Latest / I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth / I Hate Soccer #133 - Kyle Grew, Midwest United Girls Academy Aspire Director

Transcript

I Hate Soccer #133 - Kyle Grew, Midwest United Girls Academy Aspire Director · I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Kyle Grew is a staff coach at Midwest United, and he is the director of the Girls Academy Aspire program from U13 to U19.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: He's actually in the middle of his B license.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: We go heavy into his B and into just his history, and we just go over his career.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_02: This is the sixth and final episode of my partnership with Midwest United.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: I enjoyed every single episode.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: I hope you enjoy getting to know Kyle.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: I hate soccer.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_03: I never flew.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_03: I never went further than Kentucky for the most part.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I even with my Vardar team, I don't think we went any further than like it was basically Kentucky, right?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like we did like uh what is like the King's Hammer event now.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's what we did.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: That was the farthest we went.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: And like uh uh Yeah, it's it's about the same.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: No, we we went to USA Cup.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: USA Cup was the furthest I went.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: In Minnesota?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, was the furthest I ever went as a player.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: You played at Vardar?
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I played at Vardar North?
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Essentially.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: It was uh with Drago.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't with Drago.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: I did know Drago very well though.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like I grew up with Drago.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like I because he ran the uh um obviously he was at Saginaw, right?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: He was, he was at Saginaw Valley, but he ran like um they would run like leagues out of this in Mid.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was in Midland.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um and he would run leagues out of like uh it's basically like a horse barn or whatever, and they they put turf in there and like we'd play and like but he would run stuff like and we would go, we'd play it'd be pickup days, but also you could like they would run leagues in there, like because it was like a like I mean it was probably like 11, it was probably an 11v11, maybe just like it was a small 11v11 field, but right, you know, so like I was around Drago a lot and like actually uh like the connection I made with Drago is like my mom actually knew Drago really well because my mom ran a like my mom long history was 7-Eleven.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, like owned she owned a 7-Eleven and um but like she worked for the corporate office for a long time and Drago every day before one of the ones that she managed before she owned one, like she'd go in there.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so then when my mom worked for the corporate office, she was there and he knew her already.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so like when they were doing like for like the they had like a big 7 7-Eleven sponsored the tournament.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, the Sagan All 7-Eleven tournament.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: We went every single year, yeah.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so Drago obviously was part of helping put that on because he was big in the community, right?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, so that's how like we knew about things going on.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: That was my favorite tournament.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: It was great.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Got free Slurpees after?
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely, Slurpees all oh my god, yeah, it was pretty competitive too back in like my day.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, yeah, like even when I was playing, I remember we play teams, like there'd be teams from this side of the state that would come there.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I remember fire, like obviously, like all the iterations have changed and chopped and changed and stuff like that.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I I mean there was teams from this side of the state, there'd be teams from Detroit, um just all over the place.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: It and it's crazy to think about.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like now you're really only getting them there for State Cup, and even then, you're I mean, I think we all know kind of what State Cup is nowadays, right?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's a bit of a shame, but you're not really getting that over in Saginaw anymore, right?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Which is crazy because like you know, obviously Saginaw is like kind of my competitor all my entire life, right?
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like whether it was playing or uh coaching over there, but like the the I don't think the grass is actually that great.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: I've always said this, but the facility, I mean the complex itself is massive.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's a there's a lot of fields that look like this.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's it was it was funny.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like we we uh yeah, they I the fields are are treacherous at times, but like I mean it has I mean now they've even added on since I mean definitely since either of us were like playing, like I they have before it was just like what was out front, and they've added a whole back section, they've added like six fields, right?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: So and those are like the best fields, yeah.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because they're the newest, right?
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I mean I think it goes up to like 24 fields or something like that, right?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's insane.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_03: Last night I I haven't been there in a long time.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_03: They were hosting regionals, yeah.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: When regionals still mattered, and my cousin played for Sporting KC.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, nice, yeah.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: And he was up there with their you know, that team or whatever.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: But uh, how's your bead going?
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's going, man.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: I just recorded, I just recorded.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Nah, it's it's good.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: It it is good.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's one of those things where it's just like it's just you add it on to everything else that's going on, and like it makes that makes it harder.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that's kind of the idea of it, right?
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're supposed to kind of you know, you're at this point for the most part, all the coaches are like pretty full-time guys, and not all for sure, but like, and so then you add it into what is typically, I mean it's it's youth soccer, right?
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you're full-time, like you probably wear seven hats.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's usually the case.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so then you add it on to the schedule.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: But other than that, it's been good.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: We're we go back to our in-person, our second in-person, like first week of November.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, um, I just recorded my training session this week.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully that went well.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it went, it went fine.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, there's always got to be some kind of little audio issue.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I had it connected to my phone and do not disturb, and someone decided they need to call me twice, so then it like broke up the audio.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, it's other than that, though, it's it's good.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I I mean the zoom calls kill me.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: I I I hate the zoom calls, but the in-person, just like in the C and things like that, I think the in-person is is incredible to me.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I think just getting around different coaches, getting around the instructors, and just like being in it, like I I actually I learned so much more.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_03: What goes on during the Zoom calls?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like that it's their slide deck.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: They go over the slide deck.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we'll um we'll do like breakout rooms and so like those are not bad, where you like you go in with like maybe three, maybe two other coaches, you talk about the maybe it's the prompt, maybe it's like what you're doing in like last time we did it was we were talking about what our sessions were gonna be, right?
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I was actually in with two guys that had already done theirs because they're high school coaches, so like their schedule's a little different, so they needed to get their session recorded faster.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so you know, we we go over those things, you brainstorm a little bit, you give feedback and a little bit of peer review, which which is nice.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, those things are not bad, but just like and again, I have I have like the instructors we have are great, like they're I mean, they've been doing it forever.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: Louis Matheus, which is out of like Rockford, and then Vince Gansberg, which is out of Indiana, yeah, exactly.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: I knew one of them would hit, right?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, but they're they've been around.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: I love Vince.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: I they're great, they're great guys, and so like they're incredible.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, but like I think they would tell you the same thing.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's it's the in-person is just so much better than the because like they're just reading off what US soccer wants them to go over, like like for the B.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's like you're just kind of sitting there watching, and it's like it makes you think like, God, I imagine if we were students during COVID when that's all school was.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't, I wouldn't have learned a thing.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because I I struggle.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: I struggle with it right now.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_03: Last time when I was here with Erwin and you were in Chicago, was that the first that was that the very start of everything that you do?
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: So we started in July.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: We we started like with Zoom calls in July every Sunday.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like we had some, we had we had to do some like obviously like homework and things like that before.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: But like that in person was where we really kind of started to kick everything off, like like uh in terms of like real assignments, like recording the sessions, building the sessions, building that's all before your first in-person week.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: It it isn't.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that was how it was for the C.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: So actually, I'm really I'm happy that they do it the way that they've done it, they've done it now, where before we had to like do a lot of that stuff before you go.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: But now it's like you do some things to kind of like that were more that are more like not graded, just like, hey, do it first, then we meet, and then it comes, then after we've met in person and really got to like hammer everything out, like them tell us kind of, you know, then give us instruction on how to do these things, then we record our sessions, then we, you know, do our more like in-depth IDPs with players, and then we do our well, like I think in a couple three weeks, maybe um like I think three or four weeks we have to record our game, right?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like we record a game and then our halftime talk and post or pre-game talk, halftime talk, post-game talk, right?
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, gotta do all those things.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: But at least we've gone and discussed what they're actually looking for.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Where I think before it's like, hey, do it, and then we'll just tell you everything you've done wrong now.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, it feels like that's defeats the purpose a little bit.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like, isn't that a little backwards?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, wait till we've just messed it all up.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I took my B back in the days when it was just nine days, and you just had to prove that you can coach their way, and it's like okay.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: It's basically just you gotta do like what they want to hear back then, and now I feel like it's just so much better.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it's a lot more professional, it's more like the UEFA model.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but I mean how are you are you learning anything like groundbreaking from that?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_03: Or is it mostly the mentors that you have here and the mentor who is your who is your don't you have to have a mentor for the B?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's like somebody that was not not necessarily for the A.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's just for the A.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to have like a on paper who your mentor is.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: At least like I they haven't asked us or done anything like that.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I think like if you want to coach long term, you better you should you better have some mentors.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean that's honestly that's why I'm at Midwest.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: No, no offense to previous club, but like kind of all the people I looked like I looked at as mentors had left, and honestly, pretty much they're all here.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're all here anyway.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: So um, and but um no, we don't we don't really have to have that.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, like, you know, I I no, I think to answer your question, do I do we learn anything groundbreaking?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: Not necessarily.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of it is like, you know, things that you've experienced already, uh, if you've been coaching long enough, right?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm going on a decade of coaching, like I've learned a lot of the things that we talk about, but it is like maybe what it does is it just like puts a puts a different filter on the lens that you've been looking through.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you can look at things a little different.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing I will say that like I've never thought about, and probably because I'm not smart enough to think about it without being told is like the sports science stuff, right?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like the load management and like those type of things.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And like I I had an idea of like, hey, these kids are looking a little fatigued, right?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, let's taper back.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I I know those things, right?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I, you know, I've coached in college, I've coached, you know, like different levels and things like that.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so, but like actually putting numbers attached like to things and like really being able to like look at those things through like an actual science basis is like that's like okay, wow, all right, I need to like actually lock in and listen to this because I wouldn't have a clue otherwise, right?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that that's probably the the closest thing I would say that to like groundbreaking stuff for for me, right?
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm like I'm just speaking for me.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think the the actual coaching and different things like that is like it's good, and I think when I go there, it it refocuses me to like spend a little bit extra time, maybe like planning sessions, planning the week, right?
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: But nothing that's like I have to I wow, I have to revamp the entire way I would do everything.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: Nothing nothing like that.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_03: What about IDPs?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like, are they really focused on the IDPs and everything like that?
