Albright College Women's Soccer - Coach Shamus Matthews-Brady

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Seamus from the Albright College Women’s Soccer program in Reading, Pennsylvania. We talk about how Albright is already building its recruiting board for future classes, what qualities he values most in prospective student-athletes, and why ID events have become such an important part of the program’s recruiting strategy. Coach also shares how the college is experiencing an exciting period of growth, with new programs, strong alumni support, and a close-knit campus community that embraces its student-athletes. Finally, we discuss the intentional culture he is creating within the program through servant leadership, unique team-building initiatives like the “4 Hs,” and his advice for recruits to trust their own timeline and find the school that is the right fit for them. Learn more about Albright 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 Seamus over at Albright. Welcome, coach.

Coach: Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. This is awesome.

Matt: Yeah, thanks for being here. Um, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re talking here beginning of June. Um, so, you know, where does that put you in your, you know, recruiting timeline on, let’s say…

Well, first of all, you got any ’26s you’re still getting to the finish line, or is that all done and dusted? And then- No, we- And then where are you at with ’27s?

Coach: We’ve been done with ’26s for a while. We have 11 incoming players for the class of 2026. 10 freshmen, one transfer student. Um, and then we’ve… I mean, we’re still evaluating players for 2027, but we have a number of offers out there for 2027s as well.

So now it’s like, anything pops up 2027, we’re excited. Um, but really trying to identify 2028s now, and start creating our 2028 board [00:01:00] of, you know, who we’re gonna go after, what player profiles we’re going after, what are our needs as we look down the pipeline of who’s graduating, um, you know, where are we going in terms of program growth, and what do we need to add.

Um, so yeah, that’s where we’re at.

Matt: Okay. Well- I know this time of year’s a little different, uh, just because the club season’s, for the most part, is winding down except for some of the national tournament stuff, uh, of the various alphabet leagues. Um, but where, where is it that you like to go to watch players?

What are some of the events, things you’re at every year? Where, where are you looking for players?

Coach: Yeah, that’s a great question. So we’re, we’re evaluating kind of the events we go to to figure out where our biggest return is in terms of our time, ’cause our time is valuable, in terms of just, you know, recruiting trips can be, you know, Saturday and Sunday, 15-hour days, and it’s time away from family, which is precious, so we wanna hone in on are we just going to go or is this impactful, is this meaningful?

[00:02:00] Uh, and what we’re seeing is ID events have been a really good, um, return for us, so either club run or, uh, like, larger program or company run, and then we’ll go to select showcases, um, and try to go to different showcases, I think, where maybe other coaches aren’t at. So, like, this past Memorial Day weekend, I wasn’t at the PDA Showcase.

I was down at the FC Delco’s showcase, um, in the pouring rain. Um, but luckily it was… They moved it to Mil- Milford, Delaware at the DE Turf Complex. It was all turf, so there wasn’t really any mud or anything to trudge through, which was nice. Um, and I think I saw myself and maybe another college coach or two, so, and there were some really talented players, which was exciting, and I got some really nice club contacts that I hadn’t had before of clubs I hadn’t seen before.

Um, and this weekend I’ll be at PDA’s, um, they do, like, their own kind of [00:03:00] college combine, so I’ll be at that, as well as possibly stopping over at the EDP Spring Cup and the ODP, uh, regional showcase that’s gonna go down in, uh, Patapsco Turf Farm. Um, we are trying to scale it back a little bit, where we’re not going, like, every weekend.

I like going to high school games ’cause I think it’s cool, but it is really hard to get to. So for us, I think we prioritize the ID events more, um, just because of their accessibility and the information that we get from them, and then a few selected showcases. RL events, ECNL RL events are probably the big one.

We’ll go to one or two of those a year. Okay.

Matt: All right. Makes sense. Well, whether it’s at a showcase or an ID camp or, or whatever the case may be, what makes up that hierarchy of, of things you’re looking for in a player, both on the field and off?

Coach: Yeah, so on the field, I think- Composure. So a g- a great first touch stands out immediately.

Um, and then [00:04:00] pace. Pace is so important. You’ve gotta be quick or fast. Um, decision-making for me is super important, so players that can make autonomous decisions, don’t need to be directed, that can think for themselves, is crucial for the development for this program that we’re building here at Albright.

We wanna play a very progressive, aggressive style, which requires very quick thinking, and you can’t be coach-led, it’s gotta be player-led. So we want players that, you know, move quick and make quick decisions, um, constantly scanning, and can play simple and keep the ball. Um, and then off the field, kind of on the field, off the field, like character stuff that we look for, um, composure, kindness, um, supportive.

