Emory & Henry College Women’s Soccer – Coach Filipe Barateiro

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Filipe Barateiro from the Emory & Henry Women’s Program in Virginia. We talk about the four pillars of their student athletes. He describes the new building they are doing on campus. Lastly, we discuss how he his Portuguese passion to coaching. Learn more about Emory & Henry 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 Filipe from Emory and Henry in Virginia. Welcome coach. 

Coach: Thank you for having me, Matthew. Appreciate you.

Matt: Yeah, thanks for being here. Uh, I believe if, if I’m not mistaken, you guys are the only division two program in the state of Virginia, right.

Coach: I believe Virginia State is right now creating another division two program.

Matt: That’s right. They are. I did see that as well. But so, so, alright, well you, you, you’ll have one more here soon, but That’s all right. Um, and, and you and I are talking here, it’s, it’s, uh, end of June. We were, we were just in Greensboro, but unfortunately didn’t, uh, didn’t get to connect in person, but hey, that’s what Zoom is for, right?

We’re both busy. That’s right. That’s right. Well, You know, uh, being a college coach at the E C N L R regionals, I’m sure, uh, recruiting, it was right after the June 15th, uh, period. So was your focus looking at more 20 fours or more 20 fives when you’re at that kind of event, what’s kind of your recruiting timeline look like?

Coach: I mean, it’s, it’s, uh, it’s, it’s a good question because I know most of coaches are, you know, especially big Division one schools or Division one schools are working two years ahead, inclusive, some division twos and division threes as well. Um, here we try to go one year at a time, um, because the way, you know, we went from a transition from division three to division two, uh, and also me personally, I feel that.

Yes, we want the best place, we want the best people 100%. But I [00:01:30] feel putting such a difficult decision at a kid at the age of 16, 17 years old, I mean, uh, it’s not fair for the kid either. So I believe that right now. Yes. Now that hit June 15 is when we should start building those connections with 2020 fives already, which we have been doing.

Um, But making offers or trying to commit someone is not our priority right now. Right now we’re just trying to figure it out if it’ll be the right fit for us, if it’ll be the right fit for the individual. Uh, and then, you know, of course, bring them on a visit and see if, uh, so answer your question, we focus more on 2020 fours.

Uh, but yes, already seeing some 20, 20 fives that might help, we feel, might help the program and has the, you know, the, the characteristics that we’re looking for and the profile of a player that we’re looking for. 

Matt: Okay. Well, you know, taking a, an event like the, the Greensboro Regional, uh, for example, when you’re at an event like that, is it you are looking at players that have already reached out to you?

Or is this you just going and, and looking at players and trying to find somebody that you think fits kind of what’s, what’s the mix of, of that kind of recruiting at an event? 

Coach: So when we built our. Uh, profile of a student athlete that we want here. Uh, one of the main things that we look for is someone who wants to be here.

Someone who wants to be a, was someone who loves Emory. Um, so saying this, what we always try to do is whoever reach [00:03:00] out to us, we always try to go, uh, you know, take a look at the game and see, because I feel the student athlete, you know, the, the athlete, you know, lost time to send us an email, you know, Take some time to research on us and as an email.

So I feel it’s fair that we, you know, put the same time, you know, to try to help their kid out and, you know, someone wants to be a was. Um, so yeah, I mean, answer your question, yes, we try to go see whoever reach out to us. Um, And again, see if they can be a good fit. But, but honestly, I have never heard of a soccer coach, a college coach who went to a, to one of those events and he’s like, I’m just gonna see those, those 20 kids email as, or those 30 kids.

I mean, whoever number it is. I, I think we all, you know, open-minded, all have our eyes open, um, to try to see, again, try to defend our program and see what can be the right fit for us. 

Matt: Okay. No, that makes sense. Well, you mentioned, uh, the profile of, of a player, somebody that you’re looking for. So besides a desire to be a wasp, what are some of the things that fit in that profile, whether they’re on the field attributes or off the field things?

