Cal Poly Pomona Women’s Soccer – Coach Dan Richards

In today’s episode, I speak with Coach Dan from the Cal Poly Pomona Women’s Program near Los Angeles. We talk about how they like to recruit freshman over transfers in order to build culture. Coach also shares about how they look for players that bring value to the program. Plus, we discuss their collaborative staff that has a long tenure. Learn more about Cal Poly Pomona Women’s Soccer.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today I am lucky enough to be joined by Coach Richards from the Cal Poly Pomona Women’s Program. Welcome coach. 

Coach: Hey, Matt. How you doing? Uh, appreciate you having me on. 

Matt: Yeah. Excited to have you on. I mean, uh, you know, it’s always good to talk to, to one of those perennial powerhouse programs like you guys and, and then see what’s cooking over there.

Um, you know, we’re, we’re talking here early January. Um, where are you guys at right now in terms of your recruiting? I’m guessing the 26. Is there. But maybe you’re looking at the portal, like where are you at with 20 sevens? Kind of what, what does all that look like, like this time of year for you? 

Coach: Yeah, it’s definitely, I mean the, the landscape’s are always changing, I think with all the new rules with ncaa.

Um, but for us right now, yeah, there’s, we’ve brought some spring transfers in. Um, we have our kind of freshman class for 2026, uh, already kind of locked in and taken care of. Um, so then we’re kind of [00:01:00] focusing on. 2020 sevens while also being aware that, who knows at the end of spring will there be some changes and there’s a, a last minute transfer at that point.

Does one of our players get injured during spring? And that changes kinda how things, uh, are on our end. Um, but yeah, we are kind of now starting to focus on 2020 sevens. We’ve already got a couple committed for that class as well. Um, and then, you know, maybe start identifying some 20, 20 eights as well.

But, but that’s not our main focus at this point. Um. The transfer portal has definitely changed things and when the roster cap for D ones, it’s definitely thrown everyone in for a bit of a loop and is, uh, is changing the way maybe people are doing things at this point, but, um, but I’m sure it will change again next year.

It just seems to be, there’s always something new to have to deal with. 

Matt: Yeah, I mean, when, when you just take a quick glance at your roster, you know, you, you see a, a handful of transfers in there and that’s not surprising. Seeing, you know, maybe some kids who, you know, D one, D one, D one, and then maybe it didn’t work out and now they’re like, oh, hey, I can, I can go play for a, you know, a top [00:02:00] five D two program.

Then they get an opportunity. Makes a lot of sense. So how, how do you guys, I, I mean, what, is there anything that’s making. Or guiding your decisions where it’s like, Hey, I think we want two transfers instead of two incoming freshmen. Or, or, or is it replacing people who leave or is it just, Hey, we’re gonna try to get the best possible players to help us win an adie?

Coach: Yeah, it’s, it’s a bit of all of it. Uh, obviously we’re always looking for the best players, so regardless of whether that’s a freshman or a transfer, whatever. But, um, I think definitely years where we lose more experience. It’s harder to get that experience, obviously through freshmen. Um, so this past season we had a number of starting, you know, seniors graduate out.

So it makes sense that maybe we’re gonna have to bring in a few more transfers than we normally would in, in other years. Um. It, it’s, you can never really go like for like as much as you want to. Um, there’s always gonna have to be a bit of a, you know, a bit of luck [00:03:00] here and there and, and you try and do your best.

Um, ultimately we, we always are gonna bring in probably more freshmen than transfers because you wanna build a culture of your program. So this year we have more freshmen coming in than transfers, however. We have got more transfers coming in this year than maybe we did in the previous year because we had more seniors graduate out.

Um, with the transfers. It’s always interesting. I think it’s, for us, it’s always seems to be successful, more successful when it’s transfers that we actually have some sort of connection to already. Uh, we are obviously really fortunate being in California. A lot of people want to come to California and a lot of California.

May be left for a year, didn’t want to come back because they realize maybe that wasn’t, you know, the right choice in the first place when we went to a certain school. Um, and obviously there may be players that we tried to recruit when they were freshmen, they went somewhere else, they kicked back to us, or there’s clubs.