Um, you know, how you react in moments is super important, um, whether it’s positive or negative. Um, that’s, we, we judge that a lot. Body language is huge. Um, off the field, completely, we want good students. You know, students with a 3.5 GPA or higher is our ideal [00:05:00] candidate. Um, and we want kids that are involved in a little more than soccer, too.

So clubs, charitable work. We do a lot with giving back to

our community. We wanna get involved as much as possible. I have another meeting today with another local organization that we’re gonna get involved with, um, this coming season, which we’re really excited about. Um, we do a lot with our local rec department. So we want kids that, you know, understand, uh, servitude and giving back and are hard workers

Matt: Okay.

No, that’s awesome. Well, i- in terms of that, players that you want, like is there a roster size that, that you’re trying to hit that you, you feel is ideal?

Coach: I think 32, uh, players is, I believe that’s our conference average. Um, and probably close to Division III national average is in like the high 20s, 30s, or high, high 20s, lower 30s.

Um, it allows us to do a lot in terms of training and in terms of load management. You know, we play 20 [00:06:00] games in two months. That’s a lot of games. That’s a lot on the body. Um, so we try to rotate players, uh, specifically the midfielders, ’cause they’re carrying a large load. Um, so if a player plays, you know, 90 minutes three games in a row, that fourth game, it’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when they’re gonna get hurt because of how much they’re putting on their body.

So having a larger roster allows us to rotate players to get the most out of them. In terms of training, we can play full-sided as often as possible. Um, it allows us to manipulate certain things. Um, it just makes everything much more successful for the team as a whole, and it creates a far more competitive environment, which that breeds success.

It’s competition. Yeah,

Matt: for sure. Well, you mentioned you got one transfer coming in, so with the portal kind of blowing up these days, what, what, what does the whole transfer portal recruiting situation look like for you guys? Also, uh, do you look internationally at all? I know there’s a [00:07:00] lot of teams that are getting bigger there, but not so much on the DIII women’s side, but you never know.

Coach: Yeah. Um, so our transfer students, I look at junior college players actually. So we want players coming from JUCO. Um, so we had one JUCO transfer last year. We’ll have another JUCO transfer this year, um, and then we’ll probably have two more JUCO players join us the following year. Um, they come with a lot of experience and a lot of grit.

Um- And they’re very mature, which we want. Um, in terms of like the national transfer portal, we haven’t… I mean, I’ve only been at Albright a year and a half, um, so we haven’t brought in a player from the portal yet, and we haven’t brought in an international player yet. Not to say that we’re not trying and we’re not, not open to it.

We are o- open to, you know, good players and good people. Um, but for us, our transfer students, we look, me specifically, uh, look, JUCO transfers are, um, you know, ideal for [00:08:00] us.

Matt: Okay. Makes sense. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. Like you say, you’ve been there a year and a half or so now. What, what have you found that really stands out about the school?

Maybe some cool things we wouldn’t even know about going through the website.

Coach: Yeah. So I, what stands out about Albright is it’s in this exciting phase of kind of rebirth and regrowth, and we’re, we’re kind of forging ahead as other places might be tearing things down and pulling things away in this current landscape of college, where you’re, you’re hearing scary reports and things come out that are a little behind.

Um, you know, we went through a difficult time, brought in a very impressive new president who literally wrote a book on how to make college sustainable and turnarounds, and now she’s our full-term president. Um, Debra Townsend, she’s amazing. Um- And we just built one of the best wrestling centers in the country.

Um, we brought back wrestling. We’re adding women’s wrestling. We just added ice hockey, um, flag football. So we’re adding sports, we’re adding, [00:09:00] um, opportunities for student athletes, which is really cool. Um, we have incredible alumni engagement. Um, so John Sholl, one of the school’s, you know, largest donors, very involved in athletics, he’s at every game.

He’s at a lot of practices. Um, and not just the marquee sports like football and basketball. You know, I look over on the sideline at home matches, and he’s standing right beside me sometimes. Um, and he, he gave us a wonderful gift this past spring of some really high-level training equipment, which was awesome.

Um, but what makes Albright special, you know, why the alumni engagement is there, is the people. Um, it’s, it’s truly a community where people feel valued, where people feel heard, where people come together, um, and support one another, which really spoke to me moving from New Jersey to Reading, Pennsylvania.

Um, you know, feeling a little intimidated, a little scared about the opportunity, and the staff here, from every [00:10:00] coach to people that work in the cafeteria to the mail room, it’s a team from ground to ceiling, which is really exciting to be a part of. And, you know, I tell our recruits, like, everyone’s gonna know who you are in a really good way.

