there for about four and a half years, and so re recently three years ago, uh, I started with uh the galaxy.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: When you started Austin, did you kind of reach out to local clubs that were already established to come on board?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Or did you guys start right from scratch?
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Isn't that kind of like what San Diego is doing?
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Somewhat similar.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, some some clubs have have diff have had different ways of kind of entering the environment.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, there's a lot of things that go into that.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: I think your your talent pool, what types of clubs are located in the area, and your your resources as a club and how how you want to enter into a system like MLS and MLS Next.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we went pretty gradually.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we we knew there that and everywhere the relationships are are key.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we just started with one team and then kind of gradually built out from there.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: You say relationships.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: I have had in the last three weeks, I've had University of Michigan women's coach on, I've had uh Western Michigan's men's coach on, I've had I had Alecko on yesterday, I had Larry Sunderland on yesterday, and the number one word is relationships.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And it's unbelievable just how important, and I think that gets lost in some of this sometimes with coaches and directors with players, and that's why I'm so fascinated with like you guys and the MLS Academies because I feel like you guys develop relationships that maybe other clubs don't get because you're around the kids so much more.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, relationships are key on all aspects of that.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh player movement, club-to-club relationships internally.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think there are so many like fantastically qualified coaches around with strong resumes.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but at the end of the day, we're we're human beings and we're working with uh children, yeah, youth soccer players.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you have to build trust amongst your staff.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's critical.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: So at the end of the day, whether it's uh internally as an academy staff or externally with with the relationships around you, and it there are tense moments and at the end of the day there are competitors.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think if you're if you're known to be doing the right thing and and and the the club trusts that uh you have the player's best interest at art, uh you can establish decent relationships.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And you and you left Austin, a place that you love, to be more closer to home?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um the club was going through some changes.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: So being a part of uh professional soccer club, right?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: These these things happen.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I I had to find a new opportunity.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so for me, for me as a as a young professional outside of uh being a player, that was new to me.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think to have some humility and also to deal with um adversity in a different way as a as a professional.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I was lucky enough that Galaxy had had a good opportunity for me to get involved with with their academy and a lot of positives to that.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, I grew up in Orange County, yeah, just south of Carson, uh, coming back home, being around family, being around old friends, which is crazy that I hadn't really been around in 20 plus years.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um so uh I I feel I feel blessed to be a part of youth soccer and and blessed to have opportunities.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: What is your full like you are you on the field at all right now?
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: I am.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um so my role as academy director, um, I oversee recruitment, staffing, kind of competitive programming.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh our player movement, I work with our second team and our our uh our leadership team in the front office to to try to promote players uh through our system.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then we're we're lucky enough to have uh a role where someone is the director of coaching.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's really uh Mike Munoz's uh area of expertise.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so he is directly on the field uh helping coaches develop, uh helping establish our style of play.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so we're both together leading the academy in uh different ways.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Got it.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: And that's a pretty that's a more and more common uh structure that you're starting to see around MLS academies.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um as the quality increases and and clubs are able to allocate resources in different ways, um, you can have a little bit more specialties uh uh through your through your staffing.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: How how does the territories work in LA?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's competitive.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: Is it like county by like are uh there's a little yeah, there's some there's it orange county?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like how yeah is LAFC in Orange?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Is that LA they yeah?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean we primarily both clubs are all over LA, Riverside, and Orange County.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh there's some crossover with counties as we go further south with San Diego now.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and so uh we're we have to compete to try to be the best with what we're doing and and kind of focus on how we can uh offer players and top players uh the best experience, right?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe that that helps drive uh the quality.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: How how many boys in your academy are California?
