Briar Cliff University Women’s Soccer – Coach Gabrielle Parks
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Parks from the Briar Cliff Women’s Program in Iowa. We talk about varying recruiting sources as the landscape changes. She describes how the school has a high percentage of student athletes so the whole school is supportive. Lastly, we discuss how sometimes the spring offseason can be even harder than the fall. Learn more about Briar Cliff University Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach parks from Briar cliff. Welcome coach.
Coach: Thank you for having me.
Matt: Yeah. Thanks for being here. Excited to talk to you about your program. So we’re talking here, uh, May 9th. Um, you know, the kids may already be gone at this point from school.
I don’t know. But, uh, as you’re wrapping up, uh, the, the school year, how is the recruiting going? Have you wrapped up the recruiting classes? It’s something you’re still working on. What’s, what’s your, what’s your calendar time look like for that?
Coach: Yeah, it’s, it’s funny because, um, I guess you never stop recruiting, right?
We, we have who, you know, we need at the moment, but, you know, we’re never going to say no to a good player who comes in where, um, who emails us or asks about us. But, you know, you also never know who’s going to leave, um, you know, in the middle of the summer, they might miss home too much to come back or, you know, whatever it is.
A lot of us, Our players are so far away from home that, you know, but yeah, we are, um, I’m looking, I shouldn’t, I’m looking up at my board because that’s where all my recruiting is, right? Um, but yeah, yeah, we’re pretty much set for 2024 going into the season. I like to be wrapped up sooner rather than later.
Matt: Sure. Well, and you know, we’re in a, An interesting year, I would say for a few reasons, right? You’ve got the, the last COVID year folks kind of shaking out the transfer portals, just going gangbusters. And then the delay in FAFSA [00:01:30] has shifted things a little bit later. So have, have, have those changes or, or, you know, I don’t want to call them oddities cause who knows, they, they may be more regular than not these days.
Um, Have they changed your timelines and the way that you go about things and and again, looking at your roster, there’s some some folks from other countries. Is that to change how you recruit internationally? What does that look like?
Coach: Yeah, it’s been really funny actually this year. We actually haven’t got very many Americans at all.
It’s been, well, mostly international kids, but you know, the FAFSA thing has been really big for us. Our, our school is a private institution, so it is a little bit more expensive. And I think a lot of, um, you know, players want to look at that FAFSA before they make a decision. So I don’t know how other schools, you know, are doing it, but yeah, it has kind of shifted how we have.
Worked to get the players that we need this year. And it did end up being international because they don’t get those. Um, the transfer portal is wild. Um, you know, we, we haven’t had much luck. Uh, obviously we can’t really get into it well at all, but you know, um, but you just hear from coaches and you use Twitter and things like that, but with the transfer rules changing, uh, it’s, it’s hard to get any kids, you know, into it.
You know, down a level anyway. So yeah, it’s been an interesting year, um, for a lot of reasons, like you said, but we’re, we’re moving along and we’ve got some good players coming [00:03:00] in and we’re pretty happy.
Matt: Well, good. Well, when you. Even though you’re lower on your domestic, uh, recruiting than normal. What are some of the tournaments, some of the places you like to go to, to look at players, uh, and that sort of thing?
Coach: Yeah. So we, you know, each year kind of changes. Um, and it just depends, uh, you know, a lot of tournaments sometimes are kind of in November as well, which is really hard because you don’t know if you’re going to make playoffs or, you know, but, um, I always like to go out to crossfire in Washington. Um, I used to coach in Washington, so the talent level there is like really untapped.
Um, so a lot of GA events and, and a lot of, you know, surf cup in the Cal in California and some Las Vegas tournaments as well, um, where, you know, where we’re situated, it’s, it’s kind of easy to get out all. And then of course we do the local ones, um, around here, but yeah, we just kind of go all over, um, and then tune into a lot of live streams for a lot of like, uh, international ID camps.
Matt: Okay. Well, are you mentioning camps? Do you guys do ID cams? Do you or your staff work other camps? Are camps kind of an important part of your recruiting process?
Coach: Yeah, so for us, like, specifically, we actually just got a new turf field. Um, it was in October. So we spent kind of half the season, um, on a different turf field and then it came in.
