Gardner-Webb University Women’s Soccer – Coach Erik Solberg
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Solberg from the Gardner-Webb Women’s Program in North Carolina. We talk about what it was like taking over the program. He describes the numerous investments being made at the school. Lastly, we discuss all the different staff available to help both athletes and university students. Learn more about Gardner-Webb University Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Eric at Gardner web. Welcome coach.
Coach: Thanks for having me. Great to chat with you again and really excited to be here. Thank you. Yeah.
Matt: This is our second time chatting. Uh, got to speak with you when you were, uh, out there at Arkansas pine bluff a little bit ago.
And it reiterates what I’ve said to, to my daughter and her team was like, You, you have to absolutely positively be nice to every coach you talk to and leave a good impression because you never know the next year they could be your coach, even if you didn’t plan on it. Uh, cause coaching moves happen.
Right. So, um, what you took over, you got named at least, uh, back in January. Um, so you’re, you’re six months in, um, talk to me about the, the, the, the. How that process of taking over another division one program is gone in terms of what kind of was, what’s the process you went through in terms of looking at that roster and dealing with recruits who maybe had already committed, uh, you know, was, was there kids who were like, well, I, I just loved the old coach.
So she’s gone. I’m gone. What is that whole situation? Like,
Coach: Yeah, it was kind of a unique situation that I, I kind of felt uniquely qualified to, to kind of handle, um, there’d been a coach here for 10 years who’s still a division one coach who did a great job, did everything, you know, but when a championship, um, you know, finished [00:01:30] second numerous times and truly did a great job building this program for a decade.
Um, and then left for a different role around this time last year. Another coach came in, just didn’t work out. Um, so there was a lot of turnover just in the program. And so I really felt my main goal to come in was just to stabilize things, keep the roster intact as much as possible, build relationships primarily with the kids that we had, but also recruit, um, heavily to try to, you know, close out a 24 roster and then, you know, attack 2025 as well.
Um, and felt we were able to do that. You know, I think there wasn’t really because of the couple coaching changes, a lot of recruiting done, um, there weren’t kids committed, there weren’t kids signed, there were a couple floating out there like, hey, what’s going on? Um, but really it was kind of starting from the ground up in January, which is obviously super late on, on a class.
Um, but I think we, we identified some of our needs and we’re able to address them through freshmen and the transfer portal. Um, and then, you know, like, really just trying to make sure that we made soccer fun again for the players in the program. Um, we set some real standards and goals about where we want to be this fall.
Um, but, you know, it wasn’t one of those situations. I’m not the kind of coach that comes in. I didn’t cut anybody. We had a little bit of turnover with a grad transfer. We lost one of their kids to an ACC school through the portal. Um, but other than that, we retained the roster, which is really, really good for.
For us to build off of and you have kids that, you know, really are, yeah, they struggled last fall, but are two years removed from being a Big South Conference final. I think we have a lot of experience. We have [00:03:00] eight true seniors on the roster this fall, a couple of grad students. So it’s going to be a really fun competitive year, hopefully for us.
But yeah, it was definitely a unique situation with all the turnover with players, just hungry to get back to the, to their winning ways. And, and also with big needs to fill. Um, and really just tried to come in and meet the players where they were and engage them and build that relationship with them, put a staff together and, and kind of hit the ground running.
Really, it’s crazy to say six months into the job. In some ways, I feel like I’ve been here forever. In some ways, it’s like, wow, six months in, we still have a long way to go, you know, so. Um, it’s been, uh, been super, I’m just super grateful and blessed to be here at Gardner Web. It was the right opportunity at the right time.
And I really felt like it just the alignment within the institution was tremendous. And that was something I was looking for, um, between the president, the, the VP for athletics, you know, really our whole, um, even the academic side here. I just feel like there was perfect alignment and it was just too good of an opportunity for me to pass up.
And, um, you know, There’s a lot of work still to be done, but really, really happy and blessed to be here for sure.
Matt: Oh, sounds great. Well, you mentioned you have, you have a lot of, a lot of seniors and things on the roster this year. So in terms of just timelines, you know, we just, just had the almighty June 15th date, right?