We have a lot of coaches and directors that we know and we have relationships with. So when a player does come up, it’s someone we can get a lot of readily, readily available information on. And, and someone we can [00:04:00] see, will it fit our, our culture, our, our program, or not. Um, I think going in with blind transfers is not saying that we, we do the same as maybe other programs do.

Um, we’d like to have a little bit more of a connection with them beforehand just so we know if they’re gonna fit. Um, because it is different coming in as a, you know, sophomore gonna, your junior year and. You’ve already been through the process a bit. You can have certain ideas in your head of what you think a college program should be like as opposed to a freshman where it’s all, all brand new and scary and all those things.

So, um, so yeah, we try and balance it out. But I think the biggest thing is when you lose experience, it’s a lot more like you have to bring in some transfers to kind of rebuild that experience and have some college kind of used to training every day being in the weight room, you know, having to have a really grinding season in the fall.

Dealing with that, the academic piece. Freshman, it is all new, whereas a transfer has at least a bit of experience on that. 

Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, you, you mentioned that roster cap on the D one side. Is there a roster size you, li you guys like to be at each year that you’re [00:05:00] shooting for? 

Coach: So we all kind of actual, um, athletic department kind of has a.

Semi roster cap on us. Um, because there is a thing about you can only have so many players and still provide a good experience for the student athlete. Um, so we try and limit ourselves. It’s actually 33 is kind of the limit for our department based on we have three full-time staff. There’s 11 players who can be playing three times 1133.

It’s kind of a good way of balancing that out. Um, last year we had 32. Um, I think somewhere in that range of. 28 to 32, you know, is probably where we like to be at, just based on the amount of injuries you’re likely to get. Um, because of the way the college season is and it’s so condensed and so intense, you know, you’re always gonna have a number of players who just happen to be out for, whether it’s say, short period with a little niggly injury or, or unfortunately maybe a more of a major one.

So in order for us to always be able to play a 11 V 11 at training. We have to always [00:06:00] be aware, well, we wanna have 22 healthy players, um, and we need 20 healthy field players. If there’s gonna be five to six injuries at any one time during the season, we need to have over that to make sure we can buffer it and, and have the, the options to, to play 11 v 11 and, and work on what we wanna work on tactically.

So, um, yeah, somewhere in that, that sort of range is, is what we look for. And I know there’s some departments where they let ’em go up to like 40 players on a roster. That’s, our department wouldn’t allow that. And, and I don’t think any of our staff. We’d like to have that anyway, so we kind of feel good about where we’re at with our roster sites over the the last few years.

Matt: Okay. Well. I mean, we’re talking here January 8th, this weekend is the, uh, the big ECNL showcase in my, in my backyard at Lakewood Ranch. You know, what, what are some of the events that you guys make sure you get to each year to to see players? Kind of what, what are on your must hit list? 

Coach: Yeah, I’d, I’d love to say we’d be in Florida for, for that one beginning.

It doesn’t quite, our budget doesn’t, uh, quite stretch that far. Um, I mean, obviously, you know all the, the bigger leagues, the major leagues, your east [00:07:00] nails, your GA’s, and we’re any of the ones that are local to us, so California, maybe Arizona, um, we are gonna try and be at. Uh, I also coach, um, we a club program as well, which like if I coach in the Eastern L platform, so I go to those events with my club team anyway.

Um, so it kind of means. I maybe go to a few more the events than maybe, um, other coach and our staff go to, based on, again, the budget, the budget kind of issues we, we may face. Um, so yeah, any of the major ones in California we we’re probably gonna be at and then. You also have your summer wines, whether it be a surf cup, and there’s ones that are Thanksgiving with events near us.

You have Surf Thanksgiving, you have Silver Lakes, Thanksgiving. We’ll have coaches at both of those. Um, and like I said, then the East Snow events on the West Coast, the ones in Arizona will be at the GA event. They, we are fortunate enough that they also run one in, uh, in our backyard near us. Um, and then there’s other events we’ll try and go to.

