Northeastern Junior College Women’s Soccer – Coach Joshua Burton
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Burton from the Northeastern Women’s Program in Colorado. We talk about the culture of family both on campus and in the community. Lastly, we discuss what they do in the spring as a two-year program. Learn more about Northeastern Junior College Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody, welcome to discover college soccer today I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach burton from the northeastern junior college women’s side. Welcome coach Thank you. Thank you for having me, Matt. Yeah, thanks for being here. Now I see Northeastern and I, I need folks to understand that is the northeastern corner of Colorado, not the northeastern corner of the United States or anywhere else.
You, uh, you are in Colorado. Uh, and, uh, hopefully it’s, it’s not too cold and snowy and, and everything there this time of year.
Coach: Yeah, no, not too bad. I mean, there’s snow on the ground. It’s been here for a while, but honestly, you know, if you’re. In a usual little bundle, um, then it’s not too bad.
Matt: Alright, well, you know, it’s, it’s recruiting season in full force, you know, with all the different showcases and things going on.
I, I, I guess probably in Colorado a lot of it’s indoor right now, but, uh, you know, kind of. With a junior college program, you guys are recruiting twice as much as everybody else. So what, uh, kind of what’s your status right now? Where are you headed? But what are things looking like for you as you prepare for next season?
Coach: Yeah. So for us, you know, like you said, we’re recruiting twice as much half the roster graduates every year. Cause you know, we only have freshmen and sophomores primarily. So, um, right now recruiting has been going pretty well, you juco level, you’re pretty much recruiting seniors. And then this semester we’ll start getting into juniors a little bit.
And, uh, you know, a little bit more heavily. But, [00:01:30] um, right now I’m almost done actually. Um, so for us being in a rebuild, trying to keep up with the more competitive programs, you know, national rank programs, a lot of those guys are almost done. And so, um, I think I’m at about a roster of maybe like 19 or 20 for next year.
We get 24 LOIs in the NJCAA, so trying to at least use up all 24.
Matt: So you guys are NJCAA 1, right? Correct. And you’re fully funded? Um, no. No, okay. All
Coach: right. Uh, when you’re in the NJC when you’re in the NJCAA, um, some schools are fully funded, right? So they have 24 fulls. That’s not many, but a lot of those, like The teams that are always top five, top 10 in the country, they probably are, um, for us, we’re not, but we do have scholarship money, so we are able to recruit and spend money here and there.
Matt: Okay. All right. Well, where is it that you like to, to go to, to look at players? Kind of what’s your main focus, uh, geographically, I guess, whether that’s, are there certain areas you like or certain tournaments you like to go to? What’s that kind of look like?
Coach: So number one thing is, uh, I got some really good advice from a couple of my mentors, guys that coach at different levels.
I keep hearing this phrase, no stone unturned. Right. So, um, for me, I’m definitely that kind of coach. I find great players at a bunch of different places in different areas. Um, I know for, for us, we’ve done really well. Um, obviously in state here in Colorado, that’s [00:03:00] always the easiest is getting in state kids.
Great chunk of talent here. We do pretty well out of Utah. And then also I find kids in areas that I’ve lived and or coach before. So like I grew up in Texas for a good portion of my life. So I’ve gotten maybe three kids out of Texas. Um, and then Arizona, I spent most of my coaching career there. So I think I’m about two or three kids in now from Arizona.
Um, We pick up a few internationals here and there, you know, in a couple other places, but western half of the U. S. For sure. Um, club wise, you know, we try to go to showcases that are here a little bit more local to us. Um, you know, you go to these showcases and you have to compete with school. So I definitely try to make my way out and just, uh, get in front of kids as much as possible.
A lot of ID camps really work out for us. I get invited to a good amount of camps, especially at universities. And so having those connections with the universities, if a kid is at a camp, you know, I’d say a D1, but that kid’s not going D1. Well, I know those coaches at least. So that kind of, uh, bodes well for me on the recruiting trail.
Matt: So in terms of camps, I mean, I’m assuming, well, I shouldn’t assume anything. Are you guys doing your own or is it pretty much just working external camps?
Coach: Uh, it’s mostly working external, but we do host our own things sometimes. So we hosted one, um, in August, which was the inaugural one for me here under my coaching staff.
