Latest / I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth / I Hate Soccer #122- Giuliano Oliviero, how this community club in Wisconsin is competing nationwide!

Transcript

I Hate Soccer #122- Giuliano Oliviero, how this community club in Wisconsin is competing nationwide! · I Hate Soccer with Jason Collinsworth

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_03: Juliano Oliveiro is the Girls Academy director at Elmbrook United, right outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_03: This is the first episode of my partnership series with Elmbrook United.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_03: It's such a unique club in that it's kind of a community club.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_03: Something like 80% of their rosters are like from two towns.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_03: It's a community club that plays in the platforms.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_03: It plays in the MS Next Academy on the boys' side.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_03: And it plays in the girls' academy.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_03: In this episode, we talk about kind of Wisconsin soccer as a whole.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_03: Wisconsin youth soccer, Wisconsin college soccer.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_03: His daughter plays at Marquette.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_03: I did not know Marquette University was in Milwaukee.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_03: I always thought he was like in like the northern Wisconsin towards Marquette, Michigan.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: I'm an idiot.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_03: He has a great story.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_03: He was born in Canada, but he's a first-generation Canadian in his family.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_03: And his stops, he he also coaches at Rally Madison on the women's side.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_03: And he also has a extensive career in indoor soccer that we get into, which is fascinating because he's still in that space.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_03: We are about to hit 5,000 subscribers on YouTube.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_03: I said it in the last episode, and as of this recording, we are at 4,991 subscribers.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna hit that today.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_03: This is released September 3rd, 2026.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_03: This is we're gonna hit 5,000 today.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_03: I guarantee it.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_03: Enjoy getting to know Jules, and I'll see you on the next episode.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_03: I hate soccer.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_03: Is it his stepdad or was it his dad?
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_03: His dad.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it was his dad.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: I think it was his Altonia.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think so.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, and then Eastern and everything.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_03: And but uh yeah.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_03: How okay, talk about your daughter.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: What year is uh your daughter?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: She is a senior at Marquette.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um she played her club with SC Walk Shaw, S C Wave, and yeah, she's graduating.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: This is her her last kind of kick at the can.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: I know fifth years are out there, but um she got offered a job already from her internship, so I think I think this is it.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I've been I've been noticing that with like a lot of my college players, is that they're ready for their career to come to a close, especially on the girls' side.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's very interesting you say that because I think it's all about their experience.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like if yes, if it's a great experience, yes, I want to go pro.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like my daughter played USW League with Riley Madison with me.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and a lot of the Marquette girls, a couple of the Wisconsin girls were I think I had four of the Wisconsin girls.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh from last night's game.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: And um some of them want to go pro because they're having you know, so everyone's experiences differ.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like my daughter loves Marquette.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Does does she love the soccer program?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: Well, she's not, you know, she's not towards the top of the the heap, so it's kind of like you know what, let's let's finish this out and let's move on.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: Are they in the horizon uh the horizon?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_01: Big East.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: They're in the Big East, yeah.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: UW Milwaukee is Horizon, Green Bay is Horizon in Wisconsin, so they played Detroit Mercy, Oakland.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: That's I used to coach for Detroit Mercy.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: I used to do their goalkeeping back in like 2011 and 12 on the men's and the women's side.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: No, horizons are it's a I think it's a really great conference.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: I UWM's had a ton of success since Troy Fabiano and now Kevin Boyd.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they just keep on rolling and and doing their thing.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, um Marquette got a coach, Chris Allen from St.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Louis, took over.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: He's in his third year, and you can see you can see the growth in the team and the results slowly coming around.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: Georgetown's still head and shoulders when it comes to the big East.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: But yep.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_03: I have a player there.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_03: I have a I have a freshman there.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: That flash well, so I was supplemental.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: My training company was uh supplemental, and so I I trained a lot of the Flash girls, like the Wisconsin girl that I went and watched last night.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_03: I've trained her since she was like eight or nine, and uh same with Rory, who's at uh Georgetown, trained her well right around there, and her older sister played a Cornell, and I had just had access to so many high-level girls just because I was the first, I don't know how it is out here, but I was the really the first full-time technical training company out in Buffalo.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: That's why I stayed in Buffalo.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_03: So like the market needed something like that, yeah.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_03: Because we cut I came from Michigan, and I don't know if you're familiar with next level training or Aaron Byrd, and he is massive.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_03: They train like a thousand kids a week.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_03: Wow, and everybody like Hawks, uh Jags, really, Vardar, uh Vardar boys, everybody trains with him.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: Florida State, their coach, when it was Mark Kerkorian, used to send like girls that needed work to Aaron.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: Really?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_03: To come to the yeah, to go and train uh uh up in Michigan.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's nuts.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_03: And so I kind of like stole his business model.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, and that's how I got to be able to train all these excellent players in in uh Buffalo.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: But what is the top youth club in Buffalo?
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's Western New York Flash.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: They are right in Buffalo, yeah.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_03: Uh yeah.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_03: Orchard Park area, Alma.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: I coached a couple players in that area, you know, Will Willie Banahenne, goalkeeper.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: Indoor, indoor soccer.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um when Robert Williamson when you were you where were you coaching them here?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um here in Milwaukee with the indoor team.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_03: Is it still around?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_03: How are those games?
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: They're exciting.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it hits back and forth, it's up and down.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_03: Um is boarded soccer still a thing here in terms of like the youth, or is it gone now?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think it is slowly disappearing.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Sally.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it's you know, everyone kind of mentions bad habits are formed through you know, through the boards and for sure.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um futsal's kind of taken over it.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: As far as a training tool.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and it's usually up till 14 years old, and then the players kind of focus on their outdoor game.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they'll do indoor training to help the technical part, but they're not gonna travel for futsal and futsal team.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_03: I just had somebody on uh I was at the uh the North American Soccer Expo, and she was out in Portland with oh, what is it called?
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Rose City Futsal.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: Rose City Futsal.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: And these kids at like six, seven, eight years old, they only do futsall.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_03: And and so they only do futsall until about 13 or 14.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_03: Then they send them off to ECNL clubs or MLS Next clubs or whatnot.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_03: And I guess they do really well.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_03: That's a good model.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: I've never really thought of it.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_03: I've always there was I think it was Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_03: He talked about this Russian tennis academy where when they train the kids, they don't play any games for three years.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: They just they just trained for three years before they're put into any tournaments.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, okay, what could that work for soccer?
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: Could could you get a kid at six years old and say, we're not playing games until you're nine years old?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I wonder what that would look like.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, you're gonna play games in you know, inner squad and and with your own team and stuff, but I always I always wanted would that work.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's interesting.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's interesting.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, does that take away the competitive juice, you know, and hey, you want to be better than the person on the other side, right?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: So um see interesting.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_03: I think the whole winning over development thing, it's like we gotta be very careful because we have to be remain competitive.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like, wait a minute, we gotta take away winning, but do you ever do 1v1s in training?
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: Well, yeah.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, do you keep score?
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: Well, then that's winning.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_03: That that's trying to be competitive, so like you can't say, oh, winning versus development or development over winning.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's like it's I agree 100%.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's together.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: When does winning become a part of development?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: You know, exactly knowing what a game needs.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: We're up our goal, we're down by goal.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what does the game need?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we want our, you know, we gotta pull some strings to get a result here.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Mm-hmm.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: How long have you been in Elmbrook?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is year three for me.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: This is year three.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: Were you at Wave before?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: I was 19 years at Wave and 25 years with the indoor team.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_03: 25 years with the indoor team.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: Player and a coach.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_03: Player and the coach.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: What what league is that?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_03: Is that NISL?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's had a few names over the years.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: When I first came in back in the mid-90s, it was the MPSL Buffalo Blizzard had a team.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Detroit Rockers Neon.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Detroit Ignition.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: That was after the Rockers.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Wazaflow was in for a year.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: Why does that make everyone laugh?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_03: Because of Don and Mario.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I spent some time with both of them uh at the expo a couple weeks ago.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: They're fun.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then uh that's they got the third brother, right?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_03: Well, Tino, and Tino's probably the best player.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: He's and he's he was very good.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: He was on the Detroit Ignition, they won the championship that year.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it was NWS and MPSL became the MISL.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it was Extreme Soccer League one year, the year that Ignition won it, and it's been called the MASL for probably since 2014.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Is it healthy?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Is do you think it's still healthy right now?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's getting healthy.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I took a position with Lehigh Bally Spirits out in Pennsylvania.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and the ownership group is AHL owners, American hockey.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: And uh really it's two brothers.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they're invested, they own the Philadelphia Phantoms, um, successful in the AHL.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's the Flyers farm team.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: And um it seems like it could head in a different direction with this with other AHL owners coming on on board.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: And um so healthy, I think it's got potential, and I think this with these uh owners of Lehigh Valley coming in, I think it's it could have likes.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: What's your role with with them in Pennsylvania?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I'm the sporting director, so just okay helping them put the team together, and then on top of that, um really just um you know, just helping coach and be around the guys and so uh what how do you how do you balance that?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's gonna be interesting.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, our our season in Wisconsin, I mean, winter comes and soccer slows down.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: So uh a time will open up and you know I'll miss the early part of the season, but um plan on being there, you know, during the winter months.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: Got it.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: And your role with Ellenbrook is the girls' academy director?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, you know what?