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: We're um we're primar primarily Californian based.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's just so much.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Such a huge, such a huge population there and so many great clubs.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we're we're 95% Californian, give or take.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: When I had when I was speaking to the Michigan coach, he had an emphasis on keeping the best Michigan players in Michigan.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like is that kind of like what you guys are doing too, is like keep keep the kids in that California, don't allow them to go to I don't know, Portland or you know, I mean that's Seattle.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: We have to do a good enough job scouting at the young at the young ages to uh to make sure we have enough of a net and enough of an identification process to keep the best players that we think, uh hopefully with the galaxy within California.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: So absolutely that that'd be the same focus.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Now, having said that, um also happy for players who we might not select, or hopefully ones that we miss, uh end up going and getting other top MLS uh opportunities.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's that's great for the player as well, too.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: But we're doing the best job we can to identify the best players.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: When do you guys like start identifying kids?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: And and do you guys still have all your affiliates?
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because you usually start you started at an LA.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was my first job.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: Still an affiliate in my career.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's not um that uh the club that I coach for is actually SoCal Reds now, so it's the same same club, but no, the the before I got to the club, they kind of moved away from that uh ECNL, or are they in MRS next?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh their youngers will be here, I believe.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: But no, they're they're in MLS next.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, SoCal Reds.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Gotta um Yeah, we start we start identifying players at 10 years old, you know, 10, 11, 12 years olds.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they come into our training program.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: They're not we're not pulling them from clubs yet, um, but they come into a weekly training program where we uh have a selection process.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Are are most of your kids uh around and they live at home or do you have host families and stuff like that too?
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: We have we have a couple host families um who've been really helpful uh and great.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: They they put in they put in a lot of uh attention and responsibility and care.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's a big, big uh responsibility.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but no, again, uh since we're look we're uh we're locally focused, and and I guess when I say local, I mean an hour to two hours, which is a heavy drive.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there's a decent amount of traffic in LA.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: So we're local, and then our main focus is LA uh Riverside in Orange County.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we don't have uh full-time boarding system, so the players live at home.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and living in LA does require uh decent commute.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we're our club is lucky enough too to have um a schooling system.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't have boarding, but we have a full-time school.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: And so Oh wow.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: So the kids so parents can drop them off at 7 a.m.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: and then stay with you guys all day?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_01: So the the drop off is more like 8, 8:30.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and the pickup is at four.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: And then we have we have six full-time teachers uh on on site uh in a classroom where they're helping the students uh academically, and their schedule flip-flops based on which uh age they're with, where the first half of the day is is training for one age, and the second half of the day is is schooling.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: That helps a lot for our oldest team as well, too.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_01: So our oldest team and our second team, they're training at a similar time, so they're able to uh move up and get opportunities without having to miss school or or get a last-minute phone call that you've been called up to second team training.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that definitely has been uh that started before I got uh where before I uh joined Galaxy, and the school's been around for 10 years now, which is pretty incredible, but it's definitely like expedited the training hours, the touch points we have with with the kids, and uh critical for what we're trying to do.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And only that's only galaxy kids, yeah.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah the school's a galaxy-specific school.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because uh, I had Jordan Allen on as well at FEST, and they are affiliated with just a school that's nearby and it's like across the street.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, which is there's there's positives to that, I'm sure.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't been in that environment, but of course, having kids socialize with kids outside of the club, um, brick brings some holistic development aspects that we kind of have to fabricate a little bit.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so we're we're aware, we're aware of that.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And um, yeah, the kids are super, super committed, you know, student athletes that are are dedicated to what they're trying to achieve.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do you require every single player in the academy to do to go through schooling with you guys?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, at high school.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: This episode is brought to you by the North American Soccer Expo.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: If you remember last year when I had Alexi Lawless on, so many of you were blown away and kept on messaging me, how did you get Alexi Lawless to talk to you?