Coach: So, um, I think on the field attributes, I mean honestly I think we, college coaches look for the same thing. Uh, I think it’s very familiar, you know, uh, uh, I remember the coach I think from was from Longwood. Telling this I thought was funny ’cause he said, we’re always looking for the same thing. He is faster.

Better, stronger. Right? That’s what we’re looking for. But um, the main thing for me is like, our program has four [00:04:30] pillars that we base our recruitment, that we base in the way we react to the girls, that we connect with the girls, and that’s a character. So we want, you know, we want to student, an athlete to as character.

Character. For me as a coach, as a person is how do you, how do you react when things don’t go your way? Uh, you know, when you are winning, when you, when you have a spot in a starting 11, you know, coach wants me to run one mile, that’s fine. I’ll run three. Uh, that’s the way people are. We are humans and I understand that, uh, commitment, uh, not just on, but off the field as well.

You know, make sure we are doing the right things on the field, uh, and off the field. Uh, hard work. Uh, we always, you know, we always try to tell the girls that it doesn’t matter if we are going to be the most talented or last talented team in the country, we are going to make sure we are the one who.

Works the most, if that makes sense. So we need to make sure we have certain athletes who are willing to put the work on and make the program better and make themselves better. Uh, and then the last thing, not least that I, that I found that it’s very personal to me as well, it’s, uh, transparency, uh, always trying to be as transparent as we can be.

Uh, make sure when you say something you mean what you say. Um, and if you feel something, you know, if you feel something about a situation about someone, I mean, go ahead and try to express those feelings and try to express your concerns. Whatever you feel, you know, whatever the moment is. Uh, I think that’s extremely important, especially nowadays.

Nowadays, society. Be transparent about what you feel and what you want. Okay? 

Matt: I like it. I like it. Four pillars. It’s good [00:06:00] stuff. You know, obviously we talk about regionals, but are there other recruiting events that, that you try to get to each year to, to make sure you’re looking at student athletes?

Coach: I mean, 100%.

I, I don’t think, um, of course E C N L has is putting themselves in a different standard. Right. Uh, but I, I don’t, I don’t necessarily feel that, you know, the best place from, from E C N L or their style just in E C N L. I think that’s actually a lie. I think there’s a lot of tournaments, you know, camps that we use where.

There’s a lot of, you know, extremely talented players who, you know, can be a great fit for us. Uh, so yeah, I mean, I answer your question in July, it’s kind of be, sorry, I’m looking at the board. ’cause we have a lot of events going on. Uh, you know, we’ll be in Georgia, you know, at the Zac camp, which is, you know, a, an event that normally has hundreds, uh, of student athletes every single year, and they have multiple events throughout the year.

Um, we are going to be at the staffer ID Camp Virginia, ID camp, you know, E C N L finals in Richmond. Uh, future 500 ID camps. So again, that, that’s really, we are always split ourselves between showcases, you know, E C N L, uh, leagues and, you know, camps that we always try to tell. We are going to be at the Virginia Tech ID camp as well.

Uh, and again, Matthew, kind of like you said, that’s the perk of being the only division to school in the state. Um, You know, we should be able to connect with those Virginia kids in a different way than, you know, a division three with right when we were division three. So that’s kind of what we’re trying to take advantage of.

Matt: Okay. Makes sense. Well, I mean, [00:07:30] moving from division three to division two, has that changed kind of your recruiting profile at all? I know you have a couple international players, but you know, in division two these days it seems like there’s a lot more international players. Are you, are you looking at the transfer portal at all?

Is that. Changed anything for you?

Coach: Yeah, I mean, uh, um, I’m not gonna lie to you, Matthew. It is my second year here. So when I was here, when I came here was, we are already in the transition. Uh, so I never, I, I, I was never at Emory while we were division three. Uh, and the previous coach, the previous, uh, team where I coach was, um, was division two as well.

So kind of my profile never really. Changed, if that makes sense. Sure. I do think that on the women’s side it’s the recruitment is different in a way that, uh, while on the men’s side of division two is extremely important to have internationals and on the women’s side, we can try to, you know, go around because this is the main, probably the main sport for women’s, uh, in us.

