Motlow State Women’s Soccer – Coach Andy Lyon
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Andy Lyon from the Motlow State Women’s Program in Tennessee. We talk about he is always recruiting for his program. He describes the school’s picturesque campus near a well-known landmark. Lastly, we discuss how his roster size ensures players see a pathway to the first eleven. Learn more about Motlow State Women’s Soccer.
[00:00:00] Matt: Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer. I’m lucky enough today to be joined by coach Andy Lyon from the Motlow community college coach. Welcome. Thank you. So Matlow state is in Tennessee. Uh, you know, a lot of folks may not be familiar. So we’ll, we’ll talk about the school here in a little bit, but let’s talk about the recruiting side of things, just cuz I think a lot of people, uh, They kind of forget about community colleges in a way or two year schools in general.
[00:00:28] Um, and, and maybe don’t understand how that process is different from, you know, a regular four year institution. I think, uh, you know, obviously you’re re you gotta reload a lot more, uh, every year than, than a typical coach. Um, but you know, I guess what, when do you. Let let’s talk about, I guess, timelines for, for you.
[00:00:51] When are you generally talking to kids and seeing kids and getting commits? Cause I’m assuming it, it’s a little bit later than a lot of traditional four year schools.
[00:01:02] Coach: Yeah, I would say is, is later, um, in all honesty in the junior college world recruitment never stops. I mean, we just finished our 22 class and immediately next day, I mean, we’re going on 20, 20 threes anyway, but it does seem to be quite a bit later finalizing your classes.
[00:01:23] And like you said, the turnaround is, you know, you’re looking at 50% of your team just about every year. Um, so it. It is nonstop with recruitment, um, which is exciting, but challenging as well. But yeah, I would say that the majority of our commits were getting senior year. You know, you get a few in their junior year, but, um, everybody’s still looking at that point.
[00:01:48] I think. So. Um, we usually kind of solidify it in their senior year. Um, I mean, and we still have some. You know, kind of last minute that, um, either the circumstances change or, um, you know, like you said, not everybody’s that familiar with the, with the junior college route. So some people take a while to kind of understand it, understand the benefits, that kind of thing.
[00:02:16] Matt: Yeah. Now, in terms of. You know, where you go to recruit in terms of, you know, tournaments, you’re looking at leagues you’re watching and, and then secondarily geography, uh, you know, most of your colleges tend to be fairly localized. Um, how does all that play into that, how do you build your roster each season?
[00:02:42] Coach: So I think for us, we look inside and then expand. Um, but I mean, in all honesty, we get sent players just about every single day. Um, especially recently, once we made the national tournament last year, that kind of opened up the floodgates in a way of players that, um, are a lot more interested, um, in going to a high quality Juco.
[00:03:07] Um, but I mean, we’ve, I’ve also been around. Quite a while. I’m quite old now. So, um, I’ve made a few co coaching contacts and I always, I always tap ’em up once a year. Um, just say, Hey, you know, you got any hidden gems that we need to come and look at. And, um, and there’s honestly a lot of, um, a lot of four years, like Juco players, um, So a lot of them are, you know, if they’re rosters full, we get people that contact us and say, Hey, I think this would be a great fit.
[00:03:39] Um, we would like to look at them in a couple of years, once, you know, they’ve come through, come through your program. So it, but this year, It’s probably our, our most diverse team in terms of where the players are from. Um, so we’ve got a girl from Scotland, one from England, one from Germany, um, a player from Arizona, Texas, Florida.
[00:04:02] So this year is kind of the, the most we’ve expanded in that. And that’s just been through either through coaches or just through recruiting websites in all honesty. It’s um, You know, we set up the thing with COVID was, uh, that it was zoom call after zoom call after zoom call. So, um, I think players maybe got a little bit more comfortable with zoom calls.
[00:04:27] Um, we didn’t, we still, I still struggle with that, cuz I’m quite awkward. So, um, but you know, it’s, they seem to, you know, be, be a little bit more open to the junior college, um, and especially ones.
