Loyola Marymount University Women’s Soccer – Coach Chelsey Patterson

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Chelsey Patterson from the Loyola Marymount University Women’s Program. We talk about what it’s like as a brand new staff. She describes the unique aspects of being a school in Los Angeles. Lastly, we discuss what their offseason programs look like in the spring. Learn more about LMU Women’s Soccer.

[00:00:00] Matt: Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today on lucky enough. Joined by coach Chelsea Patterson from the Loyola Marymount University women’s program. Welcome coach.

[00:00:13] Coach: Hello. Hello. Thank you

[00:00:14] Matt: for having me. Thanks for being here. I’m old enough to remember the, uh, the, the heyday of Loyola, Marymount men’s basketball, uh, you know, the fun running gun side, but there may be some people out there who aren’t familiar with with the school.

[00:00:27] So I’m excited to get you on and, and you are part of a new staff. You guys just got hired recent. Correct?

[00:00:34] Coach: Yes. So we all, um, got hired in a month of each other, but it started coming from January to March.

[00:00:40] Matt: Wow. Okay. So lots going on there. So we’re going to come at this a little bit differently because obviously this is not a normal recruiting period for you guys.

[00:00:49] Um, but I guess let’s talk about it as a new staff. What, you know, you’re obviously. Uh, evaluating the roster and then trying to fill it in. So what kind of goes through your guys’ thought process, uh, in this spring, before your first season?

[00:01:03] Coach: Yeah, it really is just kind of retaining who we have and keeping who we have, um, bought in to what we’re doing.

[00:01:13] And then to kind of just elevate that as well. Um, just like you, I. When I played at Cal state Fullerton for my college career, we had played LMU almost every single year. So I remember how prominent and prestigious they were on the soccer field. Of course not only as university. So, um, the past 10 years or so, it’s been kind of up and down.

[00:01:36] For them as a program in general. And so our, our goal as a new staff was really just kind of looking for players that were recruiting camp, who can make an impact immediate impact right away. So

[00:01:50] Matt: I’m guessing, you know, again, I said, we’re, we’re coming to this a little differently just because I have.

[00:01:56] Staff turnover. I’m in, when I was mentioning earlier, when I was a college player, I had three coaches in four years. So, so things obviously change, but if you’re a prospect and you’ve been, uh, talking to a coach and then all of a sudden they leave and now you’ve got to talk to a new coach because it’s before you’ve actually started, you know?

[00:02:14] W what is that like for you guys coming in? Um, are you, uh, how do you approach talking to players? Who’ve been in contact with the university. But aren’t yet committed or aren’t yet part of the, part of the whole program. Yeah,

[00:02:29] Coach: that’s probably the weirdest trends have been part of this, of this journey. But I think before I answer that part of the question, I’d like to just mention to any athletes.

[00:02:46] Every person is different. Every coach is going to be different, so you could be coming into it. And, um, the coach previous loves you, but then the next code. Kind of rude about it, but how we handled it was very much like we are going to respect you. Watch you give you a chance because everyone deserves a chance.

[00:03:07] And then we were honest with kids when we needed to be, if we were going to go in a different direction, if we were going to continue with them. So we were right now in this new staff that we are, we are very transparent with our players, really.

[00:03:24] Matt: Looking at new players, not the ones that the previous staff had had been looking at.

[00:03:30] If you’re looking at new players, is it in that first year? Are you putting a greater emphasis potentially on. Junior college and transfer players to balance out the meat of the roster in terms of age, or are you looking heavy? Uh, freshmen, you know, folks that are going to be incoming?

[00:03:54] Coach: Yeah, I think that’s really dependent on the head coach and their emphasis and their experience as a player.

[00:04:01] So, um, in rounding out our new staff, Chris, me that. Was at Cal state LA for many years. And prior to that, he’s, um, as well as now, he’s worked with professional teams. So he understands the, the impact that transfers as well as especially international players have. So this first spring, when we got in, in April, we were heavy in the transfer portal because our kids are younger.

[00:04:29] Um, and they. There’s some leadership, uh, our, our actual team, I’m sorry to confuse that our actual LMU team, um, good players, but we don’t have as much leadership. So yes, we were very heavy in the transfer portal. We do have a few, uh, incoming freshmen who we inherited and we respected their scholarship, their agreements, everything like that.

[00:04:52] So we never, we didn’t cut anyone. Um, That was already coming to us this fall. And so this spring, yeah, this first year really was just transfer and international heavy is what we were really looking at to kind of elevate us. And it’s like little band-aids I guess, so to speak, um, to kind of cover silver until we get into 23, 24 and to a recruiting.

