Clark College Women’s Soccer – Coach Maddy Wright
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Maddy Wright from the Clark College Women’s Program in Washington state. We talk about how her work in club soccer helps her recruiting. She describes the school’s focus on community. Lastly, we discuss how their team culture is viral, in a good way. Learn more about Clark College Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Mattie Wright from the Clark penguins up in the Pacific Northwest. How are you coach? Pretty good. How’s it going? Doing well, thanks. Uh, I don’t know if we could be much farther away from each other right now, as I’m in Branson, Florida, and you’re way up in the Northwest, but, uh, I’m guessing our weather days are slightly different as well.
Coach: Thankfully.
Matt: well, I appreciate you jumping on and uh, so let’s just kind of jump right into it. You guys are a, a two year college up there. So it’s, I know it’s, it’s harder cuz you gotta reload twice as much as a four year school. So when, when is it that you’re really starting your you’re talking to players and trying to get ’em excited about your school and trying to try to bring them in.
Is, is it junior year later? What, what does that kind of look like?
Coach: A little bit later for us. Yeah. Um, typically their senior year, um, try to make it out to as many high school [00:01:00] games as possible. Um, I coach within club too. So that’s helpful as well. I’m either coaching players or coaching against players as well.
And
Matt: yeah. Okay. Well when, uh, when you’re in club or, or. Even when you’re not, you know, are you talking to other coaches, either high school coaches or club coaches to try to try to help that recruiting process as
Coach: well? You have to, right. Um, especially this upcoming year, I wanna say we have about 14. Well, the good thing about COVID was that we had players decide to come back for their third year, which is super rare, um, at the junior college level, um, they wanted to utilize that extra year with us.
So, uh, good for us this year. But then on next year we have a lot of players to, to replace in some really, really big shoes to fill also. So wanna get ahead of the game for. Yeah.
Matt: Well, where do you like to spend a, a majority of your time recruiting? Whether it is, is it high school? Is it tournaments? Uh, what kind of tournaments?
If, if, [00:02:00] if you go to those, what, where do you usually like to be seen? looking at players.
Coach: Mm-hmm yeah, a little bit of all of that. Um, I mean, I, I coach Washington timbers, so that’s literally right here in our neighborhood. We, we train at their facilities so that. That’s pretty much home for us. Right. So we’re constantly seeing players or as they’re coming into club training where they see us training also.
So it’s, it’s, uh, pretty easy get exposure in that sense. Um, we also host some, some showcases. Um, luckily for me, I’m also the college coordinator at the club too. So, um, I’m in communication with players. I’m in, um, communication with four year universities as well. So I have pretty good ties with them. So that’s good for our Clark players moving on.
And everything in between.
Matt: Okay. Uh, do you guys do any camps there at the college or do you yourself, coach, uh, other folks camps? How, how does that fit in?
Coach: Yeah, so that’s something I definitely wanna start. I mean, um, that’s definitely big at the four year level. Right. I’ve had experience in [00:03:00] that sense there.
And wanna try to bring that here to Clark as well. It hasn’t historically been done, but looking to add that probably this year, actually. OK.
Matt: Do you guys, uh, look to international, uh, recruits at all? Is that something you guys are, are big in or is it primarily, uh, regionally around the school?
Coach: So historically it’s been regionally, um, I think things will change quite a bit within probably a year or so.
Right. As I’m, as I’m trying to get my footing in terms of like the scholarship packages and everything in between, um, kind of using my previous networking. Right. Um, I, I got hired in February, so that was kind of quick turnaround for internationals, uh, that would’ve been an absolute nightmare with visas and everything in between, but definitely would love to get some internationals in the mix.
Matt: Okay. Now, one thing you know, that is usually attractive to the, to the junior college route is, is the financial part of it. Um, can you just give me an idea and I’m not holding you [00:04:00] to hard numbers here, but, uh, just gimme a rough idea of what a, an average student athlete is walking into, uh, in terms of cost and, and what does some of the scholarships.
Whether it’s athletic money, if you have it or academic money, kind of what, what, what, what’s the financial aid situation just overall look like at the school?
Coach: Yeah. So through the NWA, right. We’re able to offer out what’s called scholarships and then waivers as well. Um, so. Most we’re able to amount to with that is 65% of tuition.