When you, when you walk campus, they’re gonna know you’re a women’s soccer player. They’re gonna ask you about the game last night. They’re gonna wanna know what happened, why it happened, um, and they’re gonna support you. We get great attendance from faculty and staff at our games. Um, so it’s, it’s really cool that we have such a vibrant community that’s in this new and exciting phase of rebirth.

Um, our new library’s set to open this fall, which is super exciting. So a lot of new things are coming to our college, which we’re stoked about.

Matt: Yeah, that sounds good. Well, you know, one of the hardest things for players making the transition from high school to college is really balancing the demands of both being a college student as well as a college athlete.

So specifically, how d- how do yours, how do your players kind of [00:11:00] balance the two, and what support systems does the school have to make sure they, they can be successful both on and off the field?

Coach: Yeah. So as a team, we try to use wisdom from our returners to assist our incoming players. And so what we set up as they start their summers, their accountability groups.

So it’s groups of three or four players, and they assist one another with the exercise packet, with understanding the paperwork for the medical side of it, because that’s actually something that never– doesn’t really come up, like how much paperwork you have to do as a college student athlete your first year.

It’s like, I think it’s like 30 forms and like five different tests and the sickle cell test now, and there’s a lot of different things they have to do, and that can be very intimidating for a new person. So we have conversations with our older players, not just our captains, but our returning players to share their wisdom, to share their experience, to calm down the nerves and quiet, you know, the, the in, um- I’m sorry, I lost the word.

Um, but just to quiet down that [00:12:00] anxiety and just, “It’s gonna be okay. Don’t worry. We’ll fix this together.” So servant leadership, something we’re starting to talk about with our older players, giving back to their younger players as they come in, is something that we do. Um, what the college does great for students is every student gets an academic advisor and a student success coach, who their roles are to make sure that you are getting the best out of your academic components of college, and then also your social and emotional side of college.

And then we have a program called, uh, Lions Edge Reports. So each student, whether it’s student athlete or just a general education student, has what’s called a care circle. So it’s everyone from their coach, their academic advisor, their, um, s- counselors, anyone in the school that can connect and help that kid.

If someone’s concerned about them, they’ll get a report sent out. We all can read it. If someone has information that can help that student, we can connect and share and kind of compile things to assist one another to help make sure that child is getting [00:13:00] the most or getting the best help that they need, which is great.

Um, so like say, you know, Katie got a concussion in a game, you know, I’m able to immediately alert everyone in her care circle. That way we can start making, you know, the right accommodations and start the right conversations to help them adjust to this uncomfortable period that they’re going through. Um, and then other things that we do as a program specifically, we try to get our incoming players connected as quickly as possible.

So as soon as we get verbal, um, commitments and then the official commitments, we get them in group chats. We have events, um, throughout the year that gets them connected, getting to know each one another. Um, that way they’re not strangers, ’cause that team building part is complicated, and the quicker you can get it started, the easier they come together.

Um, last preseason we did, uh, we had every meal together during [00:14:00] preseason. And so instead of letting them just go eat, we had like assigned lunch tables, so you had to eat with someone different every day. And then we had like discussion cards on the table to help kickstart the conversation, and that helped kind of break down the walls kind of quickly.

And I know I’m rambling. I’m sorry. It’s okay. Um, the, the newest thing that we did though this past spring to help connect our players, um, and we’ll continue into this preseason, is something we call the four Hs. So it’s your history, your heartbreak, your heroes, and your hope. So it’s where you’re from, who you are, what makes you you, something that you went through in your life that you consider a major heartbreak, um, who you look up to and why, and then what you’re hopeful for.

Matt: That’s really cool. Um, yeah, I like that 4H idea. Um, well, uh, [00:15:00] let’s fast-forward a few months here.

Let’s say we’re in October, heart of that conference season. Walk me through what’s a typical week look like in terms of practices, meals, classes, games, everything.

Coach: Yeah. So, um, we’re actually gonna sit down after this meeting with the other coaches and set up our practice schedules. Um, so like a typical week Uh, Monday through Friday, you know, we’ll have at least one game midweek, so whether that’s a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Um, so as we build into the week, Monday will be full training session. Um, you know, we do about a two-hour training session. The first 30 minutes though is technical work, so it’s, it’s individual, it’s, it’s not high intensity. It’s more refining fundamental skills. Um, so it, it’s, it’s dribbling, it’s passing, um, settling the ball.

