Latest / The BIG LIFE / Notre Dame's Coach Nate Norman Joins The BIG LIFE with Leah and Kate!

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Notre Dame's Coach Nate Norman Joins The BIG LIFE with Leah and Kate! · The BIG LIFE

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Hello everyone and welcome back to the Big Life Podcast. I'm Leah Klinky.
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And I'm Kate Phillips and we're
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so excited to have you guys here today for episode 10 of The Big Life.
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Leah, how did your games go this past week?
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So good. It was a good week for us. We played Duke and we won! Yay!
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So Duke was ranked number three. We were ranked number six. We had a home game,
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huge crowd, like so many, so much of the school came, a bunch of parents,
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a bunch of like young little girls to watch us play.
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So many of the other sports teams. So our stands were filled.
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It was such a fun night under the lights and we played really good.
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We were up, I think 1-0 at halftime and then second half, or maybe we were up 2-0. I don't know.
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Doesn't matter. second half we made a 3-0 and then
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they I guess we
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kind of lost a little bit of focus they scored two goals pretty fast
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back to back and then we were kind of scrambling for the last like 12 minutes
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I think just trying to hold them to two goals so it's 3-2 for like the last
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10 definitely a hard fought battle I mean Duke is very good they have very technical
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players they like to play soccer just pass the ball on the ground.
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So we tried our best to stop them, and we did really well. We missed some chances
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that we could have scored two.
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They did too. So it was a pretty good game and really good for us to score those three goals fast.
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I mean, we could have managed the game a lot better at the end because there
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was like 20-something minutes left, and it was 3-0.
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But they scored two really great goals, I mean, and they have great players.
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So it was a good game, though, super fun.
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Yeah, I mean, overall, just awesome. That was a really good performance from
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us, and we're excited to see what we can do next because—.
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We have a tough schedule coming up. And next week, or I guess this week now,
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our next game is against UNC.
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So they're also ranked. I can't remember their ranking, but they're ranked in
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probably the top 15. So that should be another great game, another game that
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we'll have at home under the lights.
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So that's going to be a good one. So it's hard to kind of like celebrate our
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win because we just got to move on to the next one.
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So great win, but like we're focused on UNC now and just trying to prepare for that game.
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So, but yeah, it was a great week for us last week and we're excited for this week.
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We play UNC and then on Sunday we travel and we'll play Clemson away.
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So that'll be fun. You play on Sunday?
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Yeah, Wednesday, Sunday. Our game is weird. It's on Wednesday.
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So I guess this podcast will actually be out after the game's over.
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So hopefully it'll be an Irish win.
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But yeah, should be a good week. I'm excited.
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How was your game last week or your games last week? And what do you guys have
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coming up these weeks or in this week?
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So we played Tennessee on Thursday. They were ranked 5 at the time.
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We ended up losing 2-0. It was a battle. I mean, they're a really good team. I had a lot of action.
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They just, I mean, they shoot from everywhere. So, like, just being mentally
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ready, I knew going into that game it was going to be hard.
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Do anything I can to try to help my team.
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I would like to say their goals were great. The first one was off a deflection
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from me, so it was, like, just frustrating because you can't really do much.
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Second one, if I could get that one back, I would. The second one, definitely.
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But, you know, they're a good team. They've done well this season.
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So it was good playing them, knowing that we can play with the top five team,
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but obviously would have liked a better result.
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And then we played Kentucky on Sunday, and that game, we were tied the entire game, 0-0.
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It was another battle, very physical game.
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I think Sunday games, we've talked about this, I mean, they're hard.
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I think they are a little bit more physical just because legs are heavy and
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people can get a little chippy.
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That game specifically was very chippy. and then we left it to the last minute,
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minute and a half, and we gave up a penalty in the box and they ended up scoring.
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So we ended up losing 1-0, which was kind of a heartbreaker.
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I mean, that was a game that, like, we knew we needed to come in and win and.
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Obviously didn't get the result that we wanted to, but we do have Mississippi
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State on Friday, and that's another great team.
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So we definitely can bounce back from it.
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Mississippi State has had some interesting results. They just tied Auburn 1-1,
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and then they had beaten Tennessee before.
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So you never know what can happen. It can go either way for any team.
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So we're looking forward to that game and we just have one game so that's just
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what we're looking forward to and hoping we can bounce back and get a win on Friday.
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Yeah for sure I mean anything can happen and it's just important no matter if
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you just won or lost to just move on and focus on the next games because you got more coming.
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Kind of to go off of this I know FSU played North Carolina State also on Sunday
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this past week, and they ended up tying 1-1,
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but North Carolina State is a team that they did not do very good in their out-of-conference games.
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They had some ties and losses to some teams that they should be better than.
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But then they come into ACC play, and we played them last week,
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such a hard-fought battle.
