SUNY Canton Men’s Soccer – Coach Tim Penrod
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Tim Penrod from the SUNY Canton Men’s Program in New York. We talk about how camps are an important part of his recruiting. He tells us about how their school’s academics aren’t just about theory, but also application. Lastly, we discuss how his team culture has everyone rooting for everyone else’s success. Learn more about SUNY Canton.
[00:00:00] Matt: Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer. I’m excited today to be joined by coach Tim Penrod from SUNY Canton in New York coach. How are you?
[00:00:08] Coach: Good. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:10] Matt: Thanks for being here. You know, uh, I was, I was, you know, I grew up in Ohio, so the Canton I’m used to is not the Canton where you’re hanging out, but
[00:00:19] Coach: a little bit different.
[00:00:20] Well,
[00:00:21] Matt: I ha I had to put it on the map and, uh, when people talk about upstate New York, that’s what they’re talking about. Right.
[00:00:26] Coach: We can’t get more upstate than us. We are. Yeah. We’re about 15 miles from the Canadian border. So, uh, when we recruit kids from out of state, we get a lot of, uh, Oh, how close to New York city are you?
[00:00:37] And you know, it’s about a five or six hour trip. So you get that out there at the beginning. Hey, we’re
[00:00:42] Matt: closer to Montreal and Ottawa.
[00:00:45] Coach: Yes. Yep. Montreal is about two hours out. It was about an hour and 15 minutes. Okay.
[00:00:50] Matt: And why was I? I blew through Watertown once on my way up to a. To my, my wife’s family’s place way up, uh, near Pembroke and then saga I’ve been up that way once or twice.
[00:01:02] Just not didn’t keep going or
[00:01:05] Coach: I wouldn’t meet the turn off the 81. No,
[00:01:07] Matt: I didn’t. I didn’t. But, uh, but that’s cool though. I, I mean, it’s beautiful, beautiful part of the country, but, uh, let’s talk a little soccer first here. So. Yeah. You as a division three. So what, you know, what, um, when is it that you usually start looking at players or hearing from possible players about, about joining your team?
[00:01:28] Coach: So the recruiting timelines changed really drastically over the last decade. Really I’ve been doing, I’ve been a head coach for 15 years now. Um, but you know, right now the majority of kids we’re hearing from are in their junior year, Uh, you know, there are a couple of sophomores that are starting that process of reaching out.
[00:01:48] Occasionally we get a kid who’s a freshman and, you know, we send a polite reply back, but basically, you know, you’re going to change your mind 15 times probably between now and your junior year, let alone senior year about what you want to do. Um, so we normally start talking to kids when they’re juniors in high school, uh, sorta towards the winter of their junior year.
[00:02:09] Uh, that that’s when we really kind of, you know, start focusing in on those kids. We try to be done with our recruiting class, uh, by mid March, early April every year. So that way we can focus on, uh, you know, any last minute kids or last minute needs that come up. But again, really turn our attention in the spring to that next, the following year.
[00:02:32] So on a typical
[00:02:34] Matt: week, I know it ebbs and flows, but on average, you know, H how many inbound contacts do you think you get in a week?
[00:02:41] Coach: So it would, it really depends on whether or not there’s an upcoming showcase or a tournament, something like that. Uh, so like Jefferson cup was this past weekend in Richmond.
[00:02:51] Uh, so last week we got bombarded with a lot of sophomores and juniors and a couple of seniors still looking. Uh, but I would say, you know, it can vary like last week I probably got 75 to a hundred emails. Uh, which is a lot, I would say in the quieter weeks. Uh, so like next week, this week we’re getting the follow-up from Jefferson, but next week, you know, we’ll probably get it.
[00:03:17] It’s still going to be 25 plus. And what
[00:03:21] Matt: do you like to see in a first communication from
[00:03:24] Coach: a, from a recruit, uh, like a little bit of individualization, um, the mass emails that say, dear coach, I’m really interested in your program. I see. You’re very, but they don’t, they never really mentioned specifics. We kind of weed those out.
[00:03:40] Uh, but just, you know, Hey, um, You know, I’m interested in SUNY Canton. I think I’d like to study this, making sure that it’s a major that lines up with us. Um, and you know, some are a little bit of highlight video maybe, but I’m not necessarily looking for a full on history of what you’ve done with soccer.
[00:04:01] Since you were five years old. Um, you know, it’s nice when it’s just sort of a general conversation started and we get to learn some of those things about, you know, what your, why you have this passion for soccer or why you have a passion for an academic program. We’d like to learn that a little bit as we go through our recruiting process and get to know.