So we actually haven’t been able to do camps on our own, uh, because you have to protect the grass. We only have that space. Um, but now we’re going to, you [00:04:30] know, do our pilot, um, ID camp in the summer. Um, um, The men’s team is doing one too. So it’s going to be a really good couple of weeks. Um, but yeah, whenever we go to a tournament, um, we do actually sign up to go and work those ID camps as well.
And in the past I’ve, I’ve typically gone to the CSC camps as well. Um, cause they garner a lot of players there as well. Um, but yeah, mostly for us, ID camps are. Right, we’re gonna go to the showcase and that’s great, but then we also make a relationship with a few of the kids that we like anyway, so then they really do remember and notice you more and get a sense of how you coach without just being like, hey, I liked how you play.
Please come play for us, you know, so
Matt: well. Whether it’s at an ID camp, a showcase, live stream event that you’re watching, whatever the case may be, what is it that kind of makes up the hierarchy of things that you’re looking for in a player, whether that’s on the field attributes or off the field stuff?
Coach: Yeah. So we’re, we’re pretty specific. Um, you know, our team we’re, we’re pretty highly technical. We do a lot of training sessions, one, two touch. Um, you know, that’s kind of like a non negotiable for us. Um, while that can be taught. You know, we, we do look, you know, when we see a player and we’re like, okay, they’re already doing this, right?
Uh, you know, then that’s kind of like a check off the list. Um, and then we kind of look at, okay, uh, what do they do perhaps when they lose the ball or their team loses the ball? Like, are they. Good enough to be, or fit enough maybe to be running back to recovering, you know, we, we typically play a [00:06:00] three, five, two.
So for us, it requires, you know, quite a lot of fitness, quite a lot of technical ability. So those are the two kind of, um, you know, non negotiable things that we have. Um, but other than that, you know, we’re, we’re pretty, I really want to make sure that we’re bringing really good people into our program. Um, you know, that the way that they speak to their teammates on the field, the way that they speak to their coaches, the way that they react.
Um, you know, when somebody else scores a goal and maybe they’re the best striker on the field, like, those are things that we’re looking to as well. Like, we really want to protect what we’re trying to build here. And, you know, look, I want to win. Everybody does. Right. But I’ll also, you know, pick a kid. Who might have a really much better attitude for just a little less skill that can be taught.
So those are kind of some big things we look for.
Matt: Yeah, absolutely. Well, let’s, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. I’m sure there’s folks out there, maybe not familiar with Briar cliff out there in Iowa. Um, so what are some of the things that you love about the school that you found to be, to be, you know, extra special, maybe some things we wouldn’t even know about going through the website?
Coach: Yeah, um, one of the biggest things that I really like, and you don’t see this very often, um, sometimes in smaller schools, but we’re actually above 80 percent of the student body is student athletes. So that is a really, really high number. I think the average is like 64. Don’t quote me actually, that, fact check that one, but, um, yeah, and that, and that means for us is like, okay, we talk [00:07:30] about balance of school, of academics, and it’s actually really easy.
To do that, um, so a lot of less stress on our players. Um, You know, our professors all know the training times, you know, it’s usually 3. 15 right after classes, right? They are all aware of how many kids are leaving their classes, uh, to go for an away game or, you know, a home game or whatever it is. So, it’s actually That is one of the coolest things about the school.
Um, that and like you, you walk around the school and you’re going to know everybody, like, because they are athletes as well. And they’re going through the same thing. So I think sometimes like college soccer or college athletics can be pretty isolating at a big school or whatever it is, but You know, you’re always gonna know somebody here.
I’m like, I’m, I’m always gonna know somebody walking, you know, down to the coffee shop on campus or across campus to have a meeting or whatever. Like, our players are going to are going to have the same, like, they’ll never sit alone. And that is something that I think goes really unnoticed from the website.
Um, you know, and, and for us, like, I think. You know, as a soccer team, um, we do create, you know, a lot of long lasting relationships with different countries. Um, that was my favorite thing about college soccer when I played, like my best friends from England and the U S like, you know, I’ve been there, um, for Christmas and things like that.
But, you know, for us, like we, we pair kids. Um, you know, we pair a Swedish kid with a US kid or, you know, an English with a German kid or whatever it is, and they end up being [00:09:00] able to like, go to their houses in summer break and whatever. And you don’t see that, like, you just see a bunch of like, different cities and different, you know, but you don’t think about those friendships that you might make past, you know, college soccer.
