Fashion Institute of Technology Women’s Soccer – Coach Hatem Gabr

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Gabr from the FIT Women’s Program in New York City. We talk about how he recruits earlier than most 2-year programs because of the rigorous admissions standards. He describes the unique academic and degree offerings and the benefits of being in NYC. Lastly, we discuss how the program gets great support from the entire school. Learn more about Fashion Institute of Technology Women’s Soccer.

Matt: [00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Hatim from the Fashion Institute of Technology up in New York City. Welcome, coach. Thank you for having me. Yeah, thanks for being here. I’m excited to talk to you. Most, mostly, you know, a fellow Ohio University Bobcat alum.

Gotta love that. But, uh, also The uniqueness of, of your school and your program just in terms of the academic and soccer mixture. So it’s going to be fun to talk about that, but we’re here beginning of December. Um, you know, what’s your recruiting, uh, focus right now? Like, are you hitting all, I mean, this weekend, I mean, shoot, there’s, you got the GA showcase in California.

You got the Raleigh showcase. You got, I think, EC& L. Are in St. Louis or something? I mean, there’s just so many showcases going on, kind of, what’s your timeline? What’s your focus? Where are you at with recruiting right now? 

Coach: Um, yeah, like you said, uh, you know, it’s very unique school, you know, so there’s a lot of, um, a lot of things going on.

First, you know, it’s, it’s a hard school to get in. You know, because it’s fashion you have to have like certain talent as well. You have to do certain tests, you know So you have to be careful about recruiting because you’re afraid to recruit somebody and they won’t be able to get into the school itself You know So we started or I started a little bit earlier in the process.

Like the first thing is like you have to have interest in coming to school. So I started like maybe a couple of years ahead if, if [00:01:30] possible, you know, uh, in high school or a year, maybe a year before, you know, they usually contact us and they were like, Hey, we’re interested in the school. We really have a good GPA.

We We have, because there are certain projects that you have to submit as well. So you have to have, you have to find somebody who has like both, you know, soccer talent and, you know, art talent at the same time. So usually I started early and, um, you know, when I find somebody that have a, uh, interest, I would, you know, Tell them to start sending me videos right away or if they like in showcase I’ll go watch them or have them send me a video or you know A lot of the showcases will will have it live stream it live so I can watch it if it’s another state Because we have a lot of other states, you know So usually the process is very everything in this school is very unique, you know So the process starts right you you rarely have something that happens like right now and you get somebody like right now The odds will be very difficult to find this whole mixture, you know You 

Matt: Well, yeah.

And that’s, that’s kind of the opposite of most junior colleges, right? Or cause you guys play a junior college schedule, uh, but you got four year degrees, two year degrees and everything. So, so it is unique. The fact that you’re, you’re recruiting like a normal, almost like one of the NESCAC, one of the high D three academic programs, right.

To, to get in. So, so what are some of the places you’re recruiting? You go to showcase wise or league wise or where do you like to go to see players when you’re recruiting? 

Coach: Uh, [00:03:00] I I go to a lot of uh, high school tournaments, especially like in the finals Dusk did couple in new york here in new york city.

They did a camp last year. That was pretty good Uh, you know some friendlies, you know, i’ll be at jefferson cup, you know, uh, i’m planning to go a couple of tournaments also Uh coming soon, but I like I try to do like a lot of locals You Uh, local schools and I try to focus a lot in transfers. You know, we have a lot of, uh, of really good athlete that will play in other schools.

And that’s what the one thing unique also and good about this program is we can prepare our players to join a stronger team because they can come here and thrive and do like very good. We had, you know, the, the player of the regional for the last two years, you know, so we get a lot of offers, you know, last year, uh, we were almost, uh, we were like, I think 11th or 12th in the nation.

We almost got a break into that top 10. You know, we had last year, the second player national overall points. So we have a lot of, you know, attention. So it’s good for players that want to play. Do you want to do two and get like a little recognition to come and play in school like this and play a d3 and do really good job, get a lot of playing time, you know, and really find themselves because a lot of them, I feel like they come in not playing the, the position that I want them to play.

And when we switch to a little switch, they will find as like, Oh, That’s what I should be playing, you know, so yeah, but I, you know, I focus a lot and [00:04:30] I really, because this is also, like I said, a unique school. I actually look a lot in international school, uh, students, you know, I had, um, uh, I recruited one from Portugal last year.