[00:04:19] Makes sense,
[00:04:20] Matt: what you mentioned, uh, you know, get more emails around tournament time. What, what are some of those tournaments that you make sure that you’re at, you know, year in, year out, where do you like to see players? Uh, the most
[00:04:31] Coach: we’re in a little bit of a unique situation that, you know, we’re a state university.
[00:04:34] So the vast majority of our kids do come from New York. So we do hit a lot of the major in state tournaments, a massive P Equa show college showcase, which is in December of every year. Uh, we’re almost always at that. There’s a big event in Saratoga Springs called mad dog mania in July or June. I’m sorry.
[00:04:55] We go to that every year. We do, uh, generally every other year, we’ll go down to at least one of the EDP events in New Jersey. Uh, we have, you know, there there’s some smaller events that for us. Uh, as we compete with other state schools for so many kids, we all, we don’t always go to the biggest events either.
[00:05:14] We go sometimes to the ones that are a little bit more off the beaten path. Uh, you know, the, you know, some people say, oh, well, it’s not the premier teams or the CNL teams. And that that’s fine because there’s other schools that are all fighting over those kids. I’ll go somewhere and find a diamond in the rough for a kid who, you know, they can’t afford to play for some of those big clubs.
[00:05:35] But it doesn’t mean they’re any less of a quality player or quality kid for our program. So, you know what we really try and do. Like I said, it’s about maximizing events. There’s a organization in Albany, New York, uh, AFT from sports. And he runs two to three college showcases per year. And he has a couple of clubs that run out of there too.
[00:05:57] And so we, you know, we make our way down there. I was just down there, uh, last. For a single game, but we went to see a kid we’d been talking to and he ultimately committed about 24 hours after we went down to see him again. So, you know, for us, it’s about finding kids that fit our mold and just going where we have a proven track record of that
[00:06:18] Matt: makes sense.
[00:06:21] So, what about camps? Do you guys do ID camps? Do you work at other schools? Camps? Is that a good way for you to see players as well?
[00:06:28] Coach: Camps are massive on my end, I started running, uh, it, the college, we run our own ID camps specific to us. We don’t invite other colleges. Uh, so we really focus on the kids that we’re interested in, or that are interested in us.
[00:06:42] We normally run two per year. Uh, we aren’t, you know, we’re not making millions of dollars the way some of these companies are on camps. We charge, uh, anywhere from 50 to $75. We actually just, you know, situation being what it is right now. Inflation’s kind of crush on everybody. We actually dropped our costs down.
[00:07:00] So we’re running one on May 7th and it’s $50 for. Uh, I do some work in the summers where I do travel or my assistant will travel. Uh, there’s a really big event. Um, and I hope you don’t mind me giving them a plug, but, uh, New York ID camps that’s run at Cortland state, uh, that has basically every SUNY school.
[00:07:22] So there’s 64 SUNY campuses counting the junior colleges. Um, he normally has 40 to 50 colleges at the. Uh, and so a lot of the New York state private schools, and even out of state private schools in the region, you know, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, like they’ll come to this. And, uh, you know, there’s 200 plus kids, but you literally like, you’re just constantly, you get to train.
[00:07:45] First of all, it’s not just go out and play. Um, but you actually get a sense of, you know, being comfortable with the team and your coach by the college coaches that are there with you the whole time, but it gives us a great chance to see kids. So that, that one is I look at this year’s incoming class.
[00:08:00] That camp paid off enormously for us for 2020. Awesome.
[00:08:06] Matt: Well, when you’re looking at players, whether it’s at a, at a tournament or a camp, you know, what’s your kind of checklist your hierarchy of what you’re looking for in a player, whether it’s on the field
[00:08:16] Coach: or off the field. So I’m going to start with the sort of off field or non soccer things because we have flat out eliminated kids.
[00:08:25] And I think this is important for people to hear, um, your body language when you’re playing. Like, what if things go bad? Tells me a lot. And if you’re, you know, you’re seeing gives up a goal and you’re berating your teammates, or you’re kicking at the grass and, you know, throwing up your hands and discussed that, you know, and I get it, we all do it to an extent sometimes, but you have to remember the situation you’re in, you’re being available.
[00:08:53] And if you know, you’re being evaluated and you’re still acting that way, that’s a little bit of a red flag for me. Um, you know, when we go out to recruit kids, I try to get to games at least 30 minutes before it starts so I can watch you warm up. Um, and I stick around after I watched what you do. When you walk off the field, how do you interact with your family?