While, you know, if you go to Europe, you know, if you go, if you go to any where I’m from Portugal, uh, soccer is not very strong in terms of women’s. Um, so. Again, I think the profile change a little bit. Definitely. If, if I look at, you know, looking at the previous rosters from Emory, uh, you know, diversity is going up.

Uh, of course we still have an emphasis on, you know, Virginia kids for the fact that we are the only division two school in the state of Virginia. Um, but still there’s much more diversity compared to. Where we were, you know, two, three years ago. 100%, like you said, those two international players. We have [00:09:00] another one valley from Panama.

Uh, and hopefully, you know, within the next few years, we’re gonna start bringing a little bit more, um, not necessarily because of quality, but because just because of diversity. Uh, just, you know, the girls have an experience of, you know, hanging out and training and meeting someone from another part of the world with a different, a totally different background, a totally different culture.

So, you know, that’s, that’s part of the college experience I believe. Yeah, absolutely. 

Matt: Uh, well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. Some folks may not be familiar with it. I lived in Northern Virginia for a long time, so, so I knew of the school, but, uh, and, and I, you know, I played D three, but we, we never, when Emory and Henry was three, but we never, we never played each other in my long, long, long time ago.

But, um, you’ve been there a couple years, so tell me, what are some of the fantastic things about the school that you really enjoy? Some things maybe we wouldn’t learn just by going through the website. 

Coach: So Emory is a small school. Uh, we are right. We have the biggest city, you know, right here it’s Bristol, uh, that you have Virginia, Tennessee.

That’s actually a state line that separates between the two states. Um, and then we are a small school, uh, going towards Virginia. Uh, Uh, we have a, a beautiful campus. So the, I think the way I always say about Emory is, uh, I think we are a small school within a large campus because we have, I’ve been in small campus, I have coach in small schools and the campus not even as large as the one that we have over here.

Um, uh, the resources that we have, [00:10:30] uh, I mean, we are one of the only division two schools in the country, uh, who has two student success centers. Uh, one specifically just for athletes and another one, uh, for, you know, all students. Um, another factor that we have that helps a lot, you know, students who come here and makes it a little bit different is, uh, our placement rate after graduation.

You know, our placement rate after graduation, the first, in the first year is almost 100%. So that means you know, you’re coming, you’ll get a degree, you’ll get a great education, and which is in my opinion, is the most important part about college soccer. Uh, it’s making sure, sure you play at the higher level, but make sure you have a great education, you graduate, um, and once you graduate, you’ll find a job.

Uh, and, and again, that’s all you work for, right? And that’s what, what we are so proud of. Uh, we have so many, uh, projects going around on campus right now. Uh, we kinda lose track of everything, honestly. We have right now, um, on the top of my head, we are just now finishing a brand new business school. Which opens by the beginning of August.

Uh, we are bringing, you know, MBAs and doctors and all that type of stuff. Actually our school is changing names. I dunno if you checked that out or not. But, uh, we are changing to Emory University, uh, because we’re growing so big and we’re bringing a different type of academic interest around the campus as well.

Um, we are building a brand new soccer setting. I am sorry. I know the track coach is not going to be happy, but he’s a [00:12:00] soccer stadium. I’m sorry. Uh, you know, we are going to have a track around it and everything. We’re going to bring lacrosse on campus as well. Uh, but for me, you know, I’m a soccer guy. It’s a soccer stadium.

Um, we are building brand new dorms as well, which will be open by August. So there’s a lot of brand new stuff going on around here. Um, one thing that I like about the Emory that I’m extremely blessed since I got here is, uh, they have the vision. And you know, some schools, some institutions have the vision, but they don’t necessarily have what it takes to get to the next step to make it happen.

And Emory has that. Emory got the vision. Emory has the resources, and Emory will do what they need to do to make sure the students have a great experience. And that’s what we are so proud of to be here. 