If there is a an ECRL or a D Hill or event like that, that is very [00:08:00] close to us, we’ll go. We probably wouldn’t travel to go to those events again. Just bang for your buck. Kind of. We need to try and be, be careful and, and kind of strategic about how we spend our recruiting budget. Um, but all the local ones to us, we, we will definitely try and get at least one or two staff there every time.

Matt: Okay. What about ID camps? Do you guys do your own or do you, your staff work external camps? Are they part of your recruiting process at all? 

Coach: Yeah, camps I think is, is a big piece of it. Um, we run our own camps. Um, we actually have one coming up in, uh, this winter in February. Um, and I think you’ve got camps at the site, uh, of the school itself can be very beneficial because it means, one, the play gets to actually see the campus.

And I think that’s, you know, if they’re gonna be somewhere for four years, they need to make sure at least visited the campus and seen the environment. It also gives that, uh, that player a chance to. Interact with the coach staff for a longer period of time. Um, I mean, our camp, you know, if you are in front of us for six, seven hours that day.

If you’re good enough and you back yourself that you’re good enough, [00:09:00] then we are gonna see it. Uh, I think the camps, the, the kind of multi-school camps that may be clubs run or companies run, I think they’re beneficial as well. Uh, more so is maybe just a chance to catch a coach’s eye where they wanna see more.

Um, or maybe it’s say a play that, you know, you’ve seen ’em in a club game and you wanna see a bit more of them. So when you go to that camp and they’re there, you can spend a bit more time focusing. Um, the hard thing with the multi kind of school camps is. I may be assigned to work with an ATRI that I’m not really recruiting from.

I’m gonna be working one friend enough this weekend for one club and area, and then another one for another club, uh, the following weekend. And like said, I think they’re beneficial, but I think they’re more of a, an introductory thing for players. Uh, a chance maybe to, to catch someone’s eye. Um, but I, I think the camp on.

A actual schools campus with that staff is always the most beneficial, purely because they’ll just get to see more of you, you get more time in front of them. Our camps are not gonna be two, 300 people camps. That’s, that’s just not all we have. Ours are all capped at maximum [00:10:00] 50, um, and we have all our staff there and you’re there for the whole day.

So you get to meet some of our players. You get to see the campus and you get to spend a lot of time in front of the coaching staff. So if you are good enough, you know, it’s probably gonna be a lot easier to be seen. Than us watching you at a, a showcase event for 20, 30 minutes and a half when maybe you only played for a certain amount of time when we were there, and then we had to go and catch another game again, those are much more of identifying, whereas our camp, we can actually use it a true, like, let’s really see do they fit us?

Do they fit our program? 

Matt: Okay. Well, whether it’s camp showcase, event, whatever it is, kind of what makes up that hierarchy of things you guys are looking for in a player both on and off the field. 

Coach: I mean, one, we, we look for all players ultimately to bring value to the program. You can bring value in a lot of different ways because your time at the program, things may change with your playing position in regards to are you even able to play?

You may be injured, but can you still bring, bring value to the program? Um, you may be a start, you know, great, but you may not be a start. Can you still bring value to the [00:11:00] program? So what we look for is, yes, there may be fundamental things we need. Technically and physically, you have to be able to do, um, in order just to be effective and to be able to compete.

But then you’ve also gotta be, can you fit the team dynamic? Can you be a good teammate? Can you, making sure you’re not, don’t give us headaches by not being good in the classroom and we can’t even use you. Like, make sure you are doing anything you can to be an effective student athlete. Um. Are you also in a, is the player able to adapt quickly to the college environment?

I think some find it a lot harder than others. Again, not, not always on the soccer piece, but it may just be on the, just the grind of it. You know, it’s not easy being a, a college athlete. Um, may being able to look after yourself, being willing to, to get up early, to go to see the trainers before, before we train.

You know, are you gonna be there doing those things? Are you gonna be eating correctly and means you’re recovering properly? Are you used to being in the weight room? Have you done anything with a strength coach before? All these little extra things are all gonna kind of impact your ability to be [00:12:00] successful and how long it takes you to be successful.