[00:05:15] Matt: Okay, let’s talk about moving forward. Right? Well, we’ll just, we’ll just assume that you guys brought in an amazing class. You have a wonderful year and now you’re recruiting for the next season. Right? Where do you see your guys spending a majority of your time? Uh, in terms of, of looking at players, what tournaments would you say, you know, are going to be on the.

[00:05:36] The must-see list, if you will. And the second part of that is how to camps fit into your overall recruiting, whether they’re ID camps at your school or other schools, camps.

[00:05:47] Coach: Yeah, I think the first part of that we are in a hotbed of youth soccer, youth soccer. So for us. It’s taking advantage of, um, ECNL tournaments and any tournaments that are hosted out here in Southern California to see out of state kids.

[00:06:05] But our in-state Southern kids, uh, Southern California kids is really. Us taking advantage of their league games that are going on around here. So it’s not so much tournament’s that we look at for our local kids, just because they’re so close. Um, but it’s more so finding those league games and then using the tournaments for both still, but for the out-of-state kids that we aren’t always going to see.

[00:06:28] Um, and then the second part of that, um, Can you remind me of that question? I rambled

[00:06:38] ham CS camps are really huge for us. Um, we will be having two this summer, our first two as a new staff, and then we’ll be looking forward to adding more, but we like to do ID camps, whether it’s. Hosting our own or being a part of another colleges, um, obviously for the recruiting aspect, but to get to know the kids like that is that is the part that we really enjoy is the hands-on getting to know them because if they’re 24 and younger than we don’t have that opportunity, any other time, especially emails.

[00:07:09] So that kind of provides us that opportunity.

[00:07:12] Matt: So, whether it’s, you’re recruiting now, you’re recruiting in the future, giving me a certain idea of like, what’s your checklist, right? What’s your hierarchy when you’re looking at a player, what are the things, whether it’s on the field or off the field that are, you know, the have to haves the nice to haves the, you know,

[00:07:31] Coach: yes.

[00:07:34] So always going to look at someone who stands out regardless of the position. Um, if they are doing things that are intentional and are successful, kind of like a ratio of intentional and successful, because they can be intentional with the past and always be successful, or they could be successful with something and not be impending.

[00:07:56] And it just works out. But, um, Those aspects, attitude on and off the field, how each treat each other. Um, we’re, we’re looking for that true competitor that you can, you can see in their face and their body language on the field, that they are just, they’re there to play soccer, to compete and to win. And if they don’t win, then there’ll be upset.

[00:08:17] But off the field, they are good people. They. Um, love academics because we are important academic school. Um, they are, and it doesn’t need to necessarily even be like, they’re good people too. Like the friends, of course, like they have a lot of friends, but that aspect, it doesn’t matter. It’s just people who are mature, who are going to.

[00:08:42] Work for us and who like us, like they, they want to be at LMU, not just for, um, the views and the energy on campus. I mean, the views are always gonna be. The energy and the campus is always going to be there, but us as a coaching staff, as, as a program, um, they, they want to come to play for us and play, um, with our players.

[00:09:03] Matt: I love it. Well, let’s talk a little bit about, about the school that you mentioned the views. Uh, you know, I know you haven’t been there super long, but you’re, you’ve been in the Southern California area for a long time. So, you know, a lot about it. Give us kind of the, the stuff that. No about LMU the stuff I’m not going to find just by clicking on the website, that makes it a, an awesome place to be.

[00:09:24] Okay.

[00:09:25] Coach: Um, we have, which we just found out as a staff a couple of weeks ago. Uh, we have a thing called wellness Wednesdays, and that is almost like a farmer’s market on campus. Um, there’s there’s smoothies, fruit stands, um, Hawaiian, barbecue, Mexican food. Um, teas, smoothies, just kind of anything you could think of, but even items like shirts, jewelry, um, that is kind of lined up in an area for all the students to be a part of and to kind of take a step away from classes and enjoy themselves.

[00:10:05] And to understand that, I mean, life is a beautiful thing, so that’s a really cool focus, um, of LMU. Another one is, um, We have silicone beach, which is our Playa Vista campus. And that is where Google campuses. That’s where a lot of, some of our students kind of live as well. Um, and I don’t know if it says on the website, but we could see the Hollywood sign from our campus.

[00:10:30] So that’s pretty cool. That is cool. That’s pretty cool. On a very clear day, we could see the Hollywood.

[00:10:36] Matt: Yeah. That that might not be as, as more, uh, Prevalent clear days in LA sometimes, but that’s all right. Yeah.

[00:10:44] Coach: With the fog. Not always, but when it’s, when it’s clear, it’s it’s a good

[00:10:47] Matt: day. All right. What you did mention, you know, the academic standards of Loyola, Marymount, and I, and I know it’s a very highly regarded academic university.