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We scored in the last five minutes to win, and then this week,
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they played FSU they tied 1-1 but they were
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up on FSU 1-0 and then FSU scored
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a great goal in the last 30 seconds so I mean North Carolina State
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is now a team to watch and a team to like be
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on the lookout for as they're tying and almost beating these
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really good teams so I mean that's just another
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testament to how anything can happen and especially once
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conference play starts it's like it's really anyone's game and anyone
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can come out to battle I mean North Carolina State I watched that
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game online and they were battling the whole time like
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sliding blocking deflecting just working super hard
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so yeah I mean anything can happen and
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it's exciting it's an exciting week for both of
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us it is I think also just we've
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talked about conferences a whole different thing you're talking about NC State
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also the amount of goals I
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mean I think about this because this has happened us but
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the amount of goals that have gotten scored in the
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last two minute two to
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a minute left in the game is just like I
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mean it can it can go either way for
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any team any day but that has been very like interesting to me just because
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in conference it's like nobody's gonna like put their foot down off the gas
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pedal while you're playing like nobody's gonna like pull off like you were saying, against Duke.
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Like, everybody's going 100% the entire team.
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I just don't really see that during non-conference. But during conference,
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you just see, like, Bola scored with one minute left.
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I mean, I've seen that multiple times this past week.
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Yeah, definitely. It's important to, like, not lose focus at all if you are
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the team that's winning.
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And, I mean, no one's going to let off the gas. You're playing for championships.
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Like, you're playing for rings.
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So people are people are battling for sure
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yeah I mean my team definitely learned a lot
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by playing Duke especially in the fact that we almost
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lost or like lost control of the game I guess we could have easily tied or lost
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that game just in the end because we did not manage the game very well when
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we were up by few goals so definitely a lot to take away and but we live and
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we learn and we grow and we move on to the next week and the next games because they keep coming.
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Today we have a special guest joining us for this episode, Coach Nate Norman.
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He's here with us today and he is a head coach at Notre Dame.
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He's been the head coach now for eight years and he was named the ACC Coach of the Year in 2022.
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Throughout his time at Notre Dame, he has turned the program around and has
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led our team to a lot of success.
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We've reached the quarterfinals in the NCAA tournament twice in the past three
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years, and also the semifinals of the ACC tournament twice in the past three
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years, with the help of Coach Nate, of course.
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Nate is not only just a great coach, but also a wonderful person.
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He really cares about his players and ensuring their success both on and off
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the field, and he's also a husband and a father to three beautiful young kids.
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So, Nate, why don't you tell us just a little bit about yourself first and your soccer career?
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Well, first, thanks for having me on. I'm really excited to be hanging out with
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you two this evening and talking soccer with you.
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But yeah, soccer has always been a big part of my life. Like many people,
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I'm sure, are listening to this.
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I was able to grow up playing soccer.
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I was born in Kansas, but lived in a lot of places. Started playing soccer in St.
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Louis, Missouri, but spent most of my middle school and high school in Michigan.
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So just north of Detroit is where I
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played most of my club soccer when I was a little bit
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older but was fortunate enough to go to Notre Dame you know
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had a had a wonderful time there played for an amazing coach
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named Bobby Clark who definitely like it's
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probably one of the big reasons why I coach is I love playing for him you know
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he was a wonderful coach but a better even a better person and was able to play
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after college for a few years but now you know I've been blessed to be able
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to come back to my alma mater and coach Notre Dame, which has been a, been a dream.
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I will say like coaching, even when I got done playing, wasn't initially my goal.
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I thought I actually wanted to get into ministry work. That was,
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that was what I wanted to do.
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And, and I had kind of been going to school for that even after college.
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And I got offered a coaching job just kind of randomly out of the blue.
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And it was something that for whatever reason really excited me.
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And I wanted to try it for a year to see what happened. And I absolutely loved it.
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And I'm very happy that I was able to do it because I think in a lot of ways,
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the things that I was passionate about, which I loved soccer,
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but I also loved just being able to hopefully make a difference in people's
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lives and help prepare them for life in general,
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which is a lot of what ministry work is, that was able to be done organically through coaching.
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And I've felt very blessed to be able to have the position now that I have and
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to be able to be in an amazing school and coach a lot of amazing women like you, Leah.
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Well, thank you. How did you get into like college coaching versus like why
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not club soccer coaching or like high school or even professional?
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Like what's special about college soccer, do you think?
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Yeah, I think going back to like what I said, I love my college coach and my
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four years in college were really influential, not only from just a soccer standpoint,
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but I think me just growing and maturing.
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I was probably a little immature my freshman year, even probably sophomore year.
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And I think I need to learn a lot of life lessons. And luckily I had a coach
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that was willing to like, I would say like go in the valleys with me.
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Like when I struggled, he didn't just like write me off. And,
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and, and I felt like, especially during my time in college, I think for a lot
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of people, it's a very influential time in their life.
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And I think when you're a club coach or even coach professionally.
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Yes, you get to run a lot of training sessions and you get to be on the field
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a lot. And it's a lot of tactical video and stuff, which is,
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which is fun. And I enjoy all that stuff.
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But college, you genuinely get to like live life with these,
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with these people and you get to help them through tough times.