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: And to be honest with you, it was the North American Soccer Expo.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: The Expo has workshops and seminars and field presentations from top coaches and industry experts.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: I will be there this year.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be set up on podcast row.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: In addition to the podcasts that I'm going to be filming there, I'm also going to have an open hour where any coach at the expo or anybody at the expo can come, sit down at the chair, and have a one-on-one, 15-minute chat with me, and you guys can just come and chat and talk about whatever you want.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: North American Soccer Expo, July 30th to August 1st, Novi, Michigan.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you there.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: So essentially at U15 at U15, ninth grade.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Some of them will be eighth graders.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, some of the U15s are actually eighth graders depending on their grad year.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but at U15, our our three oldest teams, 15, 16, 18s, they're in full time.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, our U13 and 14 teams are in the U vac.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Got it.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, do you think that we're headed towards all MLS Academies having residency?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: Is that in the long-term goals of all of them?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's not in our short short-term uh business plan.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh definitely would be helpful.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: It has to balance out with the resources you spend on that and what type of uh prop profit you end up you might end up making and uh how much ownership is behind that.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'm not sure it's quite necessary.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I think it would take a ways uh a long period of time before all NLS clips got to that fire.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: And you're already paying so much per player per year.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Wade Wade Weber was telling me that it's 60,000 or 60 or to 70,000 per player per year, and they don't have residency.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, whereas real Salt Lake, they're also around 70,000 a year and they do have full residency.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's just wild.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's also where you live, because LA, you're talking, I mean, in LA they're probably 120.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, that's where I think like some of the biggest challenges come when you start uh measuring, measuring our academies up next to a European academy, for example, like our spend on travel because of the geography of the country.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'd be willing to bet that a lot of that money that uh the sounders are talking about are talking about flight fees, uh bus fees, and things that if you were in uh if you were in at IAX, right, that you'd be playing a Champions League game for similar or less uh travel.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that's where a lot of the cost is probably higher for us.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so it might limit uh the opportunity to do extra things that everyone, of course, would love to do.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: How do you feel?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, were you part of the DA at all?
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: When I when I started with Austin FC, that was the last year of the DA.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I kind of got my feet wet with with that.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: There were definitely uh plenty of directors who had been through the DA and they're much more well-versed than I was.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but then after my year one in Austin, uh COVID hit and uh US soccer pulled out of the DA, and so I was kind of a part of the newly forming uh MLS Next, yeah, which has definitely uh evolved and um you know pleased with the direction it's headed, and it's pretty incredible after five or six years uh with what they've been able to achieve.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: What I love about MLS Next is that Luis will listen and talk to everybody, and they'll he'll listen to you guys in the MOS Academies and he'll listen to the non-MOS Academy coaches, and he's always looking for feedback of how to make this better, how to make this feel uh more um inclusive.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh obviously it's all it's so player-driven and player focused.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas I think that uh sometimes the players get lost in all in in almost everything.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: But here I feel the players are I don't know free is the word, but I feel like there's there's a sense of like freedom with all these kids.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: Even though they're traveling together, they're staying together, and they're a part of something bigger than themselves, but I feel like I don't know.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: I I was worried.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: I was worried about the future of you of US soccer as a whole.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: I felt that we're never going to get there.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I just was always so worried about I and I get in so many fights about like we'll never win a World Cup or MLS is this or MLS is that.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I feel like US soccer is getting to a very healthy point.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is a big driver of why it's so healthy right now.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean the league and Luis and everyone involved with the league is they're they're they're open to evolving, they're open, they're progressive, they're open to evolving, they're they're taking feedback.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there's definitely feedback from multiple sources.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure they're it's not all there, it's not there.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, of course, but uh I think having the humility to be open to change and continue improving, um, that's what's gonna help the the league grow and the and the league offer our our best American players the the highest quality.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I know like in the in the background that there's probably a lot of US soccer fans who are uh uh ready for us to be the best in the world, but it it it takes it takes time and um you have to have realistic goals.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, in my experience, comparing what our what our players receive nowadays versus what they received 30 years ago, it's a different world.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: And so there is for me clear progress and also the level of player.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: The the average elite player now is uh I think higher.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: There there are more there are more elite players, and the the the typical player level I think is it's higher uh than where it used to be.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Now there's gonna be a lot of discussion on like the special player and the creative player uh and those things, but I think we're we're clearly making progress.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um way more players in professional level soccer than there were 20, 30 years ago.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Way more opportunities, uh more players abroad.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_01: So there's some positive signs.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think the pathway is easier now that?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about your own pathway.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: How okay, where did you play in college?