[00:04:45] A really good level.
[00:04:47] Matt: So you mentioned, you know, and, and I know that kind of back on my division two coaching days did this, uh, once or twice as well, but we talk about like coaches saying heys. Can you kind of park this kid? Can you take not this kid and, and you know, for a year or two, and how, how many of those kind of come through in any given year, do you think?
[00:05:16] Coach: Uh it’s I mean, it is, it is quite rare, but it is also for the, up to the player themselves. I mean, cuz some of them are gonna be, you know, they obviously want to join that college immediately. And so it is. You know, you kind of understand it from their point of view where they’re going well, okay. I’ll, I’ll go this wait for two years and then come to you.
[00:05:39] But, um, it does happen more and more, and we do get, um, you know, as coaches move around, some of our, our good friends, you know, will reach out and go. I’ve got a player for you, not quite in our budget for this year, or maybe needs a little bit of help academically, um, to get their grades up and then so it, it, you know, it can happen.
[00:06:01] And I think it is beneficial. Um, very beneficial for all parties involved. It’s just, you know, it has to work. They have to feel. Um, at home on this, on the campus and you know, that it’s a, a step up and they’re not just, and there has to be that kind of agreement in place that this is gonna happen. You just have to be a little bit patient with it.
[00:06:23] Yeah.
[00:06:24] Matt: Well, in terms of that fit, you talk about, you know, you got a couple kids from outta state, um, and I’m guessing most of the people who are gonna end up watching this probably are from outside of Tennessee. Uh but, so what. What are the, the, I guess is what are the differences in terms of in-state versus out-of-state when it comes to a junior college, is it simply tuition like it is, uh, at, at a four year or, or, you know, how, how does, does that have any bearing at all in terms of, of what happens at the university or at the college?
[00:07:00] Excuse
[00:07:00] Coach: me. Yeah. I mean, um, a lot of our players were from out of. Um, had different offers, but obviously finances play a part in, in a lot of people’s decisions, as well as, as regular playing time. So, um, I think our players, they knew that, I mean, we don’t sign players just to sign players at all. Our players compete.
[00:07:25] They all get, you know, time if they’re, um, going about things the right way. So I think it was there. Um, their desire just to get in and keep playing right away. Um, versus maybe sitting invited their time for a year, two years stuff. And then some of them, um, you know, we talk to them for months and I always tell them if you can get on campus, get on campus, get the feel of it, talk to the players.
[00:07:55] Um, and so they talked to some of our players and then they came, they flew in for a visit and. You know, I fell in love with the campus. It is a beautiful campus. It’s that you could drive past it in either direction and not know it’s there. It’s, um, you know, set off the road. It’s surrounded by trees.
[00:08:12] It’s, you know, it is really a picture. So they all kind of fell in love with that. And then the fact that it’s a smaller school that they could get kind of more individual attention from the teachers. Um, so some of them that’s, that’s kind of what they’re they’re used to and what they like. So that. You know, feel that they set themselves up for success as well.
[00:08:32] Matt: So on that kind of financial aid topic, you know, what, what is the scholarship situation from an athletic point of view? Um, does junior college have academic scholarships as well? What’s kind of the typical financial aid package for, uh, an average student coming in to play soccer.
[00:08:52] Coach: So far, for our college, we, you know, they’re able to stack scholarships, academic, and athletic.
[00:08:58] Um, you know, if your, if your grades are, if your grades are up and, and if you do well on your ACT you know, you’re looking at. You know, really good, uh, financial benefits. I mean, we’ve had players that have come out debt free. Um, the vast majority of them come out, debt free, especially the Tennessee players cuz they get Tennessee promise.
