Cal Poly Pomona Women’s Soccer – Coach Jay Mason

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Jay from the Cal Poly Pomona Women’s Program in California. We talk about they recruit across years. He describes how the school puts theory-based education into practice. Lastly, we discuss his tremendous staff and their experience and education. Learn more about Cal Poly Pomona Women’s Soccer.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody, welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Jay Mason from Cal Poly Pomona. Welcome coach. 

Coach: Thank you, Matt. Happy to be here.

Matt: Yeah. Happy to have you. We’re, we’re a little far away. I, uh, you know, I’m down here in Bradenton, Florida, although God, about 20 years ago, I, I spent a summer in Culver city.

So not, so not too far there from, from, 

Coach: uh, 

Matt: so I’ve driven around the valley way, way back in the day.

Coach: Well, you get, you get a sense of, uh, I know for myself moving from Texas, um, this year, a size of California and the diversity within it. And then just the amount of people that, that are here is, uh, it can be staggering the first, first bit understanding how to navigate those, those freeways and, and get around a specific times.

You should drive and times you shouldn’t drive. 

Matt: Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s funny. Cause you know, I dealt with LA traffic. I lived in Washington, DC for a long time, which is famous for its traffic. And now here near the gulf, uh, gulf coast in Florida, our traffic’s a little bit different, but, uh, but, but still people.

Taking an hour to go four miles, but that’s just cause it’s all stoplights and you’re headed to the beach. So that’s, you know, it is what it is. 

Coach: I can think of worse things. Exactly. Exactly. 

Matt: Well, Hey, I appreciate you jumping on. Uh, you know, we’re talking here kind of end of February. It’s the, the height of the college showcase season, at least, uh, [00:01:30] for, for a lot of, a lot of folks.

So for you as a division two school, kind of what, Walk me through your normal kind of calendar in terms of recruiting. Are you done with 24s and looking at 25s? You’re still kind of waiting on some folks. What’s your normal cycle look like?

Coach: Uh, I mean, in a perfect world, you know, typically I think pre COVID the cycle was about a year, year and a half ahead.

We were trying to verbally. You know, lock in our top recruits for the upcoming season. Uh, I think, you know, obviously, COVID, I think, has changed a number of things. And then you compound, uh, maybe the back, you know, backlog of players that didn’t get the opportunity to maybe attend their, their full season.

Or your institution in play that took maybe a JC route. It’s kind of backlogged some, some very talented players. Uh, and then with the and the portal, I wouldn’t say gaining traction. I think the portals created some, some challenges for, uh, not just for recruiting standpoint, but just for the development of players.

Um, so, you know, our calendar shifted a little bit. Um, funny, we were talking as a staff this morning about how we balance, uh, the transfer portal. The opportunities that come up for players within, you know, even within our own program, whether that’s, you know, moving to a higher level, if they wanted to go to do, you know, a division is [00:03:00] happening to a number of players.

Was our conference now, uh, where, you know, the top all region players are getting, let’s say, post financial stability for them and their families. So, you know, the challenges for us, um, you know, we look at our group and after the fall ends, and we really look at assessing, okay, based on our graduation rate and where people are going to end up, uh, development wise, positionally, what do we need and, uh, you know, for our, you know, Incoming 24 class the I’d say 50 percent of them were completed about a year out.

So, it gives us kind of a solid foundation of knowing what we have and development wise, you know, maybe 2 of those, those players, maybe transition really well and we develop the other side of it. And then we typically balance out maybe some of the skill positions, or maybe we have, for example, maybe it’s a front, a front core players, it’s a little bit young and we need to bring in maybe a transfer to kind of help balance out some of the experience that they would need in bigger moments.

So, you know, our class for 24 will be. Wow, we’ll have 10, including our mid year transfers. We graduated, graduated 9 players this past spring. So just balancing out the experience of that group, um, and trying to make sure a financially, we can, we can do those things. And [00:04:30] as you know, in the college game, there’s, there’s a lot of fluidity to it.

So you may think you’re done. And then all of a sudden, you know, you’re, you’re back on the portal trying to find something because something fell through. Right. So, you know, I think for us, it never quite never quite ends on with the upcoming events. You know, we’re focusing on. You know, our 25s and identifying our 26s and our 25 classes started, we’ve got a couple verbal verbal commits for for that class, um, you know, but typically, you know, we’re, we’re trying to recruit within a pool of players that, um, are approached by Big West schools, or, you know, maybe some of the WCC schools or, you know, those type of Mountain West type places.