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's such a you know, I I know you got to walk the facility.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's just top to bottom.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's unbelievable.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you look at uh, you know, uh Joe Ludkey, executive director, and all his experiences that he's been through to to um put this together.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: And now like um platforms have developed in Elmbrook United.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you look at the Ten and Under program and it's just blossoming.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's massive.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's absolutely massive.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: The the feed that comes into Select is is unbelievable.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, everyone talks about you know player recruitment and player retention.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think with Elmbrook United, I mean it's just um player retention like is is you know, you saw the facilities.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Why would you leave?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: Great coaching, uh branding's amazing.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, they got a uh volunteer board, but it's a it's a working board, really intelligent people.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and as a member, if I was a member of this club and I had a player in this club, everything comes back to the members.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're so well taken care of.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, turf fields, um, you know, facilities during the winter, yeah, um, all of the aboard by year.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: They they check all the boxes and and um you know the members are are well taken care of, and it's a club that cares, you know.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's did you uh because obviously you've been a competitor for how long has Elmbrook been around?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: 20 years.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: So Elmbrook, interesting.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: And and uh Joe Ludke uh was a part of the merger with Brookfield Use Soccer and Elm Grove Use Soccer.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: They they became one and and um Joe Ludkey was instrumental in making that happen.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: And um from that point forward, you could just see it.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: You could just see that you know what, there this club was gonna be around and they were gonna grow and they were gonna get better.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it's really a place that has soccer for everyone.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: So now they have platforms, they got the girls' academy, they've got MLS next.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: So um the players that want to play at the highest level, they're in the right place.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: But it also has next level and then the level after that.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: And if you want to just be a recreational player, it has that as well.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a it's it's a club that has soccer for everyone for all different levels and whatever level you want to play.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: If you just love the game, but you know, you don't want to see yourself playing past high school, then this is the place for you.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: If you want to see yourself playing past high school into college, this is now the place for you.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_03: Are you on the field with Elmbrook at all, or are you just overseeing just the whole program?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: So I I helped direct the girls' program along with Liz Lawrence, and on top of that, I I'm on three teams.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I coach three of the the Girls Academy teams.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_05: Okay.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: And uh absolutely love it.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: Coaching, coaching is my passion, and you know, I'm I'm blessed to coach three really great teams with a bunch of great players and great human beings.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_03: When you what's Wave?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_03: Are they uh are they in the GA or ECNL or anything like that?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: They are in Girls Academy.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, they're also in Girls Academy.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: They are in Girls Academy.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: I believe there's four clubs in Wisconsin, which is that's kind of nice.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: It is nice.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like when you look at the other travel, yeah, and then you look at the other platform.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's there's one club, and it's it's funny.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: Like, this is really interesting.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like the other platform, ECNL, is is just very strong across the country.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you look in the state of Wisconsin, and it it'd be hard to say that you know what, Girls Academy is probably number one in the state of Wisconsin as far as talent and ability and you know, depth and quantity and quality.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, it's it's really interesting.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: We've we've done a great job.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: We we work well with the other Girls Academy clubs, and um, it's just it's prospering across the board.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like okay, this might uh be completely wrong because again, this is kind of like why I'm doing these club partnerships all over the country, because I want to find out what the states are like.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_03: So in Michigan, for the most part, everybody gets along.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like the GA clubs get along very well.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_03: Midwest United, uh, Jags, Tigers, maybe a little bit.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_03: Tigers is a little bit younger of a club, or I need to, I haven't even talked to those guys yet.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um whereas I feel, and maybe this is just because where I've been in Buffalo the last 11 years, the ECNL clubs are a little bit more, they have a little bit more friction or a little bit more protective of everything in their ecosystem.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I don't know if that's a nationwide thing, but like you say that you guys get along with all the GA clubs here.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I do is that a GA thing, or is that just uh just how it is?
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's a that's a great point.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: I kind of feel exactly I think you hit it on the head, like um, they are protective, but you know what?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: They're very good.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of them are very good.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um when we're in preseason, like we want to play, we don't want to play Girls Academy clubs that we're gonna see in our in our league play.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we have really good relationships with ECNL clubs that are outside of our region or outside of our state.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, this this past weekend, you know, we we had Ralph Richards, we met in Illinois, and we played St.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Louis Scott Gallagher.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: So that was a lot of fun.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, it's a it's a high-level club, and you know, Chicago Inter from the ECNL hosted it, and Lockford was there, and then from ECNL, and then FC United's there from GA and ourselves are there.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: So it's interesting that you say that, and then you look outside like they're receptive when it comes to hey, there's no threat here.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: We just want our players to get games, we want our players to get better, and we want to prepare for our season.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_03: Do you guys do the uh Jack's um winner showcase?
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_03: We'll probably do it this year.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was awesome, it's an awesome event.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: Hundred coaches, a hundred college coaches from all over the country.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: They had like ACC coaches, they had SEC coaches, they had Pitt, they had Kentucky, and then all obviously around Michigan and Chicago, Illinois, Indiana, all those coaches.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_03: But three fields, think about like when you go out to a GA event in NorCal or or you go to an ECNL event, you're going you're having to organize 24 fields.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas this Jags event is three fields, you can see three games in one window, and and you get to see everybody, and that event is amazing.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: I've only heard good things, and I know it, and it falls.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: I believe it falls right in line with the um with the G A G A uh ID event okay that also will take place in Wixham in the Jags.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um so if we can align, um we want to do it.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: We've talked to Scobie about it um quite quite extensively, and and that is our plan.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: And just you know, our girls are at that point now where Elmbrook United is on the map and we're on the radar, and we want to be in front of college coaches, and they they seem to do a really great job with that.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Are you bigger on the girl side than the boys side?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: I would say uh Elmbrook's kind of been known as a boys' club for many, many years.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: The girls I don't want to sit and it I would say it's par.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's right down the middle where where you've been.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: The boys side is super talented.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they have some great young teams, their older teams um are very good and um similar to the girls side.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's really steady and it's probably equal, I would say.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Got it.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_03: How okay, how big is Wisconsin?
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_03: I'm trying to think of like, okay, you obviously got like the Chic outside of Chicago and then the Milwaukee.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: And how and I'm so frustrated with my experience in Buffalo because we have one GA club and we have one ECNL club, and then the next closest is in the city when it comes to New York.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, why isn't there more?
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_03: You just said that there's four GA clubs in Wisconsin and what two ECNO?
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_03: One ECNO?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_03: One ECNO.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_03: Wave is no longer in the ECNO?
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_03: They were never in the ECNO.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_03: They were never in the C.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, they're the GA.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: They're the G A.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_03: And so what, FC Wisconsin?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_03: But I mean, we could get into that of why there's only one, but I mean, I know, and everybody knows, but uh, okay, so five clubs, and uh everybody's pretty competitive, right?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's crazy, yeah.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone is competitive, and you know, you look up north towards Green Bay, the Appleton area.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and uh there's a club Wisconsin United that's in GA Aspire, which is the second league, but athletically, and and what they're doing there is is really impressive, and there's there's no reason why they couldn't compete as well in the GA.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you come more locally, the Croatian Eagles is in GA Aspire.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: Are they ready to take that next step?
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_01: Probably not, but then you go towards the Madison area, Madison 56ers are in the Girls Academy, and then all of a sudden you see this Ford Madison group get MLS next, and now Rally Madison uh Girls Club has the USW League, and they also formed they also formed uh like an academy, an academy, and you know, they're doing some really good things there, and uh, you know, they they're they're aspiring for bigger.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: So um it's gonna get really interesting.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_03: What's what's the biggest city in Wisconsin?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_03: Is it Madison or is it Milwaukee?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I would have to think it's Milwaukee.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Madison is the capital of Wisconsin.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm right not born and raised here, so okay.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um you might you might be asking the wrong guy, but where were you born?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Vancouver, British Columbia.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: Born and raised.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: Got it.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: When did you come out?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_03: Well, did you come out here first to coach with the wave?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: I came out here to play for the indoor Milwaukee Wave in the indoor league.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_01: So uh that's what brought me out here.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um Keith Tozer was the coach at the time.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now he's the commissioner of of the indoor league.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: And uh that's kind of what brought me out here.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't prepare for that.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: Nope.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, no, and been here on and off uh for yeah, since then.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: Raised my whole family here.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_01: How many how many kids do you have?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: I got two kids.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: I had an older son that graduated from Whitewater last year, and he's working in downtown Chicago, and then my daughter's a senior at Marquette playing.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: And where's her job?
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she's still a student, right?
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she did an internship at Pfizer, and probably will continue working there after she graduates.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_03: Is that gonna be local or is she?
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_03: That would be local, that'll be downtown.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's nice.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's great from mom and dad.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you get what what what is Chicago from here?