[00:09:19] So it’s free education for them. Um, which has been massive, uh, for us in terms of recruitment of Tennessee players. Because I, I mean, I’m older. I keep telling them, look, I’ve just finished paying off my student loans. stay out of debt as long as you can. Um, but I mean, even the ones come in and from out state, when we tell them how much it’s gonna cost, and then we give them the, the kind of breakdown it’s, you can see their eyes like up just to be like, wow, really, really thought, definitely do this.
[00:09:51] Um, so it is, it can be a lot cheaper. Um, you know, that first year you’re still gonna take exactly the same classes, pretty much wherever you go. So it is, it’s the benefit of that. Um, and then, yeah, financially the, like a lot of our players they’re on because of their, the combination of their grades and what we give them and our budget isn’t massive, but we, you know, we stretch it as much as we can for them.
[00:10:19] And so they’re on, you know, really good financial deals where it’s. It’s not gonna break them basically.
[00:10:27] Matt: Okay. Well, the last thing I wanna talk about when it comes to recruiting, what, you know, are you heading to like tournaments and looking at players and, and that sort of thing. And what kind of high school games do you watch at all?
[00:10:42] Kind of where, where do you look to, to find some players besides your coaching contacts?
[00:10:47] Coach: Uh, so this, I mean, everywhere, everywhere we can. Um, we went to, uh, Texas this year. I was lucky, luckily enough to, I was coaching a team out there as well, but I combined it with recruiting. We go to high school games.
[00:11:04] Um, we were lucky in the fact that, um, there were a few really big tournaments here in Murfreesboro Tennessee, which is less than an hour up the road from us. So that was a really. Uh, convenient place to go recruiting. I mean, we go to the big tournaments in North Carolina, we try and get all around and then obviously most are live streaming games now, which is brilliant.
[00:11:27] Um, not quite the same as watching it in person, but you know, it’s perfectly good as well. And a lot of the players that will keep in touch with will say, Hey, if you’re playing, send us a link or can you, is there any way to send highlights that kind of stuff, but. We get around everywhere. We can basically, um, as far as a budget or stretch pretty much.
[00:11:52] Um, and then there’s obviously, uh, international context. We get sent, um, a lot of international, uh, players just to look at. Um, and then they’re always really good about sending if they’re having a day, whether it’s a tryout day or just a tournament day, they’ll send us the link to. So it’s a lot more accessible than it was maybe a few years ago.
[00:12:16] Okay. Um, and so, yeah, it is, I mean, that’s recruitment in a, in a nutshell, really, you try and. Get around as much as you can, in any way that you can.
[00:12:27] Matt: Uh, it, it made me think of another thing. Uh, just because, you know, we’re in the middle of the summer. Uh, and I actually tomorrow take my oldest daughter to, uh, a soccer camp.
[00:12:37] Do you guys do any camps? Do your coaching staff work camps? How, how do camps fit into the whole picture for you guys?
[00:12:43] Coach: Yeah, so we do, uh, various levels of it. We, we, aren’t doing a camp here this summer because. Uh, they’re building our field at the moment. So they’re renovating like a million dollar field.
[00:12:54] So we have to give it six months and stay off it and stuff. But we do, we do local camps here for the middle schools and high schools. We, um, we’ve done different camps in the past, so it kind of depends on our schedule as well. Um, and then obviously we’ll, we’ll try and do an ID camp or. Um, during the year that we are, we kind of invite everybody and make it affordable so everybody can, can make it as well.
[00:13:21] But, um, you know, it’s kind of identifying players from there as well that we’ve, we’ve maybe recruited and invited them in. And then that way we can show them, show them around as well, and then see what they’re like and get our players to feel for them as well.
[00:13:35] Matt: That’s great. Well, let’s talk about the school itself.
[00:13:38] You, you know, you mentioned the picturesque, uh, treeline campus, but what are some of those awesome things about the school that, you know, I might not find just by clicking around the website.
[00:13:48] Coach: Uh, so when the , the thing we have to deal with is, how to describe where the school is. Uh, and it’s terrible when we say, you know, the easiest way to describe it is.
