Berea College Women’s Soccer – Coach Joe Saleem
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Joe Saleem from the Berea College Women’s Program in Kentucky. We talk about how he is always looking for players that are the right fit. He describes the school’s unique setup that is like no other school around. Lastly, we discuss how his school has evolved over the last few years. Learn more about Berea College Women’s Soccer.
[00:00:00] Matt: Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Joe Saleem from Berea College. Welcome coach.
[00:00:07] Coach: Thank you, Matt. Thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity to, to tell people about our fine school and, uh, and, and our
[00:00:13] Matt: program. Yeah. And, and it, it’s, it’s a, it’s a place that I actually have, uh, experience with.
[00:00:18] I, so we just realized, uh, it, it, you know, I guess I just don’t look that old, but, uh, 20 years 20 years ago when I was coaching, uh, I actually coached against Joe when he was a player. So, uh, wow. I feel old. Uh, but, but, you know, that’s just the way things go. And so the interesting thing is when I was coaching against ya it was not division three, which they are now.
[00:00:44] Right. And, actually I drove through be, and I 75, a couple months ago and, and brought me back. But before we talk more about the school, let’s, let’s talk about the recruiting side a little bit, because I have a feeling, you know, you’re in a little bit of a unique situation and we’ll talk about the school and how it is very unique, uh, in the college landscape.
[00:01:04] But. When are you starting to look at players? When are you hearing from players? Kind of year in high school are they?
[00:01:10] Coach: Uh, yeah, I mean, I think, uh, the NCAA division three move was, was a good one for us based on our model to some degree, but also it kind of, uh, Made the recruiting a little bit different for us because we’re, we’re, we’re communicating things a little bit differently in, in different, uh, areas.
[00:01:26] But I’m hearing from kids. I mean, literally as early as their eighth grade year, uh, you know, I’m getting emails now, those generally are not the ones who I’m following up on a lot, unless it’s a kid who I. Have met through camps, uh, or, or have really, you know, already made kind of a real connection with, or, or know them from this area.
[00:01:45] Um, generally I start looking around the sophomore year of high school, uh, for potential people who are gonna fit with our program and our system of play and, you know, are interested in this area. Um, and then really start pressing hard, you know, junior year, uh, into the senior year. Um, To get them through that admissions process and, and get them here at B and make sure that we’re still the fit that they think we are.
[00:02:10] Matt: Okay. Well, you know, you mentioned camps, um, you know, how important are camps for you, whether they’re are they camps that you host or you and your staff at other people’s camps, how do those kind of fit in?
[00:02:20] Coach: Uh, yeah, I think we do a little bit of both. So, you know, I worked with a couple different companies.
[00:02:25] Um, you know, I just got back from the future 500 camp that happened in Virginia. Um, I’ve done a bunch of exact camps in the last year. Um, you know, center college nearby another D three school. They have a big camp every year. Uh, and, and I try to get over there as much as possible. So those are important.
[00:02:40] We also have an ID camp here on our campus, and we try to bring people in, uh, for that camp and those students, uh, student athletes or potential student athletes are the ones I think that are already drawn into Bea. They understand kind of our program and our mission or, or at least curious. And, uh, and so our ID camp is very important for me to get to know them and how they fit in our system.
[00:03:02] They can see our team and our field and our facilities and our campus. Um, but I think camps in general are a good way to get exposure. And for most coaches, you know, some of these kids are out here playing 20 games in a weekend. Uh, realistically, uh, it looks pretty bad by that 20th game. uh, so far, I think for most of us, it’s, it’s the early part of that, that, uh, those tournaments and those camps where we get to see, uh, what the kid has on the field.
[00:03:26] And then throughout the weekends, when we get to know their personality, uh, what their goals are. Um, and those kinds of things, as we get to know them, sometimes we get to coach them, uh, depending on the camp. Um, and so, yeah, I think those are, those are important for me as well. Um, and some of those kids are so far away.
[00:03:41] They’re not gonna come to my ID camp because, you know, they live in Oregon or New Jersey or whatever, and they came to a regional, uh, uh, showcase. So.
