Eastern Mennonite University Men’s Soccer – Coach Justin Carey

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Justin from Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Welcome coach. 

Coach: Thank you. Thank you for having me, man. 

Matt: Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for being here. Uh, I know things, things in Harrisonburg have been lively with, uh, you and I were talking about game day, just being there, but you, you had recruiting to do, you know, big tournament time.

It is recruiting season. Um, so let’s talk, let’s start with recruiting. You know, you’ve wrapped up your season, so you’re hot and heavy on the tournament trail and things like that. What, what is, I guess, your normal kind of calendar? I’m guessing you’re, you’re. finalizing the class of 24s right now. Like, when do you hope to wrap that up?

Are you looking at 25s? Kind of what’s your timeline?

Coach: Yeah, it’s, um, it’s a good question to start with. Um, yeah, like you mentioned two weeks ago, there was a big recruiting, um, weekend, if you will, um, at NCFC Castle, or there’s a number of names for it, I think, but yeah, the NCFC Showcase, Bethesda Showcase, there’s Nice, you know.

Regionally showcase all the same weekend, mid November. I think the FC Delco showcase, if I’m not mistaken, was the same weekend as well. Um, so, yeah, in terms of the normal calendar, uh, I mean, to an extent, our calendar is, is based on when the events, um, are scheduled. So, um. Obviously, yeah, that was a big weekend for us.

I know there is an ECNL event coming up in Greer. Um, [00:01:30] this upcoming weekend, there’s a smaller PA Classic Showcase. Um, and then I think from there, it, um, kind of picks back up again after the holiday season. January, February, there’s a bunch of Florida events, uh, which a lot of coaches will go to. Um, so yeah, our calendar is a little bit dictated on.

When and where the showcases are, every coach deals with a different budget when it comes to recruiting and what they’re, um, how those resources are allocated towards their specific program. So yeah, that dictates a bit of what we will go to. Um, Yeah, every coach, um, kind of asked the, uh, return on investment, um, question.

If, if I go to this tournament, it’s this far away, it costs me this much. What’s my return on investment? Am I going to find players there that fit our mold here at EMU? Um, so yeah, those are all the things that go into it. But yeah, we’ll, we’ll be recruiting again this weekend. And then, you know, some of those Florida ones and, uh, other more local tournaments that come up in the new year.

Well, we’ll be at those as well. Okay, well, and then, sorry, I think you said something about 24s maybe? 

Matt: Yeah, just what that timeline is. Are you just doing 24s, 25s? What’s that look like? 

Coach: To be honest, to be completely candid, we’re mainly focusing on 24s right now. The 25s that we will give A bit more attention to are I think ones that reach out that maybe have some sort of a connection to our school that we feel like we can develop [00:03:00] a strong relationship with and have a good chance at recruiting next year, but there is a lot of development.

Those juniors go through. So it is hard for us to project and look forward. Um, in that sense, I think my first year at EMU, our last commitment for a class was You know, almost the 1st of August, we started preseason August 19th timeframe. So, you know, traditionally we, we focus one year at a time, which is 24 right now, we have two commitments, um, as of right now, verbal commitments.

Um, but yeah, with, with the new FAFSA change, there’s, I’m sure a lot of players going to be deciding where their future lies after the turn of the new year. Um, and that’s a timeframe that we typically work with. I would say the majority of our commitments will come. February, March, maybe even April. We’re a bit later in that sense, and that’s okay with us.

Matt: That makes a lot of sense. Well, you mentioned a lot of different tournaments, places you go. What about camps? Do you guys do ID camps? Do you or your staff work ID camps? What’s that look like?

Coach: Yeah. So that’s something that, um, I haven’t started since I’ve been back at EMU. I think, um, It’s just a personal choice.

I think with some coaches I’ve, for one reason or another, haven’t done them yet. Um, there’s a few things with our facility and upgrades to our field that have given me a bit of pause. Um, because I don’t want to schedule a camp, have our turf field go under renovation, and then [00:04:30] have to move it offsite. Um, I like to, I like to get off campus.