[00:09:12] Um, we had a kid a couple of years ago that we stopped recruiting because of the way he treated his family on his visit. Uh, you know, that, that stuff matters. And, you know, I, I, I’m sure there’s people out there that’ll say, well, if you’re a good enough player, none of that matters. I don’t, you know, for some people that might be true, but for me, we want, we have a really strong culture in our program.
[00:09:35] And we want to maintain that with people who are going to be bought in and be good characters first, um, You know, the other piece of that, and it’s a small thing. Um, but kids, when you’re doing a highlight video at eight year music, uh, I, I had one, again, a couple of years ago that came through tremendous player who would have been a great fit for us.
[00:09:57] Uh, but his mute, his highlight video had more vulgarity in it than a George Carlin skit. And I was kind of like, I just can’t and I just stopped watching literally after about 30 seconds of this. And we, you know, we moved on. So again, it’s small stuff, but I think that matters as far as when we go and, you know, we’re assessing their on-field skill.
[00:10:20] Um, again, this will be different for everybody, but for me, I’m looking for a kid who. Fits into our style of play. So we play, we try to play a high pressing uptempo style. So I want somebody that has some explosiveness. I want somebody that has some athleticism, um, that has a willingness to get stuck in work on both sides of the ball.
[00:10:41] You know, I think we would all take, uh, and I’m a big Barsa fan. You know, if I could go out and recruit. Twenty-five cadres or Gabby Gabby’s right now. I absolutely would, but that’s not the case. So, um, you know, we look for kids that are gonna fit in and fill a role more than anything. Uh, you know, having some technical ability and quality first touch is huge.
[00:11:06] And we’re honest with kids. If we say, Hey, athletically, you’re going to fit right in. But your first touch needs a drastic amount of work. We’re going to tell kids. Um, and we don’t tell them that to cut them down, but simply to say, Hey, if you want to make it in our program, this is what we need to see. So things like that matter.
[00:11:24] I think the other big thing, and we don’t get a full picture of this until they get on campus sometimes, but their coachability is probably the number one determining factor in a kid. And so we do a lot of character reference check club, coach, high school coach, even guidance, counselors, and teachers. If we have a connection to that school district, you know, we want to find out how does this person.
[00:11:45] Feedback and being coached. Are they receptive to it? Are they stubborn and not willing to change? Those are all really important factors to me. No, it makes sense.
[00:11:55] Matt: Um, yeah, that’s always good. Good reminders for kids is, you know, as much as I tell, tell kids, a lot of times they look at me like, oh, okay. Yeah.
[00:12:03] Right. So then I know then I can just play him the tape and it makes it so much easier. Right. Um, So, you know, you guys are so there’s no athletic money happening. Uh, but you know, it’s a state school in New York, so that means, hopefully it’s not, uh, you know, pavilion dollars, but, but you know, let’s just talk in terms of overall scholarship and price picture.
[00:12:27] It’s always good for people to hear, you know, what’s available from an academic side or, or other things. What can people expect if they’re looking, whether they’re a new Yorker or a non new Yorker, if they were correct.
[00:12:38] Coach: So, uh, you know, one of the big things is first of all, there is merit scholarship funding available.
[00:12:44] Uh, you know, it’s not a huge pot of money. So, you know, private schools are always going to give more money. And that’s just a fact because they have more money to get for us. One thing we stress is, you know, when you look at your financial aid package, what is your actual percentage discount? Not. But the percentage that it’s taking off, because that’s, you know, well, this, you know, if we’re $20,000 a year and we give you 5,000 in a school, it’s $70,000 a year, it gives you 30,000.
[00:13:15] That’s great. There’s still. $40,000, you know, so you have to take that into consideration. I think the vast majority of the kids in our program that received merit scholarships have a GPA over a 3.4, uh, you know, on occasion, there are some leadership and community service, uh, grants or scholarships that are available through the college as well.
[00:13:37] Uh, so. That opens up doors for kids that don’t have that three, four or higher. Uh, I think one of the other things is you have to look at some of the programs you’re going into, you know, if a school has started a new program. So we actually, we introduced a new mechatronics program within our engineering degrees.
[00:13:55] Uh, and that’s, uh, it’s an important field with a great job outlook, but it’s, you know, it’s a new program. So if a student with a three, six comes in, they get into that program, the odds are the scholarship committee may take that into consideration. Um, The, the biggest thing that, you know, kids struggled to understand is they, you know, they applied for the scholarships and all they want to do is write about sports and they want to write about soccer.