[00:03:51] Matt: Speaking of showcases. Are there tournaments and showcases that are kind of on your, your must see list every year? Where do you like to spend your time?
[00:03:59] Coach: Um, given our geography? I think, um, anytime I can get to the blue chip showcase that happens up in Cincinnati, that’s very important to me. Uh, getting up to grand park in, uh, in, in Indiana also clearly very important to me. Uh, it’s a huge, huge showcase. It’s very well organized. And also I think those two showcases work well together to make sure they’re not on the same weekend.
[00:04:19] Um, and then there’s, there’s a couple, uh, down in Gatlinburg, uh, at the Rocky top sports complex, they have, you know, They probably have 10 different showcases each year, but there’s two main ones that we try to go down to the Southeastern showcase, especially. Um, and I think, I think those are the ones that are in my head.
[00:04:36] I’m like, I gotta get to these at least. Um, and then there’s other ones that, you know, I try to get to as much as possible. And that kind of depends, uh, on, on. On what kids have, have been talking to and where they’re gonna be. Okay.
[00:04:48] Matt: Well, whether you’re at a showcase or, or on a camp side of things, you know, what is kind of your hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player that’s gonna make you want to continue that conversation and, and see if they’re a fit for Youa?
[00:05:02] Coach: Um, I think number one for me is always gonna be. Um, and that’s the attitude while they’re on the field, you know, how are they talking to their teammates? How are they responding to the referees? How are they responding to the parents that are yelling at ’em, et cetera. Um, and also how do they respond to that adversity when they lose the ball?
[00:05:18] Do they put their head down or do they fight to get it back? Um, I think that all is part of the attitude that comes with them, but then also, you know, from, for me, what does their attitude look like with me? I’m a big personality. Uh, and I think most of my players will tell you that. Um, and, uh, I think. If they don’t mesh well with me, it’s gonna be a whole lot of budding heads.
[00:05:36] And I don’t wanna do that to a kid for four years, and I don’t wanna have to go through that for four years. Um, and so I think making sure that our attitudes and our, our, our morals and our goals kind of align is very important to me. Um, those are the first things I, I think I really look for is that, that attitude, uh, and then after that, I think it comes, um, fit is very important.
[00:05:55] You can be the greatest player in the world, but if you’re not gonna fit with my system and with my team, That doesn’t help us and it doesn’t help you. Um, so making sure that our schools are fit for them, making sure they’re a fit for us. Um, and then, you know, I think. Obviously after that, you know, it becomes the levels.
[00:06:10] Um, you know, you’re, you’re fighting for 11 starting positions and, you know, uh, 20 more spots on the bench. Um, are you gonna be in that top 32? Uh, when I look at your skill level versus who I’m looking to bring in or who I’m already talking to or who I already have. Um, and I, I, you know, that’s, that’s. Hard part of the job, I think, is, you know, sometimes the kids just aren’t good enough, uh, or they’re just not fit.
[00:06:36] Um, or you just don’t have the spot really available at the time. Although I will tell you, I think I share this with most coaches, if you’re talented enough, we will find the spot. Um, so, you know, at a certain level, I, I’m not gonna say, oh, I can’t take any more forwards. I’m tapped out. Uh, if you’re scoring goals and you’re gonna fit into my system, I’ll figure it out.
[00:06:57] Um, so yeah, that’s kind of the hierarchy of what I’m looking for. Okay. Um,
[00:07:04] Matt: In terms of you say 32, I mean, is that kind of your target roster size each year?
[00:07:09] Coach: That’s like my max, I don’t like, uh, you know, we’re, we’re a different institution. I think we’ll talk about that in a little while, but, uh, so I’m not tuition driven, right?
[00:07:16] Uh, as far as making sure that I have, like, my administration’s not telling me, you gotta bring in this many kids right. To support your program or what have you. Um, and as such, I think I’m in a very unique and advantageous position where I can say, I don’t wanna bring in 40, a 40 person roster and have 10 or 15 of them that I know aren’t gonna.
