DePauw University Women’s Soccer – Coach Cristin Allen
In today’s episode, I speak with Coach Cristin from the DePauw Women’s Program in Indiana. We talk about how they recruit regionally, but camps are important. Coach also shares about amazing academics and social life, not just athletics. Plus, we discuss how she likes to give players a chance early in the season to show what they have. Learn more about DePauw University Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today I am lucky enough to be joined by Coach Allen over at DePaul University in Indiana. Welcome, coach.
Coach: Appreciate you having me. Glad to be here.
Matt: Yeah, glad to have you on. Um. You know, it’s, uh, I, I don’t know what the weather’s like in, in Indiana. It’s actually a cold snap here in Florida for us, which means, uh, there was a little bit of frost on the grass this morning, which we don’t like to see, uh, here, that’s for sure.
But,
Coach: uh, I would, I would take that over 20 to 20 some degrees right now, windy and practice in the afternoon, so.
Matt: Okay. All right. Well, I mean, we are talking here end of February as, as a D three Women’s Program. What does that mean in terms of where you are in your recruiting? Is the 26 class locked and loaded?
Are you still got a few more? How far along? You one at 20 sevens, kind of what, where are you this time of year usually?
Coach: Yeah, so it’s pretty normal for us to be, I would say 99% done with our 2026 class. We are not actively going out [00:01:00] and watching 2020 sixes, but we’ve got an ID camp coming up and we’ve got a few who’ve been interested that we’ve kind of said, Hey, we’ll see you play.
And make one last kind of decision. Um, and then in terms of 2027, so we really start recruiting those in November, kind of after our season’s over. So we’re in that initial stage of just gathering and watching and evaluating, getting players on campus, talking to them. So I would say more with the beginning stages of the 2027 class.
But, um, you know, it, it, it runs like a freight train, right? So, oh, we’ve got on campus and we’re getting more and more, and they’ll just kind of follow through there.
Matt: So, so does that mean like really you’re, you’re, you know, pedal to the floor between November and maybe March each year to really lock in each class?
Coach: Well, I mean, I would say not as much like to lock in like 2020 sevens. We, we, we spend most of our time just the actually evaluating watching from November until probably that mid. [00:02:00] mid-May to a little bit June into like regionals and all that. Um, we’ll start off. Oh, so you
Matt: were talking last November. Okay.
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Okay. Got No, you’re
Coach: good.
Matt: That’s why I was like, wow, you’re doing it four months. Good for you. I wish. Right. Alright. No, that makes sense. Okay. Well, in terms of going out and, and evaluating and all that stuff, is there, what, what are. I mean, you guys are right down the street from one of the best soccer parks in the country.
So I’m guessing you don’t have to go too far, uh, when you, when you’re going out tournament, but where do you like to go? What are, what are kind of the must hit events in you go to each year?
Coach: Yeah, I mean, for us, uh, you know, I’d say 75% of our recruiting is done in around Indiana. We’ve got, as you know, grand Park in our backyard.
And so we, we hit a lot of events there. We watch a lot of the, um, the ECNL teams, the regional league teams, the GA’s that even come in from out of town. So we’ll really try to coordinate so we don’t have to go out of town much, but, um, outside events. Um, so for example, we’re going to an FC United event this week and we’ll go to Louisville.[00:03:00]
We went to Florida for the ECNL events this past January. So we will branch out, we’ll go to St. Louis, we’ll go to Blue Chip in, um, Cincinnati later on the year. So we, we we’re regionally based, um, but we do again, try to do a lot of our recruiting kind of in our backyard.
Matt: Oh, make, makes sense. What, uh, what about ID camps, are they important to you guys?
Do you host your own? Do you work, uh, external ones? Uh, how, how do they fit in?
Coach: Yeah, I mean, you know, ID camps are huge for us. Um, primarily ours. Uh, I have worked others in the past, not as much, but I think Id camps sometimes get a bad rap of like, they’re, well, they’re just big money maker and no one watches them.