I like to go, uh, to different camps. It allows me to network, see my family. Sometimes be able to mix that with seeing my friends at times. So I don’t mind going to other camps. It’s same thing. You get to work with the players. You get to do a training session and watch and observe and Things like that. So, yeah, we don’t have any camps right now currently that we are going to host, but, um, I’ve, personally, since I’ve been here, I think our, like I just said, our biggest return on investment has been going to camps, whether that’s a future 500 camp, whether that’s going to, um, another school that is bringing extra coaches in, um, yeah, camps are, camps are a big resource for us, uh, here at EMU in the recruiting process.

So that’s one that we, that’s a route we, we like to go. 

Matt: Okay. Well, whether it’s camps or any of these tournaments that you’re attending, kind of, what are you looking for? What makes up that hierarchy of, of a player that you want to offer both on the field and off that field attributes? 

Coach: Yeah, that’s a, that’s a great question.

I was actually sitting on, was at an ID camp the other week. I was sitting on a recruiting panel, a similar question was asked, what are you looking for in players? Um, and yeah, there was a few other coaches next to me and, you know, a lot of the answers, uh, revolved around coachability, um, they revolved around, um, maturity, work ethic, [00:06:00] um, Yeah, um, things like that, which are all like humanistic aspects, right?

They’re all human centered. Um, we talked for about, that specific question the coaches talked for, yeah, about 10 to 15 minutes on kind of every human quality that they’re looking for that didn’t revolve a soccer ball. So I think that’s really important for recruits to know because Your college coach is going to spend a ton of time with you.

So they do want someone that’s coachable. They want someone that has a strong work ethic. Uh, they want someone who’s a good teammate with a positive influence on the people around them, um, eager to learn and things like that. And that just has nothing to do with your ability. Um, and it makes for, it makes our job easier when you have an environment filled with those types of guys.

And then last night I was on another panel and the same question was asked, coach next to me said, talent, obviously. I want, I want the best talented players and I’m willing to put up with, um, certain things and try and, and try and help you. Um, so to answer your question, it’s somewhere in the middle, right?

The human aspect for me is probably the most important. That’s something that we pride ourselves off of. Yeah, we want good people and good players. So that kind of genius at the end of trying not to sacrifice one or the other. want coachable guys, want good teammates, want good people, first and foremost, how you present yourself, how you act around your family, how the way you respect your coaches, your club coaches, your high school coaches, all important things.

Um, but yeah, I think it’s a game of soccer. So you have to be [00:07:30] technical. I think that the jump from club or high school to college and Just basic things like your first touch, your ball striking, um, things like that are, that are important, your understanding of the game. Um, but naturally when coaches watch you, whether it’s an ID camp or, um, a showcase, there’s going to be something that sets you apart.

I was watching a player the other week and he’s a central midfielder. I didn’t think he was supremely athletic, but the amount of times he scanned, he looked over his shoulders. He kind of knew what was around him. Struck me. And so that’s someone I’m going to reach out to because those are things you can work with.

That’s something that set him apart from anyone else on the field. I think it’s important for players to kind of know where their strengths lie. If it’s athletically, that’s okay. Um, if that’s technically, then you’ve just got to be really good and make up for your potential lack of, uh, athleticism with, with that.

So yeah, focusing on what, what, what they’re really strong at is important and something that sets them apart. 

Matt: Well, is there a roster size that you feel is ideal that you’re trying to be at each year? 

Coach: Yeah. So for us, I think right now with myself and one other assistant on staff, we somewhere around 28, I think is a manageable number for us.

Um, we try to be very cognizant of the practice environment that we can create. Um, we want players to feel like there is a. pathway [00:09:00] for them to get onto the field. Um, and I think it’s pretty easy for players to feel left out. If there’s 30 plus, you try and play an 11 v 11 scrimmage during practice and there’s a full third team, you know, sitting out waiting to waiting to play.

The experience that we, um, provide our players once they decide to come here is, yeah, that that experience is or have them having a good experience is my biggest goal as a coach. Um, so I don’t want them to feel left out. I don’t want them to not feel cared for or not feel important. Uh, so 28 is a good number.

I think we were at 26 this year and maybe at times I felt like we were a bit thin, you know, one or two injuries don’t go your way and then all of a sudden you’re, you’re, you’re looking a bit thin. If you have three to four goalkeepers as well. Um, so yeah, I think, I think 28 is a, is kind of a sweet spot.

Um, but each year it fluctuates, give or take one or two players. Um, but with two coaches on staff, um, I think we feel pretty strongly around 28, 26, 28. 