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_03: Because I actually posted this this morning.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: I was out in Utah, I had Caitlin Young on.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, she is a U, she's like the U16 and U17 women's national team or youth national team assistant coach.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, yeah, she's a coaching educator, she's uh um FIFA coaching educator developer.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_03: It's nuts.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_03: And she was talking about how when she was scouting, she was trying to find a certain type of player.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and then and and that goes into the youth national team.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: And then the next week she would be in coaching education, and they wouldn't try to teach you how to develop the players that the youth national team is looking for.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I kind of there's no correlation, but because I feel like a lot of licensing is about team tactics, obviously the art of coaching and learning how to put a session together, but that's at more the lower levels.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: But go into like what the the B is doing with IDPs.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh honestly, it's like so the C, and I I took the C not that long ago.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like I I took it two springs ago.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Where did you go?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I was actually in Illinois.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: So back to Illinois.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um we we were supposed to take this B in Michigan, but the B in Michigan actually got canceled.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: So three of us were in it, and then it got canceled.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Luckily, I took my seat in Illinois with um Phil Noor, who was like, who runs now what he does is he runs all of the he kind of is the guy that puts on a lot of those things.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: He he was working for soccer, he's worked for like different clubs, but um he I just out of the blue texted and was like, hey, we were supposed to be in one, I see one.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Is there any chance that you can get us in?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like, let me double check, but yeah, I think so.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: So like he was able to get us in, but we didn't go over IDPs at all.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, we went over the individual players and things like that.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: In the C.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we like, but we didn't go over the actual like like IDP like process, right?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like how to like sit down with the player, how to like, you know, we we went over how to help every individual player, things like that.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: But that I think we that's a much different topic than like breaking things down, right?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's not like on the field, it's off, it's off the field, right?
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's like how do you not only give them like the the feedback that they need, the constructive criticism they need, tell them the things that they're doing great, right?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: But how do you also help them put together a plan to where, hey, these are my goals?
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, here's these are your goals, how do you get to these goals?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: And like that's that's what like we're trying to work towards with the B license, which is you know, the IDPs.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Luckily, again, it's something I've been doing since I was in my maybe third, fourth year of coaching, is doing IDPs and like and trying to I used to be just straight one through five.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_03: Here's where you rent, here's here's the score I'm gonna give you, and right, you know, just like the normal like evaluations that we always kind of and now they're more.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: I I I've gone away from the scores.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't I don't think it's actually ever helped.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like I didn't think it helped my players.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: It some players, right?
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like you have the the kids that are wired a little different, and they're like, Oh, I didn't get the score I wanted, and so they work really hard on that aspect.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: And and so in that regard it did work, but I'm like, I what are they working towards?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just giving them the five, like maybe it's it's probably like ten categories of things.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: I've given them an arbitrary score.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: They don't know where that comes from, and let's be honest, most coaches don't know where that's coming from, they're just kind of guessing.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, hey, you're a you're a three out of five in your you know passing and receiving.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's like based on what?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Most of these kids are one if we look at the whole grand scheme of the game.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: But like, you know, I'm not exactly right.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if you look at, hey, you're a U12 girl in mid-Michigan, sure, like you're a four out of five.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: But like, what what are you what am I trying to get?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: What's the end goal?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I think with the score system, there was really no end goal.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's just right, I have to do this meeting, let me give you a score, what I think, and then I'll see you later.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_03: When I was younger and doing evaluations, I was like, wait a minute, are we are we evaluating them on their potential and what we and what we expect of them?
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_03: Or if it's a U12 girl, are we comparing them to the best U12 girl in the country?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah or the the world.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_03: And that was always a line that I was like, okay, where where should we be grading?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_03: And I believe that it should be judged against the best the best U12 in all the land, really.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't know.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: I I agree.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: I I guess the the the conversation then becomes that's where like it's about knowing kind of the group you have, knowing the players you have.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because like, what if if that girl has no desire to be anywhere near the best players in the country, why why compare it to the best teams in the like let me compare maybe like again, depending where you're at, here at Midwest, like the the girls I coach, maybe they don't want to be on the national team.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Some I'm sure they'd love to be on the national team, but like but they want to be compared to the other girls who are going to college and like playing at levels that make sense, right?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like back at Tri County, like those girls, many of them, yes, some like we we got a lot of girls in college, but a lot of them are like, I really want to play for my high school team.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: I want to play on the varsity team, I want to feel that.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, well, then maybe now we have maybe their filter is the best players in the high school realm in the area, right?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so it is just about putting the right constraints on those IDPs and the scores, and it's like, then I gotta know every high school girl in the area, and I'm probably not gonna do that research if I'm being honest, right?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, right, especially if I'm back then when I'm coaching five and six teams, there's no chance I'm going to a high school game.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_03: No, exactly.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: So it it really just depends, I think.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: And like, I don't think it's the wrong way to go about it to like say, hey, here's where you stack what like from what I've seen, the best U12 players in the country or in the world, right?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is where you land.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that's wrong, but again, it's just like it it probably doesn't serve that individual player if they have no desire to be anywhere near the best players in the country.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_03: Also, if the coach just hasn't been around the best U12 girl, and how do you know?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: They might think they have the best.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And then they a lot of coaches do.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100%.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then they go and play, you know, then they go to a tournament one time that with a team that maybe they shouldn't be playing, and then they find out very fast that no, they do not have the best.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_03: How hard was it to get into your B?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_03: Like waiting lists and stuff like that?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: Did you have to wait a lot?
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: No, I mean, I mean, I think like I think with a lot of these things, as long as the check clears, they're they're pretty good with good.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, like it obviously That actually makes me happy.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it would be.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_03: Because I'm hearing horror stories about well, I can't get into my B and it's a three-year waiting list.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, what?
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: I I think also though, it is it's sometimes it's about where you're at, right?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like with any club, yeah.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Who do you know?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: What club, a little bit, what level.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And also, just are you like, what are you willing to do?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, look, like I have people in California from California, I have somebody from Nebraska, somebody from wherever in the license course.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, you're on a three-way, three-year waiting list, but it's like you live in Idaho, right?
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so yeah, it's and it has to fit your schedule.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it like every three years, they probably do come back to like, but are you willing to just maybe twice twice in this year go out to Illinois or wherever and and take a license course?
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I I think it is a little bit of like where you're at, but it's also a little bit of like what are you kind of willing to do?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And because there's a lot of courses that are open, I would say, for the B.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: And again, the B is obviously harder to get into than the C and things like that.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's there's no doubt about it.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: But I I I look when when ours got dropped, I immediately went on there and was like, oh shoot, what can we do?
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I was able to find one.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: Again, like I said, I have a connection in Illinois to a guy.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's my own personal experience, but it probably wouldn't have been that hard for me to just look for who was running the course and say, hey, is there any room in this in this course before I try to sign up?
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_03: How many guys are in the course?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_03: Do you know?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh girls do this actually, no girls in this course, which is shocking.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like they're trying to separate it.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like they're maybe a little bit.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: I I feel like I could not imagine being a girl at a B course or a C course or any of these courses and being the only girl of with like 40 guys.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: I can't I cannot imagine that.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's fair.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I would say the last the C license was like that.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: We I think we only had one one girl in the course.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: And like she got on really well with everybody and but like um but it is it is kind of like a it would be odd, right?
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean if but I I I I say that, but then like also it's like they're probably used to it, a lot of them, because that's you did it's a it's a male document.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Dominated profession.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so I mean, there's a little I I get why they're obviously trying to, you know, give them more opportunities to be with like other women in the in the space and things like that.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I that that's all great.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but also I think like again, like if it's a course, I think I know a lot that like if a B license opens up and they can get in, they're just gonna get in because they're they are like the rest, there's no difference.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like they want to just move up to ladder just like every guy in the profession does as well.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: So um, but yeah, we only have one in the course itself, though.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think we have there's 18 of us.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a pretty and they said that's a pretty light, that's quite light for these B licenses.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_03: How many instructors?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_03: Two, two, yeah so nine to one?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: But honestly, it there's very little nine to one happening.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Very little.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like again, the Zoom calls, it's both of them with all of us.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then the breakout rooms, it's peer.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: So like we're and they just kind of monitor all the all the things.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then when we went to the in-person, the majority of it was everyone together in the room.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: We split probably like I want to say three times.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Where it was one to nine.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then when we were doing like on field stuff, like only when like the coaches, like, you know, obviously a coach gets recorded and gets videoed just so like we can watch it back or whatever.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: That I mean, we only did because of weather, we only got one day.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: We were supposed to get two days of it, but it was like when when I was there, it was the extreme, extreme heat.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so like we we couldn't have the kids, right?
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: We couldn't have the kids out there.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god, it was so oh yeah, you're right.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_03: And it was even hotter there, it was brutal.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it was even hotter over there, like it was crazy.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: It was like a hundred and it would have been like 120 degrees on the turf.
• 23:57
  unknown: Oh my god.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_00: So we we went early in the morning and then the that night we just were like, yeah, you can't can't be out there.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: So is it the same as it used to be where the coaches are the are your players during your sessions and stuff?
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_03: So how do you do that with 17 guys?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: You so yes and no.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, yeah.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I can tell you during like the when like when they were doing like the live demos is what they call them, like when the coach, like when the instructors are are teaching a session.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, they um they use the players and um they they bring clubs in or uh well they use us when the instructors are doing it, but when we are when we're running our sessions, right?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like running like the practice sessions, yeah.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: We like so we brought in kids from Senna brought in, I don't know if Senna's like runs Eclipse uh or Inter, Inter, Inter, sorry.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, um Inter was the club.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: Another guy had Eclipse kids, that's what it was.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but Senna brought the kid his like it was like uh his U19, U17 girls, and I think maybe the U19, U17, like second team.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: So like the RL, so it was the ECNL and then some RL kids.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I mean honestly it was a good level.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was decent level.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, like it was funny because like my C license, to go back to it, like all of them got like ECNL kids, ECNL kids, and then it was the last day when I when I went, when my group ran ours, and it was like they're like, Yeah, we couldn't get the ECNL kids, we're gonna bring in the ISL kids.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I don't know what that means.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_03: What is ISL?