Maybe at the higher levels, no offense, but you know, those D one programs that are getting a lot of recruits in. Fair enough. But for us, you know, what we tell recruits that come in is like ID camps, every one of our players in our current roster, besides I think two, have been to one of our ID camps. And so for us, you know, we can go out and watch a player play for a half.
And we can get a sense of who they [00:04:00] are, we can get that, you know, I, I, I likened it to like a first date. Like, I can see if I like you or not, but I really wanna see if I really like you. So for us, bringing players into ID camps, you know, whether it’s 20 degrees outside or a hundred degrees outside, we get to see players when they’re out of their element.
They’re not comfortable. Um, we get to see them after they’re tired. And so it’s, it’s a little bit of like breaking them down a little bit and seeing how they react is. Because they can look great for 45 minutes, but we wanna see how they look after an hour or two hours. And then for us to be able to coach them and see how they interact with some of our players and how they take our coaching.
But on the flip side, they get to meet our players. They get to see our campus, they get to see, you know, the, the, the kids these days say the vibe. Like what’s the vibe? Like, they get to see and feel what that’s like. So it really is a, a good perspective into our program and how we do things. And I, and I think that’s so imperative.
I really do. So for us, um, we host 90 camp in the spring, and then we do an overnight one in the summer. [00:05:00] Um, our summer ones probably our bigger one. Um, bigger numbers and bigger and we get more players there just because it’s a little bit easier schedule-wise and these players are playing nonstop. Um, so summer’s just a little bit easier for them to get to.
Matt: Yeah. For absolutely. Well, whether it’s ID camp or at one of these events, kinda what makes up that hierarchy? Things you’re looking for in a player both on and off the field.
Coach: I mean, uh, the, the thing I tell players right away is if I walk up to the field and I’m looking for a spark, and I know that seems so general, but you know, as an attacking player, as a midfielder, I wanna see what you’re doing.
And, and, and again, I, I, I compare it to dating, like is there something that stands out? About you on the field defender, are you winning balls outta the air? You know, I, I get the question all the time. I’m like, what are you looking for in a defender? Can you stop the opposing team? Right? Like, don’t send me a video of you making 10 yard passes all the time.
I wanna see that you can stop players. I wanna see you can win a ball of the air, you can organize. So it’s, it’s really that spark and then we can continue to watch. And then for us, it’s that next step of like, [00:06:00] now I’m watching your work rate. Now I’m watching how you interact with your teammates and your coaches.
Now, I’m, I’m watching, what do you do when things don’t go your way? When you lose the ball? Like my pet peeve for an attacking player, you can run a hundred miles an hour up the field, but then you lose the ball and you can’t track back at that same pace. So we’re looking for those reaction points. We’re looking for when a player tells you to do something on the field that you don’t really like, are, you know, are you like hands up in the air or are you just, are you taking that feedback because you know, we believe that whatever you are kind of right now in terms of personality, you’re not really gonna change much in two years.
So we gotta say, do I wanna coach that? Right. And, and we’d rather have a player who gets up and down the field who’s. Attitude’s. Great. Um, who wants to be coach? Those are our values. So we really look to our value system, like we can help make that player better. But if you’ve got the egotistical, Hey, I just wanna score goals and do things my own way, no thanks.
I mean, that, that takes the big red sharpie and says. No, I mean, they’re, you know, I, I, [00:07:00] we, we joke that we can’t undo what you’ve been so ingrained for 16 years. Like, that’s so set. I don’t wanna take the next four years trying to undo it and hope it works out. That’s just not who, who we want in our program.
And, and honestly, it makes it miserable for all your teammates. Like, nobody wants to be around that. So, you know, it’s, it’s, I, I know you didn’t quite ask this yet, but like, of course we want to win games, duh. Like of course. Who doesn’t? You’re, you’re. You’re lying if you say you don’t wanna win games. But it really is about who are you bringing with you to win those games and how are you doing things?