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_03: Like an hour?
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_03: Solid hour.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: A solid hour.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: Give yourself an hour and 15.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and then you gotta find parking.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm actually going there.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, so there's an author that I'm going to talk to on Wednesday on my way home.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_03: He wrote a book called Soccer Dad.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: And uh his daughter is a maybe a fifth year at Ohio University.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: And so he just wrote a book.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_03: He's he's an author, he's he's wrote several books, but he uh wrote a book just about like all of his experiences of raising the daughter in the game and her like some mental health stuff and just the struggle.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_03: And when uh when do you call it a career and stuff like that?
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm going to talk about in downtown Chicago on on Wednesday.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_03: So and but when did Forward Madison come around?
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_03: Because they contacted once I announced that I was partnering with you guys, all these people from Wisconsin that came out of the Warworth, hey, when you're here, let's talk.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, Yeah, I actually I when when I posted it on my social media page, it it's funny that Alley Madison was the first person to reach out and like, how do we get involved with this?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, Well, I mean, we'll see.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like, and I'm trying to hit like all 50 states and then like do it again.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_03: So I don't think I would I don't I don't think I would like do two in Wisconsin, but I am gonna try to do multiple if and when I get to Texas, because they're like three hours away, so it's like they're not really competitors for the most part.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_03: Like, if it's Dallas and Austin, it's like okay, I'm just gonna and then go and talk to a lot of college coaches and stuff like that.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_03: How who's the coach at Milwaukee?
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: Uh new on the women, on uh on the women's side.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, wait, your daughter plays on Marquette.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, no, the Milwaukee coach is Kevin Boyd.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the Marquette coach is Chris Allen.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he's from St.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Louis.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: Kevin Boyd, um, he's I want to say he's from the Boise area.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he's also a staff coach at um North Shore United, but's in the GA.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: And then do you have a relationship with the Wisconsin coach?
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_01: Other great people.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: Paula Wilkins, fantastic.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: She's been there forever.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_01: She's done an amazing job.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: And um, her assistant Tim Rosenfeld and I were teammates way back in the day.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: Back in he's Canadian as well.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: So um we got to play together.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: He's a great goalkeeper, and I mean, he's been by Paula's side, I mean, almost since the beginning.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_01: So they've done an amazing job.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: I know that we have girls that we've coached before that have gone there, and some of them are in the starting lineup and some of them are towards the bottom of the roster, but the positive words that they say about her is is really impressive because you know, you could be out of the lineup and you know, oh coach this, coach that, and it's it's actually the exact opposite there, and it's it's kind of refreshing.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: It is refreshing because I mean, you've had I I mean, you've probably heard all the horror stories, and I hear them all, and it's like it's amazing how it's the same sport.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_03: So you have one player that could have just an awful experience, and you have one player who might play less than this player and have the best experience ever.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's so wild to me.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_03: Did you ever think about getting into the college game?
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: I've thought about it many times.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I think it's amazing to watch.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: I I love it.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but at the same time, I I don't envy the coaches and what they have to go through.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's it's not an easy position, and um, but it's definitely, you know, it's something of interest.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, um the players themselves, I yeah, it's what you just said, it's it's so up and down.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, you want to prepare the girls and choose your school school wisely and um choose it for more than just soccer, and because that might not always work out.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I'd love to know the percentage rate of success versus failure on the on that side of it.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, no, it's it's uh it's a tough position.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_01: I I really don't envy the coaches of of especially the higher the level.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: I it's it's a really tough position.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: As as the girls director, do you how how much of a role do you play in college placement?
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: So myself and and the other director of the girls' academy, Elizabeth Lawrence.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we hand I think I'm talking to her tomorrow.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we handle everything on the girls' side.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_01: We meet we lead it's the players' responsibility to contact us, it's the players' responsibility to tell us what schools they're interested in and initiate contact with the schools, and we kind of help them from there.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we meet with players that want to meet, and um we yeah, we we take full control of it, but it's it's their opportunity, it's their responsibility to take care of their own college process as well.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 28:19
  SPEAKER_01: They got to take ownership of it.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: And really, how much of it is educating the parents that it's that it's funny you said that.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_01: We just um we just did our club wide meeting to start the season, and on top of that, um, on the girls' side, we added a college presentation and um Liz Lawrence put it together and she delivered it, and it was top-notch.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_01: It was fantastic.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, really educational for our parents, and we also have coaches come in.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: Chris Allen uh spoke to our club last year, and our parents loved him uh from Marquette, and um he's uh he's offered to come again.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we get college coaches coming in here and they're not about themselves.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, Chris mentioning, you know, what's what's right for you.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like his daughter plays Division II at Truman State, Missouri.
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: So um could she be a D1 player?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: I watched her play last week.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: I think she could be, right?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: So you gotta choose the school that's right for you, where it fits, and and um he did a really good job of educating our parents.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_03: It really comes down to if soccer ended tomorrow, would you still want to go to that school?
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_03: And a lot of kids, I don't know.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_03: I think there's a lot of kids that I've had luckily that love the school that they chose, but that soccer didn't work out the out for them.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_03: They they were told to go into the transfer portal, and they're like, no, I'm gonna stay because I love this school, or I only have one more year or two more years or whatnot.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that is just gigantic.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't agree more.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that was that was my conversation as a parent with my daughter, and it's like, hey, if you got hurt tomorrow and you couldn't play for the next four years, would you still want to come here?
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: And how far is Marquette from here?
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, it's right downtown Milwaukee.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's perfect.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_03: Marquette is?
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's right downtown Milwaukee.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_01: Why did I think it was in like Marquette, Wisconsin?
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_03: Wait, at what?
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_03: How many Wow?
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_03: So who is the coach at Marquette?
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_03: Chris Allen.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_03: Chris Allen.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_03: Huh.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_03: I might reach out to him and maybe try to get him on tomorrow after I'm done here.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_03: Because wow.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_03: So how many D1 his number for you?
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_03: How many D1 schools are within a I mean, how far is Green Bay from here?
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_03: Two hours?
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_03: So how many so that would be UWM.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_01: Madison, Green Bay.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's four.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: Is there another one?
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: Parkside is division two.
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: That's out in Kenosha.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Brittany Nicholich, she does a really great job.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I believe that's it.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_03: And then you got uh Madison or Wisconsin.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_03: Wisconsin.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_03: Is that you counted that to four?
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_03: That's I mean we have in Buffalo again, we have UB, we have Kenishus, and we have Niagara.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_03: Three.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_03: Man.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's crazy.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_03: Is so when I think about Michigan, when I think about St.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: Louis, when I think about New Jersey, it's an old soccer area.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_03: It's maybe a lot of immigrants way back in the day, and that's why it's it's a soccer-rich culture.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_03: What's Wisconsin like?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: Is Wisconsin like an old one, or are you still dealing with like a lot of first generation soccer players?
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I want to say in between, but I I do think it is more to the new side.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, we talk to our players all the time, and you know, I'm not just you know, a a coach or a director of soccer, I'm also a parent, and it's kind of like, you know, when I when I talk to our players, it's do you really want to go that far away?
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, do you want to stay close to home?
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, mom and dad don't exist unless you want them to.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the moment you want them to, they're you know, they're right up the street.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, um, you know, there's there's a lot of mental health issues in in female sports these days.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: And um for me as a parent, like having having my daughter close is it's been important to not just us, but to her as well.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_03: How okay, so you're on the men's side of indoor and you're on the girl side of club.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_03: How hard is that, or is it not that hard for you?
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_03: Because I noticed that a lot of times it's either you're all girls or you're all boys for the most part.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's funny, growing up, I had my son's team and blessed to coach my son all the way through, and that was a lot of fun.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden, you know, as other people, you know, coach my daughter's team, and then I'm like, fine, you know what?
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'll take them.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: And the moment I took them, there was just no turning back.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, oh my gosh, this is great.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_01: So from a tactical standpoint, it's a little bit different.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the men's game is just so fast and intense, and you know, tactically the girls' side, if if you know, possession becomes a little bit more important, I think.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, if you do have dynamic players, you gotta use them to your advantage.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_01: And and um, you know, having a game changer in girls' soccer is a big deal, having having a top-notch goalkeeper is a big deal, obviously.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_01: Men's side too, but um it it's pretty much the same.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you find these female athletes, they're competitive.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_01: The ones that want to play at the top level, I mean, you know, they're they're there to get better, they're there to to win.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like girls, like if you have a okay, if you want to play, if your team, if you want your team to play like Spain, I think it's almost easier to do that on the girl side than to do that on the boy side.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_03: Or if you want your tactical influence to come out onto the field, I think girls is so much easier to get done than on the boys' side.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_03: Because the boys side have minds of their own at times.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well, using Spain as an example, man, I I wouldn't I wouldn't want to play against Spain at any level.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's it's unbelievable what they're doing.
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, watching that World Cup final, and oof, I felt bad for Messi.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: Like, couldn't touch the ball that game.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's it was it was weird, it was just total domination and possession.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, then you turn around and you look at Spain's girl side, they won the last World Cup, so it's like what are they doing?