Right. Um, in conjunction with that, right. Whatever they receive from financially, whether that’s PE um, we also give out foundation scholarships, right? So that is essentially just a grant that’s given to the institution. Um, you write an essay as to why that would be a valuable research to you. Majority of our players do get it and they take advantage of that.
And we’re super thankful for that. So there’s majority of our players be quite truthful, walking away with [00:05:00] paying nothing.
Matt: Wow. That’s awesome. Well, when it comes to those players, you know, besides, uh, the, the financial part of it, what, what are you looking for in a player? What, what kind of makes, uh, somebody, you know, make, makes you write their name in, in your, in your book and, and hope to follow up, you know, what kind of attributes, whether that’s on the field or off the field kind of stuff.
Are you hoping to, to have in a player at Clark?
Coach: Yeah, they, they’re a really special group. Um, honestly, and. All credit to the culture that’s been built coming in before me. And then for me, it’s just matter of enhancing that culture, but I think that’s our competitive advantage and it has been for years, right.
Um, even when we were in the south conference, our scholarship matrix, it was a little bit different right now, we’re in the west. So we’re going against, uh, Washington schools, which are all on the same level with us. As far as scholarship, we. Even, um, so as far as that, for us, it’s just a, that advantage of our culture.
And, um, it’s fine. We have culture meetings pretty frequently and they’re [00:06:00] player led. And to me, those are the things that we’re looking for, players who are looking to step in and not just be part of a soccer program. It’s, you’re part of something much bigger than yourself. Like we’re pretty, we’re pretty well connected with our alumni.
Uh, we’re intentional having alumni on our. Almost every year that I’ve, I’ve known Clark. Right. And a big part of that is remembering like these are our ties. We’re here today because of the work that was done before us. Oh,
Matt: that’s fantastic. Well, you, you talk about alumni, let’s talk a little bit more about the school itself.
So, you know, I know you you’ve just been there since February, but kind of what have you learned so far? What are the awesome things about Clark that maybe I’m not gonna find just by clicking around the website?
Coach: oh, I’d say community, right? I think that was it’s funny. It was one of my interview questions.
Right? What’s the first word that comes to your mind when you hear. And community. It is for me. I’m I constantly, I’m gonna Fred Meyer. That’s our grocery store here. I think you guys probably have something else. Yeah. Before I go to the grocery store and I see a million kids with Clark shirts on like [00:07:00] little, little kids walking around either they’ve come to our camp kids camps and, uh, in the past or whatever it may be, but everyone knows Clark and, um, The other day at our game, you could constantly see multiple different generations on the sidelines watching our games.
There’s some really, really, really, um, young kids. There’s some really, really, uh, older people. , uh, and they’re still connected as well, which is special
Matt: for. No, that’s great. Well, you know, one thing going into college it’s and playing it’s, it’s a bit, bit different for every high school kid when they, when they’re first coming in.
So what, uh, how do you help the students kind of balance, uh, the academics with the athletics, kind of what support systems does the school offer to help that as well?
Coach: So actually one of my, uh, positions in the past that, uh, another college I worked at was an academic counselor as well. So I have that background.
Um, so we’re pretty hands on with that kind of have to be, um, it’s a different, a different, [00:08:00] um, aspect, right. Of being a part of a program that they’re not maybe used to from college or clubs. So just kind of walking them through that, that you. Play without this part of it. Right. So just being able to maintain, we do great checks pretty frequently.
We have study halls as well. Um, and like I said, I think the girls are just special in it, of themselves. They hold one, another accountable. Um, it’s peer, peer, mostly. Okay,
Matt: well, what, what does a, you know, you’re in the middle of the season right now, or the early parts of it at least. So what, what, what does a typical week look like for a player?
Um, you know, in terms of what time do they get up? Uh, when are classes, meals, practice games? What does that, what does an average week look like day in the
Coach: life? Yep. Um, right now they actually haven’t started school. Oh, okay. Which is crazy. Uh, they start in about, about a week or so. So, um, they’re living the good life right now, just soccer.