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You get to celebrate amazing times. And for me, like, that's what makes college
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coaching so special is, you know, you, we spend a lot of time with our players
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and you, you all go through a heck of a journey during your four years here.
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And, and, and I think that is why I love coaching in college is we get to not
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only coach soccer at a really, really high level.
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Like i actually really believe that like
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playing the acc i think is one of the top three or
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four leagues in the world and that's professionally or college
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and then we also get to you know help you guys through
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the challenges of not only academic life but your social you know life going
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going through not that i'm necessarily super involved with all your social lives
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but if you're if you're struggling like you know we're we're here you know to
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help you through something or and even figuring out what you're passionate about
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in terms of what you want to do after soccer is done is something that I love doing as well.
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What gaps do you like see between high school aged girls and college age girls
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that like girls need to kind of improve on or like gain to smooth out the transition
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coming into college soccer?
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So the first thing I'm going to say, and Leah's probably heard me talk like
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this a lot, but it actually really has nothing to do with like on the soccer field.
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I think a lot of players that come and play at schools like Missouri or Notre
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Dame, they probably are one of the top players from whatever environments that
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they're coming from, whatever club teams or high school teams.
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And their experiences have probably always been, if they're healthy and it's
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a close game, they're going to play as much as they physically are able to.
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And a lot of times going and playing college is the first time people experience
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maybe not playing as much as they would like.
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And I think if I could give like one piece of advice to anybody that's about
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to go play in college over the next few years, it's to think about how can you
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still be a great teammate.
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And make a positive impact on your team, even if you're not playing 60,
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70, 80, 90 minutes a game?
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What does that look like every day in practice? What does that look like during
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the games? What does that look like in the locker room, you know,
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back in the dorm rooms, the apartments?
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Like, how can you still make a positive impact on your teammates?
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And also, how can you measure yourself even outside of just playing time?
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Because I, like, like a lot of players, like I was conditioned just like a lot
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of youth players, like I'm doing well when I'm playing a lot.
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I'm not doing well. I'm not playing a lot.
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And I think there's so much more that's going on. Not that we shouldn't want
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to desperately play, but there's so many better ways to, you know,
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really measure our growth during that time.
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Like I always tell this story, like one of the players that,
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you know, and Leah played with her that played in our program,
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who's really talented player was Corbin Albert.
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There was somebody on our team that was playing behind her.
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There was probably nothing that I could sit with that player and say,
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hey, if you just do this, this, and this for six months, you're going to bypass
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Corbin Albert and play over her.
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But I could definitely help whoever that player was, find other ways to grow
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in their own game and measure themselves outside of playing time.
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And also how can they positively impact their teammates?
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And I think for me, that's something that's really important for young players
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is like, especially players that can go play in the upper echelon of college
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is like, yes, you should want to play and you should desperately want to play
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and do everything you can to earn mints your freshman year.
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But if it doesn't happen, figure out how to be a great teammate.
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Because I'll be honest, like me personally, like I wasn't a great teammate my
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freshman year when I didn't play as much as I wanted. And I had a miserable
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experience because of that.
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And I wish I could go back and have that year back because college should be
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for the best years of your life.
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Yeah, I think that's a great point just to always like you kind of talk about
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our program a lot, like serving your teammates, like being there for your teammates
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on and off the field and just
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doing whatever you can to help them even if you're not getting what you want
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because that is the reality for a lot of the players going into college like
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you said and i feel like also for our team you really prioritize for us a balance
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in life academically socially athletically all of it so.
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Kind of going off of that, although soccer is obviously super important for
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all of our team, it is crucial to have other things in life to value and other things to live for.
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So personally for you, like as a coach, we know you have so many different coaching responsibilities.
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But can you tell us a little bit about kind of how you balance being a coach
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and life outside of your job, like with your family and other things you do?
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Yeah, that's a great question. I think I'm still always trying to find the right
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balance. Like you mentioned, I have a wonderful, beautiful wife and I have three
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lovely children. They're seven, five, and two.
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And I think there's a constant juggling act of like wanting to be the best coach
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and be able to give you all enough to be able to be as successful as you can
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on the field while also being the best husband I can be, the best father.
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You know one of the things that i really try
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to tell myself is like when i when i'm driving home like
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after practice or a game or whatever you know
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had happened is like can i really like kind of clear my head and go home and
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be present you know and being present with my family with my wife and not just
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have my mind constantly thinking about okay what's the next thing you know how
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are we going to potentially win the next game or how am i going to help this
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player manage this player Or, you know, when we do video,
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what are we going to talk about? Or what's the main coaching point?
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And I think that, for me, if I'm being honest, is a challenge.
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I don't do it perfectly. But it's something that I always want to be able to
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do. And I think really, like...
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Players that have, I think people like coaches, players that really do have good balance.
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I think there's a lot of research that shows this have balance in their life.
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And it's not just one thing, like even some of the most successful pros,
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like have other things in their lives that they can.
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Switch off to, you know, whether it's the family, a spouse, whether it's their
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faith, whether it's just something else they're passionate about in their life.