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're doing something right, and I think it starts at the younger ages.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I've always thought that like, okay, especially coming up 2008 to 2012, Pep comes on onto the scene and really you know changes the game.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I think of okay, Spain's number one in the country or in the world.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_03: Then I look at our women, and they're also number one in the world, our women.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_03: But then I'm like, why don't we look like Spain?
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like, is it is it DNA?
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_03: Is it is it the training?
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think it's the training because I feel like we do the exact same stuff.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_03: It's like we do we all do rondos, we uh all we hear is rondos, rondos, rondos from from like Barcelona.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_03: It's like we do rondos, but we still don't look like that, even our but is it because we always rely on like Alex Morgan and Chris and Press or Abby Wombeck's size up top, or now it's the triplets with like Trinity and and Sophie and Mallory, and it's like like why why don't we look like that?
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_03: Like or the number one men's team.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_03: Why don't but then you look at Spain women and they look just like their men, it's in their DNA.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_03: We don't is it that we don't have DNA?
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: I would say I agree with you 100%.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's in the DNA, and I think you know, when you look at youth national teams and and what they're doing along the way, I think they're doing it on both sides, and they're starting it, you know.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what the youngest national team is at U15, is it U14 now?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you're right.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_03: And Spain wins all those youth tournaments.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that system of play and and how they go about things is is in embedded in them at a very early age, where you look at the American side and you look at the women's side, and it's like you'd be crazy not to take advantage of our athleticism.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, exactly because there's just so athletic, these players, and they're just so fun to watch.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_01: If I mean, you would have to say if you could incorporate, you know, maybe that system of play of Spain with the American players.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure they're just as technical to your point.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they do rondos, they do this, they do that.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but American players are more athletic.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, if you could incorporate that system play, maybe maybe it's gonna be interesting to see how Emma does in terms of because she's trying to revamp the youth national teams.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: And you see the span uh the Spanish men's team uh head coach, he was the U-23 or the Olympic coach, and then he was like the U-20s, and then he was the U17s.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like that's kind of what Emma is doing of revamping all of her youth teams because she cares, she knows that we haven't won a youth, we haven't won a youth world cup on the women's side since like t uh 2012.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_03: I did not know that.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_03: And it was the U, I think it was the U-20s.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_03: That's the only one that we've won.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like, okay, not to bash any league or anything, but it's like, okay, if if ECNL uh was formed in 09, we've only won one youth national team or uh youth national um world cup since ECNL was uh has been around.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_03: And we can argue on the men's side ever since DA started.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_03: We have we barely even make the Olympics.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like, what uh is it are we too fragmented?
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_03: Are we too closed?
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I I don't know the answer.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_03: I really don't because I I I feel like with the GA and the GA Aspire or MLS next, homegrown and academy, and there's gonna be a third tier, everybody just wait for it.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_03: There's gonna be a fourth tier.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_03: And the ECNL doing ECNL and RL.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_03: I want these clubs to open up a little bit and allow more.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_03: Well, one, it's travel, or we don't have to go from Buffalo, New York, from Western York Flash all the way to Tennessee Soccer Club in Nashville.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_03: That's an 11-hour drive.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it's just let people in, stop the gatekeeping and just let everybody in, and so that we can all be under one system and all the kids can be seen.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's one of my biggest frustrations.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_03: And I just don't I don't even know where I was going with that.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_03: It's just a tangent.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean I think you're right.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think there are ideas like in the NWSL.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think you know, there are academies being formed or there's players being brought in.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe it's reserve teams to start.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think how young they go on the youth academies in the NWSL.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe they are leaving that to the other platforms, the youth platforms.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: But you look on uh the men's side and the MLS Academies and MLS Next, and hey, you know, like our goal at Elmbrook United on the boys' side could be instead of winning MLS next cup, is it hey, we graduated five kids to Minnesota United?
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_01: How many did you graduate?
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_01: And and I know we've I don't know the exact number.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not on the boys' side at Elmbrook United, but uh Scott Kreitmar and Joe Lucky, they've done a great job of getting players to Minnesota United, probably more than any other club in Wisconsin.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_03: So wow.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_03: And they're just in the and they're just in the academy, and it's like stop worrying about all that.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_03: Stop worrying about what uh platform you're in or what what um yeah league you're in.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's like they'll I want to say that they'll find you sometimes, of course, kids don't uh uh I feel like we are yes, we're such a big country, but I feel like the kids that slip through the cracks is smaller because you now have four GA clubs in Wisconsin.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_03: You have an obviously another ECNL.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_03: How many MLS Next uh clubs do you have?
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_03: Do you know off the top of your head?
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_03: Either Academy or Homegrown, I don't care.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and it's like and and you guys have something for players that need financial assistance, absolutely, and every uh almost every club does.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_03: And I I feel the kids that are being missed or left behind, they're not in downtown Milwaukee.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_03: They're like up in close to like the Canadian border in the middle of nowhere.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_03: I feel like that's the kids, the kids in the middle of Nebraska that are or or Montana that don't have a GA or an ECNO club or what uh you know what I mean?
• 41:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I feel like those are the kids that are uh that are missed a little bit more.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_03: How big is your go ahead?
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_01: You're right, you're you're absolutely right, right?
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: You look at like Ezhmir from Wisconsin that played for Bosnia, that could have played for the United States in the World Cup, that scored the winning shootout, PK, right, that got Bosnia over Italy, you know, to get to the World Cup.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um, yeah, no, I I agree 100%.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like those are the kids that are being missed.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_03: And we see it all the time with a there's an American girl that plays in college, but she's playing for the Italy national team.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, well, because my dad has Italy uh citizenship, and I have a girl that's at Kentucky that is actually in that situation where she has dual citizenship.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, you need to go and try to get on the Italy national team because she's not.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_03: What's her name?
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_03: Her name is Gianna Tuzzolino.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, and and I'm like, you're not gonna make the U.S.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_03: national team.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry, you're just not.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_03: You have to have like a perfect deck and you have to be identified kind of early, and you have to be in that youth system unless you absolutely destroy it in college.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_03: That's another way.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_03: So a freshman, she's a sophomore, maybe a junior now.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and it's like, hey, go over there because Italy needs more players.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, are you Italian?
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, obviously, yeah.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_03: But then you were born in Canada, yeah.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_03: Were your parents for first generation and first generation?
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_03: You're first generation Canadian.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_03: How was your growing up?
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_03: How was soccer in Vancouver?
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was great.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I grew up with the Vancouver White Caps, uh NASL.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: And they've always been around.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: They they've always had a youth academy.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_01: They no, no, that just when MLS next formed, that's when they formed it.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I like I grew up um White Caps disappeared, Vancouver 86ers formed.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_01: I played a couple seasons with the 86ers, and then 86ers became white caps again.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then within a year they were in the MOS.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_01: So um, no, I was super lucky to go and see Peter Beardsley and Carl Valentine, who ended up being my coach, Dale Mitchell, Tino Lethieri that lives in Minnesota.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um, just some really fantastic players.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously, you know, when the New York Cosmos came to town, that was the game I just never wanted to miss.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, well, yeah.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_03: How is Canada?
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_03: How close are you to the Canadian game and the Canadian youth system now?
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_03: Because sometimes I hear like crazy things, at least in Ontario.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know how it is in what province is that?
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_03: Is it British Columbia?
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_03: British Columbia, that's right.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Ontario definitely produces the most national team players.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: There's no doubt about it.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what Jesse Marsh has done in his limited time in Canada, and he's a Wisconsin native, has been uh remarkable, you know, absolutely remarkable.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Mauro Biello and Paolo Ciccarelli are his two assistants.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm former teammates with him with the Montreal Impact, and uh Morrow was the the prior intern head coach uh when John Herdman left.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_01: And um, no, what what they're doing is great.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um Chesse Marsh, I mean, it's just a brilliant mind.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_03: Uh what's Herdman doing now?
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_01: I have no idea.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_03: I thought he was good.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_03: I thought he was good on the girls' side.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_01: His results were excellent.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_03: And then on the men's side, I mean, he didn't qualify, but it's like it's I don't know.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_00: Got caught with the drone.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_03: I think the women I think the women could win a World Cup.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_03: I think they can win a I I think they can win a women's World Cup.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_01: Don't you think?
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I mean, um, I look at Wisconsin, I believe there's three Canadians playing on that team that are with either the youth program or the full national team.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_01: So right.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_02: State Michigan State has a few too.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_02: Michigan State, yeah, actually from Vancouver.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: So okay.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, no, the woman's game is I don't want to say we're neck and neck with the US, but we're not far behind.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think so either.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_01: Our games are always very good.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_01: If both teams are are fully healthy, I mean, I think the games have been excellent.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_03: I was at a Michigan State game, and uh a kid, he he was uh he was like a law student there, but we were we started talking, and he's from Mexico, and he played club soccer at Notre Dame.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_03: And uh he was talking, we started talking about the Mexican women's team.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_03: It's like they all play college soccer in the United States.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_03: It's like where why why can't Mexico compete?