And when you roll up to practice, do you look out there and say, God, I’m so glad to be coaching those players. Like I wanna be with the people from, for myself, and I want a team that has those same values in place.
Matt: No, it’s a fantastic answer. Love it. Absolutely. Um. Last question really on the recruiting side of things.
You know, transfer for portal is just blowing up these days. You’ve got [00:08:00] international students, you’ve got, uh, junior college, you know what I, those three that I would call the non-traditional, you know, recruiting methods. Uh, did they come into play for you guys at all? Or, or, or is it primarily just the trans, you know, traditional high school seniors?
Coach: Most of the traditional, we, we occasionally get someone who is a transfer who’s interested. Um, but we don’t actively pursue any of those, if I’m being honest. Um, but we have had some transfers come in, but there’s, there’s usually been some sort of connection initially like. They’re looking at us, went, D one decided this wasn’t for them, or they didn’t come here initially.
And just like, but they’ve always, DePaul’s always kind of been on their radar or around them and it’s like, you know what? I, I should have made that decision. Um, so we’ll, we’ll get, you know, one or so every couple years. Um, but again, we don’t, we don’t really actively go out and, and get them.
Matt: Okay. Well, and then last question, just ’cause I have to add on this, sorry.
But it, it just. Because it happened [00:09:00] to me when I was coaching in college. So how many emails a week do you get of people who think they’re emailing a division one school farther north than you are that ends in an L and not a W?
Coach: Um, I would like to say a couple month at least. Yeah, and I’m like, we’re the, I, I, I met the DePaul, uh, softball coach a couple, a couple months ago, and the way I said I describe, I said, we’re the DePaul at the W for winners.
You’re the L for losers. Oh, wow. She thought that w we were joking, but yeah. Yeah. Um, but yeah, and, and a lot of times I’m talking to players and, you know, but the regional kids know, but it, it really is those ones who are from well outside the Midwest, and I get the L in there. I’m like, you have no idea. I do reply back to ’em and just say, Hey.
We’re not them.
Matt: Yeah.
Coach: Wrong school.
Matt: Well, when I, when I was coaching college, I was in Indiana at Oak City and I would get emails from, for Oakland up in Michigan, you know, nonstop. So, I, I hear you. All right. Well let, [00:10:00] let’s talk a little bit more about the school. ’cause obviously some people may confuse it with.
DePaul instead of Depaw. So you’ve been there for, for a good bit now. Kinda what, what is it that that keeps you there? What do you think is awesome? Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know about going through the website?
Coach: Yeah, I think so we’re, we’re a small school situated just west of Indianapolis. It’s, you know, it’s kind of in one of those middle of nowhere’s towns at, even before I got there I was like, where is this place?
And what is it? But, um, I, I think there’s three facets of DePaul that are really great and I think you can be great academically. Phenomenal academic institution. Um, athletics across the board are great. Um, and I think the social environment is, is, is awesome. It, it’s, it’s, it’s a very close knit. Community.
Um, it’s not a commuter campus where everybody leaves on the weekend. Um, and I say social in that you can be a part of a million different clubs. And I think those, those three kind of buckets, you can be a little bit of everything. And I’d say the, the two best things about DePaul from a recruiting [00:11:00] perspective is one, the DePaul network, although it’s not the D one DePaul, the DePaul network, the internships, um, just the name is really well known and there’s so many connections for that next phase of life.
Um, and then two, our study abroad program is, is, is awesome. Uh, I believe we’re the number four study abroad program in the nation. Um, every single player that’s gone through a program up until they’re, they finish office, seniors will go to study abroad, trip, not, not through us, but through the school. Um, a lot of ’em go during the winter term in January.