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: Illinois State League State League, okay.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: And essentially it's just like basically like select kids were coming in, and like you're gonna get a varying level.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, all right, let's do it.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's like it, you you gotta coach the kids that are on the field, it's fine.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and it was just funny because it's like it is like when you do those things, right?
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you do when you got video, when you're getting videoed or like here or there, it's like you want the best kids because they're eat like they they've already done it, so it's like, but you know, you work with what you got.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_03: When when you're playing in those sessions, that the instructors are are it so we did it for nine days in a row and we had to play in like almost every session.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_03: We got graded.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, we got graded on how we played.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's like why?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_03: Why am I getting graded when I'm 30 years old?
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_03: I have my knees don't work anymore.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_03: Anyway, how do you take notes?
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_03: Is there one guy that's taken notes and is like, okay, can I take your notes?
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_03: Or like is there no note taking anymore?
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good question.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the so some guys like would get out of the session or whatever, and and some like have injuries or whatever, right?
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and so like they would be able to take notes.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I would say for the most part, yeah, you're just in the session.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: And you're just in the session, and there's like and we're a player again.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: We'll stop and talk about it, and so you you just gotta retain it.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: And like, well, like let me tell you, like, I mean, the one session, which actually was not even because it was hot, we had to play for a coach's session.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: I did forget about this, like because of so we had to do it in the morning.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, all the kids are in school, right?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god, one of them did like a breakout game, but you started at like the half, they started at like the half field.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: So it was like, yeah, yeah, exactly.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we're doing it's like a three v3 in the in the thing, and then you gotta spray it out wide and then sprint to the box.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: And like there's we were supposed to be rotating, but they weren't.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: I've just done eight sprints uh to the box, and I'm just like, guys, we've gotta fix something.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I'm not gonna ruin your session here, but like can move the box a little bit.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_03: I don't, I don't miss that at all.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, this is not gonna work, guys.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not fit enough for this.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't been fit enough for this in years.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's so silly if you think about it.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's kind of like oh my god.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_03: What were the topics?
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_03: What were the what were like a lot of the topics?
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_03: Let's say that the instructors ran.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: Do you remember?
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so actually, so um the one um so Louis ran one and he kind of like brainstormed with us in in the like the in the class, right?
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: Before we went, and he asked us, and this is interesting, he's like, what do you guys feel like you struggle with?
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so he asked us, and and so like I I don't know that I necessarily agreed, but like it was fine, it was a consensus, and it was like it was like build it was like the building phase, but through like the midfield area, right?
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was like um it was I think it was yeah, it was progressing the ball um through the middle zone, right?
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like that was that was it.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: It was a midfield zone.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like that was that was his topic, and like, and so he ran a full session on that, right?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like it started with a little bit of like well, he did obviously like an activation or whatever, dynamic, that kind of thing.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: But then it went into a passing pattern with that started like very simple, but then added like options in it and things like that, and then it added a little bit of pressure in it, and so it kind of built off that.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_00: Then it went to a game where um it was to mini goals, pug goals, whatever.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, I think uh I think that game was I want to say it was 4v5.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because this whole idea is like you're gonna in midfield zone, like if you have the ball, a lot of times you're going to have less numbers.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh which fair.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and so and like so it was that, and then it went to a bigger game, which was like it was like a six v6 game or something like that.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: And and then and then by the end, it was a game where you were playing to the big goals.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so it I mean it made sense.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was it was a fine session, and like and all those things.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was kind of the only time where like it was like a you have to do this, this session, this progression or something, or this, like, this topic.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that was the one thing is like I think in years past they used to like give you topics to do with no more.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's you pick your topic, you pick, you find a game moment from your own environment.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's uh and that's what I've I've actually really enjoyed about this is like it they do really like want you to figure it out within your own environment.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like they give you the general thing that well, this is how you should do it, and like, but they also kind of like camera off, like we know that you can't do this.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't your like right, you probably don't have a staff of people that can do all these things, and so but like I do enjoy the fact that we get to pull from our own thing, and like you know, we're we're training our own teams for that.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: We pick a team, and why would I do something that they said I need to do if my if why would I do an attacking topic if my team is leaking five goals a game?
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna work on I need to work on some defending, right?
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so and they said that they were like, hey, you guys pick your own thing, and so there wasn't really that many like hard and fast topics that we had to do.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was just find find a moment within whatever we're watching.
• 31:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, for that, it was like watching US youth national team, and they were like, pick a moment that you see from this game, and then make a session.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_03: That makes me happy because I think I'm trying to remember my topic from my C.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: It was like it was like when to prepare the ball short and when to prepare it long.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, what?
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_03: When would I ever do a session with a team based on this?
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_03: And it was like, and it was like very specific.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_03: It was like teaching your outs your right back when to prepare the ball short and when to prepare the ball long.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, when would I do this with my entire team or like most of the sessions or most of the topics?
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_03: It's like defending um uh defending crosses.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: I might work on that at the end of a session, but I'm not spending an hour and a half working on that.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_00: No, yeah, it's that that's the hardest bit, right?
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: Is like it they do want you to get really specific.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I I get it, right?
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like I I understand like the you know the efficacity of it all, and like but like I coach three teams, like I get three sessions a week.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's it.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I I don't think I have the time to say, hey, I'm gonna only work with my right back today.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like I can focus on him, we can focus on her, but like we gotta I gotta make sure because like that was one thing.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, well, try not to be, you know, try to keep things more local, like in terms of like, you know, the nine and the ten, and like I'm like, that's I think that's fair, I think it it makes sense, but I don't think I can do that for the entire session, guys.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: I like I have I have 20 kids like in a session at at best, and then I need to like I don't have enough time with these guys, these kids.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: And like the reality is is like unless you're in a really high-level environment, I only get so I get four and a half hours of their time a week.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: There, and maybe on the weekend, they're the rest of that time is spent doing something else, almost guaranteed.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: There's a select few that are gonna go back and think about what we've just talked about.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: I have to make sure that I impact all 20.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: All 20 in that four and a half hours.
• 33:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, that's the hard bit.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think like it does seem like they're understanding that a little bit better now of like these environments, like like the constraints of youth soccer don't allow for what the ideal is.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's just we can't do it.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like we don't have we don't have the time, we don't have the resources.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_03: We don't have the resources and we do not have the time.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_00: No, and so I it does seem like they they've gone away from feeling like they, you know, this this utopian idea, which it's like we'd all love that.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_03: Like I would I'd love I would love to train them six days a week or you know, have a s have a ratio of eight to one.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, do a designated film and weight lifting session a week and like all this stuff, but like there's no chance, there's not enough time in the day, like and I mean, you know, I I I have to like structure my schedule, like my training schedule, because I also have girls that are driving two hours to get to practice, so it's like they can't make a weightlifting session at four o'clock, right?
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's it there's a lot of there's just too many variables, and so like you make it as specific as you can while also trying to incorporate as many players as you can.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that way, you know, like you again you utilize the four and a half hours as well as you possibly can.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_03: Which team did you use or are you using?
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was the I was the outlier in the group.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: Everyone else used like younger groups because they were like, well, it'll be easier and you won't be great as hard.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_00: I used my U19s because I was like, I trust them the most.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like I trust them, like if I need to run a session, like do it.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: And like honestly, I that's where I want to be tested on.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't mean wrong, I like I mean, you know, if we go do the backlog of my entire career, um, I spent the majority of my career making like cutting my teeth in the youngest age groups, and I I know that like if you ask me to run a session for those age groups, I could do that.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like that.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's not it's nothing, but like I I wanna I want to challenge yourself.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I want to be challenged.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: I want to I want to do it in the Unite Teenage group.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: I like it.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's difficult.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_00: I want to like get after them, be like, hey, I'm filming today.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: You all have to come.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: I get it.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: You have your student council meeting or whatever, but like today you're here at practice.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: And like I I wanna like I put myself under that microscope.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_00: And again, like I'm a little bit uh that's probably just a me thing because I'm a little bit not right, but like I just I've just only ever, not only ever, but like I feel like I've I've thrived the most in my career when it's just a little bit of baptism by fire, a little bit of like, hey, your back's against the wall, figure it out.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: And like I think that was the same thing.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's like I'd rather use the U19s, I think it'll be harder.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I just let's do it.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I think they'll make it easier in the session, but I think I'm gonna get graded harder.
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna get looked at like, hey, it's U19s.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think that's like whatever?
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, because they said that they they said that the U19s, like you there's higher expectations, and so there's higher expectations on them, but also me.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like the language has to be more specific, it has to be more like educated, and it's like, all right, cool, let's do it.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I mean, so yeah, the U19s, which you know, fun group.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_00: I I mean, um, with the age change, I I have four girls that I had last year, and that's it.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: Most of them graduated, right?
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: U19.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_03: So a lot of so you were going to have four trap players or whatever.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that would yeah.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_00: So got it.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um would have five.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: I had five returners.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one got elevated to the GA team, which is great.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_00: Good.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and then the other four stayed.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: And like, I mean, the great thing about that is is those four are I'm trying to think, all but one are committed already.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: So it's great.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_03: Of those four, yeah, yeah.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: I got a lot, I got a lot more to get committed.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_00: But we we um but I mean we're we're doing all right.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: Last year I had 11 seniors that wanted to play in college, and I got 11 playing in college right now, knocking about somewhere.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I mean that's our second team is here, and so exactly.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that's I just I'm I'm enjoying that right now.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's just the stage of life I'm in coaching, and like that's a that's another challenge in itself is getting these kids committed and and like getting them seen.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's also part of why I wanted to do the U19s.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's like no offense to my other groups, I love them.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna and I you know what are the other two?