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_03: Why can't they catch up with Canada and the United States?
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_03: Because they have some unbelievable young talent.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_03: They're they're like, if you go and watch their U17 national team or their U-20 national team, it is they are very good.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, when are they gonna get over the you know the the hump or whatever?
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_03: Because I think that that could be coming too.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, put them in the conversation with USA and Canada.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, could be I mean they have girls at UCLA, Oregon, uh Texas AM.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_03: They have some really good talent, and it's like in about five years when they're on the national team, look out, and I think that's when we host it 31.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_03: So boy, I don't know.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_03: So how okay, do you guys train everybody in here during the winter?
• 47:48
  SPEAKER_03: What are your winners like?
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we do, I believe everyone gets one night a week here, and okay.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_01: We do have like you want to call it futs all, but gym floor.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, I grew up, it was it wasn't a futsal ball, it was a giant tennis ball, right?
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what you trained with.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, now it's futsal, we can call it futsal training.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like the club offers a lot, and there's extra opportunity.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_01: So you really like you're guaranteed at least one session a week with your team, but umbrook United offers as as much as you're willing to do.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like we have players playing basketball, which I'm not opposed to because can't hide on a court.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think it helps in their development, and um, so we we do lose some players that can't make as much as maybe they should, uh, because they do plan on playing at the next level.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_01: And um, at the same time, like we have players that are all in, and hey, well, those sessions aren't gonna be enough for us.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_01: We need this, this, and this.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, okay, done.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 48:49
  SPEAKER_03: Are there any uh indoor 11 v11 facilities around here?
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_01: There it currently, currently uh there wasn't one in Franklin put up by Mosh and Rock Ventures.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 49:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that turned into now a half a field and fastball courts on the other side.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's it it is definitely needed in the state of Wisconsin.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_01: Marquette puts a dome up uh probably for five months out of the year.
• 49:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they play all their spring games in there, and um it's very hard to rent.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're asking me if there's one thing needed, it's it's either a dome or a structure of 11 v11.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um again.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you look at uh you look at Wisconsin, you or sorry, you look at Michigan and you look at uh Minnesota, and it's like hey, it's 12 months a year no matter what.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_03: And there's only one in Buffalo, too.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, and I know that I know the cost of indoor facilities, it's astronomical.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_03: And think about any club or in the area, think about their parent or or their their player dues.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_03: Most of it is going to coaching and indoor facilities.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's where most of the money is going.
• 50:07
  SPEAKER_03: And everybody thinks that clubs are sitting on millions and millions of dollars.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, guys, I've ran a 4,500, well, it was 5,600 square foot indoor facility.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_03: I know what that costs.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_03: And and I'm thinking about clubs that are trying to do something like this.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's like that's it's a lot of money that people just do not realize, especially in areas like Michigan.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, uh, where the Jags does their um their showcase, I think the price is eight hundred and twenty-five dollars an hour for an 11v11 field.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_03: They're at Oakland University for their bubble, they are uh they are charging a thousand dollars an hour for an 11v11 field.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_03: So think about like two nationals write that.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but nationals are trying are start or are partnering with another facility and they're kind of doing their own thing, but they have to take they're a massive club.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, that's Steinwasher, yeah.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, they have a thousand, no wait, they have four thousand kids statewide because they have all their different areas, but they have to take over like multiple facilities because they try to provide two or three nights a week throughout the winter, especially for their premiere teams or for their ECNL teams and and and whatnot.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_03: And it's just and again, people are like, Oh, you're these directors are making$400,000.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like, well, first of all, I'm okay with the director.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_03: If they were a part of the club when there was 10 teams and they've built it into a uh a club that has 70 teams or a hundred teams or whatever, I kind of am okay with what they have built because it's not easy, especially if you have a facility.
• 52:13
  SPEAKER_03: And we talked about this on our on our little tour.
• 52:16
  SPEAKER_03: It's like facilities are so important, and you guys having this, it's it's a game changer, and it's almost needs to be a prerequisite of mine.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not gonna partner with a club unless they have like an office or they have a place of their own to call home, which is I think is just massive.
• 52:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think this sets Elm Broker United apart from from most clubs, and yeah, it's it's endless.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you look at Michigan and you look at those indoor facilities, and it's like, okay, but we could be outside August, September, and part of October.
• 52:51
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like if you don't rent it August 1st, you're not getting it.
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_01: And now you're in it, now you're in it for the long haul.
• 52:58
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know if this happens here, but there are clubs that are renting the bubble, not using it, just so somebody else can't use it.
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_03: And then there's that side of it.
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_03: There's like a little bit of like friction, and but there's not enough facilities.
• 53:17
  SPEAKER_03: But then everybody thinks that again, everybody thinks that it's a moneymaker.
• 53:21
  SPEAKER_03: Somebody, somebody is constantly asking me questions about like, okay, how'd you do this facility?
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_03: How'd you do your facility?
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_03: How'd you do this?
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_03: How'd you do that?
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_03: And like, man, uh if you just do it, like man, you gotta you gotta make so much money.
• 53:35
  SPEAKER_03: It's like there no, no, be careful because especially if you want to own the building, if you want to own the building, every single thing is your responsibility, every light bulb outside every the parking lot.
• 53:49
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, Joe was talking about like one of his things on game days is just like worrying about the parking lot because kids just running around and and everything.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, yeah, you want that liability?
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_00: Good luck, right?
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, so okay.
• 54:09
  SPEAKER_03: How so you're doing three teams, and then you when are you going to Pennsylvania?
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_01: November?
• 54:16
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I won't.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I won't go until after the winner showcase, the GA showcase.
• 54:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's in December, so okay.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_03: So so let's call it January.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we can call it, we can say that, and uh may maybe sooner, but I'll still have responsibilities here with Elmbrook United.
• 54:35
  SPEAKER_01: Our winners do slow down, and right I'd still have to train my teams and and I'll make sure I'm here for that as well.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_03: How many training sessions do they get uh when you guys are outside?
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_01: We do three a week.
• 54:46
  SPEAKER_01: Three a week.
• 54:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we do three a week.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's the perfect amount, and you know the falls are so busy, you know, not just the players, but families have no weekends off.
• 54:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I believe we start up this Girls Academy starts up this weekend.
• 54:59
  SPEAKER_01: So once we get going, they might have Labor Day, but after that it's it's gonna be Do you have do you have games this weekend or are you guys just starting training?
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: Nope.
• 55:08
  SPEAKER_01: We uh we started early August and uh we open up with what Soccer's FC Chicago and FC United out of Illinois are coming, yeah, are coming to us.
• 55:17
  SPEAKER_01: They'll play ourselves and they'll play Madison 56ers and um soccer's is GA?
• 55:22
  SPEAKER_01: Soccer's is GA.
• 55:26
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 55:29
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I guess yeah, because the MLS next, yeah, they've always been either DA or MLS next.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 55:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then we're we're off to Michigan September 11th and 12th, I believe we have.
• 55:42
  SPEAKER_01: Jags and Tigers.
• 55:43
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 55:44
  SPEAKER_03: Wow.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_03: Is that the furthest travel that you have to do?
• 55:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um you tell me it is how far is Michigan Stars.
• 55:53
  SPEAKER_03: Where is Michigan Stars?
• 55:55
  SPEAKER_01: I heard it's closer to Nashville's.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, okay.
• 55:57
  SPEAKER_03: So that's like six hours.
• 55:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, just that's six six or seven.
• 56:03
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, Michigan's the furthest that we have to travel.
• 56:06
  SPEAKER_03: That's not that bad.
• 56:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's really not that bad because also you get two games.
• 56:12
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas those Tennessee clubs that come up to play Western New York Flash, their travel partner is Pittsburgh, which is three hours away.
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_03: Isn't that crazy?
• 56:25
  SPEAKER_03: That's rough.
• 56:26
  SPEAKER_03: Whereas you uh when you guys go to Michigan, at least you guys get to double dip, and now well, I forgot about Michigan Stars.
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_01: We're staying in Ann Arbor.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's exactly it's it's really good.
• 56:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's not that bad.
• 56:39
  SPEAKER_01: The other trip would be like, okay, um, us and 56ers are gonna go play Midwest United and Michigan Stars.
• 56:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 56:46
  SPEAKER_01: So that's about a I want to say a two-hour drive in between.
• 56:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like I'd rather be the team playing stars first, making my way back closer to Wisconsin to Midwest United, and then come home.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_01: But however the league uh does the schedule, I I think we we're more than capable of working with.
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_01: But um, working with the clubs from Michigan, they're they're fantastic.
• 57:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Jaguars have been great in Wixham, and then Tigers came in to the Girls Academy the same year as us, and we were in uh USY SE64 together.
• 57:18
  SPEAKER_01: So uh their staff's phenomenal.
• 57:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Darry Scott's one of my favorites, and um yeah, it's it's good.
• 57:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I'm hoping they get more and more competitive and make it difficult on the other clubs there.
• 57:29
  SPEAKER_01: Do you guys have Aspire as well?