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think the pathway is easier in that there are more opportunities.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there was started with 10 MLS teams, right?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: And Claire Claire's weren't there wasn't a USL.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: There wasn't academies.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: There were professional academies.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I there are way way more resources being applied to youth soccer.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: So there's way more opportunity for sure.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: So in some ways, I think it's easier because there's more opportunity.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: How okay, how did you get into the Mons?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: What was your path?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: And I I skateboarded uh a couple times a week, right?
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: Diff this is a different time.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um a big, a big change in my career and my youth career was when I I made the U17 uh residency program.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: The their second year to you.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_01: So 84.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: So the 80s, 82s were was like Landon Donovan and that crew.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I was part of the next phase.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that was a big, big moment for me.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: I s somehow I slipped into that that program as probably one of the last players.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and from there, you know, we we went to the World Cup uh in Trinidad and Tobago.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I came, I went back home for my senior year in high school, but by then I had college opportunity.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that's a good uh uh a good way of looking at the differences in uh in opportunities.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we had 20 players on our national team roster under 17.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I want to say four to five of those players went directly from high school to pro.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_01: And these are supposed to be the best of the best.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: 20 players, only four or five uh would have been homegrowns, went directly to the professional level.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: The rest of us, including myself, uh went to college.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of those players ended up going in and having a pro career.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but nowadays you're seeing way more than four to five players absolve U17, U18 to become professional.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: But I played, so I left uh I left Newport Harbor in Orange County high school.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I went and played at Cal Berkeley.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: Played at Cal Berkeley.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I did four seasons there.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um after.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_00: Did you guys win a national title?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: No after you uh they wait no, not Cal Berkeley.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: UC UCA UCLA and Stanford were really strong.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think UCLA maybe won one when I was.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it'd be UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara maybe.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: They may have.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but back it back in those days, uh UCLA and Stanford were kind of the teams to be.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think both ended up having pretty good runs.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um pretty sure UCLA won won the championship around that time.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but we we never got that close.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh but there Cal Cal's Cal has produced uh some professional blares.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_01: Mike Munoz, the the staff member I mentioned, we went we actually went to school together.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: We play we play for Irvine Strikers, and then we ended up going to uh to Cal Berkeley together.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: How important is it like not alumni, but yeah, yes, you guys you are.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: How important is it to be an MLS Academy director that's played in the league?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't think it's most haven't.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a variety of types of MLS directors, and some have uh much more uh coaching experience than I do.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I I think I do uh offer a different perspective and a certain pride for the league, right?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: I I want the league to grow and I want MLS to be successful.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I love I love when we see young players dipping their toe into second team and first team opportunities.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I don't think it's critical to to have uh that background, but uh it gives you a different perspective, I think.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I've I've been in the locker room, I know what it's like to be a pro.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I think I can relate to some players in some different ways than maybe someone who hasn't had that experience.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um but what I think what what I think is important for MLS Academies is for staff members to have complimentary skill sets.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: So I I wouldn't want to be on a staff that had only former players and little experience.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I feel I feel fruit to be I've been a part of two academies that had we had a variety of skills and uh we're all trying to achieve you know the similar objective.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: What you oh were you with Alecko in his short time at uh Bradington with the residency?