Uh, she’s amazing, you know, and to a lot, there’s a lot of interest, you know, New York city fashion. So that’s, that’s a very, uh, appealing to a lot of, uh, of the kids. So, so I try to work with a lot of recruits internationally as well. No, that makes sense. 

Matt: Well, whether it’s at, at a high school game or showcase or wherever, uh, what kind of makes up what you’re looking for in a player both in terms of on the field attributes as well as off the field stuff?

Coach: My number one thing I always look for is hunger, you know, I want to find a player that’s hungry to do something, you know, and I think that’s that should be, you know, in all levels. But for us, this, this program, everybody in the department, with all the old crew that coaches the players, we always want to take it to the next level.

We always want to take the program to and we’ve been very successful the last couple of years. Unfortunately, we lost the final this year as well. So, Uh, but we, we, we get, we want to get the, um, the program to the next level, and we want to make history every time. So you want that kind of player that really doesn’t like settle to where they are, you know, especially it’s, you know, we have some, the schedules where we will play some, you know, weak teams, and we’ll play some Third and fourth in the nation team.

So you cannot be, you cannot sell it. Cannot be say, okay, I’m good enough. You always want to play [00:06:00] and become harder. So I’m looking for that hunger. Somebody that want to join the program to, um, to make it better and to make themselves better. So not necessarily just a great player, but the most improved player that possible, like somebody coachable, somebody that wants something and willing to improve, you know?

Matt: Okay. Well, it. In terms of recruiting your roster, is there a roster size that you feel is ideal? A roster size that you want to try to hit each year? 

Coach: Uh, I like to get about 18, you know? Um, the reason is because, like I said, again, this is a unique school, so it’s like a, it’s a, the eligibility is only two years.

So I want to make sure that anybody in the roster get a lot of playing time So I do I can have some players as I add some players as a practice only players somebody who I feel like they need a lot of time Uh, but I think 18 for me is the uh, right number obviously everybody want to 22 so you can play 11 v 11 at least in practice, but um, Uh 18 to 20 would be uh, ideally Okay, 

Matt: well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school itself.

I mean, I guess it’s part of the the State University System in New York, which I’m sure gives it some extra benefits, extra resources, but what what have you found at the school that’s amazing, some things that stand out, some things maybe we wouldn’t even know by going through the website? 

Coach: I mean, it’s, uh, I think the, the, the way it [00:07:30] works, the program itself would be in two and two, you know, two years and two years, you can get two different degrees.

So you can have two years associate in one, say fashion management, and then go to the business part of it. So you kind of have, uh, the whole thing, or even if you don’t want to do fashion at all, there’s other things. There’s film, there’s, uh, Uh, you know, uh, photography, there’s interior design, there’s so many, uh, you know, uh, unique, even the specific parts of graphic design, the specific parts of fashion, like men’s, uh, uh, wear, like jewelry, stuff like that.

There’s so much in it, but I think the two on two program, I really like that idea because a lot of, uh, of the kids will do one thing. And then switch to completely something else and graduate with wider knowledge of a lot of things. Also the location, obviously, can it can be that New York City, you have a good experience, but it’s safe.

I like that the campus is very safe. It’s in like a couple of streets between the avenues. There’s a lot of dorms like few plugs, but the school does a very good job with security and secure. So you get that city experience. early on, uh, while you’re still safe. And there’s, there’s a lot of activities that goes on.

Uh, and I think everybody in the school that I like also is like very dedicated to the kids, you know. 

Matt: Oh, that’s great. Well, I mean, one of the challenges of, of Going to college is really balancing the demands of being a student and an athlete, right? But also, I’m sure that’s even, uh, heightened [00:09:00] being in the heart of New York City.

So, how do your student athletes really balance the two? And what resources does the school offer to help them succeed in both? 

Coach: Um, yeah, they also, you know, it’s a lot of work, so they have to do a lot of, a lot of work, because a lot of the projects takes a lot of time. Uh, we do have a very good support system, uh, from the department to the coaches.

One of the, I think the important things is like, uh, my team managers, uh, and assistant coaches are all went to school and play at the school, you know, which is, which is really good because it kind of gives us A sense of like, okay, let’s give them some time off during this time of the year. Let’s do this.

So let’s do that. You know, the department as well have a lot of resources with the, you know, student advisors, you know, uh, uh, you know, the director that says director, they’re very involved, you know, anything that we need. We have a beautiful facility that the field, you know, it’s New York City problem.