To, for all the 26 is to get excited about, but how much. How much have you been working on that class as opposed to the 25s, which obviously looks like you’re going to have a lot of turnover and got to be focused on kind of what’s your time split right now in [00:04:30] terms of what you’re recruiting.
Coach: Yeah, we’d say it’s pretty equal time sharing right now, just because of when I got in, I was already a little late on 2025.
So we obviously worked on that immediately as well. Um, but 26 is really going to be the first class. I feel like we’re recruiting on a traditional timeline. Um, so yeah, I made probably. 20 to 30, 2026 calls, you know, not 60, not 100, but that was kind of my number reached out to several more, but that was kind of what we landed on in the process of setting up visits.
We’ve got 2 ID camps coming up in July, 1 in July, 1 in August that we’ll use really to try to get as many 2026 as the campus as we can. Um, and then, you know, obviously really. Working on 25 is like crazy. Like we probably have four visits here in the next week. Um, obviously we’ll have some of them come to camp.
So we’ve got a lot of stuff going on with 2025s. Um, I’ve been, you know, a little bit slower with 2025s, just making sure we get the right kids in. Um, and been a little bit, um, picky with that more so than, than I normally would be, just because if we’re going to be a little bit later on the timeline, anyways, I want to make sure we’re bringing impactful players that really fit us.
and fit what I’m trying to build and fit our culture. So, um, yeah, we’re, we’re kind of in a good spot with 2025s. Um, but we, we’ve got obviously work to go to fill what will definitely be a little bit heavier transfer portal with 25s. I mean, we’re still going to bring in probably six to eight freshmen, but we, we want to bring in some transfer portal kids that can help us immediately as well, just to add some experience.
And then, you know, the way it is now, like I don’t, I [00:06:00] think 2026 is a little bit overblown, especially cause they can’t really come on a visit till August 1st. Um, but, um, at the same time, like I think it’s appropriate for us if we see good talent to try to go get them and ultimately if we’re getting those from a few kids, that’s okay.
It means we’re probably recruiting the right kind of kids. So, um, yeah, that’s, that’s kind of where we’re at, but definitely working on both classes. It is a little bit of an earlier timeline than I had at Arkansas Pine Bluff where I recruited really late. Um, we’re, we’re trying to get on a little bit more of a traditional timeline here to, to, you know.
Because I think that’s what it’s going to take to get the players that are competitive enough for for us to win. Ultimately,
Matt: well, one thing, if you look at that last season’s roster, there’s maybe a third, I would say, international ish. Um, is the international recruiting component something you’re continuing to do?
Is it not as important? Where do where do the international recruiting kind of fall?
Coach: I think I’m still trying to work that out. We’ll always have international kids on our roster for a couple reasons. Number one, I think it enhances the student athlete experience. It provides a great opportunity for the international player to come to America, pursue their dream of playing college soccer.
But I think it also really benefits our current team to be exposed to different languages, different cultures, things like that. So we’ll continue to be international. I would say maybe a little bit less. Um, just from the standpoint of I’ve been able to do so well domestically and recruiting that I think we can continue that, um, and, and just transparently, I think a lot of international players, you know, the cost issue seems to be a bigger issue.
We’re not a cheap [00:07:30] school. We’re definitely not the most expensive either. Um, but, you know, as a private school, it’s, we have, it’s an investment of a lot of money into these players and you have to be sure, right? So, um, I like to be able to see players in person and build those relationships. Um, you know, right away from, from our, from our end.
Um, so I like to be able to sit down and look kids in the eye as much as possible. So even the internationals recruit, there’ll be plenty of zooms, uh, and things like that. But we’ll still have internationals. We’ll definitely get into Canada a little bit more, um, probably than had been done. Um, you know, but, definitely is still in the plans for us.
But I do think we can do a really good job recruiting domestic players here. And, you know, I think one thing that’s really important for coaches, you know, especially if there’s young coaches out there listening and not that I’m a super old sage or anything like that, but I’ve been doing this for, you know, a decade as a head coach and more than that overall, like you can’t be married to a recruiting plan.
Like if it doesn’t work, you got to change. Right. So right now I’ll say, Hey, domestic kids will enhance that with international kids. I may come back in two years and be like, Hey, we’re going totally international or vice versa. Right. So I think just have to be able to be willing to adjust based on the kind of the level that you’re able to recruit.