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And I think it's really important And for especially high, high level athletes
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and soccer players specifically to not just have soccer, because as you all
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probably have had, like soccer can be taken away with brief moments,
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whether it's an injury or, you know, it's some disappointment.
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And I think, you know, that's a lesson that I'm always trying to tell myself
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is like, like, I have to be able to balance out my life.
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Other things are my responsibilities. And I think if I do that well,
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it actually will make me a better coach.
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Yeah that's something me and Leah talk about like pretty
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often is we always like check in see how each other
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are doing just outside of soccer because I mean it's
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huge I mean you're obviously a student
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athlete and I mean we talk about you're a student first so you have life outside
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of just being an athlete and soccer won't always be there like you said we've
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I mean we've talked to people about about that and that's a huge thing that
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that definitely I think a lot of younger athletes also can learn a lot about, especially becoming,
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if they want to play college soccer. How do you guys balance that?
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I try to find things just that I like, love to do, like hanging out with my friends.
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We talk, we talk a lot about, like, we haven't really talked much on the podcast,
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but whenever we talk, we do Bible study as a team here at Mizzou.
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I know you guys do that, Leah. I think that's helped a ton with our team,
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but just finding different things that I enjoy that aren't involving any sports
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just because it's a nice mental break a lot. Yeah.
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For sure. Yeah, I agree. I think that's that's wonderful that you guys do that.
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And I think that's I think it's healthy that, like you said,
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you have other things that you can pour in each other's lives with,
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with doesn't have anything to do with soccer, because it can be it can be overwhelming what we do.
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And you have to have that balance. And it puts health but things in perspective as well.
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Yeah yeah for sure I kind of I like
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your point when you were like when I go home like I'm just
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turning my brain off soccer and like just focusing on
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like my family and stuff and I try to do a similar thing and I struggle at it
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a lot because I like to think about what I've done what I can do better what
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I can do whatever before the next training to improve like everything I'm just
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thinking about soccer but I've really been trying lately to just once I'm like
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done with the session like I'm done until the next time.
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And it has helped me like become a better player.
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And when I take rests and take breaks, like for sure, definitely helps me become a better player.
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And yeah, I mean, outside of soccer, we also do the team Bible study,
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Kate, and just do fun things with the team and with my friends here.
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Like tonight we had a little Sunday night at our house. So that was fun. We made brawny Sundays.
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My phone must've been broken when you guys are trying to invite me.
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I don't think the text went through it. Yeah, you know how those phones are
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that, you know, a lot of these texts don't actually ever go through.
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Oh my gosh. Yeah, we like sweet treats here at Notre Dame. We definitely do.
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Yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay, so going back to just being head coach,
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what do you think is the most rewarding part and what is the most challenging in your opinion?
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I think a lot of coaches, I mean, I don't know, maybe this isn't true,
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but I, I, my assumption is a lot of coaches get into coaching for a similar reason.
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We want to impact people's lives, like in its most general way. And I think.
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That is when we see people grow, not only as players,
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but really as people and how they develop into the person that they were meant
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to be and that maybe God had that plan for them and watch them grow through
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adversity and build resilience.
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That, for me, is the most rewarding thing.
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And on the and on the same side like i think a challenge as a coach is like not to be caught up.
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Like just how i i'll like preach to our team
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like hey your identity isn't your who you are as a soccer player you have so
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much more than that but as coaches men as we fall into the trap of thinking
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our identity is like how much we win games or how the world like views us you
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know in that in that way and the reality like i don't i don't actually think
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of any of my friends like that, like that are coaches.
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Like I don't, like if a coach like has a bad season, like I don't all of a sudden
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think, oh, they must've forgotten how to coach or something.
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Like, like, you know, there's just, there's lots of things that can happen.
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And, but sometimes as coaches, like we get caught up in like,
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just, yeah, the, the kind of race of like, I wonder what the world thinks about us.
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Or I wonder, you know, like, gosh, you know, if we, if we don't win games,
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like what's going to happen and this and that.
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And I think a big challenge is just like still focus on like
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the foundation of like what what are we really doing here and
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i i think being able to like really take care of yourself as a coach like i
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think honestly and and we probably haven't heard coaches talk like this like
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i actually like mental health is a huge problem for coaches like i think coaches
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turn into people that they don't want to be end up being because they don't
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actually take care of themselves and i think for for coaches like having that
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balance in their life and always
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you know going back to like why did i originally get back into it and resetting
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themselves and taking a deep breath, like if they start to get like upset or
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emotional, like I think is so important for like the longevity of just like
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health as coaches, because I think for a lot of.
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You know, kind of me and my colleagues, like I always try to urge myself and others is like,
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you know, we have to be able to take care of ourselves because if we don't,
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we're not going to be able to give you all like what you really need and deserve
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like in this in these challenging moments.
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So you talked a lot about I mean, you're talking about mental health and even
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just like social media as a whole a little bit. I think that's become a big
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part, a lot of, I mean, as college soccer has grown, media coming with it.