• 57:30
  SPEAKER_01: We have Aspire as well.
• 57:32
  SPEAKER_01: How how many like what's there for this travel?
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_01: So they have more games in Wisconsin than the GA, um, but they're they're similar.
• 57:43
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, oh really okay.
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_01: They do go to Midwest United, they do go to Jaguars.
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think Tigers are in Aspire.
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't think Stars are an Aspire.
• 57:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that sounds right.
• 57:54
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, if they go, they'll probably play Midwest United and they'll play um Jaguars.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_03: And how how many training sessions do they get?
• 58:03
  SPEAKER_01: They do three as well.
• 58:04
  SPEAKER_03: That's excellent.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 58:08
  SPEAKER_03: And then Dill was saying something about like MLS next.
• 58:12
  SPEAKER_03: If you want homegrown, they kind of need to have a full field or uh half a field.
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_03: Uh do you do that?
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_03: Do you try to uh do that for your GA teams versus your Aspire teams, or is it quarter?
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's a quarter, um, obviously normal.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, obviously, you know, you'd love to work on playing, you know, full dimensions and playing out of the back on goal kicks, for example, or breaking pressure, but a quarter is more than enough with with one team to to really put a good session together.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_01: And if you have two teams, you can have a whole half and you can figure it out your your training sessions and can kind of work around that.
• 58:49
  SPEAKER_03: And I personally like training in tight spaces, but I'm used to it because I I've had a like a small facility for five a side, basically.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_03: And I feel like we can develop a little bit better players because they have to solve problems a lot quicker, and they're youth players, they need to have that immediate pressure that's natural versus okay, let's play 11 v11, but we're gonna use the entire field.
• 59:18
  SPEAKER_03: But if you're on your defensive half, you have to play one and two touch.
• 59:21
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, wait a minute, what if I have seven seconds and I'm the goalkeeper and I and I have all this time and nobody's pressuring me?
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_03: You still want me to force and play one and two touch that's unrealistic, and that's gonna create me from panicking in a game because I think I have to get rid of it quick when I could have just took a breath and then made the like a smarter pass.
• 59:43
  SPEAKER_03: Instead, just shrink the space and have natural pressure rather than made-up pressure, which uh with with your game conditions and stuff like that.
• 59:54
  SPEAKER_03: I always got frustrated, I always got frustrated with that, especially with goalkeepers, because especially in the modern day, you do not want your goalkeeper panicking on the ball ever.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_00: Ever.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_03: Ever.
• 1:00:07
  SPEAKER_01: No, for sure.
• 1:00:08
  SPEAKER_01: And and you know, just to expand on that, you know, these girls um are coming from high school season, right?
• 1:00:13
  SPEAKER_01: And then they get July off, and now we're back at it, and no disrespect to high school.
• 1:00:19
  SPEAKER_01: I know everyone loves it, and it's it's fun and this and that.
• 1:00:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you come back to club, and now you're playing this club from St.
• 1:00:27
  SPEAKER_01: Louis, and now it's like, whoa, there's no easy outs here.
• 1:00:32
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:00:33
  SPEAKER_01: Every single player on the field can play the game at high tempo, and and there's that part of it too.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like we we went uh this weekend, we played that St.
• 1:00:42
  SPEAKER_01: Louis club, and it was like the pressure was insane.
• 1:00:45
  SPEAKER_03: When is uh girls' high school here?
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_01: Girls high school is mid and towards the end of March, all the way through June 20th last year, and I believe Michigan got pushed back to later as well, Matthew.
• 1:00:58
  SPEAKER_03: So uh does anybody in the area offer full year for the girls yet?
• 1:01:03
  SPEAKER_03: Because we have Hawks that do that offers that we have um nationals that now provide it.
• 1:01:13
  SPEAKER_03: Jags, I don't think they have a full year yet, but if the girls want to opt out of high school, they they set up training for them.
• 1:01:21
  SPEAKER_03: Same with Midwest.
• 1:01:23
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it clubs do that.
• 1:01:26
  SPEAKER_01: We would do that if you know we do that probably across the high school age groups and form a composite team and go about it that way.
• 1:01:34
  SPEAKER_01: I I just I don't think we're in a position to say you're not playing high school.
• 1:01:39
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:01:40
  SPEAKER_01: You need to be here.
• 1:01:41
  SPEAKER_01: And and I would I feel the same way on the boys' side.
• 1:01:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's tough.
• 1:01:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like you you want to represent your high school.
• 1:01:47
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, we want our players to be happy.
• 1:01:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's you know, if you go homegrown, it's like it's a 10-month program.
• 1:01:54
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, there's gonna be kids that want to do it for sure, 100%.
• 1:01:58
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, it's it's a lot.
• 1:02:00
  SPEAKER_01: You're asking a lot from uh these young athletes, and you also want them to have a life and be happy.
• 1:02:07
  SPEAKER_03: You are right though, about like when you get I always remember like getting the kids back, and you're like, what is going on?
• 1:02:16
  SPEAKER_03: Like they're decision making, and they think that they can get away with everything that they can get away with in high school.
• 1:02:21
  SPEAKER_03: It's like uh we're not playing in high school anymore.
• 1:02:24
  SPEAKER_03: Like you can't just dribble and be the best player and just like do whatever you want and have a license to kill when like you you know, you can't you can't do that.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_03: Oh god, and that'd always take like three weeks, but we're at such a disadvantage because let's say you make playoffs.
• 1:02:43
  SPEAKER_03: Let's make say you make playoffs, so you don't get your girls for four months, three months, and then you're going against a team from California who's already been together because they're because their high school is in the winter, or Texas, their their high school is in the winter, so they've already been together for four months, and they're at such a disadvantage.
• 1:03:05
  SPEAKER_03: That's why the Hawks go year round, that's why the Nationals try to go year round, because but now it's like, well, what's happening in Michigan, it feels like is well, hawks offer a full year, so we have to offer a full year, and and because kid because some families and some players want that full year.
• 1:03:25
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 1:03:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'll take that one step further.
• 1:03:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like we had that issue with the playoffs this year, and even our summer showcase that ran into high school.
• 1:03:34
  SPEAKER_01: So if you are a successful high school and we're we're a community club, and it's not one or two girls off the roster, it's it's seven or eight.
• 1:03:45
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:03:45
  SPEAKER_01: So we are going to the summer showcase slash playoffs, and it's probably your best players too, because it's always your best players, right?
• 1:03:52
  SPEAKER_03: Because they're the ones that make it the furthest in state uh playoffs.
• 1:03:56
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, we we had that problem in the girls' academy this year, and you know, we had to pivot, and you know, it's it's not fun.
• 1:04:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like you you put all this time and effort into having a great season and making the playoffs, and then you're you you know, you go into a gunfight with a butter knife, and it's like you know, and it's like and you don't want to take that you don't want to take that opportunity away and that experience away and winning a state championship with your high school and how meaningful it is, and they spent the last three months together, and it's it's it's tough.
• 1:04:28
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, us as a state with the with the WIA, the high school, I mean, we just gotta work together and make sure that these girls are getting the opportunities they deserve.
• 1:04:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's not their fault, it's not the players' fault, it's not the club's fault.
• 1:04:43
  SPEAKER_01: You can't really blame the high school, but you can't play blame the WIA, which makes the rules for high school.
• 1:04:50
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 1:04:51
  SPEAKER_03: How's the state organization in in Wisconsin?
• 1:04:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like uh yeah, great people.
• 1:04:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, you know, but they're fighting an uphill battle.
• 1:05:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's ECNL, it's Girls Academy, it's MLS, isn't affiliated with USYS, and you know, they they do the best they can.
• 1:05:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it's it's not it's not uh what it used to be, and that includes State Cup and going to regionals and going to nationals.
• 1:05:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now if you win State Cup, you go straight to nationals.
• 1:05:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um I can speak for the staff in Wisconsin because I know them really well from the director of coaching to who makes all the decisions in the office.
• 1:05:28
  SPEAKER_01: And hey, they're they're smart people, they're great people, and you know, they it they're in a they're in a tough spot.
• 1:05:36
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, and there's some people in in high ranking positions that are trying to bring back power to the state associations, and I I don't know, especially on the men's side, I I don't know how we solve all of our issues.
• 1:05:56
  SPEAKER_03: I don't think that the world is burning like everybody wants to just blow.
• 1:06:00
  SPEAKER_03: Blow everything up and start all over.
• 1:06:02
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, why would we do that?
• 1:06:05
  SPEAKER_03: We've seen leagues fold in the past.
• 1:06:08
  SPEAKER_03: You really want just MOS just go away and just restart with promotion and relegation just because other smaller countries can do that?
• 1:06:17
  SPEAKER_03: I again and through this podcast, I've I'm way more positive on the overall health of soccer in this country than I used to be when I had only talked to myself, when I'd only talked to players, or when I'd only talked to parents, and I would I would do these videos where I would just complain about everything that I heard from my parents or my players.
• 1:06:45
  SPEAKER_03: And I was so negative.