But I see us, I see us doing both.
Matt: Okay. Well, coming into a new program, uh, You’re trying to be competitive in the Southern Conference or Big South, excuse me. Um, you know, what, what is it that you’re looking for in a player? What are the things that make up the hierarchy of what you’re looking for? Uh, whether it’s on the field attributes or off the field stuff.
Coach: Yeah. And I think [00:09:00] this part hasn’t changed. So, um, you know, for me, I think I look for a couple of things, you know, the team is coming off of one, six and one season in conference where they finished dead last and made the conference tournament. So when I sit down to evaluate a player, whether it’s in person or on film, I’m asking, how can that player help us move up the table?
How can that player help us catapult to a, to a Big South Conference championship for the first time in program history? Like, those are the things I’m sitting down and, and kind of evaluating. One thing I also like to do is, what is the defining characteristic of this, of this player, right? Like, so are they a central midfielder who’s a great ball winner?
Are they a great distributor of the ball? Are they just a pure finisher? Are they athletic? Are they super fast? You know, like, what if I, if I just said a player, you know, like Jane Doe, like, what is the biggest trait that I take away. Maybe it’s that they’re just a great leader. Like maybe that outweighs their, their, their talent.
Maybe they’re just a great fit for the school. So there’s a lot of different things that I think kind of go into it. You know, I think the non negotiables for me are hardworking. You got to have great effort, great attitude. I think you have to be athletic in this day and age to play division one college women’s soccer.
Um, you know, the, the, the day of Just being the most technical player with very little athleticism. I’m not saying that’s impossible, but I definitely like a more athletic player. Um, and then obviously looking for players that are hungry, you know, we have a bigger roster, we’re very competitive environments.
Like I want players who can come in here and want to compete. Like I tell almost every kid that’s in the, in the recruiting process, like Gardner Webb is not the place for you if you don’t want to compete. And if you just want promises and guarantees, like we have [00:10:30] open competition for every spot. So I want players that are gritty that.
Um, you know, fit me and fit our school, but are also hungry to come in and work and get better. They’re not just going to get here and be like, Oh, I’m a done finished soccer product. I want players who want to develop and continue to get better as well throughout their four years here.
Matt: Is there a roster size that you’re trying to hit?
There that you think is going to work. Yeah. So in
Coach: full, in full transparency, um, we have 40. Um, that’s kind of our goal number. It’s probably, I see it getting slammed all the time on social media as being unpopular. Um, I think roster potential roster limits, notwithstanding, I think you’re going to see a lot more schools doing it, especially of smaller size.
Um, just because that’s the nature of where we are at in, in college athletics right now with. The haves and the have nots. And, you know, I’m not going to say we’re a have not. We’ve got a brand new across the street, um, about 2 million men’s women’s soccer field house. That’ll be done in the next week or 2.
Um, we’ve got a beautiful facility, you know, we’re not going through the budget cuts that some of my colleagues are because we have stable numbers and we have healthy enrollments. Um, but yeah, we’re, we’re a bigger roster. So. You have to be willing to want to compete. Now, again, we may have a rethink about exactly what we’re doing.
If these NCAA roster limits come in and what that looks like, do we run a, you know, a reserve squad or something like that, that kind of remains to be seen like what we’re going to be able to do. But yeah, we have a bigger roster that definitely scares some kids away, but we want the kid that wants to come in and bet on themselves, you know, like that’s the kid that we’re looking for.
So I actually find it really helpful [00:12:00] because if you’re a kid, that’s like, Hey. I don’t want to compete. I just want to be guaranteed things and have assurances. Um, this probably isn’t the place for them. And so that’s actually kind of helped us in the recruiting process, go through and see who really is a grinder and wants to compete.
And then again, you know, there are the kids that fall into that category. And there’s also kids that we’re investing in financially that we are pretty sure like are going to have a big contribution. And there’s kids that were like, Hey, they could, they could not. Um, and so. You know, they may not get a scholarship offer.
They may be a walk on or they may get a little bit of money, but it’s an open competition. We’ve got several walk ons who will start. We’ve got some kids that are on big money that probably won’t play a ton. So it kind of goes both ways for us, but yeah, we have, we have a bigger roster. Um, and it’s just kind of part of what the gig is here.