[00:14:20] We’re a school and there’s a lot of schools like this. Where if you write about that in your SAV, the school can’t award you any funding, because if there’s ever an audit by the NCAA, it looks like you’ve been, oh, you’re a soccer player. And now you’ve got awarded all this money. The NCAA says, hold on, you’re division three, you can’t do that.
[00:14:38] And it ends up a whole mess. So, um, but you know, the nice part is we’re affordable for, you know, really affordable for everybody. I think when you look at the cost of higher education across the country, even for out-of-state kids, our total cost is about $30,000 a year before financial aid. And you know, if you look at a bill, like, I don’t know, a private school in this country, That’s less than 40,000 right now.
[00:15:03] I’m sure there’s a couple out there, but you know, we’re going to be competitive with the out-of-state kids. Uh, but for the in-state kids, you know, your tuition is less than $7,000 a year. So it’s great for in-state kids. And that’s why we focus the vast majority of our recruiting on kids from New York state.
[00:15:20] We do have, I’ve got three kids on the team right now. I’ve got a kid from North Carolina, a kid from Jersey and a kid from Idaho on the team right now. But again, that’s three out of 26. So the vast majority are New York state kids.
[00:15:34] Matt: Yeah. That makes sense. Well, let’s, let’s talk more about the school. Um, you know, you mentioned on one of the cool engineering programs, but besides that, and besides, you know, the location and all the stuff that I can find by clicking on the website, you know, give me the, give me the nitty gritty.
[00:15:49] What’s some of the cool, awesome things about the school that most people aren’t going to know or find out from the web.
[00:15:54] Coach: So I think the thing that we understand. Uh, and it’s just tough to bring out, I think, in a website, um, but the value and practicality of our degree programs. So Canton is considered a technology-based institution, so that doesn’t necessarily mean computers and microchips and that stuff.
[00:16:13] It’s all about hands-on learning. So all of our engineering programs like kids are in labs first semester of college. You know, you, you find out if you want to be, I’ve got a bunch of kids on my team right now that want to be electrical engineers and they’re building batteries and running circuits. And they’re doing that when they’re 18 years old.
[00:16:33] And I think the cool part about that is if it’s not for you, you find out before you get three years into a program and you’re like, oh God, now I got to start over. Like that, that’s a huge step back at that point. Um, and so, you know, our engineering program is part of that. We have a vet tech and vet science program where we partner with the local humane societies, but we also have essentially a small scale clinic set up on campus where the students are able to, you know, to go through part of their program right on campus.
[00:17:06] Uh, the. The E R business programs. And I know a lot of schools have business programs, but they’re all about creating real-world experiences. You know, if you’re in one of the finance classes and it’s, you’re focusing on investing like you have a semester to try and make a hundred thousand dollars in that class, but instead of just here read about it in a textbook, understand the theory because when you go out into the real world, and I know Matt, you know, this, but theory only gets you so.
[00:17:38] Like the real world doesn’t operate on theories. There’s always these little nuances and little changes. So, you know, creating an atmosphere where kids can think on their feet is incredibly important. And I think our faculty, you’re such an awesome job of that, uh, in all of the degrees, you know, um, the sports management is run by two former college athletic department, ed.
[00:18:01] So, again, you’re out in your work. You’re being instructed by people who have done it. Our Homeland security program is run by two former FBI field agents. Like you want to talk about guys that have probably really good experience and knowledge to share that’s who we want teaching those, you know, teaching the next generation of that.
[00:18:19] So it’s not always about, you know, who’s gone to school the longest and who has the most PhDs and most book, you know, papers published. Um, and I really think that’s something. Is special about our school. We just have so many faculty that are truly experts in their fields. And enjoy teaching about that.
[00:18:40] And they’re not worried about, you know, they’re not always so focused on the getting published and getting that, that terminal degree. I have to have this thing. I think that’s one of the problems in higher ed in some, in some cases right now is, you know, and I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with people that go and get those degrees and do those things.
[00:18:58] But there’s another side to being able to teach our, our college street.
[00:19:03] Matt: Yeah. Especially, especially if they’ve only ever been at an academic institution and never seen anything else outside of that, it’s very different. Yeah. A hundred percent agree. Um, well, You know, you mentioned some, some sounds like some pretty rigorous academics and you know, the beauty of division three.
[00:19:21] I mean, it is the, is the student really is first in student athlete, but you know, I guess what specifically your school, what kinds of, uh, How, how do your student athletes balance the, the sports and the academics and what kind of support mechanisms are there in place at your school to help help with that?