• 1:06:48
  SPEAKER_03: But now getting to talk to like people like you guys, I'm way more positive.
• 1:06:53
  SPEAKER_03: Getting to see this facility, I am way more positive of like, and now I see okay, I see what Wisconsin's doing.
• 1:07:02
  SPEAKER_03: And I hope I get to go to you know Ohio or Texas or California and just see it, and then and then everybody listening or watching get to see that, like, guys, we are way more advanced than we were 30 years ago, 40 years ago.
• 1:07:18
  SPEAKER_03: You know, it's just I don't know.
• 1:07:21
  SPEAKER_03: It's uh and I don't know, back to the state organizations.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_03: We'll see.
• 1:07:27
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know how we put the genie back in the bottle.
• 1:07:30
  SPEAKER_03: You know, and it's not like leagues are just gonna go away or everybody's just gonna merge and have a kumbaya moment.
• 1:07:38
  SPEAKER_01: I I agree.
• 1:07:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh look at Elmbrook United and you know, speaking about Elmbrook United, like we're we're happy with the Girls Academy.
• 1:07:44
  SPEAKER_01: We're in a conference that is hard, yeah.
• 1:07:48
  SPEAKER_01: You know, week in, week out, like there's no there's no easy matches across the board.
• 1:07:53
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, we're in the Midwest East conference and Michigan Jaguars come down and they're a juggernaut, and then next day you're playing Midwest United, is like really this doesn't get easier.
• 1:08:03
  SPEAKER_01: And um it's it's been great for us.
• 1:08:06
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, from a competition level, you know, like we win some games, we lose some games, we're we're right where we need to be.
• 1:08:11
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 1:08:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's how we feel.
• 1:08:13
  SPEAKER_03: Are you on the field tonight?
• 1:08:15
  SPEAKER_03: Are you are you training?
• 1:08:16
  SPEAKER_03: What time?
• 1:08:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh 545 I start, but I'm uh I'm at the other complex.
• 1:08:24
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, like down that way?
• 1:08:26
  SPEAKER_01: Catholic memorial, Waukesha.
• 1:08:28
  SPEAKER_03: And that's turf as well.
• 1:08:30
  SPEAKER_01: That's a full field turf.
• 1:08:32
  SPEAKER_01: Then we'll have um our 13-14s start off with Liz Lawrence and myself, and then our 15, 17s, and 19s finish.
• 1:08:43
  SPEAKER_03: How many females on staff do you have?
• 1:08:45
  SPEAKER_01: We have quite a few females within the Girls Academy.
• 1:08:49
  SPEAKER_01: Elizabeth Lawrence is our one.
• 1:08:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Aspire Kelly Swenson, who played at UW Milwaukee.
• 1:08:55
  SPEAKER_01: So did Liz.
• 1:08:57
  SPEAKER_01: Liz actually that'll be an interesting interview for you because um she was a two-sport athlete at UW Milwaukee.
• 1:09:04
  SPEAKER_01: So really she also shot hoops.
• 1:09:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um wow.
• 1:09:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 1:09:11
  SPEAKER_03: Um that is interesting.
• 1:09:13
  SPEAKER_03: Because I feel like the GA does a really good job of trying to get females into coaching.
• 1:09:19
  SPEAKER_01: 100%.
• 1:09:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's female, it's basically female operated.
• 1:09:23
  SPEAKER_01: They do a great job.
• 1:09:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're they're promoting, you know, not just you know, the sport itself with with our athletes that are playing, and they also do it with with uh staffing and you know, club staffing, league staffing, and it's it's been great opportunity for for these females to really step into the game.
• 1:09:44
  SPEAKER_03: Do you think does your daughter want to get into coaching?
• 1:09:50
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe not.
• 1:09:51
  SPEAKER_01: She sees my salary.
• 1:09:52
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think so.
• 1:09:54
  SPEAKER_01: What about your son?
• 1:09:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, no, actually, I'm surprised.
• 1:09:58
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, my son is a massive fan of the game, right?
• 1:10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh EPL, uh, you know, he doesn't mind putting some money down either, um, which is interesting.
• 1:10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Uh no, I I don't think uh maybe maybe my daughter would get into coaching.
• 1:10:14
  SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, she shattered me a few times, and I like bringing her out and having you know female presence around the girls, right?
• 1:10:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and she's been fun to have around, and yeah, but I I think at the end of the day, like they went to school, they got their degree, and they want to use it to their advantage.
• 1:10:32
  SPEAKER_03: What do would you say that most of your players from here go to schools within like a like a three-hour radius?
• 1:10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 1:10:40
  SPEAKER_01: We have um, I know you you mentioned Kentucky earlier with the Italian player uh with dual passport, but yeah, we had three players at Kentucky.
• 1:10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's probably the furthest one transferred to Florida State this year.
• 1:10:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um from yeah, but I would say a three-hour radius from the girls that I've experienced um in and helped with their college process.
• 1:11:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I would say that that's right spot on.
• 1:11:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I had two girls at Kentucky.
• 1:11:10
  SPEAKER_03: There's another one, but she transferred to USF.
• 1:11:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um South Florida.
• 1:11:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 1:11:16
  SPEAKER_03: So two of the staff members are from Milwaukee that just one left Kentucky, Steve Gollis, and he went to USF, and that was a weird little story because uh I uh because they're like best friends, but then he went to USF and then he brought in his uh son to Kentucky, and he was at Mercer, and I have a player at Mercer.
• 1:11:40
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, really?
• 1:11:41
  SPEAKER_03: That played with the two that were at Kentucky, and it's like it's crazy how small the soccer world is.
• 1:11:48
  SPEAKER_01: True.
• 1:11:49
  SPEAKER_01: And how Fabiano and I were actually teammates way back in the day in indoor soccer.
• 1:11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, he played at oh geez in Pittsburgh there.
• 1:11:57
  SPEAKER_01: I forget why can I think of it?
• 1:12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um Robert Morris, yep.
• 1:12:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and Steve Gollis was also from Milwaukee, and now Steve's it's out of Florida, and Jen Want went down there, and she was the assistant at Marquette with my daughter uh last year.
• 1:12:13
  SPEAKER_01: So um I it's great to see people from Milwaukee branching out and and doing good things.
• 1:12:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's but it is crazy just how small the soccer world is.
• 1:12:24
  SPEAKER_03: It's like okay, and you were there last night, and I was there watching one of my former players, you know what they're watching your daughter and many of your former players, and it's just it's so crazy.
• 1:12:37
  SPEAKER_03: I just had the Xavier coach on, and she um she coached at Paul State with the University of Detroit coach that I've like known and had on, and and it's just and it's just so crazy.
• 1:12:54
  SPEAKER_03: And like college soccer is even smaller, and how much uh of the recruiting process is your is based off of your relationship and your staff relationship with those coaches.
• 1:13:07
  SPEAKER_01: You you mentioned ball state and Josh Wright was the head coach there now.
• 1:13:11
  SPEAKER_01: He's at Indiana.
• 1:13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Josh played with me in Milwaukee, lived in my basement.
• 1:13:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's like so and now is at Indiana.
• 1:13:18
  SPEAKER_03: And I now when I text him, I think she coached with him and uh she coached with him and Steve at uh yeah, see?
• 1:13:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's funny when he's at Ball State he responded to all my texts.
• 1:13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Now I text him about a fire and I don't get a response.
• 1:13:32
  SPEAKER_01: But he he's a fantastic guy, really fantastic guy.
• 1:13:36
  SPEAKER_03: Do you get frustrated?
• 1:13:37
  SPEAKER_03: I know I do.
• 1:13:38
  SPEAKER_03: Do you get frustrated when there seems like a coordinated effort of kind of bashing the GA from other platforms?
• 1:13:48
  SPEAKER_03: Because I feel like, and I have I have evidence, and I have I have evidence that it is kind of like talking points, it's like political talking points.
• 1:13:58
  SPEAKER_03: It's like this is what you're supposed to say, and it's like, hey, you guys can post this if you want, but then when you see 12 clubs all post the exact same stats, it's like this is coordinated, or you're very you just copy everything.
• 1:14:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, first and foremost, you we worry about Armbrook United, right?
• 1:14:20
  SPEAKER_01: We want, hey, we have a job to do, it's develop our players, make sure they're in a positive environment, not just for mental growth, but um we want them to love it.
• 1:14:29
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 1:14:30
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, the ones that want to move on to the next level, great.
• 1:14:33
  SPEAKER_01: We'll we'll do our best to help you there.
• 1:14:34
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, and then I turn and I look at the GA, and I I mentioned earlier our our Midwest East conference, like it's it's unbelievable.
• 1:14:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I look across town uh at the other platform club and I I look at how they're doing and in their specific league, and I look at the results and I look at the standings, and it's like for me as a parent, like you know, watching my kid play, that can't be fun.
• 1:15:00
  SPEAKER_01: Right, you know, I it just can't be fun.
• 1:15:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, you drive into these places and you're like, you know, you're not gonna get a result.
• 1:15:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's it's kind of you know, like I love where we're at in Girls' Academy, like, hey, we're going to Michigan Jags.