Matt: Okay. All right. Well, in terms of, of the school, this is kind of a hybrid question on recruiting in the school. We can use it to kind of transition into talking about the school.

Um, you know, I think folks see. Eastern Mennonite university in the name and, and, and they’re wondering, okay, does that limit what types of people you’re recruiting or what does that mean in terms of [00:10:30] what is the school like? So maybe kind of bridge that gap for me and talk about it in terms of recruitment, but also maybe start talking about, uh, what does that, how does that define the school?

Coach: Yeah. So I think, um, Our program, uh, specifically men’s soccer and then the school, I think we’ve tried to align it. Um, so there’s, there’s synergy, so I think if you ask most people on campus, yeah, um, so Mennonite is, um, a certain, a specific denomination of Christianity. Um, so it’s not any different than someone going to Catholic university.

You’re, you know, that’s a denomination of Christianity. There’s a faith based aspect to, uh, Catholic. I’m not familiar if there’s like a statement of faith that you have to write to go to Catholic and there might be non Catholics there, but it’d be similar at EMU. I think less than 30 percent of the student population here now at EMU would say they grew up in a Mennonite household or they go to a Mennonite church or they are Mennonite.

Um, there’s actually plenty of different religions that are here. Um, on campus, um, the school will tell you whatever your, um, journey is with your faith when you get here, that’s great. They’re willing to work with you to help you explore that. Um, if you choose to pursue that. Deeply, there are plenty of opportunities for you to do that.

If you just kind of want to scratch the surface and learn a few different things and kind of go on a self discovery, um, [00:12:00] phase while you’re here, that’s perfectly fine too. Um, and then beyond that, if that’s not what you’re interested in, you’re coming just for athletics. That’s fine too. And there’s a place for you here, uh, to do that.

And different resources to help you kind of walk in that journey. I think for us as a men’s soccer program, myself and our assistant coach, um, We are eager and, and, and wanting to help, um, players in our program that want to pursue their faith at a different level, but it’s not forced upon anyone. Um, it’s not required in any sense.

There’s a part of that program that we have, um, maybe some of our core values and our culture is centered around that. But I think if you ask players on our team that are not currently pursuing their faith, I don’t. I’d hope anyways that they say they’re not feeling, um, forced or cornered into anything that they’re not comfortable with.

So yeah, it’s, it’s kind of a, it’s a unique environment for sure. You see the name and I, I certainly understand. Um, That there’s pause there. Um, but yeah, it’s an opportunity for players to come here, um, to be a part of just a strong culture of family, like feel, uh, within the program, within the school. It’s very much a tight knit community.

Um, and yeah, yeah, to your question, if you want to pursue your faith here, you can, if you don’t. No problem. Um, we’ll include you just to say. Love it. 

Matt: And yes, as someone who went to Catholic University of America, I can, uh, I can completely understand that. So, [00:13:30] um, well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school though and campus and all that.

So you’ve been there now, uh, a couple of seasons, right? And, uh, and so what have you found is, you know, some, some really cool things about the school, about campus. Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know just by going through the website.

Coach: Yeah, I think, um, kind of just like I touched on, it is, um, certainly a tight knit community.

So one of, I mean, if you really dive into it, one of the biggest core values, if you will, of kind of being a Mennonite is that community. So there are so many different things to get involved here on campus that, um, I think our players enjoy and different student athletes here and just students in general enjoy about EMU.

Um, everyone’s kind of invested in your journey here. And so there are a lot of resources to help you succeed. Um. Excuse me, one thing I always tell recruits, um, I think maybe specifically about Harrisonburg is that, I mean, yeah, we’re, we’re a school, right, just under a thousand students now. Um, so yeah, small school year, you know, the classic year name, not a number, um, sort of mantra that, that we have here.

However, Harrisonburg, um, There’s plenty, there’s three or four other universities, colleges in the area, James Madison university. Obviously the big one is two miles down the road from us. So in a way you kind of get the best of both worlds. Like if you don’t want to go to a big school because you feel like you’re going to struggle in that sort of environment.

Well, that’s okay. You can come to [00:15:00] TMU, for example, and, and really stick out to a number of different people on campus. However, it’s, it’s a bigger college town. It’s not out in the middle of nowhere. It’s not secluded in any way. There’s close to 25, 30, 000, um, Students going through similar, the same life phase that you are as a student athlete here with JMU Bridgewater down the road, things like that.