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: He was only there at the end.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: I think he might have been the land of Donovan Fox.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: He's a couple years, he's a couple years older than me, but no, I didn't I didn't have him.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Do you because I asked him, well, one, I knew somebody that was at well, I coached somebody that ended up being the last residency.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: It was Zach Carroll, okay, who's assisting at Michigan State now.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: He played at Virginia and he then he played at Michigan State, and then he put just played USL for 10 years.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then Callan Kelso, which is closer to our age, he's a little bit older than us.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he was probably in 82 and 81.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and he was at residency as well with Beasley and and Landon Donovan.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you with do you think that US soccer will ever bring that back?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Or do they say MLS?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you guys got it.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I can't speak for US soccer, um, but I think I think it doesn't really have a purpose.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I th I uh I think it would be a waste in some ways.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um I guess I'm biased, but I think MLS clubs are now achieving a similar goal, yeah.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: And there's no think it's necessary.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: And there's 30 of them.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: There it's not one.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe if there's a way to stay stick together before like the U-17 World Cup, maybe they go to Atlanta for two months.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_01: But I just I don't think on a day-to-day basis that it's really necessary because you know clubs are doing such a good job uh at their home base.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: How much staff do you well, how much staff did you guys bring here?
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh oh, on this trip?
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, just on this trip.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have we have 10 10 staff for for one team, and then uh five or six are flying in right now to help the U13, U14s.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_01: So Thursday through Sunday, the U13 and 14s arrived here and they start playing.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: So we have more staff coming.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we have our athletic trainer, we have a strength coach, we have an administrator, we have uh three coaches, and myself and a goalkeeper coach.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: I mean that's I that's that's one of the biggest differences, you know.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I was talking to Larry Sunderland yesterday, and he was talking about when he started out, he started the Chicago Fire Academy back in pre-DA days, pre like 2004, he's talking about, and he was saying he was the coach, he was the he was the physio, he was the goalkeeper trainer, he did everything.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: You learn a lot doing that.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: So do you wish I mean how do you wish that you had this when you were younger?
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: For sure, of course.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I wouldn't be skateboarding as much, but um I think I would have become a better player.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's no there's no doubt.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: With a level of training and uh resources, I so yes.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think the the uh quantity of quality is what's really improved?
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: Or is that really gone to the next level?
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yep.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just because is it because we're older?
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: We're an older nation?
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: Are you were you a first or second generation soccer player of your family?
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, my parents did not play, so maybe that plays into it a little bit.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm always fascinated with areas of the country that are hot bits, right?
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: So Michigan, it's it's it's a lot of immigrant families, but there's a lot of talent, but it's a lot of talent.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Ollie, Ollie Curtis He was one of the best ever to come out of Michigan.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a lot of MOS guys like Justin Miram and uh Steve Clark, those guys, Alexei Lawless, he's a Michigan guy as well.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: But but then St.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: Louis, another very old area, and Seattle, another very old area.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, New Jersey is one of the biggest hotbeds, and then you of course you have LA, which is just crazy with how many people are there.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, I mean, there's more more parents who grew up playing now are uh are starting to be involved with their kids and hopefully grow that grow that love of of soccer for sure.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: So your role how often are you one-on-one or in small group settings with the players?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: Or are you more game model type stuff?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: I would say less that's where our uh director of coaching leads.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: So game model, a style of play, um, individual development plans.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is all for the technical staff.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm uh probably more uh uh 360 degrees view of this, right?
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like trying to keep um a measure of what's what's going on and who are our top players working through the system.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: How can we help them?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: How can we how can we create better systems and and working with our technical staff on uh on ideas together about how we can help those guys?
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm less I'm less so poaching and impacting directly and more so thinking about how is our system and what are we doing to to help these players on the grass.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think you guys have a an identity of a type of player that you're looking for?
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you guys adapt your identity based on the players that you bring in?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think we have a clear identity and a style of play.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think if you watched our game just an hour ago, I think that would be clear.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the connection between that and how the first team plays, uh whether you think that's important or not, is a different discussion.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: But I think that's clear.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think our principles and our concepts are very clear.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: We do have clear profiles, um, and we do look for certain types of players.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: But to our first conversation, uh talking about a 10-year-old or an 11-year-old or a 12-year-old, um we just we want skill sets and we want talent, and uh we we could help mold that player to become the best player in our system or another system at the end of the day.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_01: So um we don't want to kind of cast cast type someone as only this or that.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: At U10, for example, there's a few center backs, right?