Very simple things. Then we get into our 90-minute training session. I’m a big proponent of the accordion effect, so we start very small with a rondo. [00:16:00] Um, the rondo is always tied to the session, so it’s not just a keep away for keep away sake. It’s designed to build towards the session objective. Then we’ll make it a little bit bigger.

We’ll have our possession or position play activity, so, you know, five V five plus three, uh, three V three plus four, whether we’re going to goals or gates or targets, depending on the area of the field that we’re looking to educate and develop, and then we’ll end with close to the larger game as possible.

Uh, maybe it’s 11 a side, maybe it’s a segment of the game where it’s just the attacking third. Um, we’ll most likely introduce a new set play at that practice. We’ll walk through it a bunch, and then the next training session on Tuesday, we’ll have a pre-session meeting with clips from professional, college, whatever information we can give our players to help them better understand the areas we need to improve or the areas we’re looking to slow down our [00:17:00] opponents.

Um, we’ll also do some new video work in terms of walking through set plays, where we get them up and we kind of have the video projected and then they… we tape out the field on the floor, and they actually walk through different sequences so they can have a better understanding instead of me just kind of ranting at them.

Um, then we’ll have the same training session, um, Wednesday match. If it’s in October, like you said, Thursday, depending on whether it was a home or away game, if we got back super late, the best thing for our team might just to be to have Thursday off and just rest. Go to class, go see your tutor, um, you know, kind of have some R&R time.

Friday, full training session, pre-session meeting. Um, Saturday, match day. Um, hope, you know, if it’s, if it’s away, we report to the stadium. We have a quick debrief meeting. They get their scouting reports for the bus ride. If it’s a home game, we let them sleep in. We’ll have a, we’ll have the debrief meeting, everything in our meeting room [00:18:00] before warmups, uh, and then go out and enjoy the match.

Uh, we lift twice a week in season, uh, so it’s usually Monday, Fridays, we’ll do strength and conditioning with our coach- Um, and then we’ll have team tutoring and team study hall once a week as well. So kind of danced around the whole week, but ideally it’s, you know, training two to three days a week, games two days a week.

Matt: Uh, well, let’s talk a little bit more. We talked about roster size of players, but talk to me about your staff, who else there, what roles does everybody play, et cetera.

Coach: Yeah. So, uh, Coach Conn has been the assistant coach here at Albright College women’s soccer for 22 years. He’s going into his 23rd season, so we’re very lucky to have his wisdom and his expertise. Um, Coach Kelly Griffin is our second assistant and, uh, [00:19:00] graduate assistant. Uh, she graduated two years ago, um, from Albright College.

You know, has a great background in sports science and in player health. She’s our activation coach, so she does all of our pre-session warm-up activities, so resistance band work, um, uh, calisthenics, pl- a- any types of movements and exercises to help prime our athletes’ bodies for the sessions. Um, and then we have Coach Justin, who is volunteer coach.

He played at Temple University. He coaches locally as well on the club scene. Uh, he comes as often as he can. You know, volunteer role is, it’s difficult. He, he, in season he’s here almost every session and game, which is great. Um, he helps me with more tactical, um, in-game breakdowns. And then we have Coach, uh, Vicente who deals primarily with recruiting and scouting, player identification.

Uh, he’s in a volunteer [00:20:00] capacity as well. Um, as well as we have seven full-time athletic trainers at Albright College, which is great. Each team has a dedicated athletic trainer for their season. So ours is Calista, who is fantastic. She also played college soccer, so it’s super helpful to have someone that’s familiar with the sport, the demands of the sport, um, and the experience of the players.

Matt: Okay. Well, what about you? Talk to us about, uh, your coaching style and the style of play you wanna play there.

Coach: So I’m a student of the game. I, I love soccer. Um, I’ve always tried to be a coach that I wanted to play for, so that in terms of how I speak to players, how I direct players in games, how I interact, I think it’s super important.

Um, and I’m always trying to evolve and refine my craft. Um, I don’t ever yell at players for mistakes. Um, I’ll direct on field formationally and coach individually, but I’m not gonna shout [00:21:00] at anyone. Um, I don’t think it’s effective. Um, you know, John Wooden is probably the greatest college coach of all time.

Never yelled once, never talked about winning. Um, so I try to learn from people that have done the jobs and done the jobs well and carry influence there, and try to be my own self. I am very passionate. I, I can, I can ramble. Um, but I love the game. I love, um, specifically women’s college soccer. I grew up in it.

My mother was a women’s college soccer coach, um, so I grew up on the sideline as a little kid. Um, and so for me it’s, it’s a very important part of who I am, and that comes out a lot. The way I wanna play, I wanna attack in every phase. Um, whether we’re defending, we’re attacking. We- I wanna get in teams’ faces and make them uncomfortable.