Um, we had about, it was a small camp. We had about [00:04:30] 10 players, but we had girls come from Wyoming, Nebraska and, you know, Colorado. So we brought in players, um, one of who is now signed to play for us and a few other girls that hopefully we bring in in the next coming years. So we do pretty well there, but during the summer, you know, last summer I worked, uh, the Black Hills State D2 in South Dakota.
I worked there camp. I just signed a girl that I met during that camp. Um, see, you has a couple of different kinds of camps, you know, see you in Boulder. Um, so I’ve met recruits at those camps that are a little bit younger that hopefully we’ll be bringing in. Um, and honestly, a lot of our recruiting now that I think about it.
We find kids maybe, you know, in the randomness of places, sometimes online, but we bring them on campus for visits. And so we’ve brought in probably 10 kids this year, you know, hey, come on a visit, train with the team. Um, and let’s see what your skillset looks like. So that’s worked out for us.
Matt: Okay. Well, when you’re looking at these players kind of what makes up that hierarchy of things you’re looking for both on the field and off the field?
Coach: Yeah, so starting with uh, I like to start with off the field. You know, I tell the recruits all the time. I’m a full time coach. This is my only job. Like the school pays me enough to take care of my family, just coaching soccer. So, and then for them, right then being a student athlete, it’s basically a full time job.
I want to be happy. I want to enjoy the people that I work with. I want to enjoy my job. So I’m looking for good people. Do you have a good attitude? Are you a good person? Are you friendly with your [00:06:00] teammates? Um, You know, not everyone’s necessarily has to be best friends, but can you work with people in a group setting for the betterment of everyone?
Um, I don’t recruit headaches. It’s just, you know, I don’t care how good you are. Um, I’m not recruiting headaches because I don’t want to deal with it. Right? Um, and there’s more than enough talent out there. So off the field, that’s the main thing. Anything else I will work with you as long as you’re a good person, no matter what kind of issue you have.
So we have, you know, we have girls that come in and are great students and, you know, 4. 0 type students. Even at the juco level, we have kids that come in and they have a two point something out of high school and It doesn’t matter as long as you’re a good person. Like this is the level, um, on the field.
My number one thing is I look for players that have a good first touch, uh, for the style that we like to play. If I have that, it’s a little easier to work everything else. And then after that, I’d say speed, speed kills, speed helps, you know, so if I can get a player that’s quick and that kind of sets everything else in motion and then there’s, there’s always more bonuses, right?
Like if a girl’s got some size to her or whatever. There’s a some help there, but technique and speed.
Matt: Okay. Well, I mean, one of the biggest things for kids who take that to your path is the ability to hopefully move on once those two years are up. So talk to me a little bit about what that’s like at your school.
Maybe some successes of kids moving on. What happens there once their two years is done at Northeastern?
Coach: Yeah. So that is, I think the biggest selling point. Okay. to a student athlete coming [00:07:30] here to NJC. Um, I move players on. It’s the one thing that I can promise when a kid comes in, right? Winning. We’re going to try to win and a bunch of other stuff, right?
But moving you on is the one thing that I have a little bit more control over. So since I’ve been here, I got here March 2024. I’ve been here a little bit under a year. Um, sophomore that we had at the time was already committed. We got her called up to the Guatemala national team for the first time ever.
Um, I put together a highlight tape when I got here, she was graduating within two months. I emailed them, they called her up in May. So that was, you know, first thing. And then this sophomore class now that’s graduating, we have, um, girls of various backgrounds. One girl committed to Elkhorn State, D1 in Mississippi, um, another one of my great centerbacks has committed, or she’s there now.
She just went now in the spring, um, at Adams State, uh, D2 here in Colorado. Um, and then we have. a player that’s here this semester. Next semester, she’s going to Sterling College, which is an N. A. I. A. Um, and she was playing basketball when she got here. She got recruited here for basketball, had played club when she was younger.
I picked her up as a walk on when I first got here. And even for her having sat out for two years being a walk on, she got moved on. Um, I have another girl actually today right now that’s on a on a visit to a D two. Um, one of my starting defenders. So Out of the sophomores that we have, everyone had offers.
Um, most of them are going to continue playing. I have a freshman this year that got called up to the, [00:09:00] uh, or she got her. The coach was going to call her up for the El Salvador national team. She’s currently out with a torn ACL, unfortunately, so she’s missing out on that. But opportunity is what I promise you that’s going to happen regardless.