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: U17s, okay, and then U13s.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's a wide spectrum.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: I bring it, I bring them into the program and I I exit them out the door.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_03: See, I think that's the best way to do it though.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because you see the end product and you know what you what it should look like, and then you're like, but it's also a breath of fresh air sometimes.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, I don't have to worry about college recruiting, yeah, I don't have to worry about this, I don't have to worry about that, and I just get to teach soccer.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I honestly it's a the nice thing about having both is it's like a breath of fresh air on both sides because there's days where I'm like, I'm just hurting cats.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just I'm babysitting, like they don't know how to they can't stay focused.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: I mean they're doing airhead challenges right before practice, and then the girls need to go throw up, basically.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like I like, and then I go to the 19s where it's like we're just gonna play soccer, we're coaching, like they're ready to go.
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's in like they they're just like they're ready to go.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so, but then there's the other side of it where like you know, the U-19s rock up and they've had a million things that have caused them some kind of stress.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_00: They're you know, they broke up with their boyfriend, they they're like they're late on an assignment, they're all these things, and they're not even having fun.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then you get the U-13s who are just like, I don't even know what's happening.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's great.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: I love it.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_00: And like they're just they're so excited to be there, or you know what I mean?
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like you need that.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: I like it is it is a nice balance, and like um, there's it comes with its own challenges, and like, you know, it's can't really do the same sessions.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: You you can sometimes just like, but like it's you got I gotta make sure I have a different session for both teams, or all the teams, really.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, it it is I think it it does help balance things a little bit because on either side of the spectrum, there's a lot of really great things, but there's some there's some days where it's like, oh man.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_03: With the 19s, I and I hear stories back when I was in Buffalo about just at that age group, and I remember coaching and I remember playing at that age group.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_03: Sometimes you'd have six players at practice because there's so much going on, especially if it's the spring, and uh this is Buffalo, so high school is in the fall.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so in the spring, you have spring break, you have prom, you have graduation, and then all these girls, or you have award ceremonies and stuff like that, and these and these flash, even the at the ECNL level, I'm hearing seven girls are practice, eight girls are practice.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, guys, you've just committed to play college soccer.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_03: This is when you should be all in and attending every single session.
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_03: Do you go?
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_03: Do you run into that with your 19s at all?
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_03: Or is it because it's fall?
• 40:38
  SPEAKER_00: There are it's like yeah, but uh there's a lot going on.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's when homecomings are happening, it's when all these, you know, like I mean football games and I'm just this weekend is a great example.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to play FC United, we're going to play Chicago Rush.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: Saturday.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_00: Chicago Rush.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 40:56
  SPEAKER_00: We are my 19s have 13 girls out of 20.
• 41:01
  SPEAKER_04: Mm-hmm.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: Homecoming.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's just there's there are the mat like wait, whoa, whoa.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_03: 13 out of 20 have homecoming?
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: Other way.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: I have 13 going to the game.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_03: 13 going to the game, seven of them have homecoming.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, seventeens, same issue.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_03: Is it all the same high school?
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_03: Or is it multiple high schools?
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: Multiple high schools.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_00: But like, so there's a big area in there's a big area in town called Forest Hills, um, where a lot of, yeah, so we have Forest Hill Center.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's like three high schools, right?
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_03: Correct.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's their homecoming and then Hudsonville.
• 41:33
  SPEAKER_00: Hudsonville is massive as well.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: Both their homecomings.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: And we obviously like we have so many of those type of those kids here.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so, um, you know, so I I yes, the the answer is we run into it all the time where you're you're struggling.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people tell me that, like, I I I can't stand in the U19s.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: They're they're the least committed, they don't come to think, and I and and I would say, like, I've done U19s.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: I would I had a little break when I first got here because I was coaching younger teams, but I had done them at nationals, I've done them here, and I've had varying levels of success with those things.
• 42:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I they again they've caused me some massive stress fits.
• 42:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why do I feel like I'm caring more than you do right now?
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's a big frustration.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: But then I've also, I think, in that time, like, let me just the nice thing with them is like I can sit down, have a real conversation, and figure out how do I get you guys to like make this a priority.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I think that's the biggest thing is if you're coaching U19s, one, you better, you gotta be understanding that they do have a lot of stuff going on.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, you know, like a lot of people missed for football games at the beginning of the season, like mispractices and stuff like that.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I and I told them, I was like, you know, my 17s, I was like, we're mad because I let some of my 19s go.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, well, when you get here next year, and it's your senior year, when it's your last, when it's your last first football game of the year, I look at that differently.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think when now when I've given the 19s those little bit of like grace moments, they they're like, okay, we can't just, you know, take it for granted.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like I I think it's just meeting them where they are a little bit.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_00: And like, so last year when I had the 19s, like they all told me like we had nobody go to the events the year prior, we had nobody show up to winter trainings, and you know what?
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: I had 18 healthy players, 19, something like that.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_00: I I consistently would have 15 players in training.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: Events, we went to California with 16 out of 19 girls.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_00: Many of them didn't even want to play in college, but I you know, they understood like their teammates do, and like I I do think there's an element where like you just get back to it, it goes beyond the coaching a little bit, like you have to make them want to be there, right?
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: And like that's How you get it.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_00: You're not gonna win that battle every day, though.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: And like you have to just take that.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: And like the people that get like just get pissed off, get upset, and just make it you take it out on them because there's like, why aren't you here?
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's like they probably got stuff going on.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, if it's every day, then sure, you got a problem, yeah.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: We got a problem, but like now what I do, and that's the nice thing about coaching 17s like, all right, cool, you can't make it today because you have this, go to the 17s.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: Come to the 17s.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_00: 17s, you want extra training?
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_00: Come the 19s.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so what ends up happening is my numbers are really never that bad because we have that, and it's like I I could do it easily because I coach both.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_00: But it's like in a club, if you don't coach both, just tell that to the 17s coach, and then vice versa.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, you're not working with all your players from that one team, but wouldn't you rather work with a 16 player training session or an 18 player training session?
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I just think that it it takes a little bit of time of like take a step back, have some like human-to-human connection, have a conversation, especially with these older players, and then problem solve, right?
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's that's hard, like that is the whole thing with coaching is problem solve.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_03: And that's going back to the B, I mean, there's so much a part of coaching that is never taught because that's learned on the job.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100%.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_00: 100%.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_03: It's just learned on the job.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I I say all the time, like, there's guys here, there's guys, this club that you've interviewed in all the places.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what they can talk to you about tactically and all these things blows me out of the water.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_00: The the reason why I've had success in this is just like it's those learned things because like I've done every job that I possibly could.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, many of them for free at the beginning.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know what I mean?
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: But like it's I only reason I have success is because like I I am good at that one thing, which is the thing that they don't really teach.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: They they actually are trying to teach a little more in the B, which is like the personal connection, the personal relationship stuff, right?
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, learn know your players, know, understand that they're people, they they all need to be you know, not treated completely different, right?
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like there's a there's set of standards and things like that that but like they just have little different nuances and like you learn that and like but how do you teach that in a course?
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_00: Right, you just do it, and it you know, be willing to learn it, I think.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's the biggest thing.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, how long have you been here?
• 46:26
  SPEAKER_00: I got here technically my first day was January 4th of 2024.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, so not a long time, but like now I'm and you came from Tri-County?
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, National Tri-County.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_03: You came straight from Tri-County.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean I had to Did you follow Luke?
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_00: No, I came after.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: I came, Luke left, ooh, I want to say he came in 2020.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_00: 2020.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he was gone in 2020.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 46:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I know that just because of that was a wild time.
• 47:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't know.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I I don't think you guys talked about it, but like what we did at National Strike County was crazy.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like we we created a Twitch channel.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, TCTV.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: We create yes, and I just know that Luke wasn't there for that.
• 47:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we created a Twitch channel.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: We filmed, like some coaches would do like a 30-minute like technical session.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 47:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we would do one for the olders, one for the youngers.
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um we would do a fitness session or so, and then typically, this is where like you know, my first little bit of like I had started my own podcast.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I would interview coaches in the club.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'd interview, we did like a college coaches like corner.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like I we got like division three, division two, division one, community college, like talk to them about the differences and like and then the other side of it, this was like uh we do that, and obviously everyone kind of got involved.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then at the last like 30 minutes or so, we would uh we play Fortnite with with the kids, like we'd invite them in and they would play.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_00: And like we'd just get into like these big lobbies or whatever with like some whoever like you had to eat, you had to send your message, you had to get on the queue, like and we'd have a spreadsheet and like first come, first serve kind of thing, and yeah, and like we would do that.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because we're a small club, right?
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like we're like how community club, and yeah, yeah.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_00: And like how do you how do you retain those kids?
• 48:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how do you keep them thinking outside coming out?
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_00: Go into the platform clubs, yeah.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_00: Either that or just like how do you like or keep them in the sport in general?
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's more that it's it's not just like how do you make sure that when they however long this takes, right?
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like however long it takes to get back to it, how do you make them like have that like desire, like, oh I can't wait to go see Coach Kyle, Coach Cam?
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_00: How how do I like I want to get back to it?
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_00: How do you like how do you build that like level of like, you know, oh, these people care about my kids, whether it's on the soccer, whether they're winning them soccer games, or whether they're literally in lockdown in our homes.
• 49:18
  SPEAKER_00: And like, I think it worked.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: It it for us, it worked, right?
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we are the only club in our area, and I I don't know, I don't remember the exact numbers.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_00: We may have been the only location in nationals that our numbers went up after COVID.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: And uh obviously a lot of that came from it, wasn't just our kids that were watching us on Twitch.
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_00: It was right, it was Midland, it was Saginaw, it was Freeland, it was all these other, it was Bay City.
• 49:47
  SPEAKER_00: All of these places saw it and they were like, Whoa, these guys are doing something different, and like they're providing like real stuff to to kids that don't have anything right now, and to fan I mean everybody, nobody had anything, nobody had anything, yeah.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_03: So, like, uh that's awesome though.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, it was awesome.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_03: Did you uh do you ever think about doing it again?