Uh, we had a couple just, um, come back from Amsterdam and did a soccer trip there, but, uh, we’re very well known for that. But, um, I think overall it’s just the ability that you can, you can be great in all those areas and you can have, you know, that the true student athlete experience and not just be an athletic school, not just be this, oh, it’s a great academic institution, but there’s poor athletics.
It really does have just a good blend of everything, to be honest with you. [00:12:00]
Matt: That’s awesome. Well, one of the hard parts for, uh, you know, a student coming in to college and, and really needing to balance the demands of being a college athlete and, and high academics. Right. So, yeah. What kind of support systems does DePauw have to help students be successful both on and off the field, uh, in those.
In endeavors.
Coach: Yeah, I mean, I, I, I, I’ll say this, I joke and tell, tell recruits it’s harder to try to fail here than to succeed because there are so many, um, programs in place to help. So, on the field, obviously we’ve got a great, uh, strength conditioning program. We’ve got great athletic trainers. Um, the community of support just from not our coaches, but.
Other coaches of other sports that just care about what’s going on. I mean, we’re all, we’re all, we’re not siloed. We’re all together in the same community. So, um, and I always tell our players, your, your, your first line of offense are gonna be your teammates. Those are the ones helping you out academically.
You know, on the buses. In the hotels. [00:13:00] Hey, I took this professor, Hey, do this. That’s your first line of support. And so for us being a fall sport, coming in with that immediate help is wonderful. And in terms of the school, I mean there, there’s so many we have, um. Peer tutors. We have writing centers, we have stem centers.
We’ve had, uh, centers that help you write your resumes and get internships. We have the professors, were a one to 10 student professor ratio. Your professors get to know you as people, not just numbers. So really the, the amount of support that DePaul has, I mean, their student accessibility services, if you have.
Specific needs as a student. Um, but you’re not gonna fall through the cracks. You know? It’s, it’s a small environment. It’s, it’s, you know, I know it sounds cliche, but it’s people that really care about you and want you to do well and, and are willing to, to take that next step to help you out, whatever that may be.
Matt: Okay, well, let’s rewind and, and take it back to the heart of October. The, the heart, I mean the heart of that [00:14:00] conference season. I mean, the nacs tough.
Coach: Yeah.
Matt: Walk me through, what does a typical week look like, uh, when classes, meals, games, practice times, all that stuff.
Coach: Yeah. So, you know, I tell players it looks a little bit like a high school schedule and that we have an 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM time block of classes.
We don’t practice during that time. Uh, we may meet as a small group or do some film sessions, or they may do a lifting session, but we don’t practice. So, um, typically we’re practicing four days a week, usually at four 15 after classes are over. Sometimes if so, we share our two turf fields with men’s soccer and field hockey.
So sometimes we’re gonna later time. Um, typically it’s, it’s a midweek game, a Tuesday, Wednesday game, and then a Saturday game. Usually our, our Saturday games, we travel Friday, stay Friday night, um, for conference. And again, it’s, it is pretty routine once we get into the heart of it, like you said, um, you know, practices, you know, players ask how long are practices, you know, they can range.
If we’re not playing a midweek game, Mondays and Tuesdays might be a bit longer. [00:15:00] Um, you know, the day before a game is gonna be more of a, a 75 minute session, maybe some film in there. So it really just depends on, again, how we are as a team, how our legs are, what’s kind of coming up next. But, you know, once we get into that routine, we know a two days out, it’s a harder practice.
A one day out, it’s typically a lighter walkthrough type session.
Matt: Okay, well let’s talk more about the team. I mean, is there, is there a roster size that, that you’re trying to hit each year that you find is ideal?
Coach: Yeah, I mean, I ideally a 30 to 32 is my ideal size. We, we’ve been right around that, um, 29 30 every year.