So they’re getting a lot of attention, I think, from, from those places. And we got to. figure out where we fit in that mix. Um, and I’m sure you’ve talked to other coaches. I think we were in a unique scenario here in California to where a lot of out of state schools want California kids. So we get a lot of backs, kids who’ve maybe traveled to Kansas.

And figured out, you know what? I don’t like the weather and I miss California. Um, so yeah, I think it’s a, it’s a real fluid situation for us. I’m fortunate to have a staff that, uh, is really ingrained in the club community and the international coaching community. So it helps us kind of cast a broad net of players that we might have access to.

Matt: Yeah, no, it sounds like it. Well, you mentioned [00:06:00] events, kind of what, what’s. Give me a couple of the top ones that are on your must hit list, uh, each season. 

Coach: Yeah, I think, you know, we look at obviously the ECNL and GA showcases and events are important for us because competitive wise, I mean, those kids get to see a competitive level on a, on a really consistent basis.

Um, you know, the Vegas showcase that’s coming up, you know, one of my staff members will be there with With his team. So we get to kind of see different pockets of that, but I think you need to be really specific, um, with your time and money. I think the funding for our recruiting, uh, shifts a bit. So state funds for us is used for in state recruiting.

So if we want to go out of state, we fundraise for those, those events. So we have to be specific whether we’re going to Arizona for ECNL, which is another big event that we’re looking at, uh, or something local like the Slammer’s ID event. That that’s coming up, uh, which is, you know, there’s a lot of. A lot of local talent that we can, we can see there and connect with.

So, yeah, I think it’s balancing our resources, but we’re looking Arizona, Vegas, uh, and, and the slammers idea band are kind of the ones up and coming on our calendar right now. 

Matt: Okay. Well, maybe I’ll see your, uh, assistant coach at Vegas. We’re taking our Florida girls, uh, this season to have a different look.

So that’ll be fun. Okay. Yeah. Um, What about ID camps? A lot of schools are doing those now as a big part of their recruiting process. Do you guys do ID camps or your staff work other ID [00:07:30] camps?

Coach: Yeah, absolutely. We do both. I think the more we can get, you know, I think we have a really great group here, uh, that more we can get in front of people and, and get them interested in what we’re doing here at Cal Poly Pomona.

I think that the better it reflects on our program. And as you know, like word of mouth is, is huge amongst the club community. And when you do a good job taking care of kids and, and really represent yourself and your program while at these events, it’s important. Um, our ID camps, I think. We have a unique challenge here in Southern California where there’s so many schools and some very big, you know, world known, you know, UCLA and USC and you look at Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach and you have all these great schools that can attract big numbers.

So we really focus on specific times of the year where we don’t have a ton of overlap. Maybe for example, we’ll have a winter ID camp. Right before anything really starts to starts to ramp up where we’re not fighting conflicts with, uh, whether it’s the high school season, you know, club events, really try to do that.

And you’re, you know, we’re limited to like 1 or 2 day camps, which for us has been great. I think it’s a great tool. We typically each year out of. You know, we usually have two ID camps and a college prep camp will, will sign probably two to four players from those camps and for us [00:09:00] getting to interact with those players and get a better understanding of what they’re looking for, get a good understanding of their characters as people and really get to know whether they’ll fit our culture here, uh, is a huge tool, huge recruiting tool for us to make sure our retention rate stays high and, uh, You know, the foundation of the four year foundation of that pyramid that keeps us solid, uh, is with players that genuinely want to be here and want to be at this school.

Um, so, you know, we have a camp coming up in June, which gives kids an opportunity within the, within the summer to kind of, that’ll be focused a lot on the 25 to 26 classes. Uh, and then we’ll have one right before everyone kind of heads back. So it’ll be early August. So it allows, you know, for us, we use it partly as a tool to bring in our 2025 commits again, to come to camp and meet the girls that are working the camp.

Uh, and, and our 2024 is to get a headstart on preseason. So we, we like to invite them in and, and then we, you know, create an environment where our. We cap our camps. So, you know, it sounds kind of counterintuitive when you’re trying to raise money, but we really want to have an experience that the kids leave feeling, seeing, feeling that they’ve had an ability to connect, whether it’s with our players or our staff members, uh, where if someone approached them after the camp and said, you know, well, you know, what’s Cal Poly all about, um, [00:10:30] that they’re able to articulate that in a genuine way, not just, yeah, there was, you know, 150 kids there.