[00:19:39] Coach: Yeah, so we, uh, we just received it in the mail about a month ago, but we had gotten the United soccer coaches team, academic award for having a GPA above a 3.0 for the, uh, last spring and last fall. Uh, and traditionally at our college, our student athlete GPA is. Uh, anywhere from 0.2 to 0.4 higher than the add the non-student athlete GPA.
[00:20:03] So, uh, I think there’s because you’re a student athlete. You, you tend to have a better sense of how to manage your time, how to balance between practices and homework and that sort of thing. Uh, I think one of the other things that can’t and does a really good job of is the support services in place for our students.
[00:20:21] And we have, uh, we have our own tutoring lab and we have both professional tools. Which are a lot of the time run by our faculty themselves who donate time there. And then we also have a peer tutoring program and mentoring program. So if you’re struggling in a class, you actually have the option of going to, you know, if you’re more comfortable asking a student for help.
[00:20:41] You have that option, or if you want to go to the professor or an adult, you have that avenue available for you. We have, uh, our EOP program at the college is really strong for students who qualify. Uh, we have the federally funded trio program. Which again provides more academic support for students who qualify for it.
[00:21:02] Uh, we have our accommodative services for students who continue to take advantage of, um, of what’s provided for them in IEP. They’ve had assigned to them. And so the biggest thing that I think for us is within the athletic department, you have a culture of coaches who want to help as well. And you know, all of us in the department, we all come from different backgrounds.
[00:21:27] I have a degree in social studies education, so I’ve got no problem helping my kids with history, sociology, any of the social science courses. Uh, I was just short on a minor in English, so I’m happy to. Edit papers, that sort of thing. Uh, I tell my kids, if they want a grade lower than an F I’ll help them with math because that’s not my forte of actually within our tutoring center, we have a separate math lab.
[00:21:52] That’s staffed by math professors on campus. So we really go out of our way to make sure students are set up for success. And you know, this, this coming fall will be my 10th year, uh, coaching at Ken. Yes, 10th year. Um, and, uh, I’ve never, once in my 10 years had a professor turn a kid away, who’s come to them and asked for her
[00:22:13] Matt: so well, And in balancing, you know, sports and the classroom stuff.
[00:22:20] Tell, tell me, what is a typical week during the season look like in terms of getting up class practice games? How does, has it all worked probably over, over an average week? Yeah,
[00:22:31] Coach: so, I mean, right now we’re traditionally playing games, uh, on a Tuesday or Wednesday and then a game on Saturday. So, you know, game days are obviously, uh, you know, you’re still in class.
[00:22:44] Up until basically 90 minutes to two hours before you’re expected to be in class. At which point you get excused. Uh, but you know, so the start of the week really depends on when that first game is. If it’s a Tuesday, you know, Monday’s practices and anything too crazy, we really encourage our guys to get their classes done earlier in the day, whenever possible, sometimes lab.
[00:23:07] Allow that to happen, but, uh, you know, Monday, and let’s say it’s a Wednesday, Saturday week for simplicity sake, you know, Monday’s our first day back, uh, from a weekend. So we get the guys sort of reactivated and focused and we start introducing, you know, the main concepts we want to focus on that we want to implement for Wednesday.
[00:23:29] Uh, You know, we will do a little bit of formation work in that. And then, you know, that carries over into Tuesday where it’s a little bit more of a walkthrough maybe, but again, making sure the kids’ bodies are activated, their minds are focused on. You know, giving them something a little bit in the warmup that forces them to warm up their mind and their body type of deal.
[00:23:50] So they got to think it can’t just be mindless activity as far as I’m concerned. Uh, and then, you know, uh, Wednesday we play. If we’re traveling, we might be cutting out of classes a little bit early. Uh, we do a lot of our midweek home games at night. So kids are missing a lot less class time, which is important.
[00:24:10] Um, But, you know, it’s literally, as far as the day goes, you know, they’re all at breakfast. Some of them, some of them I’m sure just running right to class. Uh, but the nice part about college is it’s not a structured six hour day. Like it is when you go to high school, you know, you might have 15 credits, but you know, you might have two classes Monday, Wednesday, Friday, three classes, Tuesday and Thursday.
[00:24:34] And that’s not a lot of time like that frees up a lot of years. So we do. Um, the nice part is a lot of the professors, they make a big push on this. Like all of our guys are basically done with class by 3:00 AM on Friday. So we practice a little bit earlier Fridays and then Saturday we play Sundays are off.