[00:07:36] I wanna bring in 25 to 35, somewhere in that range. Um, generally. Closer to 30 would be ideal, but I want all of those players to be able to see the field for me, um, throughout the season. And to know that when there’s an injury, that doesn’t mean our whole team falls apart. It means that the next person’s up, um, and that’s how it goes.
[00:07:55] And it’s not based on. How much money you’re bringing to the table or any of that kind of stuff. Uh, and so I think that helps me, uh, keep my roster kind of minimizing that allows me also to, to travel with basically my whole roster. A lot of the time, um, I don’t have to cut it down to, you know, to the, to the bare bones.
[00:08:13] Um, You know, my roster’s usually around 29, 9 30. Uh, and I usually travel with at least 24. So, you know, there’s, we’re not, we’re not sending a whole lot of people. Yeah. Um, packing when we go on the road. No,
[00:08:25] Matt: That’s, that’s great. Well, and I guess. We can kind of pivot to, to the money side of things as, as you mentioned, and especially being D three, there’s no academic or excuse me, athletic money.
[00:08:38] Um, but you know, go ahead and, and talk to me about the uniqueness. Uh, the uniqueness that is be in terms of tuition and, and, and what the financial situation is there for student athletes
[00:08:51] Coach: as they come in. Yeah. Um, I think, uh, yeah, we’re a very unique space. Uh, be college was founded, um, by a man named Reverend John G fee.
[00:09:00] And he wanted to make sure that people had access to education. Um, and so immediately he opened up the doors of this school to, for each slaves, women and men. The poor kids of Appalachia and we’ve kept that mission ever since. And so every student who comes here, um, you know, a lot of D three schools are gonna say, how much can you pay for.
[00:09:18] We’re gonna say, can you not pay for college? Cuz that’s what we really are, you know, if you can’t pay for college, we’re perfect for you. Um, and so we’re looking for kids who, you know, have great academics, but they have limited finances. That’s the mission that it’s always been, um, and will continue to be for.
[00:09:33] I mean for all the foreseeable future that I see for our school. Um, and as a result, we have a very unique package where if you qualify to come to be, you automatically, uh, don’t pay tuition, no student pays tuition. Um, and it’s been that way for 150, some odd years. Um, and so, you know, I was blessed enough to come here as a student, uh, and my stepfather had just gotten, uh, disability and laid off because of an injury.
[00:09:59] Um, and that made us perfect for being, and we found out that we didn’t have to pay tuition. Uh, and I had scholarships elsewhere to play soccer, but the money was still gonna have to come out of, out of somewhere to cover what was left. Um, and Maria’s very unique in that, in that aspect. So we’re looking for kids who are Pell grant eligible.
[00:10:16] I think that’s the majority of our student body, um, So when you fill out that FAFSA, if it says that you’re eligible for the Pell grant, then you know, you would qualify for Bea more, more often than not. Um, and then we take that, that thing at the bottom of the FAFSA, that EFC, that everybody worries about where the government says, this is how much you can pay for college.
[00:10:34] And that’s basically what you come to Bea paying for. Um, so I’ve had players who have paid nothing to come to Bea, um, for at least. You know, a year or two, uh, and then I’ve had players who pay, you know, three or $4,000 for a year, uh, which is nothing when you think about college. Um, and you know, I saw a statistic the other day where, you know, over 70% of our students were graduating, uh, with little to no debt, which was awesome.
[00:10:59] Um, and so when you leave college, you’re not gonna have hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans from me. My wife and I combined were under 20,000 in student loans. And I have been here for five years. So, um, I took a victory lap, but uh, yeah, but I mean, it’s, it’s a great financial structure. I think that the D three thing throws a lot of people off because a lot of those schools that are at our level are looking for kids who can afford to pay to go to school.
[00:11:26] We’re kind of on the opposite end. I’m looking at the kids who are looking for that scholarship money. Um, And that allows us to, I think, make some dreams come true. Um, you know, when there’s a kid who absolutely needs scholarship money to go and play at a D one or a D two, um, and they’re not gonna get offered that, um, they don’t need that here.