Um, but at the same time, I think it makes us a big, happy family and it makes it a super competitive environment where everybody can hold each, uh, each other accountable and to the same standards.
Matt: Okay. Well, let’s talk about the school a bit. Um, Gardner webs kind of in the middle, uh, literally of, of North Carolina.
Um, so what, what is it about the school that kind of really attracted you to it? What have you found are some awesome things so far in your six months, uh, about school?
Coach: Yeah, so I think, wow, um, a couple of things. I mean, I could take up a whole podcast talking about what I love about Gardner Webb.
Truthfully, I think, I know I talked about the alignment between, you know, the, the administration, not just out in athletics, but outside of athletics. Um, I think there’s also, um, tremendous resources here. There’s an investment in men’s women’s soccer. Like I said, we have a brand [00:13:30] new, um, soccer field house.
locker room, training room, meeting rooms, offices, the whole deal, um, player lounge that’ll be, they’ll be ready for this August. So really excited to take recruits through there. Really excited to have our, our team and our eight to 10 seniors kind of back in there. Um, and have that kind of to end their career, I think is, is really awesome.
Um, they, they want us to win and have given us resources to win, which is something I haven’t always been used to. And so I’m really, I mean, our game field is next to none. We’ve got beautiful practice fields. Um, but then, you know, outside of that, we’re a faith. forward institution. You know, I’m a Christian person, my family, you know, our believers.
I think that’s really important to us. But one thing I really love about Gardner web is we’re definitely inclusive as well. We’ve got players on our team of different faiths that, you know, they feel welcome and loved here. Um, you know, I’ve worked in institutions before where maybe they’re, they’re a Christian institution, but don’t really have those same beliefs.
So I love that we can go after and recruit any player, but also that they’re going to come on campus and, and kind of be around that environment. I think that’s really, really important to me. And, and that’s kind of what I. What I love to do, but I think the people are really what set this place apart. You know, I’m not going to say our degree is Harvard or Duke, but I do think it really holds up in the institution.
I think if you want to, you know, in the higher ed landscape, like, if you want to go to PT school or PA school or med school or dental school or law school or get it just the best job ever. Our degree really holds up and has value, especially in the region, but even nationwide. We have a really high percentage of kids that get into post grad schools.
And obviously job placement is something that we really [00:15:00] celebrate around here. And part of that is we have a great student to faculty staff ratio. I think it’s less than 17 to 1. your average class size is going to look like high school. Like, we don’t really have classes bigger than 30 kids. Um, around here, you know, that being said, we have the amenities of a big school.
We’ve got a Chick fil a and a Starbucks on campus. You know, we have things like that, that, that, you know, we have a football team that competes at a really high level. We have, um, great division one athletics here that are growing and growing and, and we have investment in the, in the school. We’ve got brand new calf that’s going to be open this fall.
And so there’s a lot of things moving, you know, we’re in a small one stoplight town, 45 minutes west of Charlotte, but I think something really special is happening here. On campus, and I really see as some higher ed schools and higher ed really kind of struggle to kind of find their footing. I really see Gardner Webb thriving and kind of ahead of the curve.
And I’m just lucky to be here. Like I said, I think there’s really great people here. They want to build relationships with our student athletes that want to get to know them. The community is very supportive of running Bulldog athletics. And, um, yeah, it just is kind of the perfect fit at the perfect time for me.
Um, but also, I really think I look forward to watching the university continue to grow.
Matt: Well, let’s fast forward to October, uh, heart of the season. Walk me through what you’re expecting the, the, the schedule to be for a player, you know, in a, in a full week.
Coach: Yeah. So we’re kind of unique. Um, so non conference will look pretty much the same as most division ones, you know, we’ll move.
We’ll move in right. We don’t move in early. We’ll move in. I think this year [00:16:30] is July 28th ish. First game like August 15th. We play Thursday, Sunday and our non conference. So Monday is usually our off day in conference. We play Wednesday, Saturday. The great thing is we don’t have any multi day trips here.