24:14
How have you seen just women's soccer continuing to grow and evolve,
24:19
specifically like college soccer?
24:21
Yeah i think in some
24:24
ways it's been great like it
24:27
has evolved in some ways like we need
24:30
to do more and we need to be better if i'm just being
24:33
really honest like i think us as coaches and i'm a younger coach but like like
24:39
we we have to be more aggressive and like making sure that like you you all
24:46
get the attention that you need and deserve you know not at a national level
24:50
whether it's you know, getting on, you know.
24:52
TV more, whether it's getting more attention focused on our NCAA tournament,
24:56
our final four and be able to push that through the NCAA.
25:00
Like I, I actually believe that some sports over the last 20,
25:03
30 years have, especially on the women's side, have done it way better than us.
25:07
And, and it's disappointing. Like, not that I am mad.
25:11
I don't want to take anything away from them, but like you look at like,
25:14
if you go back to like the mid to late nineties, I do think that women's soccer,
25:19
at least on the women's side of the NCAA was on par with maybe any other women's sport in the NCAA.
25:25
And now like women's basketball has, you know, that they do get more attention and things like that.
25:31
And they're on ESPN there that they show more of their games because I do think
25:35
that maybe people have fought harder. You know, I think, I think volleyball is fighting like crazy.
25:40
And I think we have to fight just as hard, if not harder, because I think the
25:45
product that we put out in the fan base that's out there is,
25:47
is there, but we have to be able to do it in a way that is, is way more aggressive than we have been.
25:53
And, and, and I think that's something that I'm, I'm always thinking about and
25:56
how can, you know, college soccer evolve to, cause I think it's such a great,
26:01
it's such a great product on the field.
26:04
And it's also such a wonderful experience for you all.
26:07
Like there's no other place in the world where you can play at this level and
26:10
also continue to grow as people and be able to get this degree that,
26:15
you know, will, will set you up for the rest of your life.
26:17
And I think, like I said, I think the upper echelon of college soccer is on
26:22
par with pretty much like any league in the world.
26:26
And I really do believe that. And I think, I think if, if we put more effort
26:30
and we're out there more, like, like the sky's the limit of what we could do.
26:35
Yeah, that's a really good point. That would be cool to see women's college
26:39
soccer continue to grow and evolve in that way.
26:42
And I feel like it'll be interesting with all of these new rules and the house
26:47
settlement and how everything plays out in the next few years.
26:51
So hopefully we'll see college soccer grow and grow for the best,
26:56
really. So last few questions to just end the interview more specifically just about Notre Dame.
27:02
What is your favorite thing about being the head coach specifically at Notre Dame?
27:07
Like like i said i i went to notre dame and i
27:10
so i and i loved my experience not because
27:13
like every day was just this awesome like wonderful
27:16
thing but i think notre dame is this for me it was the perfect place like like
27:21
i wanted i want a place that i could be stretched in every aspect of my life
27:25
and you know not only from soccer not only school but i could be stretched you
27:30
know who i was a person and figure out the things i was passionate about but
27:33
what i love most about notre
27:34
name is I it's a challenging place that will
27:38
push you and stretch you but if you if you fail if
27:41
you stumble like I always felt like when I
27:44
was a player there was an army of people that were able to help me through that
27:47
and I really believe like Notre Dame has a soul like the school itself has a
27:51
soul I think the people that work at Notre Dame don't just come to work in Notre
27:55
Dame for just a job I think I think they're willing to go above and beyond and
27:59
I even feel that you know being on the other side as a coach, because, you know, I.
28:03
You know, if there's ever even just like a personal struggle that I have,
28:06
like the amount of people that are willing to go above and beyond for you is, is amazing.
28:12
And, and, and that, that's, that for me is what makes them special.
28:15
Like, I mean, Notre Dame is a great place. Like there's nice,
28:17
like we have beautiful facilities and, you know, there's great support and funding
28:22
and things like that. And like all that stuff is fine, but it's not,
28:24
I don't think that stuff is what makes places truly special. And I think just the.
28:30
The spirit and the type of person that I think comes to work at Notre Dame makes
28:34
this place really, really unique.
28:37
Because I just, I never felt like I was just a number or an asset to people.
28:41
I felt like I was truly like someone that people cared about that,
28:45
you know, when I did struggle, that they were willing to help me through those struggles.
28:49
Yeah, I would completely agree. And I second that. I think
28:52
what's special about Notre Dame does is definitely
28:55
it's the people like it's the community of the people and how
28:59
much people care about you and about everything you do
29:02
so i would definitely agree with that what is
29:06
your favorite memory on or off the field it can be
29:08
anything from our team like this year
29:11
just this year yeah so actually any
29:15
of the years but like just a memorable memory i
29:19
have a lot of good memories you know i don't know
29:22
if it's just because like it was it was sort of recent we talked
29:25
about it you know when i like i
29:28
think an on the field memory that was really
29:31
really unique and like special because
29:35
i felt like it was a big moment for like my time here as a coach you know we
29:39
like my first you know three or four years here like we were we were a good
29:44
team but i don't know if we were a great team and we played this game in 2022 and we played Virginia,
29:54
who I think was ranked like second in the country at the time,
29:57
really good team. And I.