[00:24:53] Uh, the only time Sunday isn’t an off day is if we play. And occasionally we do get a Saturday, Sunday, double header in there. Uh, if we’re traveling a long ways, we might play two games in a weekend, uh, or the odd occasion. I think it’s happened once in the nine seasons. I’ve been at Canton where we have a rescheduled for a Monday.
[00:25:14] Then okay. We adjust it. So we train on Sundays. Yeah, no, that
[00:25:17] Matt: makes sense. Well, you mentioned travel. So, you know, looking at your schedule, most of your games are New York, but as we all know, New York, Big state then, like you mentioned, you’re real far away from New York city. So what, how does travel kind of factor into, into everything or what’s your kind of typical radius, your conference ratings, that kind of thing.
[00:25:37] Coach: So, uh, the conference we’re in the north Atlantic conference actually split into two divisions, uh, this past year because their schools from New York, Vermont, and. Uh, so we only play, we play two crossover weekends with the schools from Maine and one of the schools from Vermont. So we go to Maine for a weekend and play two games.
[00:25:56] And then there’s a weekend where two teams from Maine come and play offs at home. Uh, other than that are, uh, you know, Dell high and Johnson are both about four hour trips, four and a half hour trips. And those are always on weekends. So our non-conference schedule the nice part. It’s weird. There’s actually four colleges within 15 minutes of each other up here.
[00:26:18] So we have three nine conference games that might as well be home games as far as we’re concerned if we go there. Uh, so that’s always nice to have those teams on our schedule and save us a little bit of travel on it’s nice. Cause you get a little bit of a local rivalry feeling in it as well. Um, Most of our, our weekday travel though, we try to keep less than three hours.
[00:26:39] There are, of course, you know, occasionally exceptions. I know this coming fall, we’ve got a long trip out to Western New York midweek, but for the most part, we do try to minimize travel midweek, wherever.
[00:26:52] Matt: Oh, that’s good. Um, well, let’s talk more about, about the soccer side of things and the team stuff. So you mentioned 27 on your roster.
[00:27:02] I mean, is that what you typically like to carry? What’s your kind of typical roster size?
[00:27:06] Coach: So if I had to put a number on an ideal size, I would say 20. Uh, anywhere 26 to 30, I’m generally pretty comfortable. And I know to some people that might seem like a lot, but, uh, if I’ve learned nothing else in the last 15 years, injuries happen, illness happens, uh, dips, inform hat.
[00:27:27] And having depth is, is just an absolute thing you have to have if you want to be competitive late in the year. And, uh, it takes me back. But when I was at my previous school, uh, we went to the post-season as the five seat. So we had to travel four hours away to play the four seat on a Wednesday. We won that game, came home.
[00:27:54] Had to play Friday at the one seed, which was three hours away won that game. Overnighted came home. The next day had to travel two and a half hours away to the two seed who had one, the other side of the bracket. And so, you know, and we played over the code over the course of those three games. One of which went to double overtime and PKS, I played 14 games.
[00:28:21] It was no surprise by the time we got to the final on Sunday that like our guys just couldn’t function, but that we had 14 effective players at that point in the year. Um, so, you know, we carry a little bit larger number and, you know, kids know, you know, I’m not going to get her. Somebody’s going to get hurt along the way.
[00:28:41] It’s just the truth. So if I can carry, like I said, 26 to 30, I’m pretty happy. Uh, that gives us the opportunity to also develop kids a little bit. And we tell kids when we recruit them, Hey, your first year, you’re going to be focused on learning how to play at this level. And. You know, some kids don’t want to buy into that and that’s fine, but we don’t tell them that after they’ve already come in, we’re very upfront about that with our kids.
[00:29:09] But that way they have an opportunity to grow and develop without the pressure of having to perform. And I think that’s important. We, in the last five years, I don’t know that I’ve asked a freshmen to play 90 minutes a game because they, if it’s not going well, they get frustrated and they don’t grow.
[00:29:25] They don’t develop. That’s not good for. Yeah, and that has other ramifications off the field. So, uh, you know, we’re, we’re all about carrying a roster that allows us to be deep, but also develop the kids and keep the kids we have. That’s
[00:29:39] Matt: good. Well, uh, besides the roster size, what’s the staff size. What other soccer staff do you have?
[00:29:45] What are their roles on the team, et
[00:29:46] Coach: cetera? So I’m really fortunate that I’ve got a lot of young alumni that are still kind of around the area and who want to remain involved, even if it’s just a volunteer status. Uh, so I have one, uh, paid. Who he does a lot of different things for us. Uh, he he’s, you know, he recruits he’s on the road doing that.