[00:14:02] Most people have heard of it. They’re like, okay. Do you know Jack Daniels? Yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. 10 minutes away.
[00:14:09] Matt: Lynchburg Tennessee. . Yeah.
[00:14:11] Coach: So the location wise explaining it is, is, uh, is always interesting to people cuz you can always see the parents go. Hmm. Really? Yeah. Don’t panic. Don’t panic. It’s the factory.
[00:14:24] Um, But yeah, like I said, it is, it is very pictures. We have a, um, a fantastic nursing department, um, that their statistics are unreal about. Um, job placement is something like 99% or something crazy. Um, a criminal justice program is, is really, really good as well. Um, that we have, you know, great faculty.
[00:14:48] It is a very small campus. Um, you can see from one side to the other, you’re not gonna get lost there’s deer everywhere. When you first drive in, especially early in the morning. I had to narrowly avoid two babies this morning. Um, baby deer, not, not actually babies. Um, but so it’s, there’s wildlife everywhere.
[00:15:12] Is very picturesque. It’s our library, it’s amazing. Um, I was kind of at my university, my library was very stuffy, you know, very dusty and it just felt like you couldn’t make any noise ever. Um, and ours is very wide open. It’s really well lit. They’re just put in a virtual reality lab downstairs, um, for a lot of the departments to work with.
[00:15:40] Softball team works with them as well on their swing. Um, and so it’s always entertaining just walking past and you just see people randomly swinging in there. But so it is, there’s a lot of, a lot of different things to it. Um, and they always have events on campus as well with the, with the foundation, you know, Jack Daniels is obviously involved, but there’s a few other places around here that, um, Very much involved in the campus.
[00:16:06] So it’s, it is like a little community. And then when you go into town, my players, some of my players have just flown in this week and obviously they’re getting supplies and that kind of stuff for their house. And it really shocked them that people already kind of know who they are. And what they’re doing and they’re talking about the program and just going, oh, they had a really good year last year.
[00:16:27] Are you gonna be good? All right. Well, I hope so. Um, but no, it is kind of a definite community feel to the place.
[00:16:37] Matt: That’s great. Well, in terms of academics, you know, you mentioned some, some really good programs there, but what, you know, how do your student athletes really balance the, their studies and their sports commitments, um, you know, in, in the environment there and what kind of support systems does the school offer to help, you know, that transition from high school into college?
[00:16:59] Coach: Uh, yeah, I mean, good question. We always make it really clear that it’s, you know, you’re a student athlete. And so, um, everything that you do is student first. Um, so I was cuz I’m a nutting and forest fan. I always remember, um, Brian Cluff, who was a manager of the forest at the time. When I first started, uh, watching them, he, his son played for him and he made him go to college.
[00:17:27] He was a brilliant player, but he always said you gotta have something to fall back on. My dad had done exactly the same to me. Um, he always told me I needed a trade. I’m not sure he kind of, you know, pictured this as a trade, but, uh, but no, it is. We were lucky in the fact that, um, We have a lot of players that take their studies very, very seriously.
[00:17:49] Um, and we kind of explain what, what your grades can open up for you and, you know, the opportunities that you can have going forward. Um, and then we, you know, we have a study hall, we have, um, regular progress updates for the players just to make sure, you know, they’re not missing classes. Um, You know, their grades are going ahead throughout the year, just to make sure that nobody forces the cracks.
[00:18:15] Um, I do the schedule in the way that, you know, we try and miss very, very few classes or days of classes. Um, so we don’t have classes here on a Friday, which makes it easier to schedule games on Fridays and Saturdays. Um, because that way we’re not missing anything. And then if we’re out on the road, then we’ll have to study at the hotel.
[00:18:38] Um, just to make sure, you know, you’ve gotta keep that, that schedule and make sure that they realize that wherever they are, their studies have to come first, otherwise, you know, at leads to less opportunities on the field and then less opportunities in life, if you’re not kind of keeping up with that.