30:00
We just like, like we won the game, but it was like kind of how we won it.
30:05
Like, it wasn't like one of those games where like, okay, they just pounded
30:09
you and you just figured out a way to like grind out.
30:12
Like we, we did like play really well in the game.
30:15
And I remember, you know, one of Leah's teammates, Ellie Ausbeck after the game,
30:20
like she, she like was saying like in passing, she goes, oh my gosh, like we're really good.
30:25
And I actually felt like that was a really great moment for like our program because,
30:30
you know sometimes i think even if you have like the
30:33
talent like you need to convince yourself and i think the team like
30:35
believed okay like we can play with anyone and kind of like i was telling our
30:41
team like i almost look at like everything that happened before that moment
30:45
and then there was other thing that happened after that moment because everything
30:48
sort of changed after that like like there wasn't anybody that we played against
30:52
that i felt like we were like oh gosh Like, you know.
30:55
Like, I hope we can just hold on in this game, but like it gave us like a belief
30:59
that, you know, maybe wasn't really happening before that game happened.
31:04
So like that, that was like an on the field thing.
31:07
I mean, off the field, honestly, like some of my, my best memories,
31:11
like, and Leah, like says this, I think the team, maybe when they first know
31:15
me there or get to know me, they're like surprised by this.
31:17
Like I love when on road trips and I get to like, we like walk and go find like
31:23
ice cream places and stuff like that.
31:24
First, I think they're like, oh my gosh, like you caught me like getting ice
31:27
cream. And I was like, oh no, I'm just mad that you didn't invite me.
31:30
You know, what's, what's going on here? So I, I mean, I love like that part of it.
31:34
I love like our game nights that we have as, as a team.
31:38
Like I, you know, I, I love, I love all that, that stuff.
31:41
I have such wonderful, wonderful memories and those, those ways too. So, yeah. Yeah.
31:47
Was there another question in that i couldn't remember i kind of
31:50
started talking no that was it like your favorite memories yeah
31:54
those are those are good memories definitely that virginia game
31:56
that was a good game that was my freshman year so
31:59
that was and they were like a that that year
32:02
like they were phenomenal too so like i said it was like
32:05
against a really talented team and we played
32:08
really really well that game yeah yep
32:12
i would agree and then yeah off the field i think
32:15
i've mentioned in these podcasts before like we always go
32:18
get ice cream and i've definitely mentioned game nights too when we were talking
32:21
about our pre-season and stuff so yeah it's it's it's a time where they like
32:26
basically just make fun of all the coaches and all things up being just like
32:30
a roast of us so but that's okay i can i can take it you know yeah it's all love yeah.
32:39
What are you looking forward to the most the rest of the season then?
32:44
You know, like this might sound like a cliche answer, but I mean, I'm talking like this.
32:48
It's like just the journey of like whatever happens, happens,
32:53
like and how we can respond and react.
32:56
Like obviously you want to win each game. But like, for me, like the,
33:00
like each, each game, each practice is like a new, like little life form of
33:07
its own that like you, we have to respond and grow in at each time and everything's
33:12
going to bring like a different challenge.
33:13
And I'm just looking forward to watching our group take on those challenges
33:18
and really grow through, you know, whatever the season throws at us,
33:23
you know, and, you know, whether it's a good thing or,
33:25
you know, it's some sort of adversity, which hopefully is just.
33:29
You know, a little bit of fertilizer to help us grow a little bit more.
33:32
But you know like we have we have a tough game on.
33:35
Wednesday we play North Carolina and like excited
33:38
to play you know against a really good team and you
33:41
know and we'll you know we'll go after it as hard as
33:43
we can and we'll analyze whatever happens after the game and
33:46
figure out how we can grow and get better at it and you know really doing
33:49
that each game and and in watching our team do
33:52
that like and I I know I'm like rambling here but I think
33:55
as as a coach and I talk about this
33:58
to our team a lot i think every year there's like
34:01
these inflection points that you don't really necessarily
34:04
know when they're going to come but they're super important moments
34:07
like like i'll actually say so i'm talking like i don't think
34:10
leah you were on this team and i can't imagine k
34:13
you're on this team but in 2021 we actually played
34:16
missouri at missouri and were you
34:19
on that team leah no that was before you a year before yeah
34:23
and they beat us three to two and like
34:27
and they beat us like fair and square like they were they were
34:30
better than us like they and we didn't
34:32
play very well we didn't play a lot of energy and like we could have
34:35
like felt sorry for ourselves we could have made
34:38
a bunch of excuses and pointed fingers at each other and
34:41
i just remember like afterwards like i love the way our team reacted i think
34:44
we end up going on like an 11 game on beaten streak after that and it was like
34:48
a great moment for our team to to grow i don't think you need necessarily a
34:51
loss like that to grow i think you can still grow through wins but i do think
34:56
a lot of times there's these adverse moments that happen that either can make or break teams.