I want the ball, and I wanna be able to go to goal as quickly as possible, and if I can’t do that, I wanna keep the ball. Um- So, you know, think like 1970s Dutch national team, maybe a little [00:22:00] bit PSG currently. That’s the dream in the head. Um, but intense, heavy metal football is what we want to build here.

Matt: All right. Awesome. Well, hey, I, I appreciate all the insights. Gonna leave you with one last question, and that is if you had one piece of advice for, you know, any, any girl soccer player going through this recruiting process right now, what would that be?

Coach: Run your own race. Um, don’t be worried about anyone else’s timeline.

If a coach is pressuring you and you don’t feel ready, don’t rush it. It’s, it’s your life. It’s one of the top four decisions you’re gonna make in your life, and it should be the right decision. It shouldn’t be the right now decision. Take your time, listen to people you respect and trust, and make the decisions when you’re ready.

Um, and go where you’re wanted, not where you think it’s cool to be. Um, you know, it’s really important to find the right place to [00:23:00] continue your life, and soccer’s a small component of that, so ask all the right questions and be fully committed to your decision. You know, you don’t wanna be in the portal.

Um, to me that should be the last resort. You wanna go somewhere, be there for four years, you know, make memories. You know, these are women that are gonna be bridesmaids at your weddings, so it should be super important. So take your time, run your race, and, you know, believe in yourself, and you can achieve anything.

Matt: Yep. Absolutely. Well, Coach, really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck, uh, this fall. And, uh, if you get down to the… any of the RL events or NL events here in Bradenton, uh, give me a shout, all right?

Coach: Yeah, I’d love to. Awesome. All right. Thank

Matt: you. Take care.

Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today, I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Seamus over at Albright. Welcome, coach. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. This [00:24:00] is awesome. Yeah, thanks for being here. Um, you know, we’re, we’re, we’re talking here beginning of June. Um, so, you know, where does that put you in your, you know, recruiting timeline on, let’s say…

Well, first of all, you got any ’26s you’re still getting to the finish line, or is that all done and dusted? And then- No, we- And then where are you at with ’27s? We’ve been done with ’26s for a while. We have 11 incoming players for the class of 2026. 10 freshmen, one transfer student. Um, and then we’ve… I mean, we’re still evaluating players for 2027, but we have a number of offers out there for 2027s as well.

So now it’s like, anything pops up 2027, we’re excited. Um, but really trying to identify 2028s now, and start creating our 2028 board of, you know, who we’re gonna go after, what player profiles we’re going after, what are our needs as we look down the pipeline of who’s graduating, um, you know, [00:25:00] where are we going in terms of program growth, and what do we need to add?

Um, so yeah, that’s where we’re at. Okay. Well- I know this time of year is a little different, uh, just because the club season’s, for the most part, is winding down except for some of the national tournament stuff, uh, of the various alphabet leagues. Um, but where, where is it that you like to go to watch players?

What are some of the events, things you’re at every year? Where, where are you looking for players? Yeah, that’s a great question. So we’re, we’re evaluating kind of the events we go to to figure out where our biggest return is in terms of our time, ’cause our time is valuable, in terms of just, you know, recruiting trips can be, you know, Saturday and Sunday, 15-hour days, and it’s time away from family, which is precious.

So we wanna hone in on are we just going to go or is this impactful? Is this meaningful? Uh, and what we’re seeing is ID events have been a really good, um, return for us, so either club run or, uh, like [00:26:00] larger program or company run. And then we’ll go to select showcases, um, and try to go to different showcases, I think, where maybe other coaches aren’t at.

So, like, this past Memorial Day weekend, I wasn’t at the PDA Showcase. I was down at the FC DelCo’s showcase, um, in the pouring rain. Um, but luckily it was, they moved it to Mil- Milford, Delaware at the DE Turf Complex. It was all turf, so there wasn’t really any mud or anything to trudge through, which was nice.

Um, and I think I saw myself and maybe another college coach or two, so… And there were some really talented players, which was exciting, and I got some really nice club contacts that I hadn’t had before of clubs I hadn’t seen before. Um, and this weekend I’ll be at PDA’s, um, they do, like, their own kind of college combine, so I’ll be at that, as well as possibly stopping over at the EDP Spring Cup and the ODP, uh, regional showcase that’s gonna go [00:27:00] down in, uh, Patapsco Turf Farm.