So, um, and those are mostly players that, like, we had a late start because I got here at the end of their freshman year, right? For the freshmen that I have now, by the time they graduate, the numbers are going to be even bigger.
Matt: That’s fantastic. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. Um, you know, it had to have been attractive enough for you to take the job and get there.
So what are some of the things you found that are that are great about the school? Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going through the website.
Coach: Biggest thing is just the culture here, uh, for the for the school as a whole and the community as a whole. Um, there’s definitely, uh, a family culture in the city of Sterling, um, which.
Kind of leaks over into campus. You know, you get here and everyone knows everyone. Um, there’s, you know, half the coaches grew up here and then the other half are from elsewhere, but everyone has like family ties here. You know, you can tell that people are here to be here. They like the school. They like the program.
They like the community. Community is very supportive. Some of those things when I was looking at it, I was just like, okay, this is a chance for me to build something. It is a fairly young program. Um, I think we’re going into year eight of having women’s soccer here. So for me, it was somewhere where, like, I can kind of go make my stamp.
Um, as this is my first [00:10:30] collegiate head coach job, I’ve done, you know, coaching at the collegiate level before, but as a head coach, this is my first go. So, um, definitely kind of just having that vibe. Um, Everyone’s supportive. You know, it’s not like a big school where you get lost in the mix and no one knows who you are.
You know, I walk through campus and kids and staff are like, Hey coach, how’s it going today? And I love that.
Matt: Awesome. Well, take me back to maybe the heart of the season and walk me through, what does a typical a week schedule look like for a player in terms of when our practices, games, meals, classes, all that kind of stuff.
Coach: Yeah. So we kind of have three different points in the year. You know, we have. When we’re in fall season, we have spring season and we have kind of like an off season bit. Um, we’re in the swing of fall season. As I tell the kids, prepare for five days a week that you’re going to be busy with soccer related things.
So within those five days a week, which is probably Monday through Friday, most of the time, um, we do two a day practices fairly consistently. So that might mean we have weights in the morning and then we have field practice in the afternoon. We’re out on the pitch. Um, the next day we might have. you know, practice on the pitch and then we might have a film session where we’re studying.
Um, you know, and so you have those things. Basically, you have two days every day, some mixture of those. And then you have study hall. So our girls do five hours of study hall per week. Um, so they’re doing that as well. So, like, let’s say a typical day, 6 30 a. m. You’re lifting, you get done [00:12:00] about 7 30. You have time to go eat.
You go to class at eight or nine, you get done with class probably by about one or two. We practice at three. Um, and then after practice, you know, again, might be doing study hall might be doing film, um, you’re done and, you know, going to dinner probably by about 6 PM at the end of the day. So, uh, that’s generally how it looks.
If we have games when we get into conference games are usually Friday and Saturday. So practice might be a little bit less because we’re playing Friday and Saturday. We might practice. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays, pure film and study hall, um, team bonding, something like that. And then we go into games on the weekend.
Matt: Okay. Well, let’s talk about the team and the roster. I mean, is there a roster size that you’re trying to hit each year?
Coach: Yeah. So ideally, you know, my minimum that I want to be in for next fall is 24. Um, so again, you get 24 letters of intent. That’s girls that are on some sort of scholarship money. It could be 2, it could be 5000, you know, whatever.
Um, and you can have walk ons over that number. So I’m trying to hit 24 at least this past season. You know, getting here in March wasn’t a lot of time to recruit, but we’ve recovered pretty well from that. Um, So, like I said, right now for fall, we’re already at about 20 or 19 or something like that. And I still have this semester to kind of flesh out the rest of the roster.
So 24 minimum, I would like to hit like a 28 maximum [00:13:30] probably.
Matt: Okay. Now, what about staff? Are there other folks that are on their staff with you? Are there other maybe support staff within the athletic department that help out with things? Yeah. So,
Coach: so I being the head coach, full time coach, I have an assistant who is out of the country right now.
Um, but He’s a full time assistant coach. Um, and he also lives on campus as a, as a housing director, but he’s here, you know, the same hours I’m here. Uh, we have a volunteer goalkeeper coach, um, who also does a great job helping us with that. He comes in about once or twice a week. Um, so we have, you know, three coaches between us and then we have a few work study students, um, that come in extra hours and they might help around the office, you know, Hey, can you look up this kid and give us some background info on this kid?