Uh, so they wake up right now and during pre-season we had training a little bit earlier in the day. Right now we’re at our [00:09:00] regular training schedule, which is at three o’clock. So, um, game week looks like, so let’s say we have a game Wednesday, the game Wednesday, um, Thursday would be a recovery day. Um, Friday match preparation day, Saturday game Sunday off Monday recovery, Tuesday match prep.
Matt: Okay. And so you practice in the afternoon and classes are just kind of standard, uh, between eight and three kind of normal normal stuff.
Coach: Yeah. And a lot of our players really utilize, uh, I mean, there’s some good things that have come out of COVID but our class election, right. Um, is, is awesome. Right.
Pretty much, almost every class you could take online if you wanted to, but if you wanted to take it in person, there there’s options for that as well. So never really run into that, thankfully. Okay.
Matt: Well, let’s shift gears. Talk a little bit more about on the field, uh, stuff with the team there. So it, is there a roster size you’re trying to, that you will want to hit each year?
I know this year is a little different with third years and being your first year, but let’s just [00:10:00] look forward to next year. Uh, is there a roster size that you’re gonna try to.
Coach: So I think the magic number, and I wanna say is gonna be probably about like 25, 26. Okay. Yeah.
Matt: Ideally. Okay. And then what about your staff?
You mentioned having alumni on the staff, kind of, how, how big is your staff? What role does every play? Everybody play and, and are there other support staff in the athletic department that help the team with things?
Coach: Yeah, I have the best staff. Period. Uh, I’ve come from institutions even four years where I haven’t been given assistance.
So this is probably my first year actually having assistance. And it’s been a world change for me. Um, so one of my assistants, Kennedy, she’s that, she’s that heart, right? So the girls absolutely love her, uh, from a relational standpoint, also from an alumni standpoint, right. She’s someone who’s able to.
Talk to talk because she’s already walked there. Right. And specifically in that program said quite a bit of few records as well. So she has [00:11:00] a high level of respect from the girls. Um, and then coach Randy coach, Randy’s been around the program for, I wanna say about five years or so. Um, he’s also well connected with the club that I coach at as well.
So we’ve had, uh, prior like coaching relationships beforehand. So it was a pretty smooth transition for me actually, um, in that dynamic with the. Okay.
Matt: Awesome. Well, how would you describe, you know, earlier you talked about the culture team. So I was gonna say, how would you describe the culture of the team and then also your style of coaching and the team style of play?
Coach: Yeah. Um, If I was to ask the girls, right? What does our culture look like? How would we describe our culture? They would use the word viral. Right? So, uh, what we do, uh, beginning preseason before we even step foot in the field, because it’s pointless to step foot in the field until that stuff is established.
Right? So they typically try to, um, create values, right. That [00:12:00] spell out a. So ours, ironically has spelled that viral and I think it’s absolutely fitting. Um, so V stands for vulnerability. I intentionality R is resilience a accountability in L’s loyalty, right? So in every day, right, we’re pointing back to those values on game day, written all over their arms.
Right. But the biggest thing for us in that we kind of really hammer home almost daily is yeah. It’s, it’s cool to have a really. I’d say really, really cool word that spells out our viral, uh, our values, but at the same time, right? It’s it’s the daily living of it’s the choices we make that are surrounding from it, even when it’s difficult.
Right? So, um, they’re viral. We point out moments and we try not to lose out the moments that we can point it out. Hey, that’s a viral moment and they’re on the field. They’re off the field. It’s everywhere, but they love each other. Um, I remember, uh, the best way I could describe them is the other day I was pulling into training.
And, um, I pull [00:13:00] into training and one of them is sitting on sitting or standing. I don’t know. She’s pretty short on top of her hood, uh, blasting Justin Bieber. Like it’s a concert and they’re all with their phones, waving their hands in the air. They they’re
Matt: awesome. So that’s great. Now what about your style of coaching and the team style of play on the field?
Coach: So for me again, uh, everything comes back to them as, as people first. Right. So I spend a, a good bit of time those few months before season started getting to know them as people with individual meetings, um, and everything in between, uh, making sure that are they doing well as a person first and foremost, right?
Yes. Are they doing well as a student? Right. Checking in on their mental health. That has been big those last few months. Um, and then I. Because of that core work, we are, we are where we are right now. Right. So for me, relationships are really important. Um, and then as far as, uh, playing style, right? So I think everyone has their own ideal way to play.