[00:30:07] He helps with fundraising. He’s really, it’s his first college job. And this past spring he’s really taken on the practice development component. He’s in charge of our entire activation and technical phase of training every year. Uh, and that’s something he’s going to continue to have, cause he is just absolutely crushing it with that.
[00:30:28] Uh, and I can sort of take a step back and watch guys as they’re warming up now, which is good. Um, he does a lot for me in game, just in terms of, you know, bouncing ideas. If, you know, we need to make a tactical change, Hey, this is what I’m thinking. Do you think that’s, you know, am I on the right path? Do you think.
[00:30:48] Going kind of crazy here on the sideline. Uh, so he’s awesome about that. Our volunteers, a lot of them just come in and more than anything, they are they’re supportive of the student athlete. Who’s going through the stress of being in classes and the social pressures of being in college. Uh, and it gives them an outlet.
[00:31:11] Of someone that recently went through that and has been able to find a way down that path successfully. So that means a lot. I also do have a goalkeeper coach, uh, mark, sorry, I didn’t mean to forget you in there. Um, but, and again, he he’s able, he has a full-time job, but what we do is we’re able to structure his time with our goalkeepers around their class schedules.
[00:31:34] So he works with them outside of our team. So they’re getting their individualized attention, which is great. Uh, he’s a former Wotford youth team player and made his way up to the first team before he was injured and then got a real job, like the rest of us. But, uh, you know, ha having that for our kids is just huge.
[00:31:52] And that’s literally what his role is. That’s what he wants to do. And so I’m like, Hey, it’s yours. And he’s been with me for a number of.
[00:32:00] Matt: That sounds great. What, so how would you, I mean, you mentioned style of play a little bit earlier, but like, how would you describe your style of coaching and then any more about the style play and you did also talk about the culture of the team, how does that all kind of combined into?
[00:32:14] So
[00:32:14] Coach: I think, you know, for me, in terms of a style of coaching, I like to try and be as flexible as I can. And the importance of that is, yeah. I have an idea of how I want to play. Uh, when we recruit, we recruit kids, we try to recruit kids that just fit how we want to play, but that doesn’t always happen sometimes.
[00:32:32] You know, we’d all love a six, four target forward who weighs 180 pounds, but, um, that’s not always in the books. So, you know, you take the kids who have a good skillset and are coachable and fit into the culture, which I’ll touch on here in a bit. But, um, You know, it’s being flexible within our style of play, you know, regardless of where you have on the field.
[00:32:53] I think you can play an uptempo style, which we try to do. I think the other thing that’s important when we talked about flexibility is you have to recognize who you’re playing against. Uh, you know, if you’re playing a top 25 program, you’re going to approach them differently than a top twenty-five non-conference game versus a lead game with the regular season title on why you approach those games very differently.
[00:33:18] So we talked to our players a lot about, you know, this is what the team we’re about to play. Does we show it to them on film? We say, this is how we’re going to try and counteract what the. And this is how it’s going to adjust what our overall theme is, whether it’s a lower line of contention, uh, whether it’s, you know, pressing the back line a little bit higher, because we feel like they don’t have the pace in the forwards to beat us if they go over the top.
[00:33:42] Uh, if you were playing a team that high presses a lot early on, maybe being a little bit direct in the first 10 minutes. So they have to drop off of us and then we can get some space to operate. So it’s really about that. Having that type of flexibility, that’s important for us. Um, You know, when we talked about the culture of our program, I think the biggest thing that I take away, and I think if you talk to recruit to have met with our players or the current players themselves, we have a culture where it doesn’t matter what the situation is, but everyone else on the team and in the program wants you to be selected.
[00:34:20] If it’s academics, they want you to do well. If it’s soccer, they want you to do well. If it’s a socially, they want you to do well, job interviews, you know, all that sort of stuff. And yet there’s guys that are obviously competing for playing time. That’s always a part of it, but no one we’ve established a culture where guys don’t take it.
[00:34:40] Personally. If someone plays over them, it’s like, okay, they got the nod today. My job is to be supportive of that, to celebrate that and be ready to go. If they can’t anymore. And part of, part of the reason we’ve been able to achieve that as just a strong line of communication that we have between the coaching staff and our student athletes, you know, if we’re going to.
[00:35:01] Uh, if, if a guy’s been playing and all of a sudden we’re going to make a change, we don’t just drop it on him on game day in the locker room, before we talk to him, days in advance, like, Hey, this is what we’re thinking. Uh, you know, and this is why we’re thinking it. I think, you know, giving them a why and a rationale or a reason to what we’re doing plays such a huge role in them buying in, because then they can say, okay, if that’s the case, I know what I have to do to get myself back to where I’m a guy on this.