Like, we might have an overnight. We don’t have any where we’re like, we leave on Tuesday and we don’t come back till Saturday night, you know, so that’s really nice. Our kids stay in class a lot more. A lot of our trips are very close. So parents can come support if they’re local, but also just people from the university can come support.
It’s really easy to get from point A to point B, which is, which is great. I think for us, you know, when we play Wednesday, Saturday, the great thing is Sunday becomes our off day. And it’s really an off day, you know, like if I want to come up to the office, I can usually I’ll watch film from home, whatever, but our players don’t have to go to school.
They don’t have to go to practice. They get like a true off day, which is really, really nice. We also have a couple one game weeks, which is which is nice where we just have a single game on a Wednesday or a single game on a Saturday. Um, and kids get to recover, but normally, you know, uh, Sundays are off day in conference, like in October, you know, Monday morning, we might get in a little lift at 8 a.
m. Uh, we’ll train Monday, mid afternoon, um, Tuesday, you know, would be a training session in the afternoon. Wednesday, we’re, we’re gearing up to play. Um, Thursday is a recovery day, Friday, kind of, again, a pregame day, Saturday, we’re, we’re, um. Um, you know, we’re playing again and Sundays are off day and we kind of repeat the process, you know, I’m not a big, uh, I believe this generation doesn’t sleep enough as it is.
I mean, every, every coach has a couple of early, [00:18:00] early birds on their team. We don’t do a lot of early morning stuff, a lot of 7 a. m. 8 a. m. stuff, maybe lifting wise, usually 8 a. m. and then we train mid to late afternoon. So the 2 to 4, 3 to 5 kind of time slot. Uh, which works really well for us, kind of a good spot in the day where you’ve had time to get all your classes in.
Uh, there’s nothing hanging over your head that you have to do after training. You’ve gotten a good lunch in, gotten athletic training help if you need it. Maybe had some study time, maybe caught a nap. So we find that works really well and then when that’s done, you know, definitely getting some recovery.
Rehabbing if you need, but also just um, getting a good dinner in, having time to, I’m a really big believer in balance, right? So I want our players to have a life, whether that’s, you know, There’s a ton of things to do on campus. We have a number of players that are super involved and invested on campus, or they’re going to go support the volleyball team or the football team, or, or especially in the spring, um, basketball, softball, baseball, those kinds of things, tennis.
Um, we, we love to go support other teams. So I want them to be free in the evening to go do that, but also to have a social life to hit the books. We’ve got a good academic team as well. We want them to really be studying hard and doing what they need to do in the classroom to achieve their goals. Um, you know, just really trying to free them up in the evenings as well.
Matt: Okay. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the team. Uh, obviously you come in as, as the new head coach, but what, what’s the rest of your coaching staff look like? Um, what are the, what other staff maybe are in the athletic department that are to help There to help with the team.
Coach: Yeah. So definitely got great resources here.
I have a full time assistant I hired. Her name is Mallory Coleman. Um, she’s amazing. She played in the sec, somebody I’ve known, [00:19:30] um, literally 14 years since back in the days when I had hair. So, um, she’s, she’s awesome. She’ll be, uh, what I say here, like we’re really big in P in, in player development, but we’re also really big believers in people development.
And I exemplifies that. She is somebody who just will come in and be a great role model for our players, but also has been, you know, in the trenches at the highest levels as a player. She’s coached WPSL and been in the club scene for a while, but it’s just a super tactician. I’m super great with some of the data analysis, but really just the player and people development is something I’m going to lean on her for.
Um, a lot. So she’s, she’s on staff. We’re in the process of, of hiring a kind of a, they call it a graduate intern here, but basically a graduate assistant, um, you know, to, to handle our goalkeeping, but also handle a lot of our operational stuff. Um, so if anybody listened to this in, in the July timeframe or late June timeframe here in 2024.
Come on, come be a part of what we’re doing. The job will be posted here hopefully soon. Um, and we’ll, we’ll kind of make a final hiring on that. So that’s my staff. We may bring in a volunteer at some point too, but that’s kind of my, my general staff. We’ve got a number of athletic trainers here. I think we’re gonna have four or five.
Um, so we’ll have a one that’s, that’s working with them in soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring. And she’ll obviously still have some crossover with us and in the spring and lacrosse in the fall, but we’ll travel with us, be at every training session, that sort of thing. We have two full time, um, Women in our academic advising area that are great, uh, great [00:21:00] resources and great help for us.