Matt: Oh, that’s fantastic. Well, you mentioned multiple student success centers, so what does that involve?

How do your student athletes really balance their studies with the commitment to sport and, and how does the school make sure they’re they are successful? 

Coach: Probably like all single coach in America. I mean, being a student athlete is a full-time job. I think they all say that, which is fair. Uh, actually, you know, our, our program for five years in the real run won the United Soccer Coaches Academic Award.

So that means our g p has always been very strong either way. I mean, our students success center for, for athletics, for athletes, um, has programs specifically just for them. So we are in constant, in constant communication when their G P A start dropping. They got incorporated into a program to make sure they are warned about, make sure we are warned [00:13:30] about their G P A and they need to log in study hours.

Uh, our program overall, we don’t have a study hall. Simple reason why, because our G p A, the past years, past five years has always been above 3.3, 0.3 0.4. So very solid. Never really shift much around that. And when you shift, it’s too higher. Um, Uh, the biggest, uh, challenge I feel like is a lot of our girls are related to the medical field, so they want to, you know, follow health sciences and stuff like that.

Yeah. Uh, very popular majors around our campuses. Uh, you know, going to PA school, ot, uh, pt, that’s extremely nursing as well. Extremely, extremely successful. Extremely popular as well. So sometimes it’s kind of hard to manage those stuff classes, because I know the girls have. I praise myself or I praise the girls for being extremely hardworking and extremely bright.

I’m very proud of them for that. Um, and I know they always have a lot of stuff going on. Um, but they, you know, we do our best try to manage those classes. And again, student Success Center, uh, helps a lot to manage that and make sure that G P A is what we’re looking for, you know? Okay. 

Matt: No, that’s fantastic.

Well, Let’s fast forward here. Assume we are in the heart of the season. Um, can you walk me through what an average week looks like in terms of winter practices, games, meals, classes? What, what does it look like for a, a student athlete during the year? 

Coach: For sure. So, uh, you know, our weeks go go, [00:15:00] you know, Monday to Sunday, Sunday is always the day off because follow NCAA rules, uh, you are required to have one day off a week.

So Sundays normally, you know, there’s exceptions if there, we, we have a game on Sunday or not, but normally we don’t. So Sundays are normally always off. Uh, Monday they will have classes in the morning, you know, normally from 8:00 AM to two, 3:00 PM 4:00 PM maybe, uh, you know, they normally have lunch around 11, 12 again, depending on their class schedule.

Um, They would have lunch around five, six, normally six. And normally we’ll have trying either, you know, seven or eight 30. Right now we have a beautiful facility. We have, it’s a football stadium, uh, that we share with them. So, um, you know, we normally have evening practices and we rotate with the men’s to make sure it’s fair for both sides to, you know, we so allow us not always go early and the men’s always go light.

You know, we always trying to rotate to be fair for both sides. Um, you know, train in the evening and then, you know, straight to bed. Uh, just kind of so I can go by week. I mean, Monday, Tuesday. Monday will be normal practice. Tuesday is a pre-game practice because normally we play on Wednesday. Uh, Wednesday we play, um, on Thursday if you, if you play 45 or more, you are just going to do a recovery, uh, session, which normally we have a pool on campus, which is another game changer for us.

So, uh, we either do pool workouts or, you know, recovery jogs or stretching, you know, anything that we feel the team requires that the girls need. [00:16:30] Um, If you play 44, 45 or less, you’re going to try normally. Uh, that’s a way to keep everybody competitive. That’s a way to show some love for the girls that, you know, haven’t had the chance that they’re looking for.

And also help those girls to get that chance. Right? Uh, that’s why we’re trying to do that. Uh, Wednesday, like I said, you know, game Thursday, uh, recovery or practice, if you play less Friday, pre-game practice and Saturday we go back to the game. So it’s, it’s extremely busy. I mean, you know, and we have, uh, on the top of my head, we have around three weeks this next year where we are going to have three games a week.