There’s not a lot of fields, but we’re lucky enough that we have a field two blocks away from us, you know, the home field is far away for, for, uh, not too far. And it’s in Brooklyn, but, you know, but we have a home field where we practice a couple of, uh, blocks away, but we offer a lot of support, you know, uh, starts also because of the admission is very unique.

So once they admitted, you know, there’s a lot of support in terms of like student advisors, some of like, Uh, picking the classes, the being an athlete in this school, you get to pick your classes first, you get to move in a week [00:10:30] earlier. So it’s very, um, it’s very good for them because he adjusts an earlier than anybody else.

And we always try to be in touch with you, uh, months before you even joined the school. 

Matt: Okay. Well, Let’s walk back to, you know, kind of just the heart of the season. Walk me through what, what does a typical week look like for, for a player in terms of when our classes and practices and games and meals and all that kind of stuff.

Coach: Yeah. We try to prepare for it, uh, early on. So before they start, uh, before they start, uh, the process of admission, we tell them, Hey, don’t pick. Any early classes in these days try to we usually take Monday off. So you have an option of either schedule most of the classes on Monday from to get out of the way or you can take Monday off so you can have completely off from soccer and school.

That’s your choice. Talk to former players. We have a lot of, we have a very good community of all the players that played before the last couple of years. I always invite them to talk with and chat with the players without me so they can get into athletic student kind of mind. Um, so we do that. So we kind of know the schedule before we advise them is like, uh, don’t schedule these days.

We only play because it’s NGC double A. We only play and as any school should be also school comes first, you know, so we don’t play during any classes. We don’t play in the weekend. or if it’s a holiday. So it plays Saturday, Sundays. We practice very early in the morning. Let’s give them a lot of credit for that.

You know, we meet at 640 and [00:12:00] we walk a couple blocks and we start practice from seven to nine and then they go to classes. We usually ask them either to, you know, as they know each other, you know, themselves to like, some like to take the afternoon classes and take to early classes. You know, uh, we try to do a Monday off because we play, because we only play Saturday and Sunday.

Sometimes I would schedule two games, a tough game on Saturday and easy game on Sunday or vice versa. Monday, we give them off completely, you know, recovery Tuesday, usually. We’ll do a video session and a little bit of, uh, uh, you know, maybe, uh, light, light play, uh, light practice and then, you know, uh, the rest of the days we practice, um, seven to nine.

Matt: Okay. In terms of, um, the, the, the. I mean, you mentioned 18 on the roster, you said you have an assistant and a team manager, kind of, what are their roles, what, what other support staff maybe are in the athletic department that help out with the team, and what’s that look like? 

Coach: Yeah, one of, one of the good things about this school also is that, you know, the staff, we, we, we will staff.

You know, we have, we have good support, you know, everything in school, the buses are great, you know, uh, the meals are great, you know, we, we make sure we take care of them when we, when we go to the games and, uh, and that community is good. We also, we always start with a tournament that’s away from New York and we do that in purpose, which say, you know, so the first time you meet after the tryouts [00:13:30] and the first game is.

two games away. So we go stay in a hotel for 23 days. So the girls get to know each other. We go out, it becomes very abundant and they come back as a team. Like we go, individuals come back as a team always. So that’s, that’s always, we do that on purpose. That’s always a good start. But, um, you know, from the, uh, the athletic department, like I said, the AD and the assistant AD is very involved, you know, in everything and in the players, you know, where, you know, especially, you know, international players or out of state players want to make sure they’re comfortable, you know, adjusting well.

Uh, both of my, I have a, uh, an assistant and a scorekeeper. Most, most of the time the scorekeeper and the team manager are former players. You know, I’m lucky that all three are former players, you know, so I’d have a scorekeeper, a team manager. and a, uh, assistant. Uh, we also have the, uh, you know, trainer that, uh, will come in.

We have, we have so many people, the VPs involved, uh, you know, and I feel like, like a lot of people are proud of the program and try to, uh, you know, do as much support as possible. So they offer some massages to the girls, you know, from the school, you know, uh, there is a mental health. We do a program every Tuesday where we kind of like do anonymous, uh, Um, Spreadsheet where they check if they have any problems in their social life, making friends, uh, school, do you need anything off?