Um, that basically just kind of help us bridge the gap between us and athletics or academics. I should say, uh, bridge the gap between athletics and academics. They’re super people, really helpful. If people need anything again. You know, I’m always going to say go talk to your professors because here we don’t have a lot of TAs, GAs, teaching classes, you’re going to have a relationship with your professor, they’re going to know who you are, know you play women’s soccer, but they’re here to help keep you eligible, bridge the gap, help you meet your goals.
Um, outside of that, you know, we have a couple of different other, other things, you know, we kind of outsource a lot of our, our med stuff, our PT stuff that our athletic trainers, that they can’t do. Um, but that’s been a really, really smooth process so far. Um, Yeah, it’s, you know, we’ve got people all across athletics really just trying to help make this program the best it can be from our bulldog club, which is helping us raise money to, to, um, to our people in athletic administration.
Um, Ms. Pam Scruggs has been, been here, you know, I think three decades plus now. And, you know, Just as she’s my senior women’s administrator and just a great resource and a great brain to pick. We’ve got a brand new compliance person is awesome. Again. Our vice president for athletics came from Syracuse. So he has kind of that that big school mindset in a small school and I love his vision and he’s really just there to be a sounding board and help us.
And he’s done a great job so far. So a lot of people to help us a lot of resources here. We’ve got a great housing department, really no issues with anybody, which is great. which is awesome. And, um, it’s definitely a community that’s here to help and wants to, um, help everybody [00:22:30] succeed and be successful.
Matt: Awesome. Well, what about you as, as the head man here? Uh, you know, talk to me about your coaching style, style of play you’re looking to implement there.
Coach: Yeah. So I think for me, um, you know, my, my coaching style, I’m a, I’m a Christian person first. So I’m not a demeaning coach. I’m not, you know, I’m not a big yeller and screamer.
Like I think I have standards and non, uh, you know, things that are non negotiable to us. And that’s, you know, really a primary thing for, for me, um, you know, like, is that we’re hitting our standards. I’m much more likely to play the disappointed dad than I am to yell or scream at you. You know what I mean?
And, and so that’s, that’s kind of our mentality is we’re really honest. about where we are training wise, you know, did we get better today or not? You know, cause if you’re not getting better every day, um, you know, somebody else is. Um, so that’s kind of our goal every training and we’re really honest about, Hey, it was today to the level.
Yes or no. Okay. It wasn’t. How can we fix that for tomorrow? Not dwell on it. Bad days happen, but let’s make sure we’re moving forward. Um, you know, my coaching style from the standpoint of I’m definitely a believer in the Socratic method. I think I can tell you what to do, but you’re going to be much more empowered if you know what to do.
Um, so I believe in asking questions to get to answers. We spend a lot of time. I’m a true millennial. We spend a lot of time with PowerPoints and things like that. Just trying to make sure everybody knows their roles and responsibilities on and off the fields and our expectations, because I can’t hold you to a standard if you don’t know what the expectation is.
Um, You know, I think from a playing style standpoint, we’re going to be a little bit hybrid. You know, I think the team right now really wants to play. Um, that’s great. [00:24:00] I think we’ll be able to do that quite a bit, but I think there’s also games that will be pressed into oblivion and struggle to play out if we, if we try to play out of the backs.
All the time. So they’ll be games. We try to win the ball in the midfield and then get the ball wider, get the ball forward. You know, we’re never going to be a team that unless we’re chasing a game, I tell our back line, Hey, hit every ball over the top, like a bypass our midfield. That’s not who I am. But at the same time, you know, we really want to play in our opponents attacking half.
We want to be really organized. We want to, um, you know, we want to break lines in the attack and, and restore our lines and stay really compact and be tough to break down defensively. We want to win the game in transition. Um, you know, we want to, we want to. Be gritty. We want to be tough. Like we want to be a team that leaves a little extra on you.
And that when you, you know, see Gardner web on the scouting report, the first lines are, Hey, they’re a really tough team to play because they work incredibly hard. They got a big bench. A lot of players are involved. They’re very supportive of one another and kind of play with that character and attitude that exemplifies what we want with, with our running bulldogs, women’s soccer team.
