Southwestern Oregon Community College Women’s Soccer – Coach Emma Meyer

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Meyer from the Southwestern Oregon Women’s Programs in Coos Bay. We talk about how she wants to build a roster of passionate players. She describes the school’s financial aid that gives tuition waivers to players with a high GPA. Lastly, we discuss how she sets standards that she hold herself and her players accountable to. Learn more about Southwestern Oregon Community College Women’s Soccer.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Emma Meyer from Southwestern Oregon community college. Welcome coach. 

Coach: Thanks for having me, Matt. 

Matt: Yeah. Thanks for being here. I I’m guessing, uh, the weather in Southwestern Oregon is probably much nicer than it is here in Southwestern Florida.

Coach: Yeah, probably a little bit more cool. 

Matt: Yeah. Yeah. I bet. 

Coach: Um, 

Matt: so. Two year college is always tough to recruit for because you get to do it twice as much. Right? Um, so talk to me about your, your timeline. I mean, are you still got a couple spots for 24 if they fell in your lap today? Or has that been locked up?

Or what’s kind of your, your process? 

Coach: Sure. So as a second year head coach, um, to give you a little backstory last year, I. was hired with less than 50 days before the start of season with, um, almost zero committed recruits. So we ended with a season roster of 13, which was really tough, which was insane. Um, so this year I had a full year to recruit, which has been awesome.

Uh, our 24 season is looking pretty good. Of course, if a, if a high GPA student wants to come be on the soccer team, I’m not going to turn them away. Honestly, any student that has interest in SWOC and the area, we’re in Coos Bay, which is pretty rural. So any student that’s really interested in [00:01:30] that and, you know, has a passion for soccer, I’m open for them, no doubt.

Matt: Okay. Well, so. If you had your druthers, uh, what would your ideal roster size be going into a season? 

Coach: Well, this is honestly, this is my second year as a head coach ever. So, like I said, last year I had 13, so anything more than 13 is looking pretty good for me. But, um, a roster of at least 24 is ideal, at least.

To have those 11 v 11 scrimmages and things like that. Sure. 

Matt: No, that makes perfect sense. Well, in terms of your recruiting process, what, what did you do over this last 12 months? Were there specific tournaments you like to see places you’d like to go? Are you looking at high school more than club or kind of what’s your recruiting process?

Coach: Sure. So we have a lot of, I call them local lads. So the, the athletes that are from the surrounding areas, we have a number of those athletes, which is really cool because. This college is super affordable, especially for for those local students. Um, but there hasn’t been really any tournaments that we’ve gone to.

It’s, it’s me and my assistant coach, and then we’re, that’s kind of, you know, us two as a duo. So we had a lot of athletes that reach out to us, which was really, we were really fortunate. Again, I’m, I’m interested in those athletes that want to come to Coos Bay because it’s, it’s so rural and it’s, um, you know, it’s a, it’s a trek to get here.

So we, [00:03:00] we, we want, we like that the students reach out to us. We also have a couple of dual sport athletes. So athletes that also play, you know, basketball last year, we had a wrestler and a track thrower. So just lots of, um, like I said, local people, we keep it. Mostly Oregon and Washington athletes.

Unintentionally. I’m open to, you know, athletes from any place. We had a bunch from Utah last year, a couple coming from Hawaii this year. So just super excited to have a diverse group of students. 

Matt: Okay. In terms of what you’re looking for in a player. Besides interest in Coos Bay, uh, what, what other things kind of make your, your checklist of what you’re looking for when you’re recruiting?

Coach: So a big thing for me is, uh, being a good student. Soccer is, you know, for most people, soccer is not gonna last forever. You know, it could be a hobby and things like that, but one, one, you know, wrong step and you can have a career ender career ending injury and things like that, but nobody’s going to take a degree from you.

And that’s something that I really stress to recruit is that we really care about the academic side of things. And so I look for athletes that are on top of their academics in high school. They have a nice GPA and those students that are willing to go above and beyond outside of soccers. It’s something that I look for, but obviously we want good athletes too.

We want athletes that are passionate about the game that are good humans. I feel like I’m going to probably say that a [00:04:30] lot on this interview, but I just really look for athletes that are kind. They, they care. I try to tell the athletes that it’s cool to care about stuff. Um, especially stuff that they care about and they’re passionate about.

So obviously looking for athletes that are. Student oriented. We want athletic students. We want students that want to win. We want athletes that are good teammates. Uh, we can teach skill. We can’t really teach passion. So just looking for student athletes like that. 

Matt: Okay. Well, In terms of the school and, you know, two year colleges are usually at least, uh, known for being an affordable option for, for players who want to continue their, their playing career, kind of what would a potential student athlete expect going to Southwestern in terms of, uh, what they might be looking to pay to you guys off?

Are you, I don’t know what division you guys are in terms of athletic scholarships for, for. Junior colleges and stuff. So what, what, what does that financial aid and overall, uh, cost package look like? 

Coach: Sure. So we’re actually one of the few community colleges in the Pacific Northwest that has on campus housing, uh, which is required for freshmen, but they’re super, um, not typical dorm style housing.