Matt: Absolutely. Well, In terms of college, especially for international students, you know, making the transition into college and college athletics can be tough and balancing the demands of, of the classroom as well as the soccer field. So how do your student athletes make sure that they achieve that balance and what support systems does the school offer to help them be successful on both fronts?
Coach: Yeah. Um, we, so I make everybody do study hall. Mostly, I think it’s so like, level for everybody. You’re not competing. You’re all just there, you know, being quiet. It’s a really good reminder that we’re all kind of in this together. Um, but, um, our school has like, On campus, like full campus study hall hours that you can just go in and do, and it’s not in the library as well.
So it’s kind of in a different area than just going into the library. Um, we also have like, uh, like peer tutors and they come into our school study hall. So, like, we have a soccer specific study hall time, and some peer tutors would come in and help us, um, at that time for whoever needed it for English, math, science, whatever it is.
And [00:10:30] then, you know, for for us as well, um, balancing academics, like you said, it’s really challenging. Um, now we’re balancing social life and being an athlete and not having very much time. And then, you know, going to bed at 10 and waking up at 7 or going to bed at. 1, whatever they do these days, right? Um, but we actually have a, we have an on on campus nurse who’s wonderful.
Um, so, you know, any little sickness or whatever. Um, but she’s also great to talk to as well. And then we also have a mental health counselor, um, on campus who does presentations for our team. Our team always meets them. We’ve had, you know, a fair few. Few players go in and see her, just nothing formal, just, you know, that basically, you know, it’s more a lot of freshmen who go in and do that when they are adjusting to not being at home, not having somebody cook for them, not, you know, away from everybody that they’ve ever known for a long time.
And those are some of the resources that we really do heavily. Lean on, um, for us, like I said, our professors are great and, you know, they’re, they’re well aware of how we’re going to miss. Um, but we have a rule that our kids have to do the assignments early. Um, they have to communicate with their professors.
They don’t get to come on game days if they don’t communicate, you know, that they’re going to be going to their professors. So we make sure that there’s like a lot of lot of lines. So it really can’t be missed now.
Matt: I, I, I love that. I, Wish I wish, uh, that was happening to my daughter in high school sometimes, you know, uh, the coaches keeping them accountable is, is definitely key.
Well, let’s [00:12:00] take, take a step back. Let’s rewind back to say, October. Um, you’re in the heart of that conference season, kind of walk me through what a typical week’s going to look like for a player in terms of, you know, winter classes, meals, practice times, game cadence, all that kind of stuff.
Coach: Yeah, we, you know, we hear a lot of our players work, um, either on campus, off campus.
So, you know, we have a calendar that we give them. We like to try and keep it very uniform for them. Um, you know, but mostly, you know, we play Wednesday, Saturday. Um, sometimes you have a bye, but not usually. So Mondays is like our really big day. Um, we’ll, you know, they’ll lift in the mornings at 7am before classes.
Then they’ll kind of go to class anywhere between like 8 and 2. 30, somewhere in there. Um, I’m sure they nap in the middle of the day, um, always get their food, whatever it is. Um, a lot of them like to go straight to breakfast after our lifting, which is great. Um, but then what we do is we do a lot of film, whether it’s on our own.
Um, in groups or like as a, as a big group. So on Mondays is kind of our film and our biggest training day. So we do a lot of those like bigger sided drills. Um, a lot of kind of technical stuff, a lot of running in there to kind of build us up from there. Um, Tuesdays is, is pre game day. So it’s really easy.
Um, but you know, they, they go through their classes again. Uh, and then what we do here is, uh, we, we train for about an hour [00:13:30] and then we will go into the classroom. We’ll do a scouting report. Um, so, you know, what we’re going to do for down a goal, upper goal, you know, the corners, the tactics of the other team, some key players to look for.
Um, we find that it’s easier than just giving them a sheet of paper in the locker room and they’re like, Oh. What in the world are you doing to me? You know, they don’t read it anyway, but at least we know we can see them paying attention and mostly, you know, you hear them on the field going, Oh, that’s, that’s her.