Um, we are trying to scale it back a little bit, where we’re not going, like, every weekend. I like going to high school games ’cause I think it’s cool, but it is really hard to get to. So for us, I think we prioritize the ID events more, um, just because of their accessibility and the information that we get from them, and then a few selected showcases.

RL events, ECNL RL events are probably the big one. We’ll go to one or two of those a year. Okay. All right. Makes sense. Well, whether it’s at a showcase or an ID camp or, or whatever the case may be, what makes up that hierarchy of, of things you’re looking for in a player, both on the field and off? Yeah. So on the field, I think- Composure.

So a g- a great first touch stands out immediately. Um, and then pace. Pace is so important. You’ve gotta be quick or fast. Um, decision-making for me is super important, so players that can make autonomous decisions, don’t need to be [00:28:00] directed, that can think for themselves, is crucial for the development for this program that we’re building here at Albright.

We wanna play a very progressive, aggressive style, which requires very quick thinking, and you can’t be coach-led, it’s gotta be player-led. So we want players that, you know, move quick and make quick decisions, um, constantly scanning, and can play simple and keep the ball. Um, and then off the field, kinda on the field, off the field, like character stuff that we look for, um, composure, kindness, um, supportive.

Um, you know, how you react in moments is super important, um, whether it’s positive or negative. Um, that’s, we, we judge that a lot. Body language is huge. Um, off the field, completely, we want good students. You know, students with a 3.5 GPA or higher is our ideal candidate. Um, and we want kids that are involved in a little more than soccer, too.

So clubs, charitable work. We do a [00:29:00] lot with giving back to

No, that’s awesome. Well, i- in terms of that, players that you want, like is there a roster size that, that you’re trying to hit that you, you feel is ideal? I think 32, uh, players is, I believe that’s our conference average. Um, and probably close to Division III national average is in like the high 20s, 30s, or high, high 20s, lower 30s.

Um, it allows us to do a lot in terms of training and in terms of load management. You know, we play 20 games in two months. That’s a lot of games. That’s a lot on the body. Um, so we try to rotate players, uh, specifically the [00:30:00] midfielders, ’cause they’re carrying a large load. Um, so if a player plays, you know, 90 minutes three games in a row, that fourth game, it’s not a matter of if, it’s just a matter of when they’re gonna get hurt because of how much they’re putting on their body.

It’s competition. Yeah, for sure. Well, you mentioned you got one transfer coming in, so with the portal kind of blowing up these days, what, what does the whole transfer portal recruiting situation look like for you guys? Also, uh, do you look internationally at all? I know there’s a lot of teams that are getting bigger there, but not so much on the DIII women’s side, but you never know.

Yeah. Um, so our transfer students, I look at junior college [00:31:00] players actually. So we want players coming from JUCO. Um, so we had one JUCO transfer last year. We’ll have another JUCO transfer this year, um, and then we’ll probably have two more JUCO players join us the following year. Um, they come with a lot of experience and a lot of grit.

Um- And they’re very mature, which we want. Um, in terms of, like, the national transfer portal, we haven’t… I mean, I’ve only been at Albright a year and a half, um, so we haven’t brought in a player from the portal yet, and we haven’t brought in an international player yet. Not to say that we’re not trying and we’re not, not open to it.

We are o- open to, you know, good players and good people. Um, but for us, our transfer students, we look, me specifically, uh, look, JUCO transfers are, um, you know, ideal for us. Okay. Makes sense. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. Like you say, you’ve been there a year and a half or so now. What, what have you found that really stands out about the school?

Maybe some cool [00:32:00] things we wouldn’t even know about going through the website. Yeah. So I… What stands out about Albright is it’s in this exciting phase of kind of rebirth and regrowth, and we’re, we’re kind of forging ahead as other places might be tearing things down and pulling things away in this current landscape of college, where you’re, you’re hearing scary reports and things come out that are a little behind.

Um, we brought back wrestling. We’re adding women’s wrestling. We just added ice hockey, um, flag football. So we’re adding sports, we’re adding, um, opportunities for student athletes, which is really cool. Um, we have incredible alumni engagement. Um, so John Sholl, one [00:33:00] of the school’s, you know, largest donors, very involved in athletics, he’s at every game.

Um, you know, feeling a little intimidated, a little scared about the opportunity, and the staff here, from every coach to people that work in the cafeteria to the mail room, it’s a team from ground to ceiling, which is really exciting to be a [00:34:00] part of. And, you know, I tell our recruits, like, everyone’s gonna know who you are in a really good way.