It’s very apartment like, so it feels like you’re, [00:06:00] you know, out on your own, you have your own kitchen. You’re sharing with probably four or five other. Um, athletes or or student athletes, you know, and so that is that you have to factor that into the cost, but it’s it’s I tell the athletes I pay for housing outside of campus.

Obviously, I don’t live on campus. And so if I did, and I had the options they did, it would be much more affordable than what I’m paying, you know, off off off campus. But other than that, academics are very affordable as well. We have we’re super fortunate to offer a GPA tuition waiver. And so that’s the sort of scholarship that we can offer is if an athlete or any student comes to SWAC with a 3.

75 GPA or higher, they’re automatically eligible for this tuition waiver, which covers up to 15 credits per term, as long as you continue on with that GPA. Um, and so I, I, like I said earlier, I look for those athletes that have that high GPA because Then they’re automatically eligible to have their tuition covered and I’m on the athletic side of things.

That’s what I can offer as well as a tuition waiver. We’re not going to double up. So if a student comes in, you know, with a 3. 75, I’m not going to offer them that as well. But. I’m very fortunate to have a good number of tuition waivers to give out. I can, you know, give one term, three terms, one and a half terms.

And so I’m very fortunate. I mean, like I said, last year with our small roster, everybody was able to have a full ride the entire year, which was awesome, you know, and, and, and they worked for it too. It wasn’t just [00:07:30] handed out, but it’s super affordable. 

Matt: No, that’s fantastic. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school.

Uh, can you tell us Talked about some, some great financial aid options and being in rural Oregon, but what is it that drew you to the school? What are the things you’ve found in your time being there so far that really stand out that make it a great place to be? 

Coach: Sure. So I actually moved here in 2016 to play soccer myself.

Um, I’m from Wyoming and so I kind of just wanted to get far as far as I could and in a different climate. And so Cuse Bay is right on the, is right on the bay is right on the ocean. And so we’re surrounded by water, which is super awesome. Awesome. Something I was not ever, you know, shown before. And so I’ve been here for eight years, at least.

I, like I said, I played here for two years. I was an assistant coach the year before last. Um, and then I transitioned into the head coach. And so the climate here is awesome. It’s super moderate, even in the winter, you know, it doesn’t get super cold. It does rain, which is not super awesome, but. Last season we were super fortunate to have a dry season and, um, yeah, the climate, like I said, is incredible.

We have, we start pre season August 1st and August is probably the best month weather wise. So we’re super fortunate in that aspect, but I also like that it’s rural. I like that it’s not, um, overpopulated. There’s not, you know, you have to drive two and a half hours to a mall, to a target, to things like that.

But there are other things to do. So many [00:09:00] outdoor activities and things like that, that are available to anybody that’s in this area. 

Matt: Okay. Awesome. Well, let’s, uh, let’s fast forward to October. You’re kind of in the heart of that season. Can you walk me through what’s a typical week going to look like in terms of, you Practice times, classes, game cadence, all that kind of thing.

Coach: Sure. So we’ll have practice 7 to 9 AM Monday through Friday. And I have a full time job outside of being the head coach here. And so I have to work obviously 40 hours a week. And so we have morning practice every day, unless we have a game. Mostly our games are going to be on Wednesdays this year, which is awesome.

Last year, we were playing two games a week. Which was pretty hard on the student athletes mentally and physically. And so this year they’ve kind of made our schedule more acclimated to the student athletes where we’re only playing, you know, one game a week. Um, on most weeks, which is super nice. And so, yeah, like I said, Monday, Tuesday have, have training seven to nine in the morning.

Um, and this also allows for the athletes to have jobs outside of the school and soccer, because many of them are supporting themselves. Also allows for them to go to every class and not have to miss class for training or things like that. So we would travel on, on game day, obviously Wednesdays and then come back, have classes and trainings on, on Thursdays, Fridays.

And then I, I want a weekend. So I give my weekends, give the weekends off to the players too. So they obviously will also have study hall. We offer. We have an [00:10:30] awesome tutoring center where most of the student athletes are required to have study hall hours. We require five hours of study hall a week, which the athletes seem to think is a lot, but really it’s not.

And it’s super helpful. And I also tell them if you’re caught up on your classes, you know, go in there and work on game film, but watch game film, do those things that you need to do to be successful in soccer. 

Matt: Well, you talked about your roster. I think you said you have an assistant coach, kind of what, what, what is the, the coaching staff look like in terms of, of what, what they’re bringing in and maybe are there other staff, maybe in the athletic department that help out with the team?

What would that look like during the season? 

Coach: Sure. So last season, actually our very first home game, I took steps for the team and, you know, it was coaching the whole time, so it was pretty insane. He ended up coming a couple of weeks into the season last season. And so he was actually split splitting his time with both the men’s and women’s teams, which was, um, pretty tough all around.

But this year he’ll be, he’ll be my assistant, which is really nice. But he, and I just kind of do everything it’s it’s us. And obviously there’s a men’s team and they have their thing too. We collaborate on some things like that. But other than that, we also just had a new. athletic director. He started July 1st.