[00:11:44] If you get in, you get a full ride. Um, and, and, and that’s the way we like it. And it, uh, it puts us in a good position, I think, to help some students out.
[00:11:53] Matt: Yeah, no, it’s, it is an amazing thing. Now I forget. Is there some sort of, uh, work aspect or something that kind of goes along with.
[00:12:01] Coach: Yeah. Um, there is it’s.
[00:12:02] I mean, it’s. The work side of things is also part, part of the basis of our, our mission. When our, um, when our founder started this college, he had people work to pay basically their tuition off. And so that wasn’t really a thing really back then. Um, but now there’s a work college. Uh, consortium here in the United States.
[00:12:22] I think there’s like nine schools that have work programs. Um, so yeah, you work 10 hours a week on campus as a student, our work program’s a little different than others. So sometimes they’ll just put you in the support staff role where they feel like they need student support. Um, a lot of our kids are working in areas where they’re gonna go and work in life.
[00:12:39] So I’ve got a student on my team currently. She wants to be an athletic trainer. Her labor position is in the athletic training room. So she has a team that has been assigned to her. And she’s able to wrap ankles, come up with rehab plans for people who have torn an ACL or twisted an ankle or whatever.
[00:12:54] Um, and, and she even works a little bit with our strength and conditioning team, talking to them about what exercises they can be doing to help, um, make sure they don’t fall too far behind, uh, while they’re sitting out of their sport. And so she’s getting that experience. So when she graduates, She gets to put that on her resume and take it out, um, and hopefully get hired right away.
[00:13:13] And so yeah, you work 10 hours a week. Uh, you do get paid. It’s not like it’s just, you know, some, some type of, of labor where we just take the money cuz we didn’t make you pay tuition. You still get paid, uh, for that work. Um, And, and generally speaking, I think it really adds to your educational experience.
[00:13:31] I worked in several areas when I was here. Um, and when I left, you know, the first major job I had was actually coming back to take over two of the departments that I worked in. They had combined the position. And so that’s what brought me back to Maria, um, was running some residence halls in our campus activities and, and recreation.
[00:13:49] Um, And that was all because I worked in those areas of the students. So, uh, I think it’s very helpful. Um, and just really an added element of the education process. And, you know, I don’t have to worry about our kids when they leave, not knowing the value of work, uh, or not taking for granted the janitors who they run into.
[00:14:07] Yeah. Or the food service employees, cuz right now those are their fellow students. And so my team makes it a point to thank everyone who serves us when we’re on the road, um, to thank the people we’re cleaning up our hotel rooms and all that kind of stuff. Because they understand. Because some of them are doing that as a job when they get here their freshman
[00:14:21] Matt: year.
[00:14:22] So, oh, it, it, it really is an amazing setup and I, and I’ve always admired it. So I, I, I guess I’ll, I’ll give one, one last catch all about the school. I mean you, because you’ve, you’ve given us some really good nuggets, but is there anything else, uh, you know, about the school that I’m not gonna find on the website that you wanna make sure people know about?
[00:14:42] Coach: Um, I think realistically overall, the. The easiest thing to say is that we’re here to serve and we wanna make sure that our student athletes and students in general, uh, get the most out of their time here at Bria. And so, uh, we have several offices, you can find these on the website. We, you know, have an internship office that makes sure that when you’re looking into your professional development, you get the internships you need.
[00:15:01] They pay for clothing, they do all that kind of stuff. We wanna make it as cheap as possible for our students. Um, on the medical side, if you’re going into, you know, um, taking a Praxis or making sure you have to take some stuff for nursing, We pay for all that. We pay for study abroad programs. For most of our people.
[00:15:15] I had a goalkeeper two years ago who went to Germany for a semester and had to come out of pocket for absolutely nothing. Uh, which is an amazing, uh, amazing thing that has happened. Um, and I, I think that’s what you’ll get at Maria and you also get a laptop, so we, we pay your tuition and we give you a laptop, uh, when you get here.