• 50:09
  SPEAKER_00: The Twitch stuff, uh not so much.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_00: The podcast stuff, yeah.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_00: I think about all the time.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_00: I yeah, I do it, I absolutely loved it.
• 50:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um and that was completely separate from Nationals, it was my own entity.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_00: I just attached it to that for a little bit to just help fill a gap in time on the on the Twitch stuff.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um what was it called?
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_00: The my podcast um was Tactical Foul.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um I like that, yeah.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it just came from I always wanted to do it.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and obviously I I don't sleep.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember the first I just and I am just always been this way, whether it's when I got into coaching, whether moving here from Nationals, it's just go do it.
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_00: A little probably could use a little more thought process in some of that, but like learn how to say no.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_00: But like I I just I'm I die if I'm gonna do something, I do it 100% or zero percent.
• 51:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's just like that's that's kind of who I am.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so I remember I was like talking to somebody about it, like, and I'm like, I I like I'm whatever.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_00: I stayed up, I I probably stayed up till like 6 a.m.
• 51:20
  SPEAKER_00: I came up with uh like the name.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_00: I I built I built an entire like website to like start the thing, create an account, and then I started, I made a list of people that I was gonna like reach out to.
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_00: I made and then I made topics for the people I knew would say yes that I could start doing it, and I just like boom, went.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_00: And and yeah, it it was a cool thing.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_00: Never got like massive notoriety or anything.
• 51:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then a lot of that came from like I just I would say once I started to get into it, like we we got back into coaching, and then when got back into coaching, it was just like it was overdrive.
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's just no time for anything, and that's and that's the hardest bit.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_00: COVID was almost like like it's funny, it was almost easy to do the podcast.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not and not just because, like, obviously, we had all the time in the world, but it was easy because not because I had the time, but the other people the other people had time, like that's the biggest battle.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and I literally all I would do, Twitter was my best friend.
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_00: I would just DM people on Twitter.
• 52:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's it.
• 52:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, like Twitter, I found some like podcasting, like connecting websites or whatever, Instagram.
• 52:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I mean like I landed some like really, really interesting people.
• 52:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like um, probably like the the probably like the biggest name at the time was uh was Yael, like Averbush, yeah.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_01: You fet her on?
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, she obviously uh co-founded Techni.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was how like we we used Techni during COVID.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we used that at the club.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like Nationals had had that before, but used it through COVID and you know had her on.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_00: I I just I literally went to the contact form.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_00: She's on my list, yeah.
• 53:00
  SPEAKER_00: And she was great, like she was incredible, like and obviously like I knew that she formed Techni.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't until she said yes that when I did my research on who she was that I really like Carolina, yeah.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_03: And like NWSL and now she's the GM of Gotham.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_00: Gotham, exactly.
• 53:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and she wasn't the GM of Gotham at the time.
• 53:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so but like you know, like someone like that was cool, but like I I remember like there's people that like um have you ever seen like the it's like an Instagram account and YouTube, it's like grassroots TV out of England.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_04: Uh-huh.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, some of the guys that are like big on there.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't even like they they either were or weren't that big on there.
• 53:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I I I went and looked on their stuff and like got them on.
• 53:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like people from England, like I I got a guy who played for the Taiwanese national team, and he became like a businessman, works with like you know, different things, but he's like one of their all-time most capped players or whatever, and it's just like random.
• 53:58
  SPEAKER_00: I had to stay up till 3 a.m.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_00: for that one because the time is time is like all they're like it's like a 12-hour difference.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, Well, could you do this time?
• 54:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, uh, I'm like, yeah, no problem.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like they didn't know where I was in the United States.
• 54:08
  SPEAKER_00: I could have been in Cali or something.
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_00: And and I was like, Yeah, got it.
• 54:12
  SPEAKER_00: No problem.
• 54:13
  SPEAKER_00: I went to like I remember I went to training or whatever because we were coming out of COVID, and yeah, just stayed up and did it, and it was great.
• 54:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I like but I I again I was just all in, but then when I felt like I couldn't be all in, is when I had to take a step back because I was like, I just I can't be who I want to be doing.
• 54:30
  SPEAKER_03: You can't do that and three teams or however many times.
• 54:33
  SPEAKER_00: The nationals, nationals days was five and six teams.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and I ran our juniors program.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's how that's the only reason I'm here is the juniors nationals, like uh juniors not junior nationals, 100%.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_03: What do you mean?
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I didn't have teams when I first started.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh like when you came here.
• 54:50
  SPEAKER_00: No, like uh I mean at nationals.
• 54:52
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 54:53
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, I got what you're saying.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't, I wouldn't.
• 54:55
  SPEAKER_03: You're saying you're not the coach today without being a part of the junior national.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't even be able to coach if it wasn't for that.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I like I was given one opportunity.
• 55:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like my first one was hey, and it was Tom Wells, who works here now.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_00: He runs our MLS Go, funny enough, which is essentially junior nationals, right?
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 55:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um and I was waiting tables still and like bartending, and I was, I was, uh, he was in my he I would do all the parties because I tell everybody I was an awful server because like I didn't write anything down, but but I was so but I have I have a very like if there was less than eight eight or less, I could always I could remember everything, even like custom order or stuff like that.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_00: I have a very good like just like recall.
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, very good recall.
• 55:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but like you shouldn't do that, like you should definitely be writing stuff down.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um and like, but I was very entertaining.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_00: I was just again, I I could just distract people with the conversation, so they forgot that I messed up their order.
• 55:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, but um Tom had come in with Cam actually, because Cam was working with him at the time, and um he's just like like he they were talking back and forth, and like and he was like, Yeah, like Kyle, I play with Kyle, like you should get him in, like, or whatever.
• 56:10
  SPEAKER_00: And because Tom had said something to Cam about it, and he's like, Yeah, he's got the personality to like be around people, and like I think, and he's played, right?
• 56:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I you know, I you know, I didn't play at like a super high level, like right, but I I played, I had experience around good players and things like that, and so he he's like, Hey, come shadow, like come be around it.
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, work in the junior nationals.
• 56:33
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, We'll get you paid, like you get like whatever.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't even think I got paid for that, which wasn't Tom, it was the guy running at the time, and uh I and then someone was like, How is it?
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Oh, it's app like I'm working with two-year-olds and four-year-olds.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, it's awful.
• 56:48
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, Oh, like you're not gonna.
• 56:50
  SPEAKER_00: No, I was like, No, I love it.
• 56:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I I didn't want to coach, but I was like, I love it.
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I don't know why, but I absolutely love it.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like it was it was just this like weird like like thing that I couldn't like even I didn't think I would like it, but like, especially a four-year-old, like I taught them something in the moment, and then they'd go and do it, and like you could just see the excitement out of it.
• 57:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like, it's like that is the one thing that like it's probably the one thing you miss about like coaching the really young kids is like how quickly they can get better.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_00: But so he gave me that opportunity, and then the next year I was I was like helping, and there was a guy they brought in, they gave him a salary, and like he was gonna like help transform, and he was like the president of one of the local clubs as well.
• 57:34
  SPEAKER_00: He's doing both.
• 57:35
  SPEAKER_00: And um, he was like, Hey, come help me, we'll get you paid.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_00: He you'll get paid by nationals.
• 57:40
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, but I'll pay you to coach one of the teams, even though they were more of like a local club.
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_00: Didn't get paid that either.
• 57:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's a lot of like I mean, Jason, I made less money than my rent cost for the first year and a half coaching soccer.
• 57:55
  SPEAKER_00: I had to get did a couple extra jobs.
• 57:56
  SPEAKER_00: My rent was$200 a month.
• 57:58
  SPEAKER_00: So just keep that in mind.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, can't like I like I this is how you know you have to love it.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like that you have to because that's and so that guy failed, like miserably failed, like to build the program like he said he would.
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so what ended up happening was I was like, Tom was just watching me like run the sessions, and like I was getting to a point where I'm like, oh, I gotta, I gotta make some money.
• 58:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so like by the end of that year, or again, I've done like a year and a half now, and uh he was like, Listen, we'll give you nationals as agreed, we'll give you the program to run.
• 58:32
  SPEAKER_00: This is all yours.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we don't have teams for you.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is your program.
• 58:38
  SPEAKER_00: You you don't have to like we're not gonna pay you though.
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna but you get to keep the profit.
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_00: You keep the whole profit, you have to pay the expenses, but you keep the whole profit.
• 58:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, let's do it.
• 58:53
  SPEAKER_00: And my first year, I was like, hey, I think we should start a Bay City branch.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_00: I know people, you've not tapped into that market, we're only in Saginaw, and they're like, okay, that's a bit ambitious, but like fine, let's do it.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_00: And and I was like, okay.
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I went into every school, passed out flyers.
• 59:14
  SPEAKER_00: I I would I'd walk in with stacks.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'd ask, I'd call, ask how many kids are in these, like it was like kindergarten through like third grade, was like the maybe more.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 59:23
  SPEAKER_00: Go print off the flyers.
• 59:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I would get, I'd I'd have because the club, like whatever, like the expense would come out of it, but I would just say, hey, Tom, because he worked at the school.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay front or something.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_00: He he would just do it and it would go to his account and he's like, oh, cool, I'll just invoice it after.
• 59:38
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, perfect, so we don't have to pay for it.
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have the money.
• 59:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so and then I do that.
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_00: I actually would go into like several schools.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_00: I ran gym pro I would run the gym class from 10 to like two.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, yeah.
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like again, psychopath.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then and so did all this.
• 59:58
  SPEAKER_00: I ran like a church, there was like a church, like a local, like it was like a daycare though.
• 1:00:02
  SPEAKER_00: They had like, but they had like 40 kids out of Saginaw, like in the age group.
• 1:00:06
  SPEAKER_00: I went and ran that for like two days.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and like every time, hand of the flyer with it.