Um, we’ve. Had some years, we’ve had freshmen come in and they kill it from day one and they’re ready to go, no problem. There’s other times you have freshmen come in, it takes a little bit longer. Um, it doesn’t, either way is fine as long as, as long as you are trying to do the most you can to be effective and to improve and to help the team.

And like I said, there’s players who may be injured and they’re still great teammates. They’re still a massive part of the program. Um, they’re still bringing value to, to what we need and, and that’s why the team can be successful. It’s not just about the 11 on the field. It’s gonna be the entire team.

It’s the, also, to be honest with you, it’s the entire staff we have behind us, whether it’s our academic support for the players or the training staff and, and all of those things as well. So as a department, as a team, as a program, it’s just, can you bring value? And, and that’s, can you be a good person and can you help us all move in the right direction?

Matt: Okay. Awesome. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. I mean, you’ve been there, uh, a decade now, I guess, so, uh, you get some, some good insights [00:13:00] for us. So what are some awesome things about, about the school? Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know just by going through the website. 

Coach: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s, uh.

It is an awesome school. Yeah, absolutely right. Um, the, the big thing is it, it’s, it’s a bit of a, I think, surprise for people when they first come on campus. Um, because when you think about schools in LA and you think of the CSU schools out there, a lot of the time they’re, they may be more just built up buildings.

It’s maybe not as open. Uh, you come to our campus, it’s extremely open, it’s extremely green, um, is fine enough. Our actual campus is. Uh, built on the old ranch of the Kellogg family, like the Kellogg cereal, uh, company. That family, it was their ranch and that’s why we have horses on campus and other animals and things like that.

It’s, it’s a very much, once you get on site, it suddenly seems, everything opens up and I don’t think people are aware of that until they come and it, and it’s hard to actually see that. Looking online or even with virtual tours. Um, and then as a school itself, what’s, we are lucky for us to recruit good players, you know, female soccer players, like good academics.

And, and we are an [00:14:00] extremely good school for a number of different, uh, subjects. We offer a lot of different majors. Um, so I think for us being in California, the weather obviously is nice and it helps and we have gray. A great stadium facility, great plain service, all those things, which a lot of other schools might have as well.

But then you add into that the actual campus being so, so unique. You’ve got really modern buildings, different designs. Architectural walls has been one. We have a lot of, uh, the buildings on our campus. Two, you having things like the, the majors we offer. Anything from, we have aerospace engineering, well, not everyone has that.

We have a hospitality or veterinary science. We have a hotel on campus that you can maybe do internships at if you’re doing hospitality. Um, and then we have all your, your business and your kinesiology and, and all these other things as well. So. It’s a kind of a, a unique, uh, kind of part of the, the CSUR school.

And, you know, as a D two school, we’re still got over 27,000 students, which is, there’s more than a lot of D ones. Um, [00:15:00] but then our class size is still very, very small. And, and so you have that kind of nice intimate learning experience and, and even the polytechnic way of teaching in general is a little bit different as well with the, the kind of learn by doing.

Uh, mindset and, and actually doing things like internships and apprenticeships and, and lab work and, and all those kind of things. Um, you know, I think it’s a very unique experience for our, for our athletes and I think it’s one of the great selling points we have, and it’s one of the reasons the school is, is always voted a very highly when it comes to best educations from a public school on the west coast, or top engineering school or whatever it might be.

We have all those luxuries that, that we can offer. 

Matt: Well, I mean, you mentioned kind of the, the, the academics there, they, they are good and, and you know, it takes a certain, a certain academic level to, to be able to go there and succeed. So what kind of support systems are there on campus to help? Help the girls succeed, both, both on the field and off the field.

Um, you know, especially being a transfer, maybe, maybe [00:16:00] their old school wasn’t as rigorous. Being a high school freshman or uh, a college freshman coming from high school can be difficult. So how, how do they, they manage to be successful? Both on and off field. 

Coach: Yeah, I think, like I say, it’s, it’s the support structure and it’s the resources we can provide it.

It’s, it is a challenge, I think, for anyone new to a learning environment. Like I said, it could be a, a transfer who’s coming, it could be a true freshman. Uh, our, our job as a staff is to help try and just facilitate them getting, you know, understand how to work in that environment and being successful. So on an academic front.