Um, so extremely busy, but I mean, you know, we always trying to transmit their message when they came on a visit so they know. Where they’re coming for as well. I think that’s extremely important. I think expectations for them to understand what they’re about putting themselves in and how demanding it is and the level of commitment, uh, I think is extremely important for us to be, again, transparent and, you know, show them what, you know, what a schedule will look like and, you know, all demanding it is.

Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, you kind of mentioned, you know, players that may not have a. Have a full workload, you know, in terms of a game and, and having different practice. So what, is there a roster size that you find is ideal that you’re trying to hit every year? 

Coach: Yes. So during the past, uh, three, four years, I believe we were around 29.

Again, I, I’m sorry I, the top of my head because I was not here Sure. Until two weeks ago, but I’m pretty sure it was 29. Around around 29, [00:18:00] uh, that was the normal squad that we have. This year we are going to be a little bit different. We’re going to carry 33. Uh, we don’t want to have much more than that.

I’m willing to go until 35 max. Uh, the reason why is because, um, you know, like I just said, we have two games a week, sometimes three. I. Uh, the girls are going to be exhausted. Unfortunately, unfortunately, when injury happening in college, normally they are severe, right? I mean, you know, even if, even if the injury is not severe, let’s say a simple, simple, right, simple injury as a sprain, a sprained ankle, if you have a sprain ankle that takes around.

Two to three weeks for you to get out of all that pain that you have on you. So if you do two weeks, times two, that’s four games right away. If my math is correct, that’s four weeks right away. If you need two weeks of PT to recover, you know, make sure you get your strength and make sure you are 100% two V two.

That’s four games as well. So that means you might be missed eight games depending on how severe the SPR is. Uh, and honestly, I think every single team in America goes through the same process. Kind of like you said, Matthew is beginning of the, beginning of the summer, beginning of preseason. Everything is fine.

No, there’s a couple of knocks here and there. Uh, but once you reach to the middle, the peak of the season is when. People start dropping like flies with injuries and knocks and which is completely fair. So we need to make sure, we had to make sure we had Ross a little bit more, we need to have a little bit more depth [00:19:30] everywhere just to make sure prevent any type of injuries might happen and, you know, uh, how we can fight those injuries, right.

With solutions. And that’s what we did. Again, it’s not a big, big difference. We just had four new girls or four new spots, um, but we felt was necessarily taking consideration injuries that we might have throughout the year. Okay. 

Matt: Well, in terms of the school, and I’m not holding you to hard numbers here, but you know, as a parent, one of my biggest questions is always, all right, what’s, what’s this gonna cost me?

Um, so can you just gimme a, a, a general overview of what, uh, a student athlete is coming into in terms of what scholarship opportunities there are, both for academics, athletics, do you stack, what, what’s kind of the tuition? What, what does that look like?

Coach: Yeah. So, um, I’m not going to tell you the price tag right away ’cause I think that’s a resource, a, a research that people can do is very straightforward.

But, uh, I’m, again, transparency. We, we are an expensive school. I don’t have an issue with saying that. Uh, the reason why I say this, Matthew With’s, so confidence without an issue is because, uh, there’s the reason when you’re going to buy directly, you buy them from Nike, you don’t buy them from Walmart.

Right. It’s what I say here. There’s the reason why we have this price tag is because you’re going to have a hell of education over here. So yes, might be expensive, might cost you a little bit, but again, I don’t take it as an expensive, as an expense. I take it as an investment. An investment for your future.

And if I’m going to invest something for my kid, if I’m going to invest something for me, I’m going to make sure it’s something that can be worth my while. Right. [00:21:00] Um, Answer your question. Yes. We stack scholarships. So we stack academic with athletic scholarship. Uh, the school also does a good job with providing a different type of scholarships.

We have the honor school, we have the legacy, uh, scholarship, which is also, you know, related to you having, uh, you know, parents, siblings around here. Um, and also we have something that we call the Access grant. The access grant is a scholarship that is gave mainly by financial needs. So it’s influenced by Fafsa and that could be, you know, a big pile of money or can be not much really.