So, um, that’s kind of a little bit about it. You know, I can go into for sure more depth, I think for us, it’s a work in progress. I think it kind of goes along with the recruiting thing. Like You can’t be afraid as a coach to blow things up if they’re not working, but at the same time, you know, sometimes even if you’re not getting the results, if you feel like the process is right, you have to stay the course.
You know, this is not a, you know, hopefully we look, we’ve got, I won’t put a limit on what we can do right with eight plus seniors. Um, like we can, we can win a conference championship if everything goes our way. But that’s not going to define me or our program in year one of me being [00:25:30] at the helm of if we win or not, you know, like we are process oriented.
I’m not going to cut corners in recruiting or cut corners in the process to get us to win a championship is not doing things the right way. I believe in integrity. And I believe we have the squad here that on any day can beat anybody in the conference and beyond that. But also I’m definitely process oriented.
And I think it’s one step at a time. And, you know, if we can win a championship, great, but Like again, it doesn’t define us in year one. That is a goal for here for sure. I wouldn’t have come here if I, if I didn’t want to be the first, the first head coach to get the women’s soccer program to the national tournament.
But at the same time, you know, like it’s a step by step process and we got to kind of evaluate things game by game and, and just try to make sure we have the right game plan for every match.
Matt: Awesome. Well, coach, really appreciate the time going to leave you with one last question, uh, as somebody who’s, you know, you’ve been a division one coaches as well as coach other spots.
If there was one piece of advice, uh, that you could give to a player going through this process right now. What would that be?
Coach: Yeah. So I’m in a unique situation, right? I’ve been a head coach division three at a division two and now at my second division one over the course of the last decade. So I’ve kind of seen it all.
Um, I would just say, you know, it’s very easy to get in the comparative game. But pick a school because, um, you feel like it feels like home doesn’t have to look like home, but because it feels like home, don’t rush your process. But at the same time, if the right school comes along and gives you the offer, you know, don’t don’t put them on the back burner either.
If you [00:27:00] feel like it’s where you’re meant to be. Um, yeah, go ahead. Run full speed of it. I think it is about, you know, the cliche trusting the process. I think it’s about being in alignment with your family. Like, what can you afford? What are you looking for? Um, what are your non negotiables? You want a big school, small school?
Does the level matter to you? And again, when I say level, It’s great to put, you know, I’m a division one coach and have been for five years. Like, it’s great to put, and I was division one athlete, it’s great to put division one on something. Do you, is it, is it because you want to put division one on something or is it because like that’s important to you for other reasons, you know, is it because it’s the school and the fit?
So there’s lots of great schools at every level. I would say, you know, the piece of advice I’d have is go into everything with an open mind. Um, there’s a lot of great soccer being played, division one, division two, division three, NAI, JUCO and beyond. And, and so for me, I think it’s, it’s just about trusting your process, enjoying it.
You only get to do it, you know, once and, you know, the portal is another story, but it’s still not the same as going through it in high school. Um, go on visits, go to camps. I think there’s a bad wrap around ID camps right now. And I think that’s a little bit misguided. A lot of us are really using them for the purpose of, of genuinely recruiting players and getting to see training habits.
And so, Yeah, I would just say enjoy the experience, trust that process. And when you, uh, when you find that right school, be all in, you know, um, and don’t be all in until you’re ready to be all in. I think that would be really the only advice I can get. And then just, like I said, enjoy it. It’s, it’s, um, it’s some of the best times of your life.
I think there’s kind of a, as I’ve gotten older and have a [00:28:30] family and kids, like college is not always the best time of your life. It’s a great time though. It is a great time. Like I’ve, I’ve had better times since college, thankfully. Um, but college was a great time. And so, you know, as you prepare for that.
Um, just making sure you’re in alignment with your family and make the right decision that’s best for you as a, as a person and student athlete.
Matt: Absolutely. Well, coach, really appreciate it. Good seeing you again. And, uh, Hey, if you get down to any of the, uh, you know, the ECL events down here in Bradenton, give me a shout so we can get together.
All right.
Coach: Will do for sure, Matt. Thanks so much for having me. Really appreciate just go dogs.