I didn’t even get to talk to the coaches. They said hi to me once, you know, and I think that’s where we’re trying to find our niche in kind of the camp experience where I don’t want people to feel like they’re coming here. It’s just a money making event. We want to really genuinely help kids understand what it’s about to be a college athlete and in pathways they can take to, to find the best fit for them, even if it’s not our school.

Matt: No, that’s great. Well, specifically when you’re at an event or ID camp or whatever, kind of what, what makes up the hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player, whether that’s off the field aspects or on the field stuff.

Coach: Uh, I mean, we structure, obviously we start with the. Positional needs, you know, of of the program heading into that event.

Uh, we look at specific interactions. We’ve maybe had with some of those players. I do believe there’s certain clubs that prepare players, uh, a little better for the transition into college soccer based on a, what our game model looks like, and the type of players that we look for. So, you know, from a physical and technical, tactical standpoint, we’re You know, we need our conference is a very athletic, physical conference.

So just certain amount of athleticism and durability they need to have. Uh, technically we, we want to play and we want to play quickly. So we need a [00:12:00] certain type of player that is comfortable in tight spaces. Uh, and then tactically we look a lot at. How many times they get their head up what their decision making looks like in in specific moments like transition.

Um, you know, and the last thing to kind of how they interact with their, their teammates, their coaches best. We can at a showcase. I think it’s tough because we’re moving around a little bit. Um, but to be able to see what they, Or how they react in moments of, you know, whether it’s a challenging moment, like going down a goal or maybe a foul they’ve committed, you know, how they deal with their emotions, um, and body language, I think, tells us a lot about, about those moments.

And we try to watch these, these prospective athletes probably, you know, four to six times to give them the opportunity, you know, everyone has a good day and then everyone has a day they’d like to get back. So I think for us, it’s doing our due diligence to. To really get to know, you know, what the kid’s all about and, and, and seeing them against different opponents is helpful for us to see the versatility and again, how they deal with those different challenges that they, they may come up against a showcase.

Matt: No, that makes perfect sense. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school coach. I’m sure there’s some folks maybe not familiar with, with Cal Poly Pomona. So you’ve been there a few years. Uh, what, what are some of the things that you love about the school? Some awesome things about the school, maybe some stuff we wouldn’t even know by going through the website.

Coach: It’s funny [00:13:30] when I initially looked at this position, I wasn’t familiar with what a polytechnic education looks like. And and I think coming from Canada, we didn’t have a great deal of resources to understand the different types of universities. We could look at specifically as maybe a male soccer player looking just at soccer where I think this institution provides a unique experience where.

You know, you get an opportunity within your, your junior and senior years to really put the, the theory based knowledge that you’re learning in the classroom, uh, into the workplace, you know, for example, you know, we’re 1 of 2 programs here in California that offer a veterinary degree and animal science degree.

And I think, you know, we have young ladies that are in a vet clinic or a vet hospital. Uh, their junior year and by their senior year, uh, they already have a network of connections where they’ve already have a job lined up. You know, we had a young lady. It’s probably a year ago or no, it’s just this past past season.

She had an engineering job with a firm during fall. Like, she had already made that connection through her junior season. And I think. I think it’s, it gives our student athletes a unique opportunity to, uh, differentiate between someone that’s been in a four year institution and hasn’t had a lot of experience in the real world yet and still has to find that where they’ve kind of been able to marry that learn by doing approach, which I really like, and it ties well to what we do [00:15:00] as coaches.

You know, we take that theory, that game model, and we’re maybe in a classroom or a team room, and then we take it out and we apply it, and I think it aligns well with that, and for myself. Learner really enjoy that. So, I’m not sure how many people understand the differences between those type of educations.

Um, the school is 27, 000 right now as a, when I arrived here, typically a commuter type campus. There’s only about 5000 students on campus where I think. We’re closer to 10 now, which is a nice shift in the community involvement and in the student athlete experience for all sports here on campus. Um, and the university, I think, you know, kids, I think are a little surprised when they come to campus.

We’re 1 of the top 20, most beautiful campuses in California. It’s, we got the mountains as a backdrop here, and it’s, it’s green and spread out. We got horses on campus and, you know, it’s just a different feel than a typical, maybe. More urban CSU campus, where it’s just a lot of buildings. And, uh, I really, I think that’s something that stands out for for our young ladies here.