• 1:00:11
  SPEAKER_00: And by the end of the summer, we come back out and we had rented this like space or whatever, and like actually didn't rent it because like they didn't charge us anything.
• 1:00:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because I was like, Yeah, we I mean we don't have well, we had we'd had like 25 kids per program.
• 1:00:24
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and by the end, I was like, oh no, we have a problem.
• 1:00:29
  SPEAKER_00: I had a hundred kids signed up for Bay City, and I had 75 signed up for Saginaw.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
• 1:00:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I don't have enough coaches.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I was like, I don't know.
• 1:00:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'd have to, I just went and started getting coaches like at like a mom.
• 1:00:43
  SPEAKER_03: Who are you charging?
• 1:00:45
  SPEAKER_00: Ooh, I think at that point we had upped it a little bit.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say it couldn't have been more than like 50 bucks though.
• 1:00:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_00: Still, yeah, 50 bucks.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_03: That's awesome.
• 1:00:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it was like a seven-week program.
• 1:00:56
  SPEAKER_00: We do it was an hour a time.
• 1:00:59
  SPEAKER_00: We'd do it, we'd give them games, like, um, yeah, and then from there, like, and granted, I never I I I say this, like it was an incredible feat.
• 1:01:08
  SPEAKER_00: Never got back to that many because it was just that initial boom.
• 1:01:12
  SPEAKER_00: But like, we went from 25 in Saginaw to we we have a base city location, we'd have a Saginaw location, even at a Midland one, that one was pretty failed, I say, like in terms of numbers.
• 1:01:22
  SPEAKER_00: But what I will say is conversion rate of kids that were in that first program that played in the club was 90%.
• 1:01:30
  SPEAKER_00: Only one kid didn't play.
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 1:01:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that was the one thing I was most proud of.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_00: And like that's why I think, like again, I say I don't have a job.
• 1:01:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'd formed that, I was able to, I mean, my conversion rate was like 40% of kids was go were going into teams.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_00: I formed my own teams.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's how I had a job, is I formed my own teams, and then I I went on to coach our a lot of like some of our younger team girls that like did that have that are doing well over there now, like the 2012 girls, the 2011 girl, the 2011, the 2010s, like um even younger, 2013s and 14s, who are now really doing well over there, like it all came from the juniors program.
• 1:02:11
  SPEAKER_00: And again, like it was an insane amount of work that I was that I did.
• 1:02:15
  SPEAKER_00: And like I remember oh, Facebook, like um, what is it?
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like the Facebook like uh ads.
• 1:02:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:02:21
  SPEAKER_00: Dark posts, the targeting, the targeted ads and stuff like that.
• 1:02:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like, once I started to make a little money, I was like, Yeah, let's put like 50 bucks into this.
• 1:02:29
  SPEAKER_00: And like, um, yeah, just like really specific on like exactly who we were trying to hit.
• 1:02:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we were looking at demographics and things like that.
• 1:02:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it was insane.
• 1:02:39
  SPEAKER_00: But like it, it taught me so much.
• 1:02:42
  SPEAKER_00: One, and two, like it allowed me to like make enough for me to like sh, you know, honestly, show my pain.
• 1:02:49
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I'm like 24, 20, like not that I have like I'm an adult, so I can do it, but like they're like coaching, they're like, I mean, I'd be like, Well, before I'd be like, hey, I'm going to work, and they my dad, I just still remember this.
• 1:03:01
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, You're going to work or you're going to coach?
• 1:03:04
  SPEAKER_00: Set it forever.
• 1:03:06
  SPEAKER_00: Set it forever.
• 1:03:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then, um, but it's like it's fair.
• 1:03:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I didn't make any money.
• 1:03:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like, one is just a hobby at that point.
• 1:03:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like, until like it actually makes me money, like it was a hobby.
• 1:03:17
  SPEAKER_00: And but I was adamant it was gonna work.
• 1:03:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so, like, um you do that, and then honestly, before I left Bay City, I I bought my childhood home from him, and he's like, Yeah, I guess it's a job.
• 1:03:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like, you know, so it's it was interesting.
• 1:03:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's uh I I again I'll never I'll never say a bad word about uh National Strike County ever because like oh my god, I mean one just made me a better human because you have to, but two, like, yeah, it's it's the only like I got they gave me an opportunity, like and and now it was was it the most glamorous opportunity?
• 1:03:53
  SPEAKER_00: No, but like you make it work and here we are.
• 1:03:57
  SPEAKER_00: We're in a better place.
• 1:03:58
  SPEAKER_03: Do you do you still own the house?
• 1:04:00
  SPEAKER_00: I sold it.
• 1:04:00
  SPEAKER_00: You sold it, yeah.
• 1:04:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh god, that was oh when I first took the job here, I owned the house though, in Bay City.
• 1:04:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and so I had to until uh again, January 4th, I started.
• 1:04:12
  SPEAKER_00: I was commuting.
• 1:04:14
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my god.
• 1:04:15
  SPEAKER_00: Until until March 1st.
• 1:04:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oh no, and it's not that long, it's not, but it's five hours in January.
• 1:04:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah, that's a five-hour round trip.
• 1:04:26
  SPEAKER_00: And think of and in winter, you don't train the same amount of time.
• 1:04:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like we, there's just no, because there's not a big dome over here.
• 1:04:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like you don't get an hour and a half session.
• 1:04:34
  SPEAKER_00: No, you get hour sessions.
• 1:04:36
  SPEAKER_00: So there would be days where I would come here for an hour because I only have one team and I would travel five hours to go back home.
• 1:04:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because I was I was remodeling the house.
• 1:04:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to get everything done to make it as glamorous and glitzy as possible to sell it.
• 1:04:50
  SPEAKER_00: To sell it.
• 1:04:50
  SPEAKER_00: And and I did.
• 1:04:51
  SPEAKER_00: I I was very lucky.
• 1:04:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like some people sit on their house for a long time to sell those things, and for sure.
• 1:04:56
  SPEAKER_00: I put it on the market on like February 1st and I sold it on February 28th.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_03: It's not bad.
• 1:05:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or it's 20, actually, hilarious, 29th.
• 1:05:04
  SPEAKER_00: So technically, every it only counts every four years that I sold my house, I think.
• 1:05:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's leap year, yeah.
• 1:05:11
  SPEAKER_03: That story reminds me of me because when I started playmaker training in Buffalo, yeah, I wasn't living in Buffalo fully yet.
• 1:05:19
  SPEAKER_03: So I worked with the Flash, they provided housing, and then I didn't work for the Flash, and then I was on my own.
• 1:05:27
  SPEAKER_03: Started playmaker training, but I'd only do like one night a week, and I would I would train for like three hours.
• 1:05:34
  SPEAKER_03: I would drive from Michigan to Buffalo, do three hours of training, drive back.
• 1:05:42
  SPEAKER_03: Same same day.
• 1:05:43
  SPEAKER_03: Same day.
• 1:05:44
  SPEAKER_03: Oh wow.
• 1:05:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:05:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's how I started playmaker training.
• 1:05:48
  SPEAKER_03: Then I added a second day.
• 1:05:49
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, okay, I'm gonna do Tuesdays and Fridays.
• 1:05:52
  SPEAKER_03: So then I just stayed in a hotel.
• 1:05:54
  SPEAKER_03: And then I went, and then I went to four days, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_03: I would get a hotel, I'd s live in a hotel, and then I'd come back.
• 1:06:04
  SPEAKER_03: Oh.
• 1:06:05
  SPEAKER_03: Then I have in twenty six in like the fall of twenty sixteen, I did that for about a year.
• 1:06:11
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 1:06:12
  SPEAKER_03: And then in in like November of 2016, I finally just got a place and and like that when you want something so bad or you're trying to build something so bad, you're willing to do whatever you want.
• 1:06:25
  SPEAKER_03: Uh like whatever it takes.
• 1:06:26
  SPEAKER_03: Like that's what I'm trying to do with this podcast.
• 1:06:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's like I'm doing whatever it takes to make sure that it works.
• 1:06:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that like that's that's it.
• 1:06:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, like I was just talking to somebody about this.
• 1:06:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, the like there's all these, like, you know, there's people that do this and like they have nice productions and stuff like that, and all these things, and they have the like their, you know, they they get people to come into like their studio.
• 1:06:50
  SPEAKER_00: Their own studio.
• 1:06:50
  SPEAKER_00: And it looks it looks great, but I'm like, the I like the reason why you're working and like doing it is like you're just willing to go.
• 1:07:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like make it easy for the person you're interviewing, exactly.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and one, have good conversations, but like they you make it easy on them, and people are willing to open their doors, and it's like, and then it's like it it is about the volume.
• 1:07:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you're able to get people in to talk, like eventually you'll catch you know, traction, like you, and things like that, because they you know, that person's on, and they tell their family they have to be on the podcast, and then the next person, and then you know, you keep watching it, and like that's what's happening.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's impressive because again, like, yeah, you've just got up and gone.
• 1:07:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I mean, you're you're everywhere right now.
• 1:07:33
  SPEAKER_03: And then I left, and then I left Buffalo because I was like, I need to go back home because there's so many more people to talk to.
• 1:07:38
  SPEAKER_03: There's so many more clubs, so many more colleges, and everything.
• 1:07:41
  SPEAKER_03: And but you're right, I was that guy.
• 1:07:44
  SPEAKER_03: I was I was like, I have this, I had my own facility, I had my own office, and I'm like, you guys gotta come to me.
• 1:07:50
  SPEAKER_03: And I'd have a lot of people who be like, no, I like I can't.
• 1:07:53
  SPEAKER_03: No.
• 1:07:54
  SPEAKER_03: And then when I moved back, I was like, I yeah, I want a studio someday.
• 1:08:00
  SPEAKER_03: No, no, I'm good, I'm good traveling, I'm good going to the person right now until I'm making like crazy uh, and if it ever gets to that point, then I can like bring people and fly people in.
• 1:08:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like sure, sure, sure.