[00:35:31] So that’s again, I think that’s a big reason why we’ve been so successful in the things we’ve been doing with our guys.
[00:35:38] Matt: Oh, that’s great. Well, we’re, we’re talking here in April, um, and I know the NCAA restricts what you can and can’t do here in the spring, but what does your off season program look like?
[00:35:49] Coach: So, uh, we’re very fortunate that one of the programs we have at the college is health and fitness promotion, which is a really fancy way of saying exercise science. So we’ve got a, we have two interns that have been working with our guys since they came in. For the start of spring semester. So they’re actually doing their internships with men’s soccer.
[00:36:08] Um, one of them is actually one of my outgoing seniors. So, uh, you know, the guys start working on fitness and lifting, uh, speed and agility. They’ve been doing that since the first week of February. Uh, and then they’ve continued that as we’ve started our spring season, we’re in our third week of spring ball right now.
[00:36:31] So we practice 15 days over five weeks, uh, with a play date at the end. So they, they have to find a balance between, you know, you got to do two lifts a week. You got to do to speed and agility or fitness sessions a week. You have three practices. But you can, you know, there can be overlap. You can set your days off, you know, that sort of thing.
[00:36:51] But we, we allow our kids to build their lifting around their own schedule. So if you know, I got a couple of kids, I’ve got a kid who’s in our nursing program and he’s in clinical from like 11 until seven every single day. So he goes in and he lifts at six or seven in the. And you know that, but that’s what fits his schedule rather than saying, Hey, I need you at this time.
[00:37:15] And, uh, because we have restrictions on that, you know, they they’re monitoring their own lifts, but the nice part is like, I work. One of my secondary responsibilities is in the fitness center. So I’m constantly seeing who’s coming in and out, you know, throughout each. So, yeah. Uh, but yeah, the thing for me in the spring is it’s really about, you know, what else do they need to be involved in?
[00:37:38] Are they involved in other clubs? Are they looking to study abroad? And, you know, I want to cry. I worked very hard to create a culture where they can explore those other aspects of college life outside of athletics, because in the fall, like when they get on campus in August to when they go home in November for them.
[00:37:56] They’re basically, you know, we’re running them nonstop at that point. So it’s important. I think they get to experience and the other things that college has to offer.
[00:38:07] Matt: That’s great. Uh, what we’ve covered a lot of ground here. Don’t want to take up too much of your time. So last question I always in the same, what didn’t we talk about?
[00:38:15] What else is there that you want to say that you or reiterate, or, or that we missed, that you want people
[00:38:21] Coach: to know? Uh, so many things, no, again, we talked a little bit before we started recording, but thank you for doing this and helping share, you know, what’s out there about college soccer. I think that’s so incredibly important.
[00:38:35] Uh, for kids that are looking to play in college, I would encourage you to do a couple of things. Own your own recruiting process. You know, you go out, you do the legwork, don’t ask somebody to do it for you. Um, but if there’s a school you’re interested in, take the time to get to know that school, go and see a game.
[00:38:54] Go ask if you can watch a practice, um, go on YouTube or. Just Google search a team. There’s going to be highlights in game footage out there. Uh, one of the things that I always find ironic is when a kid says, Hey, I really think I can play at your level. I’m like, oh, that’s awesome. You know, what games have you seen?
[00:39:10] And they’re like, well, I’ve never seen a game. And then how do you know? You can play at this level? Maybe you can, but maybe you also can’t. So I think that’s really important. I think the other thing, and sort of words of encouragement is that there’s a school out there for just about anybody that wants to compete collegiately.
[00:39:30] It might not be UVA or Yukon or Stanford or something like that. And for some of you, it might be starting at a junior college and that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Uh, you know, not to. Sermonize or anything, but we live in a world where we’re always, you know, social media forces us to compare ourselves to others.
[00:39:51] Don’t worry about what your teammates or your club mates or anybody else’s doing. You follow your path. And I think if you do that, you’re going to find a lot more success, a lot more joy in what you do. Uh, and you know, you’ll have a tremendous time in college. If you do. Amen.
[00:40:08] Matt: Well, coach, I really appreciate the time.
[00:40:10] Uh, wish you the best of luck, uh, this coming season. Hopefully we’ll get a few people to see this and reach out to you about Canton and, and again, nothing but the best for you guys.
[00:40:19] Coach: All right. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it. Thank you.