So, um, I think it’s a unique place to be because you do get those best of both worlds. You get a lot of attention from your professors because class sizes are smaller. But yeah, like you said, game day was here two weeks ago and there were 26, 000 people at game day, if I’m not mistaken. And it was, it was a record.

So it’s, it’s a vibrant. College town with things to do. Um, so I think that’s unique. I think that’s cool. I think that’s something that we can provide students. Um, yeah, which is exciting. 

Matt: Awesome. Well, let’s take it back, uh, you know, a month or so you’re in the heart of the conference season. Um, you know, what, what would a typical schedule look like for one of your players in a week?

You know, break down a week for me. When’s games, practices, meals, classes, all that kind of stuff.

Coach: Um, so I think once you get into the middle of the season, there’s certainly more of a routine. Um, typically games are Wednesdays and [00:16:30] Saturdays. The Sundays you’d have off, um, we typically practice, um, 4 or somewhere from like 6 30 to 8 on any given day.

Um, so, yeah, Monday and Tuesday we would train in one of those time slots. You’d have a game Wednesday, um, trained Thursday, Friday and one of those time slots have a game Saturday have off Sunday. Um, Yeah, most teams at the beginning of the year, there’s kind of these mini tournaments, if you will, so you might play Saturday, Sunday, have kind of the week to just train the next week, first two weekends of the season, you’re kind of doing something like that.

But afterwards, you’re typically finding yourself in a schedule of Wednesday, Saturday games. And so, yeah, our guys, I mean, you can start class as early as 8 a. m., uh, which is probably the same anywhere. Uh, they’re doing classes in the mornings. Hopefully they’re done sometime mid afternoon so that they have a little bit of time to transition, as we would say, into, to practice mode, get to the trainer if they need to, um, before training, um, Some of them, yeah, based on class times, might have to leave five minutes early, might have to show up five minutes late to training.

Um, but we do try to be extremely intentional on when we schedule training, um, and just educating guys before they pick their classes to avoid those scenarios. Um. Yes, you’re, you’re here to get your education. [00:18:00] We are not skirting that by any means, but to, to create the best experience for you athletically, we want you to be at everything, um, that we can require you to be at.

So, yeah, we do try and be intentional about that and make sure that there as there are as little conflicts with classes. around practice time as possible. 

Matt: Well, you mentioned earlier, you know, you have the one assistant. So if you want to talk more about, about your assistant and other staff, maybe that are in the athletic department that help out or any other folks who kind of really touch on the program and help those players in any way.

Coach: Yeah. Great question. So we, yeah, we do have a graduate assistant. Uh, his name is Trevor Swartz. Um, he was a five year player at Messiah college. Um, it was obviously really, really strong program. So we’re, we’re fortunate to have, um, Him here and the, you know, the experience and knowledge that he can bring to our guys.

Um, I like having a GA on staff because it’s someone younger that the players can relate to, um, who’s just finished their playing career. So yeah, there’s a lot of guidance and potential to. Mentor some of our guys, um, through the experiences they’re going through. So yeah, Trevor and I have full time on staff.

Um, we’ve had at different points in my time here, kind of, uh, volunteer help, um, with, with goalkeepers and things like that is something that we haven’t quite nailed down, um, as much as I’ve won, but yeah. We have typically some volunteer help with goalkeepers, uh, [00:19:30] support staff on campus. We have a full time strength and conditioning coach, um, who’s awesome.

His name is Michael Ryskin. He works with our guys a ton in season and off season when he’s allowed to. Um, and I think Next year and then even the years, um, beyond that, we’ll really start to see, um, the impact that he has on not just our men’s soccer athletes, but all athletes here at EMU. Um, here we have two athletics communication staff members who at times will ride along to games with, um, with us.

They’ll Live tweet, um, post videos and things like that, which I think is just great for our guys and makes for a better experience when they feel like their game’s being promoted, um, or their experience and their time here is being promoted more. Um, so that’s great. Um, there are, there are plenty of other like, especially with like mental health becoming a huge part of the student athlete experience here.

There are mental health specialists on campus that, um, are not specifically here for, um, Athletes yet, but I think it’s kind of heading in that direction. Um, we have a support staff member from JMU that is kind of on standby for athletics specifically, but then there’s other, um, uh, resources on campus for mental health, which is great.