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_03: But that's not, I mean, I'm not diary of a CEO.
• 1:08:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I almost I I almost wonder though, like I think you you probably get more authentic conversation with people in their environment, they just feel more comfortable.
• 1:08:27
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, because the thing is like the people that you have on, like some, sure, like they just are like they can have a conversation with a with a wall, right?
• 1:08:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like it is, and it's good.
• 1:08:37
  SPEAKER_00: But you you you know, not every soccer coach, not every person in the in the game is just like wants to have these conversations or like is just like clamoring to do it, right?
• 1:08:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's like so make them as comfortable as possible, and they're probably more willing to like have a like have more dialogue with you and be like be more open and things like that.
• 1:08:56
  SPEAKER_00: Because you know, they if they've just flown or they drove and like they're tired, they're jet lagged, like you're probably not getting as much out of that conversation.
• 1:09:05
  SPEAKER_00: So I I I do wonder if it's if it's if it is even as beneficial.
• 1:09:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, again, sure, you get to like the Joe Rogan of the world where you can fly them probably first class, private, like whatever.
• 1:09:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure.
• 1:09:17
  SPEAKER_00: They fine.
• 1:09:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, no problem.
• 1:09:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's a little different, yeah.
• 1:09:20
  SPEAKER_00: But like, I don't I don't know that it's not.
• 1:09:23
  SPEAKER_00: I I feel like you get more out of going there.
• 1:09:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think see new places.
• 1:09:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think, yes.
• 1:09:30
  SPEAKER_03: That I so one of the like the frustrating things is everybody's like, well, why don't we just do Pro Rel or why don't we end pay-to-play or do whatever whatever is their solution?
• 1:09:44
  SPEAKER_03: You don't realize how big this country is.
• 1:09:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, no, you have no idea.
• 1:09:47
  SPEAKER_03: It's insane.
• 1:09:48
  SPEAKER_03: And so all my my focus over the next year is to hit as differ as many different states as possible and go to those states and just talk to people and realize that what's happening in Michigan is not what's happening in Utah, what's not happening in Western New York, what's not happening in Chicago.
• 1:10:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, you guys, this isn't just like a one size fits all thing.
• 1:10:11
  SPEAKER_00: No, I mean, yeah, I mean we have uh like again, I it I go back to like I said before, it's like this utopian idea, and it's like we we'd all love it.
• 1:10:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like I like if if all of a sudden we snapped our fingers and like things were different in the pyramid, in the structure of youth soccer, it'd be amazing.
• 1:10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like, make things cheaper.
• 1:10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh please believe, I would love to make things cheaper and like you know, do all those things.
• 1:10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but also at the same, it's just it's not realistic.
• 1:10:40
  SPEAKER_00: Also, it's like I'm a bit of a hypocrite because I get paid because of it, like you know, like and I'm I'm fine with it.
• 1:10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I you know, so it's just not a realistic thing.
• 1:10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like it it we have cities that have this like the same population as some like nearly as some countries, like oh yeah, and like so you know, and like obviously like we have states that are bigger than countries, like so you just can't you can't treat things the same.
• 1:11:08
  SPEAKER_00: And again, we also have states that are tiny, that have very little infrastructure.
• 1:11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just like in but yeah, for like I mean, there's trips in states, like just in Michigan, like go to the UP.
• 1:11:23
  SPEAKER_01: That's a massive trip.
• 1:11:25
  SPEAKER_01: You're still in Michigan.
• 1:11:26
  SPEAKER_01: You're still you've driven 12 hours, and you're still in Michigan.
• 1:11:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:11:30
  SPEAKER_01: And we're not even that big of a state, like we're not we're not the biggest state.
• 1:11:33
  SPEAKER_00: We're not the biggest state.
• 1:11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 1:11:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, I may, I mean, I don't even I don't even know that we're in the top ten.
• 1:11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Start in San Diego and go to the Oregon border.
• 1:11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like, good luck.
• 1:11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 1:11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like it you and so like to say you have to just put in one it's it's not possible.
• 1:11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like uh it it it's just really not.
• 1:11:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I I think there are things within that that are possible that could make it better.
• 1:11:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think we there's probably ways to do it.
• 1:11:59
  SPEAKER_00: But like just boom, this is the way.
• 1:12:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, no.
• 1:12:02
  SPEAKER_00: We have to come we have to literally come up with our own way because we are this massive of a country.
• 1:12:09
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 1:12:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I would love it.
• 1:12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, don't mean wrong, pro pro rel, I mean of course, yeah, we'd all love it, but like it's I don't have the answer.
• 1:12:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not I'm not smart enough to give you the answer on how you do it properly without you know cutting off a lot of a lot of places that just couldn't be involved in it.
• 1:12:30
  SPEAKER_03: How hard was the decision to leave Bay City to come here?
• 1:12:37
  SPEAKER_00: To leave Bay City is I think was easy.
• 1:12:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's the right that's the right question to ask, honestly.
• 1:12:43
  SPEAKER_00: It was not easy to leave Bay City.
• 1:12:45
  SPEAKER_00: I I love my like brother-in-law is from Bay City.
• 1:12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I love I love Bay City.
• 1:12:50
  SPEAKER_00: I love living there.
• 1:12:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh like I liked the having access to a good amount of things, but not having the fast-paced nature of things.
• 1:12:59
  SPEAKER_00: But coming to Midwest was I got asked on a Sunday.
• 1:13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Monday, on a Monday.
• 1:13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I do remember it was I'd gone to the Michigan-Ohio State game at the big houses the first time that Michigan beat them in like a long time, right?
• 1:13:14
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 1:13:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it was 2023.
• 1:13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:13:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I mean it was the national championship year.
• 1:13:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that makes it easier.
• 1:13:20
  SPEAKER_00: But um I was a Sunday, I was recovering just from like pretty like just it was a long day.
• 1:13:28
  SPEAKER_00: It was cold, and I'm just like, whatever.
• 1:13:31
  SPEAKER_00: And Cam texts me and says, Hey, I think you're gonna get a text from Luke, because I I had put in uh my application.
• 1:13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I I was just I was ready for more, I guess is the best way to put it.
• 1:13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like, in just I wanted, you know, go back to mentors and like I wanted I wanted that.
• 1:13:49
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to learn off people, I wanted to like have more.
• 1:13:51
  SPEAKER_00: I love my time at Tri County, helping build that, but like Luke called me on the Monday.
• 1:13:56
  SPEAKER_00: I I had taken the job on Wednesday.
• 1:13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like I again, it goes back to I just I'll I jump.
• 1:14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like if I feel like I I want to do something, like and I it's the right thing, um, whether it is or not, I jump and like I am head, I'm you know, head first into it.
• 1:14:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so but leaving Bay City is tough, yeah.
• 1:14:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like I had left, I'd left for, I mean, not even a year because I got injured, but I left to go play in college in Illinois, and like that was tough, like to leave home, right?
• 1:14:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd done it before, and so like I think you do learn, like you know, everyone, I think everyone needs to leave home for a little bit, regardless.
• 1:14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:14:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I'd kind of done it, like I had gone and seen, and I'm like, okay, like I don't I don't hate it as much as some of my other friends who just like didn't get the opportunity to leave.
• 1:14:45
  SPEAKER_00: But like that's true, you know, like I but I what I learned is just like I was like, I it's I can't be here and and get out of this career what I want.
• 1:14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm like, yeah, I gotta go.
• 1:15:01
  SPEAKER_00: I I gotta do it.
• 1:15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like as tough as it's gonna be, I gotta go.
• 1:15:04
  SPEAKER_00: I gotta do it.
• 1:15:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, it's not that far.
• 1:15:08
  SPEAKER_00: Two hours.
• 1:15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 1:15:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was two, it's it's two hours and 15 minutes.
• 1:15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me, I know, I know because you're north of CC9.
• 1:15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:15:17
  SPEAKER_00: No, um, and so yeah, it it was not an easy thing, um, but it was it was at the same time because this is what matters the most to me is my job and like my career and in soccer in general, like, and so it made it easier, but like again, leaving home again was that was like it was a tough thing to like do.
• 1:15:40
  SPEAKER_00: I I said it all the time.
• 1:15:41
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, if Bay City was an hour away from Grand Rapids, I would have just kept my home.
• 1:15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100%.
• 1:15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 100%.
• 1:15:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like I would wouldn't even have thought about it, but it's not, so we move.
• 1:15:54
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean where are you living here?
• 1:15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I actually live, like I I know I brought him up a bunch, but like Cam, like Cam, I live, he had been renting a house.
• 1:16:03
  SPEAKER_00: They had they were moving someone out, and I moved in there.
• 1:16:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I I mean I live with one of my best friends.
• 1:16:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sweet.
• 1:16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And we we've known each other since.
• 1:16:10
  SPEAKER_00: How far are you guys from here?
• 1:16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um 15 minutes.
• 1:16:13
  SPEAKER_01: Huh.
• 1:16:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's not bad.
• 1:16:14
  SPEAKER_00: No, not bad at all.
• 1:16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so yeah, and yeah, I mean, so it's actually the second time we've lived together.
• 1:16:19
  SPEAKER_00: We lived when I first started coaching on our$200 rent, he was able to pay his.
• 1:16:24
  SPEAKER_00: I was just like, I'll get it.
• 1:16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like we we were living in the another buddy's house, but yeah, so it's it's uh it's full circle now.
• 1:16:32
  SPEAKER_03: So is it just the three of you that were Tri-County?
• 1:16:34
  SPEAKER_03: Luke, Cam, and you or is there more that are in the here now?
• 1:16:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um at the club that that had at least a stint in Tri-County.
• 1:16:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's crazy.
• 1:16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, so myself, Cam, Luke, Tom Wells.
• 1:16:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, that's right.
• 1:16:49
  SPEAKER_00: Joe White.
• 1:16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Most people don't know that.
• 1:16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Joe is the Davenport women's head coach.