So again, depends on your financial needs. Um, so again, the school tried to put a package that we feel it’s, you know, worth your while and that it’s actually, you know, affordable for you. Uh, that’s something that we talk to the girls when we bring them on a visit is, um, We always tell them, you know, it’s important to be the right fit for them.

100%. It’s important to be the right fit for us as well. Um, but also, you know, the finance part of it, I don’t feel should be the most important part, uh, because I’ll prefer to spend an extra thousand dollars, uh, and have a great education that maybe save those extra thousand dollars and dedication not being great.

Um, but, uh, I don’t think should be the main factor. If that makes sense. I feel sometimes need to make a sacrifice to get the best, the best things, and this might be one of those cases. 

Matt: No, absolutely. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the, the team, the soccer side of things. Uh, we [00:22:30] mentioned how big your roster is, but uh, how, how big is your staff?

You know, what is. Each person do. What is your staff comprised of and what other support staff maybe does the athletic department have to help you too? 

Coach: Uh, there’s big, that is gonna be the challenge. Uh, right now it’s one head coach, one full-time assistant coach, which is great. I know not all schools are, you know, have the blessing to have a full-time assistant.

Uh, the, the team that I used to coach, they didn’t have a full-time assistant. So I, I understand that. Um, Now that we are bringing the MBAs and doctor’s degrees and stuff, that might shift a little bit because, um, you know, there’s always a po a possibility of maybe a graduate position, graduate assistant position.

Again, that’s, that is not guaranteed. But, you know, we never know what, how things will turn. Um, it’s a game changing our bringing master. So they might add to the coaching staff maybe. Um, The Student Success Center, we have two people who are work when a full-time, almost 24 7. They are amazing. Kyle and Jacqueline, they’re amazing.

They, they are always making sure we are on track, make sure the girls are on track to graduate, make sure the girls are eligible, make sure the girls are doing everything right. Uh, Jacqueline is the one who works with us specifically because Jacqueline, um, it’s a female and relates better with female sports as you can imagine.

Um, so, you know, we always have a pre-op communication, making sure that, uh, What’s going on around, around our team in terms of academics. Uh, we also have Ms. Rebecca, Ms. Rebecca is our athletics, uh, [00:24:00] uh, representative. She’s, uh, inside one of the best ones, s ncaa. I have nos, I have no issues with saying that.

Um, so one of the questions that we always ask by parents, and that’s related with your question as well, is how do we balance, you know, academics with athletics about classes? What about if we travel? How are the girls, you know, How, you know, girls dismiss class, how does that, does that work? So, uh, miss Rebecca, what we do is by the beginning of the preseason or by the beginning of classes, We send them the classes, excuse where comes every single game that we play.

What time is it, the dismissal time, what time do we play, all that type of stuff. They send it to their professors. They take it to their professors. The professors, uh, sign it and they bring it back to me. Just make sure the professor are aware, um, one, two days before that date of the game. Of every single game, I send an email to Ms.

Rebecca and Ms. Rebecca is going to send a general email to every single professor of every single student in my team. So that allows an open communication that allows transparency and commitment to the classes, uh, and the professor are responsible to bring the notes to the kids the next class, which normally they have some type of student who’s doing that for them.

So, you know, it’s a good way to keep the balanced story. I think that goes against, you know, the question that you asked me. Prior, but it’s always good to watch something that I just come top of my head. No, no, absolutely. 

Matt: No, thank you for that. Well, how about you specifically? What, how would you describe your style of [00:25:30] coaching, the team style of play?

What does that look like? 

Coach: Uh, I mean, I’m extremely passionate. I mean, I love what I do. I’m Portuguese as well, so I have a, uh, a warm blood, if that makes sense. Yep. That was, that was a Portuguese coach in Brazil who said, uh, Always try to have a cold head and a warm heart, if that makes sense. And that’s what I try to do.

Sometimes it’s hard, uh, but, you know, um, I’m extremely passionate what I do. I love this team, love this school, love these girls. Uh, try to help them the best I can. Um, you know, I always believe a lot in autonomy. So what that means is, um, I won’t come to them first. So if they have problems, I want them to try to solve those problems.