So he’s been at the college for many, many years, just not in this position. And so there’ll be a different change of pace, um, some learning curves for everybody in the athletic department, but I think it’ll be [00:12:00] good. It’s going to be super nice to just have an assistant coach solely on my side, you know, and can help do all of those things.

So he, he really helps with practice, excuse me, practice plans helps with, um, We work on everything together, purchase orders, all of the things that we need to do to be successful together. He is my right hand man, really. So I’m super grateful to have him. 

Matt: No, it makes sense. Um, well, what about you in terms of, of a coach?

Talk to me about your, your coaching style, the style of play you look to implement there, what’s that look like? 

Coach: Sure. So I tell athletes that I feel like I still have a player brain is what I call it. I I’m. Younger than, you know, any coach that I ever had. And I did the same thing that my athletes are doing just, you know, six to eight years ago, I was doing it.

So I keep that player brain mentality. And so I. I feel like that gives me a little bit of an edge or a little bit of a, you know, different viewpoint than other coaches that I have to coach against. And I also want to say that I don’t feel like in this, um, division that we’re in, we’re in the NWAC, which is the Northwest Athletic Conference.

Um, but the Southern region, there’s four regions, obviously, but we’re in the Southern region. Southern region gets a lot of, um, we just don’t get a lot of recognition for our efforts, especially in the women’s soccer side. And so. These coaches that I’m playing against, I don’t really ever feel like I’m playing against.

We’re playing, you know, with each other, just hoping that our athletes can get better and just [00:13:30] help get the Southern region some recognition. Um, I digress, but anyways, um, uh, can you repeat your question? I’m sorry. I’m coaching coaching 

Matt: style, style of play. 

Coach: No, I’m sure it so I, I, the player brain. So I just feel like I want to be the coach that I wanted to have.

And so that means that I’m kind of, and I want to be the person that my athletes look up to. Um, and so all of the standards I set for my athletes, I set for myself as well. I’m not going to make my athletes do anything that I wouldn’t personally go out and do. So, As far as that goes, I’m going to push my athletes hard.

I’m going to push them. I know that it’s hard to be away from from your family, from everything that you’ve always known, but this is a time to grow and learn. And you do that by doing hard things and getting through hard things together with the team. And so I really try to build the team atmosphere and culture.

And, um, last year we were just trying to it. That’s all we really had. So we really had to stick together as a team. And so this year I’m really hoping to, you know, throw in some aspects of competitiveness. Last year, we didn’t even get to do a single scrimmage, um, which. You know, doesn’t add to the competitive aspect of having a team.

And so we have a team with larger numbers this year. And so I’m really hoping to, you know, incorporate those competitive aspects into the, the training styles and the way we play our games and things like that. [00:15:00] 

Matt: Well, you’ve now had a full, uh, off season spring season, if you will. So what does that look like for your players?

Are they doing anything in the spring? Are you, are you, what does that look like? 

Coach: Sure. So our school is a trimester. So we do our full season in the fall. Then we have our winter season, which starts in January. And so that’s mostly indoor weightlifting. We do some cardio mostly just to stay out of the rain and to keep busy.

And then in the springtime is when the sun comes out more and less rain. And so we’ll be outside doing everyday trainings, a little bit less intense. This coming year, my hope is that we have some scrimmages again, last year we had in the spring season. About nine that would show up on a regular basis. So we weren’t able to go out and scrimmage bigger schools, but the plan for this coming year is that we can go scrimmage higher level, um, colleges such as universities, Multnomah university in Portland, you know, maybe Bushnell university, just other schools around that are bigger.

So we can expose the athletes to higher level coaches, higher level playing and things like that. And so spring season really is just lots of training outside. Hopefully, like I said, scrimmages with other schools as well. 

Matt: Okay. And then, you know, I mean, junior college tends to be a route folks take maybe with the goal of then transferring on to a four year university and continue their, their playing careers.

Did you have the luck of any of your last year’s players moving on? Are they all, or many of them returning kind of, what does that look like for you in terms of helping your players move on to that next level, if that’s [00:16:30] something they want? Sure. Sure. 

Coach: So I had 13, like I said, on the roster last year, I had one sophomore and she was my At one point, she was a quad sport athlete.

She did basketball, wrestling, track and soccer. But she’s the one sophomore. She’s going off to do track at a different, at a bigger school, but all of my other athletes are going to be returning for me to play this year. So. 

Matt: Awesome. Well, I appreciate all your time. And instead, I’m gonna leave you with one last question.

And that is, if you had a piece of advice to give anybody going through this college recruitment process, what advice would you give them? 

Coach: My advice would be to do what feels best for you and don’t let anybody, anybody or anything influence how you feel. And I know that that can be hard, especially because this is such a big deal.

It’s such a big decision to play, to pick where you want to go to school, where you want to play soccer, especially if it’s far from family. So I would just say, do what you feel is best in your heart and don’t let anybody or anything really have an effect on that 

Matt: great advice. Well, coach really appreciate it.

Wish you the best of luck this fall season with your, with your full roster. Hopefully, uh, things go in the right direction for you and we’ll check and see how you’re doing here next time. Okay. 

Coach: Well, thanks Matt. I appreciate it. 

Matt: Thank you.