But for me, [00:14:00] it’s, uh, looking at personnel and looking at conference, right? So recognizing what everyone else is in our conference is doing, um, and try to not do the same exact thing as everybody. Um, try to do something different, try to be brave and do something different and also work around the personnel that we have.
Okay.
Matt: Makes sense. Um, is there anything that you guys do in the off season? I know I’m kind of looking ahead here. Uh, cuz it’s only September, but let’s say we get through Christmas and, and it’s this the spring or non-traditional season. What do you, what do you feel that that’s gonna look like for your.
Coach: Uh, it’s gonna be massive, especially with all the returners, probably moving on to four years at that point. Um, it’ll be a relatively smaller group. And, um, I mean, I already started kind of preparing them for that right now. Right. So we don’t have captains. And the reason for that is everyone’s expected to lead.
Everyone’s expected to have a voice and share. And I, and I think without [00:15:00] have in captains, it allows others permission to do so. So our freshmen have been stepping up and communicating and, and finding their voices. So. I’m I’m excited to see what that looks like. I mean, don’t get me wrong. We’re we’re gonna miss the returners tremendously.
Right. But I, I think, uh, we’ll see a lot of more freshmen step up as well. Um, and then what it looks like for us is we also, they join, um, w PS L teams during the spring and summer and WPL teams during the spring and summer. Uh, we do a bit of weight room continue, which study hall as well. I think. Hammered home a lot.
It’s hammered hammered in the fall, but definitely in the spring as well, because you don’t have games as many games to keep you intact. Right. So that’s a focus for us academics. Um, but we do a lot team bonding. Okay.
Matt: Well, You mentioned, you know, students moving on to four year programs. And I know when it comes to players looking at potential junior colleges, that’s like a key component.
Right. So what can you just [00:16:00] gimme a little bit of, uh, I mean, I know you’re, you’re just there, but kind of what’s traditionally the, the path for a lot of players and, and how the school and, and you, as the staff help help them move on to four year programs. If that’s what they’re looking to
Coach: do. Yeah. We’ve had a player.
We had players move on every single year without fail. Um, a lot of it has to do with the culture. Right. Um, a lot of it has to do with the relationships with the coaches as well in the past. Um, for, for me, I, I’m excited to kind of start that process with our, with our sophomores right now, especially me being with, uh, as a college coordinator, right.
Having those relationships with four years, having already coached at four years as well. Um, For us, it’s it’s, you know, those using those recruiting websites, we have huddle as well. So using our highlights that are already created there and sending those out. But, um, as far as typically where they fall, right?
Usually N a I a D two level, um, with a few exceptions we’ve had in the past with a few D ones as well. Um, [00:17:00] that’s typically more or less where they fall. Um, a lot of them, I’m trying to think of the ones this year, a lot of them this year, Like to stay on the west coast though.
Matt: Yeah. Well,
Coach: that makes sense. I would too.
Matt: well, I prefer the west coast as well, but the west coast of Florida. Um but anyway, uh, well, coach we’ve, you know, we’ve talked about a bunch of things, covered a lot of ground and I always end these the same way and that’s what didn’t we cover? Uh, what is it that you want to talk about? Whether it’s recruiting the school soccer or anything else you want to talk about?
I, I give you the, the cart blanche to. To answer or say anything you’d like,
Coach: no, they’re all I could say honestly, is they’re really special group. And, and I think those who get to be around them, uh, get to experience that. I, um, I mean, when I was coaching at the four year level, I would come around to their games.
This is before I was coaching here. Um, and I’m watching their sideline, right? And to me that told me everything. [00:18:00] And I was an outsider to me, the way that their, their bench operates, the way that they’re. So for one another, and they celebrate each other’s successes and, and downfalls for me that said everything I need to know about them.
Um, even as an outsider. So I, I think others who are around them feel that. And I think those who get closer to our program, experience that as well. And those are things that are, that are I.
Matt: Awesome. Well, coach, we wish you the best of the luck, the rest of this season. Uh, and hopefully you can bring home that conference championship.
And, uh, we’ll if you get out to the, to the opposite end of, of the United States, uh, here in Bradenton, give us a shout. All right. A hundred percent. All right. Thanks coach. See you. See you.