You know, yes, you have the, the luxury of maybe getting prior to registration. Most schools will have that. That’s, that is a, an immediate kind of benefit. Just you can plan your classes. Um, but you know, there’s also gonna be an advisor for their, their actual major, their what they’re taking. Then we also have an academic advisor just for the athletes as well.

Um, then you’re gonna have, our coaching staff will also have academic meetings with the players, uh, who are new to program and have study hall as well. So you’ve got kind of multiple checkpoints along the way. [00:17:00] And all of those checkpoints also communicate with each other all the time. So if there’s ever a time they need to get and they have a, a one-on-one with their academic advisor.

The notes saying that our academic advisor for the athletic department sees, I can see that in our, uh, our office with the coaching staff. And so we can always stay connected to what’s going on. So it’s a really kind of, uh, collaborative approach to how we help the students be successful in the classroom.

And then obviously they have access to, wherever it is, tutors, they can book online whenever they need to for their, their schedule. They can get access to them as well. Um, so for us it’s, there were a lot of resources and a lot of people wanting you to be successful. The key is for the athlete. To, to put the work in and want to be successful as well.

You know, we’re not, we’re not gonna be there holding your hand. We’re not mom and dad, we don’t wanna have to stand over your shoulder. Our job is to help you get, you know, be ready for the real world and to get into a work environment. So we are there to support, we’re there to provide the resources.

Their job is then to take that on board and, and obviously their job is also to ask for help when they need it. Um, and then off outside the academic piece. [00:18:00] I said we’ve, we are very fortunate. Our, our athletic department is, we have a lot of really good people who work in it. So whether it is the training staff and, and making sure you’re staying healthy, whether it is having access to nutritional information with have t needs who talk to our team as a collective group, and then you can make individual, uh, means with as well to talk about nutrition and diet and, and how they, they need to look after themselves on that end.

Um, we have our strength and conditioning staff again, they’re excellent where they’re looking to make you a better soccer player. Athletically. They’re not just there to say, lift massive weights and, and hope it gets, you know, makes you just stronger because you’re lifting big weights. It’s gonna be how does it relate to the sport and, and how do they make sure you’re staying healthy and getting the right sort of training to be strong and athletic, but for soccer so you can stay, stay on the field.

Um, you know, we, we have, we try and approach every single aspect of the athlete and, and try and enhance all of it. So whether it is on our end as a soccer staff to make you better tactically aware or make you technically better, um, or whether it is the strength [00:19:00] coach making you athletically, physically.

Better, whether it be the training staff, make sure you’re staying healthy, the nutrition and dieticians to make sure they, they make sure you’re staying healthy and, and also being able to focus and study well and all those things. Adding to the academic piece with the academic advisor, um, we have a. Uh, a therapist who’s available for athletes as well.

If they wanna sit down and talk to someone outside of our soccer program that’s available to them, if they, they have mental health issues, they, they wanna discuss or just going through a tough time and, and feel stressed or, you know, it’s all a bit overwhelming. There’s someone they can reach out and talk to there as well.

So, um, I think, yeah, for us it is just trying to hit all those touch points to make sure whatever you need help with, we are there to help and, and whatever we can help you get better at, um, we can provide the resources for it. 

Matt: Awesome. Well, let’s rewind back to say mid-October, you know, heart of that conference season.

Walk me through what’s a typical week look like for the players in terms of when are classes, meals, practices, game cadence, all that kind of stuff. 

Coach: [00:20:00] Yeah, I mean, in the, in the fall it’s, it’s, it’s a whirlwind. It’s very, uh, intense and it’s quick. And, um, you know, the, the way the average week would look for, for our players, obviously they have to have that mandatory one day off.

Um, so because we play on Fridays and Sundays in our conference, that happens to be our, our kind of like schedule. So we would train, uh, on Tuesday, we train in the morning, so we, we train early before classes start. Um, so a player may be in the treatment room though with the trains before training. So maybe from six 30.