Uh, and then if they cannot find a solution, if they’re struggling, if they are, you know, If they have problems, I mean, they’re more than welcome to come to us. Come to me specifically. We have an open door policy in the office. You know, uh, girls are more than welcome to walk in and out. I mean, we have girls who come here sometimes to talk about anything.

They might feel like it. Sometimes it. We have girls come here to watch M T V with us. I mean, we don’t have an issue whatsoever, honestly. Um, they are soccer players and they’re student athletes, but they are people before anything else. And that’s the most important part. And I feel that sometimes we coaches with the pressure, with winning, with the pressure with performing.

I think sometimes we have the tendency to forget that they have people, they have, um, they have a lot of perks. They have a lot of things they’re very good at. They have a lot of things that they need to improve. So [00:27:00] as, as coaches, Uh, the way I’m as a coach, Matthew, and I tell them all time, almost every single practice is, uh, I don’t demand perfection because I’m not perfect myself.

So if I’m not perfect myself, and if I demand them to be perfect, I’m going to be hypocrite. And I don’t want to be that. Uh, but I re I demand excellence. I demand hard work. That means you should gimme 200% every single practice. Mistakes. They’ll come. I mean, I make more mistakes and all of them together and I don’t have an issue with saying that.

So, you know, um, the most important part is, you know, how we interact with the girls. We make sure we keep an open, you know, open communication. Make sure, you know, they understand that I. Even though that we are coaches and we need to be the head of the program and all that type of stuff, we have feelings.

Uh, we have, again, we have things that we are great at. There are things we’re not as great as, um, we have gifts, we have insecurities, we have that, all that type of stuff. Uh, and they need to be empathetic with them the same way that we need to have, we need, need to have empathy with our situation as well, because we know that being a student athlete is not, it’s not easy.

Never be, never was, never. It’s not and never will. So, you know, uh, and we need to be a little bit empathetic with that. Yeah. But to answer your question, I mean, extremely passionate. Love what I do, extremely demanding as well. Uh, try to go to the little detail the best I can. Um, and you know, I’m, I’m a stronger believer that you play how you train.

So if you’re not training well, you know, if you’re not doing the little things in [00:28:30] practice, uh, you are not going to be doing any game you want. Yeah. 

Matt: No, I, I completely agree. Well, coach, you’ve been generous with your time. Really appreciate it. Uh, I’d like to end these with, with one final question, which is, if you had one piece of advice, one legal nugget to share to any parent player family going through this college recruiting process, what would that be?

Coach: Uh, the only, uh, advice that I would have is, uh, to take time in the recruitment process. Uh, it’s not black and white at all. It’s really not black and white. You need to do research. You need to talk to the coaches. Uh, one of the questions, and, and I tell, I tell all the recruits who come here to ask is, if you are a recruit and you’re going on a visit, you have, you know, you have a meeting with the coach.

Always ask the coach, what’s the, what is the coach, you know, uh, what are the expectations of the coach from you? If that makes sense. Why is the coach bringing you over? And depending on the answer that might help you making a decision. Is the coach trying to bring you to be a nu, is the coach trying to bring you to be a starting maybe in a starting position, you know, whatever.

But ask the coach what are the expectations that the coach has for your role in the team? Or, or ask the coach, what would be your role in the team? I think that’ll be important for, you know, as an athlete to make a decision. 100%. 

Matt: Absolutely. Well, coach, thank you so much. For your time. Wish you the best of luck this fall, [00:30:00] and if you get to any recruiting events down here in Bradenton, gimme a shout so we can, uh, we can, we can share that passion together.

Maybe grab a cup of coffee or something. All right.

Coach: For sure. Thank you so much and please watch, uh, watch Portugal. It’s in two hours. Yeah, I know. 

Matt: Yeah, I know. My son’s excited to, to check that one out, so. Alright, take care 

Coach: coach. Thank you so much Matthew. Appreciate you.