Um, so yeah, those, those are a few. Um, and then obviously for like compliance, SWA and things like that. I mean, those are all the compliance roles that we have filled as well. 

Matt: Sure. Oh, absolutely. Well. Now to talk about you more [00:21:00] specifically, uh, how would you describe kind of your style of coaching and the team style of play that you’re hoping to implement?

Coach: Yeah, I mean, I think like you mentioned earlier, um, I don’t try and hide from my age. I’m not, I’m not old. I don’t try and be, um, a father figure to a lot of the guys. Maybe I’m more of an older brother or a friend that they probably cross that line a little bit too much. But yeah, I enjoy that. I enjoy that camaraderie I can share with my, with my players because of the smaller difference in age.

Um, I think we try and create an environment where there’s mutual respect between, um, our staff and, and the guys. And, um, we certainly try to, um, create strong and close relationships with them because we feel like that’s the most fulfilling way to do the job. Um, I think I’m an upbeat, positive, pretty energetic, very competitive person.

So I hope our team kind of reflects that, um, energy, passion, um, enthusiasm, competitiveness, I think are a few words that we toss around. Yeah, we have, we have, uh, core values. We, we’ve got like a full book of kind of our culture and the way we want to do things, um, that I think the guys. I’ve done a really good job of buying into.

I’ve certainly been really grateful, um, for their passion to, to learn and to buy in, um, to that side of things. So yeah, on the field in my two years here, we’ve changed specifically our [00:22:30] formation, um, the way we try to play, um, in terms of the. Style or the brand I’d like to think hasn’t changed a ton, just the way certain ways we’re trying to pass the ball, certain ways we’re trying to attack the game.

Um, but yeah, I think it, I would say as a coach, you, one thing I’ve learned is, um, you do have to tailor. Um, maybe not your ideals, but certain methods and strategies to what fits the players best. So that’s something I’m currently learning and trying to do as good of a job as possible for our guys. Um, you can seem to learn, try and put them in the best positions to succeed.

Um, yeah, I mean, certainly I think we’re a program that’s still kind of been I don’t know if you want to call it a rebuild, but we’re, we’re creating something new here for sure. Um, so I don’t know. Yeah. Rebuild is the right word, but we’re in a phase where we’re kind of discovering our identity and, um, what that looks like.

And I’m creating a new, um. Mentality within the program and, and how we go about attacking the season. 

Matt: Okay. Awesome. Well, coach, you’ve been generous with your time. Don’t want to keep you, but I do have one last question for you. And that is if you could have one piece of advice, one nugget that you, you hope that every parent player family going through the college recruiting process would know, what would that be?

Coach: Yeah, I think it’s, um, I think [00:24:00] one of the reasons I coach is because of the experience that I had as a player at Mary Washington. I was really grateful for the coaches that I had there, um, and how intentional they were about, yeah, obviously we won a lot of games there, which is, which is nice. But I remember the experience more and the relationships that I created.

So, yeah, I would say, um, keeping that in mind, it’s, yeah, you can get a sense for what your experience is going to be like when you visit campus, when you talk to coaches, um, and having a strong idea of what you want to get out of your time in college academically and athletically is really important, um, kind of sifting through the attention that you’re going to get from coaches at times and kind of finding what’s right for you is important.

Um, yeah. Yeah, it’s you’re never gonna have all the answers I think everyone tries to figure out like the exact science to figure out the recruiting process And I just don’t think anyone’s ever gonna do that. So I think these podcasts are great You just you kind of continuously learn and put things together There would be times where it’s hard and times where it’s rewarding Typically, the process plays itself out how it should.

Um, so not rushing or forcing any things. Uh, maybe what I’m trying to say. But yeah, figuring out what that experience looks like trying to really press coaches on what it looks like to be a part of their program. So you have no questions on what it’s gonna look like when you’re there. Um, I think would be really important.

Love it. 

Matt: [00:25:30] Absolutely agree. Well, coach, wish you the best of luck, uh, in, in building next year’s recruiting class. And, uh, if you do get down to, uh, the Lakewood ranch Bradenton area for any of those events, give me a shout and we’ll get together. 

Coach: All right. Awesome. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Thank you.