[00:15:33] And I’m sure of several other, several other things, but, uh, it’s a beautiful campus and we’re currently renovating a lot of things. You can see our field behind me, which is beautiful. Blue mu to blend. Um, but we’re also building an indoor practice facility right next to that. Oh, wow. Um, that has, uh, broken ground and they’ve flattened it out and brought over the utility stuff.
[00:15:51] And now they’re, they’re hopefully gonna start laying the foundation during this season and it’ll be available for us to start using next season. So,
[00:15:57] Matt: oh, that’s great. Well, Can you walk me through what, what a typical week, uh, you, I mean, I know such thing as typical, but, but an average, uh, week, uh, during the season, in terms of what time is practice, winter classes, game days, cadence, that kind of thing.
[00:16:14] What, what does it look like?
[00:16:15] Coach: Yeah, I think at our school, you know, you throw in the labor that adds a little bit of an extra layer to the scheduling, but on a typical week, I mean, you’re gonna work those 10 hours. Um, generally they, they, they work about two hours a day with that. Um, you throw in your classes generally during our season, you’re taking, um, three to five classes.
[00:16:34] It kind of depends on your major and what you’ve got, uh, what you’ve got that you need to take. Um, but those classes usually. Between, uh, 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM. The labor usually happens around that same time, somewhere mixed in. Um, and then we usually practice around four or four 30. Um, some, some years we have to go a little later because of schedules.
[00:16:56] Um, you know, to the six to eight, we have lights on our field and all that stuff. So it’s not a big deal. Um, But, yeah, so we, we, we practice in the evenings, um, and in a general week, you’re looking, once we get outta preseason, we’re in our season. I mean, we’re in it. And, uh, we’re doing probably two to three.
[00:17:14] On field practices, um, and two to three games each week. Um, and there’s some that are a little heavier on the practice side and there’s some that are a little heavier on the game side. Um, but I also make sure that our athletes by NCAA standards, they have to get one night off a week. Like one complete day where there’s nothing related to our program.
[00:17:33] I usually try to give them a second one. That’s not necessarily a day off, but it’s a day off of the workouts and all that kind of stuff. We’re doing team bonding, we’re doing community service or a clinic for local middle schools or, or whatever. Um, just to make it somewhat different and, and not just.
[00:17:49] Um, wearing you down cuz as that season goes on, as you know, Matt, uh, you get, you get so deep into the season, uh, you know, stuff starts breaking down on people’s bodies and, and mentally as well. And so I think that’s a nice addition that we tried to make to our program to alleviate some of that. Oh, I think that’s great.
[00:18:08] Matt: Well, in terms of, on the soccer side of things, um, you know, how, how big is your staff, whether that’s the soccer team or the support staff in the department, what role does everybody play?
[00:18:21] Coach: Um, yeah, I think, you know, our, obviously our team, like I said, we’re, we’re somewhere between 25 and 35. Um, my starting lineup is never completely set.
[00:18:30] Um, just. It can’t be, if you’re, if you’re a coach, who’s looking for the best players that it gives you in the best position. I think you have to change things from time to time. Um, usually about 24 of those are on our travel roster. So those are the ones who are going on, on, on the trips full time. Um, Unless there’s an injury.
[00:18:48] Uh, as far as my staff, I’ve got myself, I’ve got an assistant coach, uh, who just joined us and we’re, we’re working on having a second assistant. Usually we run with two assistant coaches. Um, I have a goalkeeping background and a, and known as a defender. Um, and so I usually, uh, like to work with those people as much as possible.
[00:19:07] Um, and then our, our other coach, um, she kind of fills in when, when I’m not able to do some of that stuff. Um, cuz I’m focused. Most of the team are working with the frontline. And then in our department, we have a lot of support. So we’ve got, um, I’m the assistant sports information director, but we have another person who does all our athletics communication events.
[00:19:27] We have, uh, a strength and conditioning team that has two coaches full time. Um, we also have two, uh, athletic training staff that are full time. Um, and. Pretty much, all of those groups have student staff as well, that helps fill in, uh, a lot of that stuff. And so, um, and I think our campus is pretty supportive.