When you, when you walk campus, they’re gonna know you’re a women’s soccer player. They’re gonna ask you about the game last night. They’re gonna wanna know what happened, why it happened. Um, and they’re gonna support you. We get great attendance from faculty and staff at our games. Um, so it’s, it’s really cool that we have such a vibrant community that’s in this new and exciting phase of rebirth.

Um, our new library’s set to open this fall, which is super exciting. So a lot of new things are coming to our college, which we’re stoked about. Yeah, that sounds good. Well, you know, one of the hardest things for players making the transition from high school to college is really balancing the demands of both being a college student as well as a college athlete.

So specifically, how do, how do your, how do your players kind of balance the two, and what support systems does the school have to make sure they, they can be successful both on and off the field? Yeah. So as a team, we try to use wisdom [00:35:00] from our returners to assist our incoming players. And so what we set up- as they start their summers, their accountability groups.

Um, but just to quiet down that anxiety and just, “It’s gonna be okay. Don’t worry. We’ll fix this together.” So servant leadership, something we’re starting to talk about with our older players, giving back to their younger players as they come in, [00:36:00] is something that we do. Um, what the college does great for students is every student gets an academic advisor and a student success coach, who their roles are to make sure that you are getting the best out of your academic components of college, and then also your social and emotional side of college.

And then we have a program called, uh, Lion’s Edge Reports. So each student, whether it’s student athlete or just a general education student, has what’s called a care circle. So it’s everyone from their coach, their academic advisor, their, um, s- counselors, anyone in the school that can connect and help that kid.

If someone’s concerned about them, they’ll get a report sent out. We all can read it. If someone has information that can help that student, we can connect and share and kind of compile things to assist one another to help make sure that child is getting the most or getting the best help that they need, which is great.

Um, so like say, you know, Katie got a concussion in a game, you know, I’m able to immediately alert [00:37:00] everyone in her care circle. That way we can start making, you know, the right accommodations and start the right conversations to help them adjust to this uncomfortable period that they’re going through. Um, and then other things that we do as a program specifically, we try to get our incoming players connected as quickly as possible.

So as soon as we get verbal, um, commitments and then the official commitments, we get them in group chats. We have events, um, throughout the year that gets them connected, getting to know each one another. Um, that way they’re not strangers, ’cause that team building part is complicated. And the quicker you can get it started, the easier they come together.

Um, last preseason we did, uh, we had every meal together during preseason. And so instead of letting them just go eat, we had like assigned lunch tables, so you had to eat with someone different every day. And then we had like discussion cards on the table to help kickstart the conversation, [00:38:00] and that helped kind of break down the walls kind of quickly.

And when we did it this past spring season, it broke down some walls and allowed our young women to start understanding one another on a deeper level, not just a surface level. So these are things that we feel are important for building a team. That’s really cool. Um, yeah, I like that 4H idea. Um, well, uh, let’s fast-forward a few months here.

Let’s say we’re in October, heart of that conference season. Walk me through what’s a typical week look like in terms of practices, meals, classes, [00:39:00] games, everything. Yeah. So, um, we’re actually gonna sit down after this meeting with the other coaches and set up our practice schedules. Um, so like a typical week Uh, Monday through Friday, you know, we’ll have at least one game midweek, so whether that’s a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Um, so as we build into the week, Monday will be full training session. Um, you know, we do about a two-hour training session. The first 30 minutes though is technical work, so it’s, it’s individual, it’s, it’s not high intensity. It’s more refining fundamental skills. Um, so it- it’s, it’s dribbling, it’s passing, um, settling the ball.

Very simple things. Then we get into our 90-minute training session. I’m a big proponent of the accordion effect, so we start very small with a rondo. Um, the rondo is always tied to the session, so it’s not just a keep away for keep away sake. It’s designed to build towards the session objective. Then we’ll make it a little [00:40:00] bit bigger.

We’ll have our possession or position play activity, so you know, five V five plus three, uh, three V three plus four, whether we’re going to goals or gates or targets, depending on the area of the field that we’re looking to educate and develop. And then we’ll end with close to the larger game as possible.

Uh, maybe it’s 11 a side, maybe it’s a segment of the game where it’s just the attacking third. Um, we’ll most likely introduce a new set play at that practice. We’ll walk through it a bunch. And then the next training session on Tuesday, we’ll have a pre-session meeting with clips from professional, college, whatever information we can give our players to help them better understand the areas we need to improve or the areas we’re looking to slow down our opponents.

Um, we’ll also do some new video work in terms of walking through set plays, where we get them up and we kind of have the video projected and then [00:41:00] they… we tape out the field on the floor, and they actually walk through different sequences so they can have a better understanding instead of me just kind of ranting at them.