We we’re probably a little bit bigger next year ’cause we, we have a, a big graduating class this year, so we, we brought in a lot to make sure we, we match that. But, um. You, you know, I, I think that’s pretty standard for most college teams. And, and I, I tell players the two biggest reasons are one, um, one, and, and generally speaking, the college game is so much more physical and it’s, you know, if the D three level, we play, you know, 18 to 20 games in a matter of two [00:16:00] months, and it’s a lot.
So with the subbing rules, right, like we can’t have players playing 90 minutes. You know, back to back maybe a Saturday, Sunday game, and by the time we get to October, they’re dead. Um, so we do, we do sub a lot and obviously our players are getting hurt. So on any point in time you could have five to eight players out, whether it’s, you know, a, a small injury, like a, you know, a little tweaked ankle, a hamstring, whatever it may be.
And you have others who unfortunately are out for the season. So having a large roster makes you competitive. Um, and then two, for us, we, we do sub quite a bit, um, especially early on, so. Our kinda mentality is we give chances to players early, we wanna see what players can do. So having 30 for us, one makes competitive during practices and training sessions, we can play full sided a lot.
Um, and then two, we wanna see what our players can do early on the season and stressful situations, right? Like our, our, I’m sure like most teams are, are our roster, our playing time is not set. Um, [00:17:00] who starts is not gonna be set until probably closer to conference time. And again, that changes, right? So. We wanna make sure that we, we give our players ample opportunity and know that whether you play five minutes or you play 90 minutes, like those five minutes could be the most important minutes.
Minutes of the game, and you’re in there and you just never know. Right? Like, and we, I talk a lot about the first half, um. The players that start may be a little less important that the players that finish the first half when everybody’s tired, and we all know the stats of most goals happen at the end of each half.
So we really stress to our players like, look, it doesn’t matter if you start, but if you’re playing those last five minutes, especially. Like, we’re not just throwing bones at you and saying, Hey, here’s your five minutes. Like we, we, we see that as a really important time and we really try to make sure our players understand that so they don’t feel like, oh, I’m just a sub.
Like that’s something that we really talk about. Make the most of your minutes right. Not just count the minutes. Okay.
Matt: Well. [00:18:00] Besides the players on the roster, there’s other staff. So talk to me about the rest of, of your staff and maybe other people in the athletic department that help out with the team and what everybody’s
Coach: role.
Yeah, so, so currently had two, two assistant coaches this year. Um, one was my primary first assistant and she’s there for everything. She’s there during, during the day, does a video and film. Um, and then we had a volunteer who came to practices as much as he could. So, uh, we, we stick with two or three for the most part, um, and know we, we don’t.
We don’t divvy the responsibilities up in that, like we’re, we’re sectioned off. We do everything together, but obviously different times of the year, like I may take the forwards and attacking players and do a session and she may take defense or vice versa. We might kinda split things up. So, um, you know, I, I believe the players need to hear.
Different voices pretty consistently. Um, obviously we all need to be on the same page as what you’re, what we’re teaching and what we’re telling them. But, um, you know, as well as I do sometimes hearing it the same thing from a different voice is like, oh, I got it now. And you’re like, [00:19:00] I’m trying to tell you that all year.
Come on. But it, it’s, it’s, it’s a good mix. And, you know, for me, making sure the staff that’s around me, it’s, it mimics who I want in players, right? I want good people. Um, they’re there to, to serve and to, to do well. And you know, again, cliche as it is, they’re a big team and they’re not looking out for just themselves.
They’re looking out for what, what can we do to help a team?
Matt: Okay. Well, what about you? Talk to us about your coaching style and, and style of play. You look to play there.
Coach: Yeah. I mean, in a perfect world, if I have a team full of EPL players, we’re playing a 4, 2, 3, 1 possession style or, you know, but we don’t, right?
So, um, I tell players and parents, my style is I’m a strength-based coach, so whatever the team brings in and what we are good at is how we’ll play. So we don’t necessarily have a. Set system of play, I feel for us that’s fitting square pegs in round holes. So, um, I’ll give you an example. We started out last year in a 4, 4, 2 at the Diamond.