So, it’s, it’s, uh, private, only me can see it, you know, they don’t see it, or anybody else can see it, and we can talk about it. So, if we find something, how is your mental health this, this week, if it’s like, Five or below, [00:15:00] we talk what’s going on, you know, stuff like that. So that, that really helps, but everybody in the school is involved, even former players, you know, before our finals, they’ll come in and talk to the girls.

It’s like, Hey, this is what you should do. You know? 

Matt: Yeah. It’s great. It’s great to have that support. Uh, well, what about you tell us about your coaching style and, and, and the style of play you play there? 

Coach: Um, I like to, uh, to play very simple, you know, I think, I think it’s a simple game, you know, I don’t like to complicate it as much, uh, because of the way, uh, the, the season is, as you know, it’s very short season, so you kind of, uh, start from the early on, you know, like I said, I try to meet, start my first meeting with the recruits and maybe in March, Uh, I usually have in the meetings, zoom meetings, I would have, um, my assistant, former players, current players that coming in and we talk about first how to prepare for the season and I tell them to come and do what I want you to do.

You have to be a certain amount of, you have to have certain level of fitness and, you know, skills, you know, but whatever the skill is, we’re going to work on it. We’re going to find a way that you do it, you know, so I try to get everybody involved. I like to play a simple way. Um, breaking lines is my style.

It’s very simple. You know, all you have to do is find the open players, you know, move fast, keep the ball as much as you can, uh, but enjoy it as you play, you know, uh, I like the attacking, uh, part of the game. Um, I, I always believe that, you know, attacking is the best defending, but, you know, I try [00:16:30] everything that I do.

I do simple, you know, and not complicate too much. Um, And I think that’s just like I said, everything that I do, I like to have the hunger and I like to have to respect the other teams and by respecting them, that means playing very hard every time, you know? Uh, so I want to, uh, I want, you know, to play away when it’s simple, but you always hungry, always put the other team under pressure as much as possible.

Matt: Okay. Well, you mentioned it is a short condensed season, uh, there in the fall. So what about the spring season or the off season? What do you guys do during that time? Is there, uh, more developments happening there? What’s that look like? 

Coach: Yeah. So, uh, one of the also good things about the school is, uh, you know, uh, there’s a lot of facilities in the school, brand new, very nice.

So we have, uh, open gym, we have soccer where we play every Tuesday together. And that’s the best part because you see the different completely different players when they play for fun and there’s nothing, you know, and it’s like boys and girls, everybody comes together, you know, some of the staff I go play, you know, the, the coaches go play and we play every Tuesday.

So we kind of like. So we keep them playing, which is important. I also help them, like I mentioned, like I have a lot of, uh, because of the program been successful the last couple of years, I have a lot of offers. So during the season, I talk to girls, especially those who are like graduating, the seniors, like, do you want to continue your journey?

I have one looking to play in Spain. We’re helping out with that. A couple of players want to play in other colleges. So we try to help them. So we try to do off season, three things. One is. [00:18:00] Contact the recruits that we’ve been talking to. Make sure that if they’re coming this year or next year that they’re working, sending me videos.

The more you put pressure on sending videos, the more playing time they’re gonna do. You know, with the seniors, those who are gonna graduate, what’s the plan for a year or two? You know, where you wanna go? Um, And I try to help them recruit. And the same time we send a monthly program where they can do fitness and play, and we’re trying to have them play.

Uh, if they need to play some of the girls I’m trying to help playing in a club or in a tournament, anything that they need, uh, we just want to make sure that they keep going at being active. 

Matt: Well, I really appreciate you spending time with me today. I got one last question for you, and that is, if you had a piece of advice for student athletes going through the recruiting process right now, what would that be?

Coach: Uh, be ready. Always. You know, uh, you never know when the chance is going to come in. Uh, you can have a random email right now from somebody who really needs you. You gotta be ready right now. So always keep working. Don’t, it doesn’t have to be to have a target to work for, you know, work for yourself, play as hard as you can play as much as you can enjoy it.

Watch soccer, not just play it, watch it. And you know, like this is very important because a lot of times, you know, do a lot of visualization where you’re going to put yourself in a situation, but be ready because you’re going to get a chance. It’s just the question is are you going to be ready at that moment or not?

So just be ready. 

Matt: Absolutely. Couldn’t have said it better coach. Well, hey, I really appreciate it. Thanks for coming on. Wish you the best of luck, uh, in your recruiting class and enjoy your, uh, [00:19:30] the beautiful Christmas time in New York City. 

Coach: Yeah. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you.