• 1:15:15
  SPEAKER_01: They beat us by one last time.
• 1:15:16
  SPEAKER_01: Like, hey, you know what?
• 1:15:18
  SPEAKER_01: If we get a tie, it's great.
• 1:15:19
  SPEAKER_01: If if we if we pull off something even bigger, like awesome.
• 1:15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like, but we know we're going to these places and we know it's gonna be difficult, but we know it's not out of our reach.
• 1:15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Where I feel like in the club across town, it's it's kind of out of their reach.
• 1:15:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, they it's not it's not the environment that those players should probably be playing in.
• 1:15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:15:43
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, I had one of the Midwest guys on, and he said something like just kind of like just blew my mind.
• 1:15:54
  SPEAKER_03: And it's like, bulletproof your club, focus on what you're doing, focus on your staff, focus on your facilities, focus on because we all thought the development academy was gonna last forever.
• 1:16:07
  SPEAKER_03: And then when the girls' development academy came in, we thought it was gonna last forever, and then that ended.
• 1:16:13
  SPEAKER_03: It's like there's no promises that the MLS next or the ECNO or the GA is going to last forever.
• 1:16:22
  SPEAKER_03: So focus on your club, focus on providing the best facilities, work on your staff to provide the best staff and help educate the staff and let the chip fall where they may when it comes to the the platform.
• 1:16:36
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, because at the end of the day, it's about the kids.
• 1:16:38
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're so wrapped up in the platform, who is getting left behind?
• 1:16:43
  SPEAKER_03: The kids.
• 1:16:44
  SPEAKER_03: You're you're forgetting about the kids.
• 1:16:46
  SPEAKER_03: And that's one of my uh that's one of the biggest things that this podcast has really opened up for my eyes, at least.
• 1:16:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, you're you're spot on.
• 1:16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's player development, player experience.
• 1:16:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's it, it's yeah.
• 1:17:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I look at whatever, you know, I I'm on social media, I I see what other platforms are saying, and it's like we're on Brooke United.
• 1:17:09
  SPEAKER_01: We we know what we are, um, we know what we provide, and you know what?
• 1:17:15
  SPEAKER_01: I I think it's I think it's been great, and we're honest and we're fair.
• 1:17:19
  SPEAKER_01: How much do you promote from within in terms of like maybe an aspire player and then going into uh you know the first team from probably more than any other club that that would be I I talk about our player retention, and you know, we are a community club, but you know, you're a community club, but hey, our we're we're a big community.
• 1:17:40
  SPEAKER_01: We we have talent, we have players within that can do the job.
• 1:17:45
  SPEAKER_01: And and the biggest thing this year um was the birth year change.
• 1:17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh god.
• 1:17:51
  SPEAKER_01: So when you think about it, there's there's a spire, you know, there's a spire players, let's just say on a U17 team, most of her team is moving up to U19.
• 1:18:02
  SPEAKER_01: She's gonna be a U17 again.
• 1:18:05
  SPEAKER_01: And physically, physically, she was at a disadvantage, and now she's either even or or even better, and she has all the technical ability, and here we go.
• 1:18:17
  SPEAKER_03: How how was that process for you?
• 1:18:19
  SPEAKER_03: Because I got so many messages about upset parents about having to repeat the gray or the the team or the age group.
• 1:18:27
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, guys, it's a good thing, it's probably a really good thing that you get to read.
• 1:18:33
  SPEAKER_01: It is a good thing, do I think it's a great thing for the for the player, and you know, as a parent, I'd embrace it.
• 1:18:38
  SPEAKER_01: We uh we obviously had a couple uh disgruntled parents, but at the end of the day, of course, you know, we we made a hard push, and this is where you belong, and this is what we're gonna do.
• 1:18:48
  SPEAKER_01: And and uh, you know, we have great families at Elmbrook United that understood and they trust us.
• 1:18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so they're like, okay, if the club says this is best for my player, we're gonna do it.
• 1:19:00
  SPEAKER_01: And um now on our side, it comes down to the coaches and making sure because oh man, we made some giant strides last year, we did great, and now the team's gonna change, and all of a sudden it's like, okay, we've we went to Detroit, Michigan, um mid-August, and then we're playing St.
• 1:19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Louis this past weekend, and now it's all about us just finding our way as as not an individual, but as a team, right?
• 1:19:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and and that was our our main focus with our preseason heading into league play, and and uh we feel we got that done in the last couple of weeks, and it's been fun getting to new new getting to know new players and strengths, weaknesses, and positions, and it's it's been great, you know.
• 1:19:42
  SPEAKER_01: How much of your role is developing coaches?
• 1:19:47
  SPEAKER_01: For me personally, like I work alongside the GA coaches quite a bit.
• 1:19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:19:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I am around a couple of Spire coaches, and you know, we shoot ideas back and forth.
• 1:19:57
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean at Elmbrook United, we we have someone um actually just came in.
• 1:20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh big big ad for our club that is doing exactly what you just said.
• 1:20:07
  SPEAKER_01: And um, no, I'm excited.
• 1:20:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for him.
• 1:20:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited for the coaches he's gonna be around.
• 1:20:12
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 1:20:13
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks for doing this.
• 1:20:14
  SPEAKER_03: You bet you were kind of like forced to never, but uh thank you so much.
• 1:20:20
  SPEAKER_03: And I love like learning about you guys and the area, and I mean, I just I mean, he both of them undersold what this was.
• 1:20:32
  SPEAKER_03: I'm blown away, yeah.
• 1:20:38
  SPEAKER_03: And it's only building, and you're only getting bigger.
• 1:20:40
  SPEAKER_03: What is the radius of your of your players?
• 1:20:43
  SPEAKER_03: Like how far uh do people travel?
• 1:20:47
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know?
• 1:20:48
  SPEAKER_01: This is probably the first year that we're getting players from Madison, which is a solid hour.
• 1:20:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, players in Kenosha, which is on the Illinois border.
• 1:20:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but we're honestly, we're we're mostly community around community club.
• 1:21:06
  SPEAKER_01: We're a community club, and we've got some really, really talented players.
• 1:21:11
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean, this might be a question for Joe, but like there's so many community clubs out there that are they they're big, maybe they do have the facilities, but they they're scared of the platforms, or they don't want to do the platforms because they're scared of the travel, or they're scared of losing players, or they're scared that they're gonna compete.
• 1:21:31
  SPEAKER_03: And it's almost like community clubs need to do this, need to try to do this, need to try to get in the platforms, otherwise, you're always gonna lose kids to the platforms.
• 1:21:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's what I that that's what's happened in Buffalo.
• 1:21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 1:21:49
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah.
• 1:21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Trust me, when I was in a part of Elmbrook United, I knew where the best players were.
• 1:21:56
  SPEAKER_01: They were at Elmbrook United.
• 1:21:58
  SPEAKER_01: So um, no, I mean, and did you get frustrated?
• 1:22:02
  SPEAKER_01: Did you get frustrated losing players?
• 1:22:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's frustrating.
• 1:22:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but uh with Elmbrook United, it was just like no one wanted to leave.
• 1:22:14
  SPEAKER_03: That's why I left my community club way back when.
• 1:22:18
  SPEAKER_03: This is like 2011, 2012.
• 1:22:21
  SPEAKER_03: This is before I was in Buffalo.
• 1:22:22
  SPEAKER_03: This was when I was in Michigan, and I kept on losing boys to the Vardar Academy.
• 1:22:29
  SPEAKER_03: Or and I lost a couple to wolves, but wolves are pretty far from where I'm at.
• 1:22:33
  SPEAKER_03: And and I was like, I am so sick of losing players.
• 1:22:38
  SPEAKER_03: And then I had a really good girls' group at that same community club, and then I was like, uh-oh, here we go again, they're all gonna leave for the ECNL.
• 1:22:46
  SPEAKER_03: So then eventually I was just like, okay, I'm going, because I'm sick of losing all of all of my players that I've worked with for three years going over there.
• 1:22:54
  SPEAKER_03: So I was just like, I'll go over there, and that's uh and now and I think about that club that I left.
• 1:23:01
  SPEAKER_03: That club doesn't even exist anymore.
• 1:23:03
  SPEAKER_03: That's sad.
• 1:23:05
  SPEAKER_03: But if if I stayed, would we have gotten into the platform someday?
• 1:23:09
  SPEAKER_03: Would we have stayed?
• 1:23:10
  SPEAKER_03: I I don't know, but that's a frustrating point, or um, maybe an identity crisis type thing.
• 1:23:17
  SPEAKER_00: The day you left was the end of that club.
• 1:23:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's not to make you feel bad, but I think you know it.
• 1:23:23
  SPEAKER_00: I ruined it, and that's where we'll end it.
• 1:23:26
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you so much.
• 1:23:28
  SPEAKER_03: I appreciate it.
• 1:23:28
  SPEAKER_03: Thank you.
• 1:23:29
  SPEAKER_03: Awesome.
• 1:23:30
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I hate soccer.