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_01: Most most of the top players.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you've ever scouted U-10.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I've trained, but no, no, no, no, scouted.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so a lot of sixes become center backs, a lot of wingers become fullbacks.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: That's yeah, probably pretty common.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um but we we want talent and we want kids with character who are who are there to to learn and grow.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Probably the most important side, which is hardest to scout.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, how how do you communicate what each player's goal is?
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is it uh the individual development or is it the team uh overall goal?
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because obviously there's a youth movement in the MLS, and we're trying to get academy kids in the first teen minutes, and that seems like a like a like an effort by the MLS that is coordinated.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: Is it are you guys being instructed to do anything specific in terms of playing the kids?
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh not really.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we get a lot of good discussion and kind of coaching education through MLS next and Fred Lipka and what they're doing.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_01: So there's you know, seminars and continuing education, but no, they're not they're not telling us how to do our job.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, there's there's freedom there.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um for us uh in particular, yeah, we're trying to be as individualized as possible, while knowing that it's a it's a collective team sport where these individuals need to come together and compete um at an event like this, which is really important.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_01: It's there's learnings that you can take from that.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um but we're meeting with each player about individual goal setting.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: There are checkpoints across the year on how they're how they're getting how they're getting closer, hopefully, to those goals or maybe changing those specific plans.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um But it's really between the coach and and the player at that point, and hopefully the players take ownership of of that process, which is probably the key.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: How many what is the turnover year to year in some of these MLS academies?
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like in terms of okay, the 15s, this year's 15s compared to next year's 16s.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, can you go into that at at all of of how many new players you're bringing in each year or or moving kids on?
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we try to not have too much turnover.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: The there's there is turnover though, that these things happen.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um probably I would say two two to four players are probably leaving an age group uh each year.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that's probably an accurate number.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we have we have um the selection into to get into the RU 15s and 16s, 18s, it gets more and more competitive as you go through that process.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so there's probably uh it's tougher to make RU 15s kind of get into our high school, and then a lot of MOS academies have U18 as a double age group.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: So um those are two two ages competing for one team.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_01: So that's another uh obstacle and opportunity to kind of break break through.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um but we have we have patience with players going through growth and going through changes.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we utilize biobanding um occasionally.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: So uh we're we're we're we're sensitive to not have to try and not have um that much turnover, right?
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: And what okay, how many players from the academy have gone on for first or second team minutes?
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens to the players that don't make that make it to that first and second level?
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: How much of a focus are you putting on the college game?
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm getting a lot of pushback from people about how MLS only cares about developing pros.
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, yeah, that's not that's not true.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_01: I would yeah, I I wouldn't I wouldn't agree with that.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um we definitely value college and we definitely see it uh still as a way as a way to develop as a human and develop on the field.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um and our club still uh you know recruits and signs college players.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: So it's and and we're sending, we're sent there's a ton of colleges out here watching our players, and so it's it's still it's still a pathway for us.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's how we see it.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we and we support our players through that through that process too.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um with the galaxy, we've had we've had Harbor Miller, who's a 2007, um, a recent academy grad.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: He's gotten a decent amount of minutes with our first team, which has been great to see.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, he was playing GA Cup, you know, just two years ago, and he kind of uh he he he went through the pathway of academy to second team to first team pretty quick.
• 37:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that's been amazing to see uh him getting involved with the first team, as well as Mauricio Cuevas, yeah, who predates me.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_01: He wasn't in the academy when I was, uh, but he's getting time with the first team.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's a big jump from the second team to the first team.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_01: But what I'm you what we're really pleased with at the club is our our second team has gotten pretty pretty young in the way we're utilizing uh that system.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's the majority of players are coming from our academy and are now getting valuable minutes at that development stage.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we're really pleased with that.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then the end the end goal is to make our our first team as well.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_01: So pleased with the progress there.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, keep keep trying to get better.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: You guys start at 13 or are you guys younger than that?