Didn’t [00:20:00] work, moved to a 4, 3, 3. We’re like, all right, we need a four back. But that’s the two front. So we just morphed into kind of our own system. So for me as a coach, I really wanna see what players can do. And you might see that early in the year. It’s pretty ugly because I want players to figure things out.
I want players looking at each other on the field, not looking necessarily at me. On the bench and saying, what do we do here? Um, I, I very much am a, a coach that wants feedback from players. I, I think hearing it from their perspective is so important because, again, I, I’m not a mind reader, so sometimes the issues they’re having, if they don’t tell me what they are and how to fix them, then, you know, I could be on a totally different page than they’re on.
So making sure that, um, you know, they’re adults, they’re 18 years old, so. I tell them my goal is to always treat you like an adult and we’re gonna be interactive in this, but at the end of the day, I know my job is to make that final decision. Um, but I want, I want, and I need the players to feel like they have an active [00:21:00] component in this, and they’re not just.
Hearing my voice and they’re not troops out there that I’m, I’m commanding. Um, my, my job is I kind of give the visual of like, I’m, I’m the lanes on the bowling alley. I put the bumpers up to make sure you kind of stay in your lane, make sure we, we do what we’re gonna do. But like, you’re the one rolling the ball.
You’re the one putting the ball down and trying to knock the pins down, like. I’m this, I’m just there to make sure things kinda stay in line, so to speak. Um, and you know, in a perfect world, you know, uh, again, going back to our values, like we’re not gonna lose a game ’cause of our work ethic. We might be out outbeat, we might be outsmarted some games, fine, we will figure things out.
But, um, what you’re not gonna see is us being lazy, not working hard. You’re not gonna see us pointing fingers at each other. You’re not gonna see us arguing on the field. Um, there’s certain foundational things that, um. I want our team to just make sure that we illuminate when, when players and parents watch us, they should see a consistent theme from us.
[00:22:00] Win or lose. We should always be putting the same project on the field. And so my job is to manage that and make sure that that product’s there. And again, we all know that outcome is not always in our control. Um, but being consistent in how we. How we do things is what’s most important to me as a coach.
Matt: All right. Well, coach, I really appreciate all the insight and I’m gonna leave you with one last question, and that is, if you had one piece of advice for anybody going through this college recruiting process right now, what would that be?
Coach: I would say the biggest mistake, so my biggest piece of advice. Is go to all the schools and get all the information that you possibly can. Even if you think you don’t like that school visit. So many schools talk to so many coaches, do so many things to that you get to a point that you’re tired of doing them and you’re like, enough.
I know my top three, but the biggest mistake I see [00:23:00] players making is like, these are my three dream schools. I’m gonna look here and this is what I want. And then they get there and they’re like, oh crap. And they commit and it’s like, oh my gosh, I like this school. Maybe I should have looked there. Y you should collect so much data.
Visit so many schools to where you, I, I tell players like, you’ll have this big bowl of soup and now you’re just trying to funnel everything down to what you really want. And you can’t do that until you go visit. You can’t do that until, so go visit the dream school. Go visit the schools that you think you’re on par with, and then go visit your backup schools.
Where if the earth falls through and you’re like, I know I can play and go to school there. Go to everything. ’cause you’ll feel more at ease once you’ve done that whole process and you’re like, now you’ll feel good about making your final decision.
Matt: Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been to so many colleges, uh, people are like, how do you, how do you know?
He’s like, Hey, I had a daughter went through it. I’ve been to so many, I can’t even count. Yeah. Anyway, uh, coach, really [00:24:00] appreciate it. Thank you for the time. Wish you the best of luck here in your spring. And, uh, if you get, if you get down any of the events you know here in Bradenton, make sure you gimme a shout out.
All right.
Coach: Will do. Will do. Appreciate Matt.
Matt: Thank you.
Coach: All right.