Friday, full training session, pre-session meeting. Um, Saturday, match day. Um, hope, you know, if it’s, if it’s away, we report to the stadium. We have a quick debrief meeting. They get their scouting reports for the bus ride. If it’s a home game, we let them sleep in. We’ll have a, we’ll have the debrief meeting, everything in our meeting room before warmups, uh, and then go out and enjoy the match.

Uh, we lift twice a week in season, uh, so it’s usually Monday, Fridays. We’ll do strength [00:42:00] and conditioning with our coach Um, and then we’ll have team tutoring and team study hall once a week as well. So kind of danced around the whole week, but ideally it’s, you know, training two to three days a week, games two days a week.

Um, the conference schedule is, is quite intense, um, so we wanna be as well prepared for it as possible, and prioritizing rest is super important. You know, not just physically, but mentally. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, well, let’s talk a little bit more. We talked about roster size of players, but talk to me about your staff, who else there, what roles does everybody play, et cetera.

Yeah. So, uh, Coach Conn has been the assistant coach here at Albright College women’s soccer for 22 years. He’s going into his 23rd season, so we’re very lucky to have his wisdom and his expertise. Um, Coach Kelly Griffin is our second assistant, and a graduate assistant. Uh, she graduated two years ago, um, from Albright College.

You know, has a great background in [00:43:00] sports science and in player health. She’s our activation coach, so she does all of our pre-session warm-up activities, so b- resistance band work, um, uh, calisthenics, pl- a- any types of movements and exercises to help prime our athletes’ bodies for the sessions. Um, and then we have Coach Justin, who is volunteer coach.

He played at Temple University. He coaches locally as well on the club scene. Uh, he comes as often as he can. You know, volunteer role is, it’s difficult. He, he, in season he’s here almost every session and game, which is great. Um, he helps me with more tactical, um, in-game breakdowns. And then we have Coach, uh, Vicente, who deals primarily with recruiting and scouting, player identification.

Uh, he’s in a volunteer capacity as well. Um, as well as we have seven full-time athletic trainers at Albright College, which is great. Each team has a dedicated athletic trainer for their season. So ours [00:44:00] is Calista, who is fantastic. She also played college soccer, so it’s super helpful to have someone that’s familiar with the sport, the demands of the sport, um, and the experience of the players.

Okay. Well, what about you? Talk to us about, uh, your coaching style and the style of play you wanna play there. So I’m a student of the game. I, I love soccer. Um, I’ve always tried to be a coach that I wanted to play for, so that in terms of how I speak to players, how I direct players in games, how I interact, I think it’s super important.

Um, and I’m always trying to evolve and refine my craft. Um, I don’t ever yell at players for mistakes. Um, I’ll direct on field formationally and coach individually, but I’m not gonna shout at anyone. Um, I don’t think it’s effective. Um, you know, John Wooden is probably the greatest college coach of all time.

Never yelled once, never talked about winning. [00:45:00] Um, so I try to learn from people that have done the jobs and done the jobs well and carry influence there and try to be my own self. I am very passionate. I, I can, I can ramble. Um, but I love the game. I love, um, specifically women’s college soccer. I grew up in it.

My mother was a women’s college soccer coach, um, so I grew up on the sideline as a little kid. Um, and so for me, it’s, it’s a very important part of who I am, and that comes out a lot. The way I wanna play, I wanna attack in every phase, um, whether we’re defending, we’re attacking. We- I wanna get in teams’ faces and make them uncomfortable.

I want the ball, and I wanna be able to go to goal as quickly as possible, and if I can’t do that, I wanna keep the ball. Um- So, you know, think like 1970s Dutch national team, maybe a little bit PSG currently. That’s the dream in the head. Um, but intense, heavy metal football is what we want to build here.

[00:46:00] All right. Awesome. Well, hey, I, I appreciate all the insights. Gonna leave you with one last question, and that is if you had one piece of advice for, you know, any, any girls soccer player going through this recruiting process right now, what would that be? Run your own race. Um, don’t be worried about anyone else’s timeline.

Um, and go where you’re wanted, not where you think it’s cool to be. Um, you know, it’s really important to find the right place to continue your life, and soccer’s a small component of that, so ask all the right questions and be fully committed to your decision. You know, you [00:47:00] don’t wanna be in the portal.

Yep. Absolutely. Well, Coach, really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck, uh, this fall, and, uh, if you get down to the, any of the RL events or NL events here in Bradenton, uh, give me a shout, all right? Yeah, I’d love to. Awesome. All right. Thank you. Take care.

Albright College Women’s Soccer – Coach Shamus Matthews-Brady

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