[00:19:44] So we use a lot of our campus resources as well. We have a photo studio, green screens, we have, uh, videographers and, um, All that kind of stuff that we pulled in to, to different things that we do to support our efforts and, and technology. Our technology department has been very instrumental in moving us forward.
[00:20:02] So we have, we have trackers that, you know, can track, uh, what’s going on. We even have a GoPro that can track you as an individual. If we need to do that for a game, uh, we’ve got the technology to do that. Um, and so we’ve, we’ve really stepped. In my five years, uh, being here as the head coach, uh, from point A to point B has, has changed tremendously as far as how we travel, how we eat, how we, how we, uh, where we stay, how we dress.
[00:20:26] Um, we get at least one new kit every year. You know, our kids get to keep their backpacks. And, you know, we do fundraising for some of that. And our alumni office helps us bring alumni back for alumni games and all that kind of stuff. So, um, I. Campus wide. We have a lot of support that helps, helps really make it a tremendous program.
[00:20:43] Matt: Oh, that’s awesome. Well, how, how would you describe, you know, your style of coaching and the team style of play when it’s on the field?
[00:20:50] Coach: Um, well, I’m loud, uh, and that’s, uh, I mean, that’s, that, that is who I am. Uh, I’m a little bit of a big personality and, you know, I, I also, uh, I’m a bit of a gentle giant, so I have a soft spot, I think for my team.
[00:21:05] I took over this team the same year my daughter was born. And so I always, I told them that, you know, in June I got a daughter and then God gave me, uh, 30 more in August . Um, and so, uh, I try to make sure that we do have kind of a family feel and, and that we’re, we’re a fun team. Um, When I’m not coaching, I’m doing comedy and I travel around the country telling jokes.
[00:21:25] And so, uh, we tell jokes on our team and we have a lot of fun doing that kind of stuff and making silly videos for their tos and Instagrams and all that other stuff. That’s new, uh, to old people like us. But, uh, but yeah, I, I, I think we have a lot of fun. Our playing style, um, has really. Greatly. I think since I took over, when I, when I got here, it was a lot of boot ball and just tried to get it down the field.
[00:21:48] Um, we’re a lot more possession based and, and we have a good system of, of where we wanna swing it, how we wanna hold possession, how we wanna look for shots. We shoot a lot. Um, and you know, over the last few years, we’ve gotten to the point where we started scoring a lot, which is very helpful. Um, defensively, we, we, we, we, we play, uh, generally four in the back and I think from year to year, That system of play kind of changes based on personnel.
[00:22:15] Um, uh, and you know, my, there were a couple years there where I had four, four young ladies in the back who could run an offsides trap better than anybody who I’ve ever seen. And, you know, at one point we were getting. 15 20 25 offside calls on the other team, uh, just because they knew the exact moment to step and they were all connected.
[00:22:33] Um, our team now has a lot of speed in the back. And so we don’t necessarily look for that offside strap all the time. We look a little more, um, to, to, to contain and cover and people are able to cover their own channels. And so we don’t have to help over as much, which allows us. Uh, a lot of freedom on the offensive side and on counter attacking and all that, but a lot of possession based finding the right shot, finding the right opportunity, um, not rushing things and playing what, what is given to us.
[00:22:57] The good thing is about soccer. If you wait long enough, the game will give you your opportunities. Um, you do, you don’t have to force ’em over and over again. And I think the sooner we get our players to understand that here. The more successful those teams usually are. Um, and, and, and I, I know the difference and I think COVID put a little wrench in our development, but I think we’re right on track to be highly competitive over the next several years.
[00:23:21] So, no,
[00:23:22] Matt: I think that’s great. And, and, and you got, you know, a pretty, uh, a pretty decent. Conference. Is this a new conference you guys are in or did it rebrand or what, what happened there on the conference side of things? Yeah.
[00:23:33] Coach: Uh, it’s a new conference. So we were, we, we, when we went to division three, we joined the USA south, which to my knowledge was the biggest conference, uh, at our level 19 teams on the women’s side.