And then the conference we play. And I think the people in this area, I think, know the, the level of it. I think it’s probably 1 of, if not the best conference in division 2, as far as, um, the level of play that you’re going to see. I mean, the, even the men’s, I [00:16:30] You know, this past year, I mean, the top 10, 5 were from our conference.

So, you know, you’re looking at the level of play and it’s, it’s similar to, you know, a big West, uh, higher end mid major kind of level, uh, which is, I think, attractive to a certain type of competitive mindset that we want to have here. So, um, Yeah, I know for myself and being able to attract very, very professional and smart staff, I think really helped me build this into something that all of our alumni can can be proud of.

And it’s, uh, It hasn’t come without its challenges. I think COVID provided us with a unique challenge here of, you know, 18 months absent from from seeing our girls in person and and our girls losing a really big part of their identity and a big transition period in their life was a big challenge for all for everyone.

I think around the country. I think it was unique here based on. You know, the CSU system and how it operates compared to maybe private institutions. So, uh, we’ve been really proud of where we’ve kind of built it back up and excited about what’s coming in 24. we should, we have a really great group returning here and, uh, we’ve added some really exciting pieces this, this spring transfer window.

Matt: Nice. Well, you just a second ago, you mentioned staff. So talk to me about your staff. How many of them? What role do they play? What other kind of support staff? Maybe help out with the team from the athletic department or other [00:18:00] departments. 

Coach: Uh, yeah, from an administrative side, I think, you know, it’s a pretty well balanced approach here where we have a very.

Specific academic advisor for all athletes here within the athletic department that has been here for 20 plus years. So he’s, he’s created a really efficient framework for for the kids to be successful here. Uh, we have a full time athletic training staff and counseling staff. Here as well. So I think are the generation of kids that are kind of coming through dealing with the exposure that they have to deal with from whether it’s a social media standpoint or or anything like that.

I think it’s really helped balance. Some of those challenges. Uh, we’re fortunate to have a nutritionist that works with each team and a teeny group that continually educates the athletes on how to eat healthy. Here on campus off campus. And I think that’s really helped shape or at least balance some of the recovery challenges that I think maybe we they’ve had in the past.

Uh, and then we have a full time strength and conditioning staff that, uh, that works with our athletes. For example, this spring, they see Mike four days a week right now. So it’s nice to have someone with that expertise to be able to build up, uh, not just the strength and agility and the speed of the athletes, but.

I think a lot of confidence is built up in that that realm where the girls maybe haven’t had a lot of experience and completing certain types [00:19:30] of lifts. So we’re really excited about that. That component here helped helped our girls reach another level of potential. I think they, they might not have realized.

Um, and then my, you know, my current staff. I have, uh, the longest serving staff member is Dan Richards, and he actually worked for the previous staff. So, when I came in, I interviewed everybody that was here, and our ideas of what I wanted to do really aligned. It seemed to, you know, excite him and what he wanted to do and really helped me gain a better understanding, not just of the current Student athletes that were here, but the, the club dynamic within Southern California, that was a little bit different from where I was, was coming from there in Texas, uh, and then I’ve been fortunate to add, uh, Emily Tomlin, but she’s, uh, she’s been, uh, oh, it’s been a year.

Almost a year with us now, and she’s she’s worked in a variety of positions with the Puerto Rican national team with Long Beach State, most recently with Long Beach State with with a program that I think there’s there’s similarities and how we want to play the game and a deep understanding of the game.

And. Both of my assistants are way more educated than I am about the game. And I love that kind of intrinsic drive to consistently try to improve themselves and their ability to articulate that to our players and, and raise our program to, to [00:21:00] another level. Um, and then we were also very fortunate. We had a, uh, a program associate, Mike Davis, who has his PhD in sports psychology, um, Uh, and I think multiple master’s degree.

I can’t remember what they’re in. Uh, but he, he was able to come in and and help us build that side of our program and build, you know, a mental framework, not just from how they approach the daily discipline and habits, but, you know, the challenges they face outside outside the field. Uh, so, you know, I feel like we’ve, we’ve been fortunate to have kind of a well rounded group here that, uh, provides me with.

Varying opinions challenges me when I need to be challenged and, uh, and provide the girls with just, uh, different perspectives on, on the game in life, which I think is really important as they, they grow and, and leave this place. 