[00:18:55] Sure. Um, but yeah, we have a, we have a really solid group that really holds each other accountable.
[00:19:03] Matt: So you mentioned, you know, not having class on Fridays. Can you just walk me through what a typical week would look like? Uh, during the season, in terms of class practice games, uh, you know, just a, kind of a quick overview for somebody who who’s not familiar with, what maybe that, that college in season, uh, schedule’s gonna look like.
[00:19:23] Coach: Yeah, sure. So, so with, with the. Environment that we find ourselves in some of our players are online. Some of them are on campus, but we have some that once everything went online, they thrived. Um, they preferred the online. And so there that’s quite rare, but we, I bet we have one player that I know we have one player that doesn’t get up until 12 o’clock rolls outta bed goes to practice.
[00:19:51] Does all our work that night. And then that kind of stuff you. Okay, that sounds terrible. But you know, you’re doing really, really well. You’ve got all a, I can’t argue with that. Um, but for those that are on campus, you know, obviously we have some that need the classroom environment, which I would be the same way.
[00:20:09] Um, so they, they may have, you know, can eight o’clock class finish that. They’ll go to the library and then potentially at, at 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock class, um, eat practice. Work and it’ll go, you know, you’re doing your homework in the afternoon, sleep repeat. So there, their classes, most of them they’ll have like Monday and Wednesdays, two classes.
[00:20:36] Um, and then potentially one to two Tuesday, Thursday, all of ours are set up in 12 to 15 credits. Um, you know, just to make sure eligibility wise they’re set. Um, and then for the majority of times, if we’ve got away trips, we’ll leave the day before again. So say if we leave Thursday night and we’ll get to the hotel that Thursday night we’ll wake up early, we’ll have to study all that morning.
[00:21:04] Wait that afternoon, if we’ve just got one game, then we’ll come right back after the game. Um, but if not, then we’ll try and make it to where we have a day in between. Cuz once the season starts, it’s kind of fast and furious. So, um, especially if you’re traveling long, long distances, you know, you’re trying to get potentially two games in and that weekend, but we’ll try and separate it to Friday and then we’re off Saturday.
[00:21:31] Sunday game, come back that Sunday. And then, you know, you’re immediately straight into class, but some of what they’ve done, um, and the college is great about this is providing hotspots. Um, so they’ll take a hotspot with them on the bus and be, and we’ll be doing their homework on the bus cuz they’re and you know, inevitably, there’s gonna be times where your schedule doesn’t allow you to sit down and get everything done as you would like to do it.
[00:22:00] They’ve been brilliant about, you know, we, we talked to them beforehand, go to the library, get a hotspot, check it out for the weekend, take it with you, get what you can done on the bus. Um, we kind of monitor that a little bit as well, just to make sure, you know, Hey, you’re getting this done. Um, and then they’re all brilliant about working with each other as well.
[00:22:22] And then we have resources here where they can get a little bit of extra help if they need it so they can set up appointments. Um, whether it’s via zoom or in person, they’ve got that little bit of extra support as well.
[00:22:38] Matt: That’s great. Um, well, let’s talk more, you know, kind of about the team and the soccer side of things a bit.
[00:22:43] So, you know, being a junior college, you know, like you said, you’re always recruiting, but what is your target roster size in any given year that you want to carry?
[00:22:54] Coach: Uh, we’ve always been between, say 20, 21 to 24, I would say is a good number, um, for us just because, you know, we want to make sure that, uh, everybody contributes.
[00:23:10] Everybody can see that they have a pathway into, into the first. Um, but it’s also great tactically for working on stuff. If we can get into a, you know, a full on 11, B, 11 practice, uh, break down what we need to break down. But, um, we, I mean, we, we never really set a definitive number, um, but we’ve always ended up between.
[00:23:39] Kind of 21 to 24 this year. We’re at 23, I think last year we were at 22. So it is, it’s always in and around there. Um, cuz there’s always gonna be, you know, players that we need to rest. Um, it’s a full on season, so we try and we try and maintain, you know, keep ’em injury free, make sure they’re working with our trainers.