[00:23:43] Um, and then we added a 20th right before we announced the fact that we were gonna go ahead and divide. Um, and so those of us who were on the west side of the division, Have now broken out into a new conference. It’s the collegiate conference of the south, um, nine teams currently. And, uh, those teams are from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and us.
[00:24:04] Um, and, uh, it’s a lot of fun to travel. I think it will last a little bit longer. Road trips from time to time. But that also allows me and my team to really have a lot more fun and bond, and do activities we might not do when we were just going to play Oakland city. You know, it’s, we’re, we’re driving three and a half hours playing and then coming back now, when we’re going to LaGrange, Georgia, we’re, we’re leaving on a Friday.
[00:24:27] Hanging out together playing on Saturday and, and, and heading back. And, um, it’s a lot of fun, but yeah, so we split into that new conference. This fall will be the first year of its comp of its inception and, and competition. And, uh, and we’re excited. I think as a whole, we just met as, as a coaches group down in Atlanta, uh, all the women’s soccer coaches and had a blast.
[00:24:46] And, um, I think there’s an excitement and a camaraderie that’s there. Um, it’s easier to get nine people to bond than it is 19. Uh and. Not as many moving parts. Um, and so I think we’re all very excited about what the CCS is gonna be. Um, and, and how it’s being set up. We worked on bylaws and it’s really great.
[00:25:06] Cuz we went to the drawing board and said, it’s new. We can kind of do what we want. Um, and everybody had a lot of input. And so I think it’ll be a great experience for the student athletes. That’s one of the main things that the student athlete experiences. War has been paramount to everything else.
[00:25:21] Um, every time we talk about a change, well, how’s that gonna affect student athletes? What’s that gonna look like for our kids? Um, and I think that it’s really been a great process to, to hear those complaints or, or those shortcomings or the things that are really good and really build that up. Um, so that our student athletes, when they come to our conference, no matter which school we know they’re gonna get a good experie.
[00:25:42] Matt: Oh, that’s awesome. Well, you, you know, we’ve covered a lot of ground and, and I really appreciate your time and I, and so I got one last question: what didn’t we talk about? What else is there you want somebody to know about, be about the team, about the recruiting process, about anything in general? Uh, the
[00:25:57] Coach: floors yours?
[00:25:58] Uh, well, I mean, if you’re a recruit out there and you’re watching this, let me just tell you, this is where you wanna be. Um, that’s, that’s the one thing I’m gonna tell you, and it’s for multiple reasons, affordability, you’re not gonna have to pay tuition here, Maria. Uh, two is that you’re gonna be taken care of.
[00:26:12] I make sure all of my students are plugged into our alumni network. After they leave here, I make sure that they are plugged into the resources they need while they’re here. Um, and that they have a good time. We have fun. Uh, we, uh, we, we develop as individuals. I don’t expect any of you to be whoever just left.
[00:26:27] I want you to be the best you. And so if you wanna develop yourself as a person, as a player, And get a school that’s gonna help you develop professionally. I think this is the perfect place to be, and we’re, we’re making a lot of great strides even more now. Um, as far as getting things built, we’re getting a new scores tower in our field in the next two seasons.
[00:26:46] We’ve got that new indoor facility that’ll open up next season. Um, you know, we’ve, we’ve upgraded some contracts and everything else. We’re getting great gear. We’re getting great travel. We’re getting a lot of wins hopefully as well. And so, um, I. This is the place you’re in now and, and have a great experience.
[00:27:03] Um, and, and, you know, I, I would put our program up, up against just about any other program, as far as the experience that athletes would get with me and, and our staff and our campus. No. That’s
[00:27:13] Matt: awesome coach. Well, Hey, I really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck there in the fall. And, uh, good luck with the new conference set up and, and we’ll keep an eye on you.
[00:27:21] And let me know if you ever get down to Florida for recruiting. Uh, we’ll grab a cup of coffee or something. All right. All right, man. Thanks. All right. Thank you.