35:01
Like it could be a tough loss. It could be like, you know, interpersonal conflict within a team.
35:05
It could be an injury to like a key player, like that just kind of breaks the
35:09
team or it could actually rally the team.
35:11
You know, it could be, you know, like I said, how players maybe respond that
35:14
aren't playing as, as, as much as that, that they want.
35:17
Are they someone, is there a group that's tearing the team apart or is there
35:20
a group that's actually in the back that's bringing the team forward and encouraging
35:24
the team and bringing an amazing amount of energy every day in practice.
35:26
And for me, like what I'm looking forward to is like, is, is.
35:31
Tackling whatever one of those challenges can come
35:34
and be excited about it and and hopefully
35:37
grow from it that you know we can use that inflection
35:40
point to help us get better and better and better I think
35:43
that is a great point and yeah you talk about like what do you yeah you're like
35:49
talking about these inflection points to us like throughout the season and they
35:52
can either like you say they either like make or break a team so I think that's
35:56
important and it's just how the team can respond to any adversity because it's
36:00
not going to be smooth ride.
36:02
It's not going to be a straight line through the season, win,
36:05
win, win. Like that's just not how it works with any team.
36:08
So yeah, it's just how you respond and come back and those are things that do well.
36:14
I do believe, and I've said this to you guys before,
36:17
and Kate, I don't know if you can relate to this, but I think
36:20
that the majority of college soccer teams
36:24
don't actually get better as the year
36:26
goes on they actually get worse i think it seems like
36:29
the first like half the season you get everyone's best
36:32
shot but then you start playing teams in the second half the season
36:35
and you can tell some teams
36:38
have either grown and use that adversity and they're even
36:40
better and there's other teams that you can just say okay they're they're
36:43
over it like they're just over at this point
36:46
and it's always the challenge as a group as coaches as players is like like
36:52
no matter what happens like can you continue to to to grow and and use whatever
36:58
it throws at you to you know become a stronger and better and more resilient
37:03
and you know team that as you can be and I think.
37:06
That's really important and but I also know it's tough when maybe things
37:09
aren't going your way but that's also life and that's
37:12
wonderful about what we get to do is it's a microcosm of you
37:16
know what we get to what we're going to experience when we're all done playing
37:18
soccer yeah right yeah for
37:22
sure so I mean that's the end of the interview unless
37:25
you want to say anything else but thank you
37:28
so much for joining us today and letting us interview we learned so much about
37:32
you and your coaching and kind of how to live a balanced life we talked a lot
37:37
about the value of just women's college soccer and all and we're just so excited
37:42
to see kind of what you and Notre Dame in us we accomplished this year.
37:47
I'm so lucky to have a coach like you and so grateful.
37:51
So again, thank you for joining us tonight.
37:53
Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah, no, thank you guys for having me.
37:57
And good luck to you guys, Cade. And I know Steph really well. I love Steph.
38:02
And you guys have a great coach. And I'll say she's someone I always actually
38:06
really do admire and look up to and has been really good to me.
38:09
So I know you guys are in great hands. And I know you guys have done well so
38:17
far. And I know you've got some big games coming up. So I wish you guys the best of luck.
38:21
Yeah, thank you. Steph actually had some very kind words as well to say.
38:25
She was talking about going to ECNL events and just she really likes sitting
38:28
next to you. And you guys share, she said, do you guys share like some books or something?
38:33
Yeah, she, yeah, we always give, we always give each other.
38:36
I actually like, yeah, I'll tell her like some of the books I've read over the
38:40
last year and she'll tell me some of hers. And I always feel like I can get
38:43
some good book recommendations and stuff.
38:45
And we have a lot of the same interests and passions. So obviously coaching,
38:50
but even other aspects of our life.
38:51
So she's always someone, like I said, that I really look up to and admire.
38:55
And I think she's got a lot of wisdom and I really do appreciate her. Yeah.
39:00
Well, it was really nice getting to meet you. Yeah. Good luck with the rest of your season.
39:04
Get to learn a lot about your guys' team. And it seems like you guys are doing
39:08
super well. So keep it up.
39:11
Yeah. Thanks, Kate. All right. I'll see you guys. Thank you for having me.
39:15
Yeah, of course. Thank you, Nate. It was awesome getting to talk to Nate.
39:19
So thank you for bringing him on. He's, I mean, he seems amazing as a coach.
39:25
One of the takeaways that I had from talking to him was when he was talking
39:30
about mental health related to coaches.
39:34
Recently, obviously mental health has been a huge thing in college athletics in life in general.
39:43
But I feel like you don't think
39:46
about coaches mental health when you
39:49
think about it as in the college athletic sense that I mean they deal with almost
39:57
as much as we do and we just kind of are focused on like our lives and playing
40:04
and school and whatnot and you don't think about checking in with your coach.
40:08
But him saying that just kind of opened my mind a bit. Obviously,
40:13
we always want our coaches to be doing well. And.