[00:23:59] If, if anything crops up, um, for injury prevention wise, we wanna be, you know, make sure we’re on top of that. There is that, that rotation through, so yeah, we found 23 is gonna be a good number for us this year, I think. Okay. Usually with three keepers, 20 outfield players. Yeah. Okay.
[00:24:21] Matt: Well, and, and then how big is your staff?
[00:24:23] What role do each of them play? Uh, whether that’s, you know, you’re on the field staff versus what athletic department staff, the, every kind of everyth.
[00:24:34] Coach: Uh, so there’s three coaches. There’s me, uh, my assistant. And then we have a goalkeeper coach as well. Uh, goal goalkeeper slash assistant coach. We’re all.
[00:24:45] Um, I mean, it’s, it’s our life basically. We’re, you know, even away from work, we’re talking about everything, that’s bounce ideas off each other, sending each other stuff to do the next day or, you know, in the future. Um, obviously athletic trainer as well. And then. There’s always coaches here that I bounce ideas off.
[00:25:06] Um, you know, the basketball team, softball and baseball. Um, so there’s, it’s not a massive athletic department, but, um, you know, it’s a, it’s big enough, we’ve got a support system that, uh, everybody knows everybody’s players. So, um, and then some of our coaches are teachers as well. So it’s always helpful when I can say Hey, so and so doing all right.
[00:25:31] Um, And so it is, yeah, they’re, they’re very much on top of it as well, just to make sure the whole athletic department is, is, you know, doing what it needs to do, um, succeed. And we have just, uh, employed a sports information director as well. Cause we, we do basically, I say we, we do our own social media. I try to keep out of it cuz I’m old.
[00:25:53] Um, but I’ll, I’ll explain the kind of ideas that we wanna get across. And we, we actually employ one of our former players. Uh, to do all the graphic design stuff, cuz part of what we, um, what we kind of talked about when we started this is we wanted to support our players in this community as much as possible.
[00:26:13] So if we’ve got former players that are really talented at stuff, I, you know, I want to give them as many opportunities as I can. So we sat down. Um, a graphic designer yesterday, one of our former players, just said, right, what’s the direction for this season? What can you do? We wanna help you? We want to, you know, keep expanding your experience.
[00:26:35] So there’s a lot of former players that are, you know, kind of B invested in the program as well, which is brilliant. Um, a lot of people around here that give to the program, uh, a lot of families that, you know, that, uh, recognize that soccer’s not always been. Number one around here, but they’re, you know, they really wanna keep building it up.
[00:26:57] So yeah, it’s been, especially after these past few years, it’s been really, really good. The amount of community support
[00:27:03] Matt: That we have. That’s great. Well, speaking of former players, the question on I’m, I’m sure on a lot of people’s minds when it comes to junior college, is, you know, how many of your players typically go on and continue, you know, at a four year plan?
[00:27:19] Coach: Yeah, it depends each year. Um, and we, you know, we always start that with them really early on, just to start identifying, um, or at least narrowing down their choices. Um, Has everybody that has wanted to continue for four year has, has done so? Um, and so it’s it, you know, it kind of varies every year.
[00:27:42] Sometimes we have four to fives that go on. Sometimes we have two, um, and because they’re going into very specific academic stuff and they go in, you know what, I’d love my time, but I, I don’t think with this program, I’m gonna have time to be. At the college that I’m looking at. So we never really have an agenda.
[00:28:04] Um, in that, in terms of where we send players, we just, we listen to them and go, right, this is your, your journey. We’re gonna help you out as much as, as much as you want us to help you out. Um, I mean, we would love everybody to carry on playing, but. You know, some people are like, I’ve done it with this last group.
[00:28:24] Um, especially they, they just basically said I can’t see myself having the same kind of season we had last year. So I’m, I’m getting to finish out on top and then going to my studies and you can’t really argue with that. They’re still, I’m still getting coaches now asking me about the players and I’m just going, I’m sorry.