And you’re like, okay, calm it down a little bit. But you know, at least they’re then thinking about it. Um, Wednesdays are, you know, obviously game days are our favorite, but what we like to do as a team is Uh, we, we go on a team walk and now that our field is done, um, we’ll get everybody on the field.
They’ll walk around for about 15 minutes, kind of visualizing what they want out of the day. Um, some kids do it, uh, like scoring a goal or whatever. Some are like, I just want to have a really good day, you know? Um, and then we eat as a team, they go up to the locker room and then it’s full on focus for game day.
Um, Thursday’s the same as Monday, Friday the same as Tuesday, uh, Saturday the same as Wednesday. Um, so yeah, we try and keep it really uniform, but I do like that we give them, you know, the film and the scouting report and we go on team walks. Um, those things are really, really important to us as a program and we think, you know, it’s not just going to training and playing a game.
It’s You know, all the other things they get to do as a team too.
Matt: Great. Well, in terms of, of the [00:15:00] team, is there a roster size that you find is ideal that you’re trying to hit each year?
Coach: Um, yeah, well, we actually, the school gives us a roster size, so it’s around 36. Um, You know, well, when I came in in March of last year, um, I only had 10 players, which is wild.
So we’ve been kind of, you know, inching back up towards that. Um, I think the sweet spot is for us is really anywhere between 32 and 34. Um, so yeah, we do, we do have a reserve team. Um, but you know, we use it mostly for injuries or maybe, uh, you know, kids who are trying to get, Some fitness in, or, you know, like they’re having a good day in training, but they’re not necessarily having good days on the field.
So we’re like, okay, well, we’ll see what they can do, but yeah, 30, 32 to 34 is really a good number for us.
Matt: So, okay. Well, besides, you know, player numbers on a roster, there’s staff numbers on a roster. So besides yourself, what other staff do you have? What other support staff maybe are within the athletic department that help out with the team?
Coach: Yeah, um, we actually, so we have two GAs, um, one is just, uh, well, I don’t wanna say regular GA, but, and the other one is a goalkeeper coach. Um, we actually shared last year, a goalkeeper GA with the men’s team. And this year we’ve got our own, which is going to be so much better, you know, while the GA we had before was fantastic doing a lot of stuff.
I’m sure it was a lot of burnout. Um, two teams is hard. So yeah, we have that. And, um, you know, our, our [00:16:30] current GA, he’s been here for a year. He’s really, really good. He does a lot of recruiting for us. He’s actively taking a role, um, you know, in the, in the training plan and having relationships with players, you know, and the new GA that we’ll have is going to be, um, well, we think he’s going to be really, really good, but.
You know, obviously you don’t know, but, um, yeah, he seems to fit into our process, knows the conference. Um, so we’re really lucky in that sense to have, uh, well, well, GAs are, you know, 20 hours a week and whatever it is. And, you know, we’re really lucky to have two that actively want to learn a lot and want to do a lot of hours and put in the work to be better coaches.
So,
Matt: well, what about you? How would you describe kind of your style of coaching and the style of play that you’re looking to implement there?
Coach: Yeah, um, I’m a little, yeah, I can be pretty laid back off the field. I think, um, you know, relationships are big to me. Um, I love when players come into the office. I have a couch in here.
Um, some, a lot of players just come in, sit, talk about their lives, do some homework in here, whatever they want to do. Um, but I can, you know, I can also get pretty intense. On the field as well in the sense that, you know, when I think we’re not working hard enough or anything, like I’m going to, I’m going to tell them, you know, um, I just don’t think there’s any, any shying away from, you know, okay, we might, if we’re playing bad because we’re just not on it today, that’s one thing, but if we’re like not running off the balls and we’re, you know, not challenging in the air, like, to me, that’s like just, Not wanting to be [00:18:00] there.
So that’s when I get, you know, kind of intense. But so I’m trying to find like, there’s a really good balance between, you know, obviously I care so much about these players and want nothing more than them to have a good experience. But I think a good experience is also, uh, maybe, you know, develop them into a better player as well.
Not just a better person, but both of those things. And that doesn’t happen. Unless you give them a little push, uh, in the right direction every so often. So, yeah. And, and for us that leads into it. Like I’m a, if I’m intense on the field, then obviously our drills are going to be intense. That means we play in one, two touch where, you know, not panicked, but we are, we’re fast.