Till seven 15, they could go in and see the trainers, um, on the field, seven 30 where, you know, we then start warming up, get the girls going, uh, finish training around about 9, 9 15. Uh, then they’ll go to the Strengthening Conditioning staff on the Tuesday, um, be in the weight room with them Wednesday, same again in the trainers early in the morning.

If they need any treatment, anything needs to get done, uh, then we’re back on the field. Uh, trains till about nine 15 again. Um, won’t go to the, the weight room on that [00:21:00] day, um, Thursday, train on the, uh, see the trainers in the morning, train in the morning on the field. Go to the, uh, the training conditioning staff again, Thursday more for us, because it’s obviously the day before a game.

It’s more mobility, flexibility, things like that. Um, just making sure they’re, they’re gonna be ready to go for the next day. Um, then it’d be Play Friday. Um, generally our games are kind of in, in the evening, like a four 30 sort of game. Uh, Saturday train again. Um, now if you played big minutes on the Friday, your Saturday’s gonna be more recovery and.

Rolling out and just getting the blood moving and things like that. If you didn’t play or you played low minutes, you’re more likely to be getting some touches on the ball. And, uh, and actually still, still kind of, uh, training a little bit and, and trying to just stay sharp, play against Sunday. Um, and then Monday would be the day off.

Um, but again, even on your day off, you know, that’s the day off from soccer. But players will be in the treatment room, getting treatment again, seeing the track staff. Um, maybe we’ll have academic meetings, uh, with our players that day as [00:22:00] well. Uh, obviously any players who wanna drop in, just have a chat.

You know, our, our office is always open to them as well, so, so Monday’s like a good reset day. Um, them just to kind of get themselves back to where they need to be at physically, and then we can chat some about any sort of academic things, things like that. And then it all starts again, then back on the field Tuesday, and then off we go.

So it’s, that’s kind of our, our normal week. Obviously we have some travel where we may have to fly to Northern California or take a long bus ride somewhere, uh, within the state. Um, in our non-conference schedule, you know, every other year we may go outta state, maybe to a surrounding state like a Colorado or a a Washington.

So when those travel days come up, it may be impacts it a little bit. But, but generally that’s pretty much our, our kind of weekly schedule during the fall. 

Matt: Okay. Well. Let’s, let’s talk about the staff. Kind of walk me through who else is on staff, what role does everybody play? What’s that look like? 

Coach: Yes. So you’ve got, uh, Jay Mason’s the head coach, and he’s been the head coach since 2016.

[00:23:00] Um, obviously he’s only, the buck starts with him. He is the guy that makes all the, the final decisions. Um. And then, uh, I’ve been there actually a year longer than Jay. I was there 2015. Uh, just volunteering with the former, the kind of former staff. And, uh, when Jay came in, we had a great chat. Um, I decided to stay on and, and help out for, um, during that time as well, like a transition period.

And then I carried on being like a volunteer till 2019 became full-time at that point. Um, and, and my role. I mean, we are very collaborative with how we do things, myself and Jay. And then, uh, Emma Greenwood is the, uh, the newest member of staff. She joined us this past season. Um, we’ve had, uh, an assistant the year before that who took another job at another program.

She got elevated to a, uh, different school in the area. Um, so between myself, Jay, and Emma, we are the three full-time coaching staff and we do a bit of everything each, you know, we are, we are gonna run parts of the session we’re, we are gonna do, [00:24:00] uh, kind of scouting or recruiting. We are gonna do, uh, different tactical talks with the kids.

We all kind of work together. Um, again, ultimately Jay’s gonna have the final say ’cause he’s the head coach and, you know, and that that’s how it should be. And our job for me and Emory is to, to make sure we discuss things with him. We are gonna kind of make sure we argue our case where needed in behind the scenes of what we think could be done differently or better or whatever it is.

And then we gotta support him in, you know, when it’s the final decision. Um, and I think what’s good about our staff is we’re all willing to give an opinion and we’re all willing to actually. You know, we feel comfortable kind of making sure everyone knows, okay, what do we think about this particular player or this particular matchup or, or this upcoming game?

Um. And we work together. And I think that’s one of the reasons we are successful is it’s not just a bunch of yes men just standing there as robots just picking up cones and being told what to do and, and that’s it. It is more being part of the coaching stuff. Um, and at the same time also recognizing where, you know, what is the [00:25:00] hierarchy of making sure.