Matt: That’s awesome. Well, what about you as the head man? How would you describe, you know, kind of your coaching style and the style of play you’re looking to implement there?

Coach: Uh, I think, you know, for myself, I’m a coach. I grew up, uh, I grew up in a country where soccer wasn’t necessarily the number one sport. So I was fortunate where I, I had a Hector Marinero who played in La Liga and, and I had a head coach that gave us kind of the, [00:22:30] the understanding of how to approach different personalities, um, different skill sets.

And I think for myself, I would say I’m, I’m more of a Socratic approach to it. I want to be able to ask a lot of questions. I want to develop a deeper understanding of. Just who they are, but for them to start asking questions about, okay, well, how do we solve this and really teaching them how to make decisions?

Uh, I think I wouldn’t call myself and I I’m going to use my players, uh, feedback forms in this answer. Uh, they think I’m too nice in moments. And I think for, for myself, it’s, uh, I’ve never felt like being a. You know, not having, like, a dictator type ship, where it’s like, it’s my way or the highway. I want this situation to be collaborative, both from a staff and a player standpoint, because I think we can learn a lot from each other.

So I would say I’m more of a collaborative type coach when we’re looking at things, um, as, as far as, uh, What was the 2nd part of that question just style of play just yeah, yeah, style of play. I think for us, and the college game is comes with its different challenges. I think with the substitution, you know, rules and how quickly the game moves can create a unique challenges when as a head coach, you have.

You know, the pressure to, to win games. And I think, [00:24:00] um, when I got into this, I promised myself I wouldn’t abandon my, my principles and how I wanted to play just on, you know, looking at how many games we win. And I think there’s, there’s years where it’s been been challenging and years where it’s come together.

So yeah, we, we want to be able to play and play quickly through teams. And be able to recognize moments where, you know, we can play vertical through lines and, you know, we want players that get really excited in those transition moments. And then on the flip side of that, have a very disciplined, hardworking, connected group in, in our, our defensive structure.

And I think that’s something. You know, I’ll share this with you. Like, I think we, we scored a lot of goals last year, but we gave up more than I wanted. And I feel like our strength of our programs always been a team that’s been in the top 10, 15 programs in the country each year and goals against we kind of, we need to kind of marry those, I think a little bit better in order for us to really compete for a national championship.

Um, but I believe the group’s right there. I mean, you know, Point Loma is a fantastic program and, you know, we, uh, I think we’re, we’re close. We’re really, really close. And, and if we can really dial in things this spring, that we’ll be able to give teams like Point Loma and, you know, all the talented teams out here in Southern California in the West region, um, they’ll go for it.

And I think that’s kind of the mindset of our program [00:25:30] right now. 

Matt: Well, coach, really appreciate the time and I’m going to leave you with one last question. You know, as a, as a coach with, with many years and former player and everything, if you could boil down to just one kind of piece of information or something that you wish every parent, player, family going through the college recruiting process should know, what would that one thing be?

Coach: Be, be, be yourself. And I think, uh, a lot of people get caught up in the social media pressures that come with seeing your teammates, um, commit and, and the way that the parent structure is, can be toxic in, in moments. So I would say, you know, stay true to, to who you are and what you want to achieve as a person.

And I think, you know, for, for the kids that we speak to on these recruiting visits, um, You know, 1 of the questions, and it’s, it’s simple, but I don’t think we ask ourselves this enough is just like, well, what, what do you really want in your experience and getting people to articulate what that is can help guide them on, you know, the pathway that they need to to take, whether it’s the discipline, the habits that they daily have to make sure that they adhere to.

And then. You know, looking at the type of schools and type of programs that, uh, that fit their aspirations. Um, but I would say just just be themselves. We see too many players out there that. I think you see one version of them and then maybe you get them on a visit or in a camp and you’re like, wow, that’s, that’s [00:27:00] not the same person that, that I thought we were going to see.

So, um, yeah, that would be my advice. 

Matt: All right. Love it. Well, coach really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck here in the off season, wrapping up your recruiting. Hopefully I’ll, I’ll see your assistant coach in Vegas and, uh, wish you the best of luck next season. 

Coach: I appreciate it, Matt, and I appreciate the time.

And yeah, I’ll, uh, I’ll let Dan know, see if he can swing by and see you guys. Sounds good. All right. Take care.