On the ball. And we’ve added some pieces that are going to really help us next year in getting to where we want to be.
Matt: Well, in terms of the season, you got the fall, but then you also got the spring, the quote unquote off season. That’s never an off season. So what does, what does your spring kind of look like in terms of what the players are doing and that sort of thing?
Coach: Yeah, we, it’s funny. We, we joke about this a lot. Like, honestly, sometimes the spring is hotter. Um, okay. You’re, you know, you’re doing it in the fall, but it’s like, you know, you’re going at the same time, um, all the time you’re doing the same things when you hit the spring, it’s so the weather sometimes is so up and down that you don’t know, um, you know, if you’re going to be inside outside, how long you’ll have with the thunderstorms with, you know, the rain sometimes, like you just don’t know Iowa, it has its four seasons.
And that is, that’s. For sure, [00:19:30] like, but, so you have to really manage that, but for us, you know, we train three times a week, um, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, we lift three times a week too, um, we do a little bit more study hall, and then the NAIA gets three dates of competition, um, but we play six games, so we play two teams.
On to get the maximum amount, you know, of of playing time as well. Some some players end up playing 120 minutes. Uh, all players at least play 6570. Um, so we really like that. Um, and we tend to play teams that are, you know, In a higher division, per se, than us. Like, we played a couple D2 teams, you know, we did play a local, um, JUCO team.
We played a few, um, NAI teams, but typically teams who, you know, are going to challenge us and we’re allowed to make some mistakes there. So we’re, we can learn. But it was a really good spring for us, actually. Um, we went into a new formation, uh, that we hadn’t done previously because we didn’t have the players.
Personnel for it last year or in the fall. Um, but yeah, we came out. We came out pretty, pretty well in the end. So,
Matt: okay. Well, coach, you’ve been super generous with your time told us a lot about the school, but I got 1 last question for you. Uh, if you could break it down and just give me 1. Piece of advice you think is relevant to anybody going through this, uh, college recruiting process, what, what, what would you want them to know?
Coach: Um, you know, I think that [00:21:00] don’t maybe make assumptions about schools or coaches or records or anything like that. Um, there’s always different things that are happening, um, within that level, within that conference, whatever it is, you know, um, for me, I necessarily, uh, you know, didn’t have. Maybe a good experience overall in college soccer before I came, became a coach.
Um, there were really good times as well. Like, don’t get me wrong. Uh, but yeah, and that to me was something that I really try, try to give forth in our program is, okay, find a coach who you do like and find players who you do want to be with and find a school that if you did get injured and you had to spend six months on the sideline.
That you still were actually okay with the people that you’re around. And I think that means a lot more to a lot more kids than, all right, we’re, we’re, I’m just going to this school because they, you know, they, uh, they’ve won 18 games this season. But then you find you’re sitting on the bench or maybe the coach, um, doesn’t really treat you like you’re part of the team or whatever it is.
Just, just find the space that You really actually think about what you actually really care about or want in a team and go and find that without worrying about, you know, what the divisions are or you know, what’s happening or whatever it is. Right? So that that’s the piece of advice, you know, um, plenty of people can play at higher levels, right?
Plenty of people go in and can probably play D2 and. Go D2 but could play D1, but, you know, find [00:22:30] that fit that is that you truly do like to have and you can look back at four years or two years and go, wow, like, how can I find that in a workplace, you know, because that’s what we’re trying to teach our kids here is find that place and like, if it’s not us for recruits, Fine, right?
You know, we, we think we’re a good, we’re a good program and we’re a good place to be and things like that, but we also understand, you know, that our fit is not for everybody, but we do truly hope that everybody does have a good experience in college soccer and does walk away going, wow. Um, I had best friends for life.
I can, you know, I had a really good time. I played a lot of minutes. I got better, you know, those sort of things.
Matt: Absolutely love it. Coach. Couldn’t agree more. Well, I really appreciate you jumping on, uh, wish you the best of luck, uh, finishing up the class and, and getting ready for, for next season. And we’ll, we’ll take a look and see how you guys do and good luck on that new turf field.
Coach: Thank you. We’re pretty excited about it. So, uh, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. It was great. Matt: Thank you.