[00:10:56] So what, what is it that. The school does or the athletic department does, or the team does that help student athletes really balance the rigor of their academics with being a D one athlete?

[00:11:08] Coach: Hmm. That’s a good question. So what I love about LMU is that not only are there three coaches on staff, there’s a strength and conditioning coach.

[00:11:18] There’s an athletic trainer and athletic trainers, plural, who we have within the athletics program. We have, um, Academic advisor for solely our team, as well as a couple of others who oversee all of athletics. Um, and really those academic advisors are the ones who support the student the most. I mean, all of us round out that support, but the academic advisors are the ones that are helping the students with their classes, registering for classes, understanding what path they’re on.

[00:11:51] Helping them with the path that they’re wrong to choose classes as well as tutors study hall, um, keeping up with them if their grades are starting to go down, especially our freshmen, since that first semester is kind of hard to manage because it’s their first semester as a student athlete called student.

[00:12:09] Um, our academic advisors do a really good job of helping them through checking in with them every single day, every single week. And then us as staff allow them when we’re going on to, um, trips to allow them to study and kind of like block out a time for study hall for their, for their classes. Cause we do leave sometimes on a Tuesday sometimes we’ll leave on a Thursday.

[00:12:29] So it depends on our travel day, but it still gets in the way of class. So we try to support them as much as we can.

[00:12:36] Matt: That’s always good. So I know you haven’t had a, a end game or a season, you know, a normal traditional season yet, but can you give us an idea of, of what you imagine at this point a typical week is going to look like for a player?

[00:12:51] Like, you know, if I’m coming in, what am I doing? Kind of. Monday through Sunday, uh, you know, in terms of going to class practice games, when does everything, when does everything fit in? Just, just to give an idea.

[00:13:04] Coach: So, um, for NCAA, you’re supposed to give them, um, a day off within, within the week. And so for us at LMU that week is from Sunday to Saturday.

[00:13:16] So any day of that week, we can give them. Because we are in the WCC and we have BYU in our conference. We play Wednesday, Saturdays because BYU does not play on Sunday. So a normal, not a normal cause we are normal. A different team in a different conference would probably play Thursday, Sunday or Friday.

[00:13:36] And they might have Monday off. However, for us, um, if we plan on a Wednesday, we could be traveling on a Tuesday. Uh, if we play on Saturday, we could be traveling on a Friday. So it kind of, um, makes us make some adjustments to our week. So what that would look like would be, um, if we look from Sunday to Saturday, Sunday, depending on the Saturday game, if it’s an earlier game, like a 1:00 PM, we might train.

[00:14:00] If it’s a later game, we might not. So I’d say Sunday, we would train. And the morning Monday, we would train again. It would be middle of the day. And then before and after they would be able to go to class, they would kind of schedule that around practice. And, um, so class practice class for them, that sandwich on a Monday, Tuesday would be, um, class practice weights right after.

[00:14:27] So Tuesday, Thursday will be our weight stays right after training. They’ll go back to class. If they have class in the afternoon. Um, Monday or Tuesday could be their day to meet with an academic advisor or professor. It depends. So it’s managing that time schedule. Um, we might even be traveling on a Tuesday, Wednesday.

[00:14:45] We would play, they would still have class. We would play Thursday. We would, they would have class. We would train weights class again. Friday, we would have practice in the middle of the day. Not many of them have class on Friday. It might be a lab here or there. Um, but it might be a travel day as well. So we would be going somewhere.

[00:15:04] You’re staying in a hotel and then Saturday play, uh, while also returning home. If our games are within Southern California and then Sunday kind of resets all over again. So we do that from beginning of August to end of October going into.

[00:15:20] Matt: Gotcha. Okay. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the soccer side of things.

[00:15:24] And I mean, this is more of a roster question though. Do you guys have an ideal roster size that you’re trying to hit or that the school wants you to have? You know, some schools are very.

[00:15:39] Coach: Fortunately, we are not a school where our, as our ID is telling us that we have to hit a number. Um, however, we don’t want to be in the low twenties or even mid twenties.

[00:15:49] We’d rather be 28 between kind of 28 and 32 is, is a healthy number because there are some injuries that tend to happen. And, um, in order for us to kind of be successful, one of the. We’d like to do is 11 V 11, and we won’t be able to do that with less numbers, so. Sure. Okay. Yeah, definitely not trying to be 40 though.

[00:16:09] Uh, yeah, that’s that’s a lot

[00:16:12] Matt: what you mentioned. The staff all kind of get hired within a month of each other with coach Chris, yourself and another assistant. So do you guys have specific roles that you’re playing with as coaches? Um, you know, what, what is the staff interaction kind of look like? It

[00:16:29] Coach: was, it was kind of funny because, um, Chris got hired in December and he started in January.