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: We start at U13.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: So you guys bet U13.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: Do you recommend like let's say a player is offered a spot?
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you recommend that they come at U13 so that that U15 year is easier for them because of how hard it is to get into that fifty the U15 age group?
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think so.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you if you a lot of the players that have ended up going all the way through our system and to our second team and first team uh started at a young age.
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_01: That's not to say it's the right thing for everyone.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I do think there's a certain level of um emotional maturity that is required uh for a 12-year-old, which is which is tough as a young, young, young kid.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but they have to be ready for that and kind of up for the challenge of competing every day in training as a as a young kid.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: And that that has to be something that they're striving toward and something they can emotionally handle, something the parents can emotionally handle.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I I oh if the player is ready, then we think he's he's ready, and I think it is the best fit to start at that age.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_00: How long does it take a kid to adjust?
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say you're let's say you're a brand new uh 16 or 17.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: How long does it take them to adjust to the style, um, the amount of training that you guys are doing, the travel, obviously, maybe that's new to them as well.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: How long does it take?
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: It it definitely varies case by case for sure.
• 39:52
  SPEAKER_01: Of course, and it depends on their where they're coming from, where they're coming from, what type of environment they're coming from, their their background, their training history, their uh emo emotional stability.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um it I it can take as long as six months, it can take a half season.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: It can we can take from August to December for a player to really get used to exactly what you said.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_01: Training uh frequency, but I think training intensity and like the the standard at training, the competition at training, the the expectation to show up every day and train, train hard.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that's usually the toughest transition.
• 40:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um because if it takes you too long, if you're 17 and it takes you to 16 and it takes you too long to get into that speed, then the adjustment into playing games uh gets pushed back, and that's not great.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully that that adaptation period is uh pre preseason, six weeks, but it can take as long as three or four months.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: When you started Austin, did going right into the DA take some time to get used to that level, or for sure.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I was um you mentioned Sunderland wearing a bunch of different hats.
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, I was I was wearing a bunch of different hats too.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was I was an assistant coach, I was an administrator, I was a scout.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so I myself was learning a lot too at that time.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we we we started a U 14 age group.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think there was probably some intimidation to play the likes of a Houston Dynamo or an FC Dallas who had been around for a long time doing great things in player development.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they smashed us a couple times for sure.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: So uh it took some adaptation as well.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: But as the club um got more staffing, created a better system together, uh added recruitment into the fold.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, thick things uh all the A troops started to adjust to the level.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: But that that experience for me personally in the DA was so short, it was like I learning about what it is by the time it was kind of finishing across one year.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so m most of my experience has been with MLS next.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it's completely different.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it has some the same concepts, but it's the it's it's a lot of different people, and some people that aren't close to it think that it's just the exact same product, just a different name.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like that's not true at all.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's another thing that is not um maybe maybe that's one of the reasons why Luis brings me out to these events is for a little bit more clarity.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and and ML MLS clubs have evolved a ton in that time period, too.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the past five or six years, clubs are putting a lot more resources into scouting, uh homestay programs.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_01: Clubs are identifying players from you know all around the country, uh, more specialized roles, IDP role, specific scouts.
• 42:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's a different world than uh you know 2017, 18 in terms of what what clubs are trying to do.
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_00: And how do you feel about the so who just play?
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: You're said we play so are you 16 played, you 17 FC Delco.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_00: How do you feel about that?
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: About like your youngers playing up an age group.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_01: We we love it.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um each each week is competitive, and so our our each our 15s and and all the ages older than that play one year up.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it it makes the game so much more valuable.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the speed of play, the decision making, the physicality requires our guys to think faster, uh to not get into duels if they don't have to.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think it's been fantastic.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think when you come to the best of the best, whether it's at uh flex a couple weeks back or when you're here, um, now you're talking about the best elite clubs.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and those games are challenging.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I I think it's I think it's for me, I think it's uh appropriate for our 16s and older.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_01: I think the 15s were you we still have you know 14-year-olds and it's a big jump that hasn't maybe hit uh like their second gross bird or what malls the pool hasn't hit that.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so there might be some creative suggestions or things that uh Luis and the group take on for that.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: But uh I would say still say the week to week was was very valuable for for all the groups.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_00: What is your week, like your your daily routine like?