[00:28:47] They just decided to. Just to focus on their studies. Um, sure. Everybody that’s wanted to play has had really, really good offers. Um, that’s great. A lot of them are looking at, you know, close to full rides. Wow. Their offers. So, yeah, it’s been fantastic in that respect.
[00:29:06] Matt: No, that’s, that’s amazing. Well, we’ve covered a lot of ground.
[00:29:09] I want to keep you, uh, but you know, I always like to end with the last question of what else. Do we need to say, what didn’t we talk about? What else do we need to cover that, uh, that you wanna, you wanna tell us about your program, the school, anything in general? Uh, now’s the time.
[00:29:25] Coach: Well, no good question.
[00:29:28] I mean, it is, for me, it, I think there has been a stigma about junior college being, um, just a, kind of a lower level of, of soccer for, for a little bit, especially since I’ve been here. It’s um, We always bring in some of our former players to watch us train every year. And, and, uh, they’re always surprised at the level, um, because honestly, when we were at the national tournament last year, There were a couple of players where I was coaching against where I just found myself clapping because they were brilliant.
[00:30:04] Some of the stuff that they were doing was unreal. I mean, uh, one player almost scored an over a kick in the last minute and I was just, that’s incredible. Just, I mean, the level of junior college is phenomenal. Um, I mean, so what we do in the spring is we. We use the spring season as a way to put our players in the shop window.
[00:30:27] Uh, we play D one D two D three, and we always compete. Um, you know, we’ve beaten teams from, from every level and, and some of the, uh, junior colleges that we play have consistently beaten teams from every level. So I think the biggest thing for me is, uh, if you’re a player and looking just. Watch some games, um, see the level because it, you know, it’s a really, really high standard, um, you know, and the biggest thing for us, it’s affordable.
[00:30:58] It’s um, I said you are moving in with players that really, really want to be here. Um, it’s a fantastic environment. Um, we’re, we’re really excited about this year. We have a really, really good group. Um, And, uh, yeah, so it is gonna be, it’s gonna be great. And I love just getting, uh, players from different, different places just to, um, just to give the kids something, something different.
[00:31:29] Yeah. You know, they’re always really intrigued about what goes on in, in different places and, um, you know, and it’s fantastic to, to see them just, I mean, even asking the most. Uh, irrelevant questions like what’s, you know, you just think because it’s such a different world for them. Yeah. And, uh, one thing I didn’t mention is, in the spring, what we do is we take a trip to Belize.
[00:31:54] Oh wow. So we go for 10 days. I was really lucky to. A few years ago when I was, um, uh, before I started here, I wanted to write about different cultures, um, and how they, you know, approached the game of soccer in general. So I went to Belize, uh, by myself, just started talking to a few different clubs and, and got really lucky with a contact that I made.
[00:32:19] Who’s now, uh, a vice president of the Belize FA. So we go, we play against their national team. Uh, we travel the country, we go into different schools. We take a load of school equipment and soccer boards and soccer equipment. And we kind of, and that’s a phenomenal experience just to the best thing for me is, you know, just to watch my, our players kind of get that, that joy of when we go into schools and just having a kick around with, with the, uh, with the local kids and just.
[00:32:51] Seeing the sheer enjoyment of the game back in everybody. Um, just, just having a kick around for the afternoon and forgetting about everything else and yeah, it’s an unbelievable experience. No, it’s tremendous.
[00:33:06] Matt: Well, coach, thank you. I appreciate the time. Uh, wish you the best of luck this season. Uh, thank you.
[00:33:13] And, and hope you get back to that national tournament and hopefully bring home the-
[00:33:18] Coach: cup, right? Thank you. Yeah, that’s the plan. All right.
[00:33:22] Matt: Thanks. Take care.
[00:33:23] Coach: Thank you. Bye.