• 1:16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, he did a stint uh at Tri-County.
• 1:16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um I thought there was somebody else.
• 1:16:59
  SPEAKER_03: Is Lewis just like plucking all the Tri-County guys and coming up?
• 1:17:03
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's a little bit Luke.
• 1:17:04
  SPEAKER_00: I but I I think like, yeah, a little bit.
• 1:17:06
  SPEAKER_00: I mean Luke was the starter.
• 1:17:07
  SPEAKER_00: Luke was a little bit the starter for sure.
• 1:17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Lewis was my delicensed instructor, so he did remember me from that.
• 1:17:15
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't know he was uh I didn't know he was an instructor.
• 1:17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Lewis was, yeah, Lewis was uh like uh an educator, yeah.
• 1:17:22
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't know that.
• 1:17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so like uh again, there was there's there's different threads for sure, but um yeah, so he I think a little bit of all of that.
• 1:17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, it's cra it's crazy like who started at Tri County, like it was it's actually incredible, like when you think about it.
• 1:17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like because us five, right?
• 1:17:42
  SPEAKER_00: But then like James DeCosmo.
• 1:17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep.
• 1:17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then both SVSU head coaches, um Louis Barrow and Tyler Channel.
• 1:17:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I need to get them on.
• 1:17:53
  SPEAKER_00: We all came in at the same time.
• 1:17:54
  SPEAKER_00: I came in with James, which I'm like, maybe I'm a little behind them.
• 1:17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Also wasn't an all-American, so that they that that definitely helps give them leg up.
• 1:18:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I also I don't really want to, I never really wanted to be in college that much.
• 1:18:06
  SPEAKER_00: I did it, I obviously I was Tyler's assistant, and then I I went to Northwood and I was the head coach of the reserve team for the men, but I just don't love the college game as much.
• 1:18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, and then um was Steve there at that time?
• 1:18:19
  SPEAKER_00: Steve Walker, yeah.
• 1:18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, Steve Walker was there.
• 1:18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Steve, like um he's still there.
• 1:18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he's obviously had var he's at Vardar.
• 1:18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, so Steve Walker was there for sure.
• 1:18:29
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to think who else.
• 1:18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, obviously Steve had a little bit of a history with Vardar before that as well, but like the coaches that I've named for the most part, like we like started there.
• 1:18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like that was our first for the most part.
• 1:18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like Luke kind of obviously Luke and Tom started their own clubs, and but it was National Tri County.
• 1:18:50
  SPEAKER_03: So how's it doing now?
• 1:18:51
  SPEAKER_03: How's Bay City?
• 1:18:52
  SPEAKER_03: How's Bay City soccer?
• 1:18:56
  SPEAKER_03: Since you guys all left.
• 1:18:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it it's it's it's weird.
• 1:19:00
  SPEAKER_00: It it is it is weird.
• 1:19:01
  SPEAKER_00: I I I like it's not in a bad place.
• 1:19:04
  SPEAKER_00: I I think we've I think a lot of good things have happened, and I think the biggest thing that we did, like with kind of like we kind of shook up things in the area, is it made the clubs around, the other local clubs, like the what you would probably call like the true local clubs, right?
• 1:19:22
  SPEAKER_00: It made them try a lot harder.
• 1:19:24
  SPEAKER_00: It made them try so much harder, right?
• 1:19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like so Midland is getting their own like indoor facilities.
• 1:19:30
  SPEAKER_00: Bay City has partnered with the the city and they've made like futsal courts and like things like that.
• 1:19:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think Nationals Trek County is doing fine.
• 1:19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like they have some good teams, like they have their 09 girls who are in the State Cup final.
• 1:19:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think it's their who's running it right now, Tyler Channel.
• 1:19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, um it's mostly Tyler, and then I think like you know, there's some like Phil Moore is still there who's a longtime Nationals coach.
• 1:19:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, Bridget, who is the SVC uh women's assistant there, she coaches a lot of the teams on the girls' side and stuff.
• 1:20:04
  SPEAKER_00: So there's some, you know, there's some semblance of what we had there.
• 1:20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's tough.
• 1:20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I mean, like I say, I I joke with Tom all like Tom Luka said you guys got lucky, like because you got this, you plucked this bunch of like young, barely just over 20 years old guys who just love coaching, yeah, desperately wanted to be coaches, like weren't like wanted to do it full time.
• 1:20:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and at the time it was our main priority.
• 1:20:35
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody was a college coach, like maybe an assistant, but not a college head coach.
• 1:20:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so you have all of these guys who are just like gonna do a good job on the field, but also like we're gonna work because we had the time and like we we wanted it bad enough, and like I think we had guys like Tom and and Luke who come from very different backgrounds, very different.
• 1:20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but like Tom would make us be out there painting the fields, lining all the fields, doing all the stuff, doing like putting, you know, doing all these seven hats, like you said.
• 1:21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, literally, we would do all the labor.
• 1:21:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, like we appreciated when we would go out on the thing, and so like we knew what it meant to like have to do the work, and like Luke came from the very structured, like you know, was a was a player and like you know, knew what the soccer needed, and so we had the two driving forces and like kind of corralled us into not being idiots and like making sure we worked hard because and it wasn't easy, right?
• 1:21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Like again, we're all young 20s, like 21, 22 years old, all of us, uh maybe a little bit older, and it's like yeah, like but got lucky that we just got the guys right because they had other guys in before I got there, before Cam got there, before those guys that didn't work out that weren't willing to like didn't understand what youth soccer is.
• 1:21:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's like it's hard, it is hard work if you want to do a good job at it.
• 1:21:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like in its very thankless hours and for very little pain.
• 1:22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and so right, you know, and it's but it's yeah, it's it's it's doing.
• 1:22:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's the one thing I can say, and it's the one thing I wanted to do, is like I I do think whether it was all us or whatever, it's a collaboration thing of like the other clubs as well.
• 1:22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Bay City Soccer, in terms of just like raising the the floor a little bit, it's just it's in a little bit better place than where we left it.
• 1:22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the high schools aren't doing as well and stuff like that, but I just think the other places around it, they take all those are the those in the places that have all the tri-county kids.
• 1:22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 1:22:36
  SPEAKER_00: So like you never were gonna do as well, but like, but I do think it's in a better place.
• 1:22:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's all I can really hope for.
• 1:22:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:22:45
  SPEAKER_03: Do you how long do you think are you gonna stay with the girls on the girls' side?
• 1:22:53
  SPEAKER_00: I I do enjoy the girls.
• 1:22:54
  SPEAKER_00: I I grew up with I grew up with all sisters.
• 1:22:56
  SPEAKER_03: Yep, same.
• 1:22:57
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up with all sisters, all older than me.
• 1:23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Same.
• 1:23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I do think like, you know, I I I I have a better understanding than a lot of people do just from that core, you know, experience of life.
• 1:23:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, just being bullied my entire life pretty much by girls, yeah, 100%.
• 1:23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my god.
• 1:23:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 1:23:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, just the most cruel things you can ever think of.
• 1:23:21
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, I I I do enjoy the I enjoy the boys' side as well.
• 1:23:25
  SPEAKER_00: It just different challenges, different pros and cons.
• 1:23:28
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't say that I'm like, hey, I'm definitely gonna stay on the girls' side forever.
• 1:23:32
  SPEAKER_00: But as long as I'm here, I'm gonna be happy about it and I'm gonna help.
• 1:23:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'll I'll take it as far as I can and push the girls as much as I can and try to make the girls' side the best possible place it can possibly be.
• 1:23:43
  SPEAKER_00: But if tomorrow the club says, hey, we need you on the MLS side, I'm not gonna be like, no, I have to stay with the girls.
• 1:23:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be like, cool, it's a new challenge, I'll do it.
• 1:23:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to do that.
• 1:23:52
  SPEAKER_00: I just love soccer.
• 1:23:54
  SPEAKER_00: And like as long as you're coaching, as long as I'm coaching, and like if yeah, I I want to be around the best soccer.
• 1:24:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, like, wherever I can be around the best soccer, like I'll that's where I'll be.
• 1:24:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've said it before, I was like, MLS side, that's that's tempting, right?
• 1:24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like that that world.
• 1:24:11
  SPEAKER_00: Go coach you 12 boys in like the local in like the MSPSP or whatever.
• 1:24:17
  SPEAKER_00: I'll probably stay, I'll stay on the girl side.
• 1:24:19
  SPEAKER_00: Stay on the girl side.
• 1:24:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like uh, you know, it's not one of the I I don't have uh this or that.
• 1:24:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's just I want to be in a place where I'm like, all right, I feel like there's a level to it, I feel like the players want to be there, I feel like I can make a difference.
• 1:24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's that's where I want to be.
• 1:24:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's awesome, yeah.
• 1:24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 1:24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, brother.
• 1:24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.
• 1:24:36
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you having me.
• 1:24:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, man.
• 1:24:38
  SPEAKER_03: And we'll do it again, we'll do it again in probably like a year or so.
• 1:24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:24:42
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe one day I'll uh I'll get mine back going and we'll be done.
• 1:24:46
  SPEAKER_00: Do it! That'll be the restart up.
• 1:24:47
  SPEAKER_03: I think that every pod every club should have their own podcast.
• 1:24:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because it's so valuable.
• 1:24:52
  SPEAKER_03: And it's peeling back the layers so that parents know their coaches more.
• 1:24:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, again, uh yeah, that's that's probably what we need to do.
• 1:25:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I haven't it's been tough.
• 1:25:02
  SPEAKER_00: We missed John Kopco over here.
• 1:25:04
  SPEAKER_00: He was the one that got me in here on Wednesdays to do it.
• 1:25:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I gotta just do it myself.
• 1:25:08
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll figure it out though.
• 1:25:09
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I appreciate you.
• 1:25:11
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks, brother.
• 1:25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course.
• 1:25:12
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 1:25:12
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:25:14
  SPEAKER_00: I hate soccer.