Can you Make sure that the gear is ready for the new student athletes. Um, you know, different things like that. Um, so, so we have a pretty good, uh, pretty good staff here. We have an athletic secretary named Stacy, who’s absolutely wonderful. And she helps us with a lot as well.
Matt: Awesome. Uh, well, what about you?
How would you describe your coaching style and the style of play you’re looking to play there?
Coach: So style of play that we, you know, are looking to play here. Um, I am a coach that I like possession based soccer, but you know, every coach likes possession based soccer, right? My biggest thing is that we play with what the game gives us.
You take what the opponent gives. we’re going to try to come out and play our game. Um, and we might knock the ball around, [00:15:00] but if a team adjusts to that, then we’re going to feel free to play direct if we need to, um, which is part of the reason that I do recruit speed as well as technique. So it’s a very flexible system.
A lot of it is based around total football, um, which comes from the Dutch and, you know, like kind of like their 1970 setup. So a lot of interchanging of positions. Um, I always tell recruits, you know, I may recruit you as a center back and then you’re the leading goal scorer at the end of the season. Um, I had a center back that had four goals and two assists, a midfielder that had four goals and two assists and had two forwards that also had the same numbers.
So it’s a lot of, you know, a lot of 11 defenders, 11 attackers, right? A lot of, uh, opportunity for everyone to showcase their skills in a lot of different spaces. As far as my style, I like to have fun. I’m a coach that’s, you know, I’m laughing, I’m making jokes. I have very high standards. The standard is a standard.
But if the players are meeting the standard, there’s no need for me to yell. There’s no need for me to be upset. I want to enjoy my job and I want them to enjoy themselves. So, you know, we’re laughing and we’re having fun, but they’re doing what I’m asking them to do. And you know, if for some reason I feel like they’re not listening, then I can be stern and I do discipline.
But I would say that my student athletes are like, yeah, coach, that was fair. That one was justified, you know, whatever it is. So, um, music at practice, I’m controlling music because we have a certain tempo that I’m trying to get us to play at. Um, you know, if we’re all giving our best effort when we’re practicing, we do punishments if you lose, but we’re not running as long as the effort is there.
You know, we’re like, Hey, you’re gonna do an [00:16:30] embarrassing dance or, um, something along those lines. So Uh, a lot of different things like that, but we have fun here.
Matt: All right. Well, in terms of the, the off season, the spring, as we’re kind of rolling into that, what does that look like for your players and what are they working on and during this time of year?
Coach: So for our spring season at this level, we get six play dates. Um, just six days that we can play as many games within those six days. We usually spend those days on, uh, showcasing. So we’ll go play universities during the spring. This spring, we have Colorado Christian lined up, which is a D two. Who else do we have?
We have Heston College, which is going to be in any ideas of the fall. They’re gonna come play us. Um, oh, and we have Adam State. We have Adam State, which is another D two here in Colorado lined up. So we play them last spring. We did the same thing. August preseason. We do the same thing. It just gives our girls a chance to, you know, go in front of these schools firsthand.
experience what it’s like to play at the next level and see if they can hang. So we spend a lot of time doing that because it’s a scrimmage season. You know, it doesn’t we don’t lose anything by participating.
Matt: Yeah. Oh, that’s fantastic.
Coach: And the schedule is a little bit lighter. You know, we’re not going five days a week.
We’re maybe doing like three days a week practicing. So it’s a little bit easier on the athletes as well.
Matt: OK. Well, hey, I appreciate it. You’ve given us lots of information. I’m going to leave you with one last question, and that is if you had one piece of advice for [00:18:00] student athletes going through this recruiting process, what would that be?
Coach: One piece of advice for student athletes. Um, I would say go where you’re wanted. Go where you want it. I’ve coached at different levels, and I’ve seen kids, you know, sometimes maybe beg for a spot on the roster that they’ve dreamed of being on. And ultimately, you got to think about it. If you’re begging to be there right now, when you get there, how are you going to be treated?
Right? Versus if someone is recruiting you in a sense where they are, they really want you to be there. Um, you’re probably going to be in a better spot going there and being appreciated and being loved. It’s probably just better for your soccer better for your mental health and those sort of things. So go where you want it.
Matt: Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. Well, coach, really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck as you fill out this roster for next fall and good luck in the fall season. And if your travels ever take you down to Florida, give me a shout. All right. I appreciate it, Matt. Thank you. Thank you.