[00:16:34] He hired, um, Allie in January, I guess I got hired in February and I started in March. So yes, we were all staggered off of each other and. We just hit the ground running. So it wasn’t even like we had a set, like, okay, when you come in, this is what you’re going to do. When you come in, this is what you’re going to do is just like, let’s just pick up and go and you can get, you can get so, um, which was also kind of on the difficult side, because we were practicing with our spring practices in March.

[00:17:04] Right. When I got here. Drove out from Houston to here the next day I started. And we’ve all just kind of been, um, having each other’s backs and picking up where, where we need to, when we ask questions, it’s, it’s hard to ask of each other because we don’t know the answer. So we’re all figuring it out.

[00:17:22] We’re all acclimating. And as soon as we were done in middle of April is finally when we were able to sit down and we’re like, okay, These are roles. This is what you will be in charge of. You will be in charge of you’ll be in charge of. So now it’s more solidified and it’s a little bit easier with clear defined marks, but either way we’re still great are still continuing to support each other and kind of have each other’s back.

[00:17:44] So, yes, no.

[00:17:46] Matt: Gotcha. What you mentioned the spring program. Um, talk a little bit more about that. What does an off season non traditional season look like for, for.

[00:17:57] Coach: So it would start with eight hour weeks, which would mean less time on the soccer field, less activity. Um, there are different kind of sections that we are set up in to kind of like time frames and it’s, um, Not to get too detailed, but eight hour weeks, um, would mean that they can train for eight hours a week.

[00:18:18] And then 20 hour weeks means and allows us to have more time with the players. And that’s kind of when our fall season happens in our spring season happens. Excuse me. Um, voluntary workouts is. After fall before spring, as well as after spring, kind of like that off season where they’re, it’s optional for them to come into the weight room, play with each other, but nothing is coach led.

[00:18:42] None of the voluntary activities are coach led. So eight hour weeks, somewhat coach led 20 hour weeks. 100%. Coach led voluntary workouts, not coach led. So come January after seasons. They start their eight hour weeks, which is minimal coach led, um, mainly with the strength and conditioning coach they’re in there three times a week.

[00:19:03] The other two days we have about an hour with them and then come end of February, March around that time, um, is when. We will start our 20 hour weeks. And so we go Monday through Friday night, Saturday or Sunday, Monday through Friday with practices until maybe mid April is when we have enough dates for that.

[00:19:25] And then, um, we have five competition dates. So we get to decide between beginning of March, middle of April, when we kind of want those games, it could be. Weeks midday games, midweek games. Wow. That was a tongue twister. I don’t know why that was so hard. Mid week games and, uh, also a possibility of weekend games.

[00:19:45] So it kind of just depends. But for the most part, they have weekends off, which in the fall they don’t. So they have a little bit more time with academics. Um, a week for them is very similar to the fall where Monday through Friday, they’re doing soccer weights classes, but, um, a lot more time for classes, less.

[00:20:03] Matt: Okay. Well, I mean, you’ve been very gracious with your time and information and helping us understand what’s going on at, at Loyola Marymount, especially for a new coaching staff, which is great. So my last question for you, uh, just kind of the catch all, what, what didn’t we cover? What else would you like anybody to know about the school, the team, the staff, uh, or anything else moving forward?

[00:20:24] Coach: Yeah, the school kind of sells itself. Um, it’s a beautiful, amazing. Academic focus school, um, beautiful views and just amazing energy around here. We kind of feel like we’re in our own little bubble away from Los Angeles. So I think that’s a very special part of LMU. The other part of it, and I get to brag a little bit, but our coaching staff is really amazing.

[00:20:46] For the three of us to come together and bring our knowledge and our experience from our own separate backgrounds is really a beautiful thing. And it’s too long to get into for the three of us. So if anyone’s watching, I suggest you go on our website, check us out and see, but we all three are going to be bringing something beautiful to this program.

[00:21:04] So it’s exciting to see. Yeah,

[00:21:06] Matt: I can say I’ve, I’ve read all three bio’s and it’s definitely worth a read. You got to get an excellent staff that you guys put together. So, uh, congratulations on that. Well, we wish you the best of luck moving forward with the new program, and can’t wait to see how you guys, uh, turn things around over there and I’m sure we’ll be in.

[00:21:24] Coach: Thank you. I really appreciate you having me on here. And what you’re doing is amazing. The information, the video. So I hope, and I pray this. This helps someone as well.

[00:21:34] Matt: Absolutely. Well, thank you, Chelsea. We’ll talk to you soon. Okay. Bye.