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you could they go to school, but it's not it's not like a normal school day where they're going to school for eight hours and then they train.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: Are they training like in midday or so?
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: Our two oldest teams, 16 to 18s, they they arrive and they might do uh like uh preparation type work, phone rolling, uh taping, and those things.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um we always have gym before training.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so the 18s, they go to the gym before training with our strength coach.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then right after that, they go to the field.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and they might have a team meeting or a team video session after that, around lunchtime.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_01: And for our oldest group, after lunch, the one o'clock to four, they're they're in school.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: School.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's about it's a half day and a half day.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you mix into that like IDP training, or uh, we're really lucky enough to have a cognitive department where we have some of our players go work with a sports psychologist um on how they can help them help themselves uh get better, goal setting, uh dealing with adversity, confidence.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we we we have a lot of resources, and the players uh take advantage of those things across the entire day.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_01: Our day is pretty busy.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh there's always something.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: There's all there's always a training session going on.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um Claire's are one group is going to the gym, the next group's going to the gym, the other keeps getting gym work.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: So our 8 a.m.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_01: to two is pretty busy.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_00: And how many what's your okay?
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: When the DA started, it was all about the training to game ratio.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: And they wanted to have more meaningful games and more training.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: And because a lot of kids and a lot of teens were getting like when we were growing up one to one, yeah, maybe it were uh the ratio.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: So what is your guys' ratio?
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's say let's say you don't have a game this weekend.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: How what does that week look like?
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: How many sessions are these guys getting?
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: We would get uh five five sessions in, and we would probably schedule a friendly.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_01: So we try to stick to that kind of rhythm.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_01: But if we're coming off of a long travel or a heavy competition uh cycle, yeah, we we might do four sessions in a game day.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we're doing four or five sessions plus game day uh each each week.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_00: How many kids outside of California do you do you think you have in the academy?
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_01: My kids outside of California.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: None?
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: Three three to four three to four.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: Do you guys ever send them home like after a week like this?
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: Or like you know, like go home?
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they'll get some holiday periods or yeah, definitely in the holidays, the off seasons.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um maybe if there's a bye weekend, they might get the those days off.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: When is your off season?
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: Is it July?
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's how I view it.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_01: We kind of have two mini off seasons, but July is usually the bigger period.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_01: This year it's different because of the World Cup.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh our season's ending, you know, this week.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_00: May 27th.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_01: A couple days.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_01: So ours will be our off season.
• 47:42
  SPEAKER_01: This year will be June.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's usually July for us.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then you get the four weeks in the holidays, mid mid-December through early January, is a as a mini off season.
• 47:52
  unknown: Wow.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's awesome.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, again, I am it's a six year well, it's really uh take out the COVID year, it's only five years old.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: And imagine what this is going to look like 10 years from now, when it's 15 years old.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_00: And then it's just it's just a process.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: And we gotta be patient.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not gonna be overnight.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, which I think I I think people want.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're still in this like instant gratification.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_01: I agree with you, totally, I totally agree.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: All right, but thank you so much.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: Appreciate it.
• 48:30
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, and I mean this is just an education for me.
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, as much as I mean, I care about my listeners, but this is really about like selfishly, it's about me getting to talk to people like you and learn.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I love it.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_00: But I enjoy it too.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you so much.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for your time.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, are you the 13s come in?
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_00: How did this game go?
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we ended up winning.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_01: Good.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_01: We won two to one, so now you're in the final off, and then yeah, we play Orlando South on Friday, and then yeah, our youngers, our youngers arrive tonight.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_00: Got it.
• 49:04
  SPEAKER_00: All right, man.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, appreciate it.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_00: I hate soccer.