40:17
Life in general but I think him saying that
40:20
was something that I never really thought about I don't know
40:23
if that's something you've thought about before yeah I
40:27
think that was a really interesting point like you said mental health like a
40:31
few years ago wasn't even really talked about within college athletes but now
40:35
it's definitely kind of arisen to the media and people are finally starting
40:39
to talk about it which is great and it's definitely needed because we go through so much stress.
40:44
We go through so many stresses in soccer, out of soccer, in our daily lives
40:48
and academics, everything.
40:50
But like you said, coaches go through the same thing and they have their lives outside of soccer.
40:56
They have their families and everything outside of soccer, along with everything
41:00
they do inside of soccer, everything they do for their team.
41:03
They have to play like plan training sessions. They have to go fly across the
41:08
country to go recruiting on some random weekends, like they have so much on their plates too.
41:12
So, and I have never even really thought about that either, but I'm glad that
41:17
Coach Nate talked about that.
41:18
And I think like mental health within coaches and within the coaching community
41:24
should be talked about more and should be given more attention for sure.
41:28
Just as it is to the athletes.
41:30
And I really hope that the coaches and advisors and strength coaches and everyone
41:37
who works with teams have the resources available to help them with their mental
41:41
health and just to make sure that everyone,
41:43
again, is having a good balance in their life because it shouldn't just be work, work, work.
41:48
Like you have to take breaks, you have to do stuff for yourself.
41:50
So that's really important.
41:52
I think one of my biggest takeaways was just him talking again about just the
41:58
balance that you must have in your life as a college soccer player.
42:02
He talked a lot about just taking breaks, taking time for yourself.
42:06
Like he even asked us like what do you guys like to
42:09
do outside of soccer like I thought that was great like he's super interested
42:12
in that and that's what I definitely like have I love having him as a coach
42:17
because he's he cares about us so much more outside of soccer and he's interested
42:21
in asking us about these things and hearing about our stories and our academics he asked about school.
42:28
Whenever I go into, like, meetings with him or we have, like,
42:31
we'll have, like, a preseason meeting, like, an in-season meeting,
42:33
like, every, like, an individual meeting with the coaches.
42:36
And one of the first questions he always asks us is, like, how's academics going?
42:41
And then he'll ask us, like, have you been involved in any community service?
42:45
If he knows, like, you're in a relationship, he'll be, like,
42:47
how's your boyfriend doing?
42:48
Like, how's your family doing? Like he asked all these questions just to make
42:52
sure that everything outside of soccer is also good because,
42:56
I mean, that matters just as much as soccer.
42:58
So I think that's been really valuable to me as a player to have a coach who
43:03
really like sees me as a whole person and not just for my soccer abilities.
43:08
So I think that's great. And I think that's really something that people need
43:13
to look forward to, need to like look for in college coaches when looking at schools.
43:18
And yeah, because some coaches just probably only care about the statistics
43:24
and their money and how much they make.
43:27
And they're more selfish and just care about their program, but not like each
43:31
individual girl as a person.
43:33
So I think that's really interesting and something that people should look forward to in coaches for sure.
43:40
I definitely agree. that's something my coaching
43:43
staff again like when we have individual meetings the
43:47
very first question is how are you doing how are
43:49
you doing today it's yeah how are classes have
43:53
you done exactly the exact same thing you said um how's community service how's
43:57
your family just checking in our coaches know that soccer is hard so they want
44:04
to make sure that we have other things also that are going well or even if things outside of.
44:11
Soccer aren't going well, then they might know that there's a reason that you're
44:15
maybe down someday or just being able to have a person, a personable relationship
44:21
with your coach is something that's huge.
44:25
And that I think talking to Nate, I think you guys kind of have that.
44:29
I have it with my head coach and my assistant coaches as well,
44:33
that I'm able to tell them if there's something outside of soccer that's maybe
44:37
bothering me that may be affecting me that day or is a reason that I'm not 100%,
44:43
but building that relationship first and then a coach relationship is huge.
44:51
Yeah. When you're looking at colleges, that is something that I definitely am
44:58
happy that I chose a program that they take very serious.
45:03
Yeah. Yeah. And just care about you as
45:06
a whole person and just how
45:09
you're doing and then like they're willing to provide the support
45:12
for you like if you're not doing well in classes or if you're not doing
45:15
well socially or something like they'll help you out and help you
45:18
through that so I mean I think that's great and it
45:21
sounds like both of our coaches are similar probably because they're
45:24
friends at CDSL so yeah I
45:27
mean that sounds great I'm glad we're both at programs where our
45:31
coaches are like that and really care about us and the
45:34
team of course in soccer but definitely care
45:38
about us as human beings too so that's that's
45:41
good so I think that's it for this week I mean next week we have yet again another
45:46
week of exciting college soccer but I mean thank you all for listening to this
45:51
episode of the big life podcast reach out to us if you have any questions and
45:56
we'll be back next week so until next time,
46:00
we'll see you guys later. Bye. Bye. Good luck.