You know, in the end we have the united front to make sure we’re all on the same page when it, when it comes down to it and when we talk to the players and as a group knowing that this is the direction we’re going in, it’s just making sure we, we will have an opinion based on what we see. Um, I think there may be bits where, you know, Jay himself is actually a goalkeeper, so there’s times where he’ll work with the goalkeepers as well, even as a head coach.

And that that’s, I’d assume very unusual for a lot of staff where the head coach is going off and doing sessions with the goalkeepers. But I think that’s, again, something unique about our program that. That works well. Um, we had a goalkeeper coach, um, last year was on top of the three of us as a staffer in 2024.

Um, unfortunately we didn’t have him available for this year, so it was more just the three of us. And, and so Jay did a bigger role with the goalkeepers this year. Um, so, you know, things can change based on staffing and, and what happens at that time. Um, and then, so when that’s going on, maybe I’m running the.

The whole of the, the field player group, taking them through, you know, the first two, three parts of a session, uh, [00:26:00] on a technical thing or, uh, transition away exercise or whatever it is. And, and I may be running that, uh, maybe have multiple groups saying, I’m running one group, Emma’s running another group, Jay’s with the goalkeepers.

Then we may be, bring everyone together and, and then we are again collaborating on the, uh, on all the drills and exercises we’re doing. Um, and then, yeah, on the recruiting front. We are all kind of all doing it together. We’re all at the events together, or we’ll split ourselves. One’s at one event, one’s at another.

When it comes to the camps, we’re all working the camps together, making sure we’re all getting eyes on the players we’re looking at. So, so overall, I feel it’s just a very collaborative approach, uh, as a staff and we all do a little bit of everything. Um, some take a bigger lead in one than the other at any time of the year, and that could again, be on the soccer side, could be on the academic piece, maybe I’m having the academic meetings.

With the players. Um, it just depends. Um, but we all, we all wanna help each other out and we all wanna make sure the players are getting the attention they deserve and, and the, the attention they need to be successful. 

Matt: Awesome. Well really appreciate all the insights you’ve given us and, [00:27:00] uh, I can leave you with one last question and that is, if you had one piece of advice for someone going through this college recruiting process right now, what would that be?

Coach: Uh, I mean it, it’s advice for the recruiting process just as well as soccer, as well. Life in general. I think one of the, uh, the ones I like is, is if you can change your mindset to, uh, from what if to, even if, I think a lot of the time people, they, they’re scared of things and they say, well, what if I do this?

And what if it goes wrong? And, um, I think that’s, if you can change that to, even if, uh, you have a different approach to things, you know, if you look at, I’m gonna reach out to a coach, or I’m gonna go to camp, and what if I don’t play well? And you get nervous about things, does that mean you’re gonna give up and you’re gonna stop?

Or is it gonna be, well, even if I have, don’t have the best day, I’m still gonna go again. I’m still gonna, if I miss a shot, I’m gonna take another shot. You know, if, if I do well, I’m still gonna keep working hard. I think it’s not like, well, I had a great game, we won. Or tomorrow I can take it easy. It’s like, even if we won, we are gonna keep going hard.

You know? And I think changing that mindset on everything you do, and [00:28:00] even with the approach with the recruiting process. Just have an even if mentality, it, it doesn’t matter. Things will go wrong. It’s not always perfect. Everything in in life that, you know, can be challenging. So even when those challenges arise, keep going, keep doing the right things, keep persevering, and eventually you are gonna get the rewards you deserve.

Um, so that’d be my biggest thing. Yeah. Change what if to, even if. 

Matt: I love it. I think, uh, I might be pulling that one out on my high school girls tonight. That, that, that’s good stuff. Well, coach, really appreciate the time. Uh, unfortunately I probably won’t see you down at the, in Florida at any recruiting events.

We’re a little far away for you guys, but, uh, but wish you the best of luck and, and hopefully you’ll get back to that, that national championship soon. 

Coach: Appreciate it. Thanks very much. 

Matt: Thank you.