Nyack College Women’s Soccer – Coach Emma Webb

On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Emma Webb from the Nyack College Women’s Program in New York. We talk about the importance of culture for their program. She describes the unique setup of their campus being in the heart of New York City. Lastly, we discuss the amazing mix of players they have on the roster and how that shapes their team. Learn more about Nyack College Women’s Soccer.

[00:00:00] Matt: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. I am lucky today to be joined by coach Emma Webb from Nyack. Welcome coach.

[00:00:07] Coach: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

[00:00:10] Matt: Happy to have you. Um, well let’s just get right into it. Um, You know, in terms of recruiting, when do you start looking at players? When did you start hearing from players?

[00:00:20] Is it usually junior season, sophomore season? When, when does that usually kickoff? Are you

[00:00:24] Coach: guys? Yeah, for us, um, as a division two school, we are limited to start for when we can reach out to players. So, um, some of before the junior year, um, that’s when we can start making contact, um, for us, we do start identifying players before that.

[00:00:40] So we start to hear from players, um, sophomore year. Pretty typical for when we start to hear from players when they’re interested. Um, and we make sure we kind of keep a running list, keep that information. So when that time comes around and we can reach out, we’re able to do that. Um, for us, as far as getting, you know, official visits in junior year is a big year.

[00:01:01] We see a lot of our recruits coming to campus, you know, in, during season catching a game. So by the time spring of their junior year rolls around, they should be ready to make a decision.

[00:01:12] Matt: Okay. How many inbound contacts would you say you, you tend to get in a day or a week?

[00:01:19] Coach: Um, it varies a little bit. You can tell when, when recruits are in season, because it’s not quite as often, you’d almost think it’d be the opposite, but I would say, especially when we’re in that, that spring season and club is ramping up, um, in a day we can get, you know, 10 to 20 between agencies.

[00:01:38] We work with recruits club coaches. Um, so that that’s a little bit maybe on the heavier side. Um, but that’s normally around that spring season.

[00:01:48] Matt: Okay. What do you typically like to see in that first communication from a player?

[00:01:54] Coach: I like when it comes from the player, I think that says a lot to me. I like players who want to make, take initiative on their own.

[00:02:01] Um, so you know, a mom and dad you’ll be an important part of the process, but it’s, it’s our job as coaches. We want to build that relationship with the player. Culture is really, really big for us. So hearing from the player directly is something that’s really important. I like to know. Why someone is interested at Nyack.

[00:02:20] You know, we all know that mass emails go out and don’t, don’t tell me, you were really impressed by season. I had, if it wasn’t a good season, you know, so do some research. I think that’s a big thing is do some research about the schools that you’re reaching out to and find some reasons why you liked that.

[00:02:37] That really says to me as a coach, that you’ve done the work you care to, to really, you know, figure out what school is going to be best for you.

[00:02:46] Matt: Absolutely. Um, w when you’re out and about on the recruiting trail, where do you spend a majority of your time? What tournaments do you like to go to? Do you ever, do you ever catch high school games?

[00:02:57] You know, that kind of thing.

[00:02:58] Coach: Yeah. We are kind of split right down the middle international America. And, um, we’re located in New York city. So we have a huge international draw. And so that type of recruiting looks a little different than, um, our American girls, but we like to get to some of the big showcases.

[00:03:17] Um, tournament’s on the east. So, um, but that’s done is a big one. Um, Jeff cup is another big one. Um, we tend to frequent future 500 showcases as well. Um, I think those are a really good opportunity for us as coaches to, you know, interact with some of the players, um, a little bit more directly, um, and Jersey is a really good hub for women’s soccer.

[00:03:40] So, you know, during high school seasons, we’re on the road quite a bit, um, in the Jersey area, which is really close for us.

[00:03:48] Matt: Cool. Um, how do camps fit into your recruiting?

[00:03:53] Coach: I would love for camps to fit into my recruiting with truthfully, with COVID. Um, we have had to put a pause on that for our institution guidelines.

[00:04:03] So we haven’t had those start-up again, you know, in the past couple of years, but looking this summer to get our ID camp back up. Do

[00:04:11] Matt: you ever, or any of your staff do other schools, camps, or other, uh, other camps as well?

[00:04:17] Coach: Yep. There’s, there’s quite a few that happen. Um, in our immediate, you know, we’re, we’re really close Connecticut, um, PA New Jersey, long island.

[00:04:27] So we do frequent, um, the, the local ID camps. Um, but future 500 is another similar ID camp, not as tied to any single institution. Um, but that’s one that we’re at pretty consistently, like.

[00:04:40] Matt: Okay. Um, do you try to bring in a set number players every year? Does it kind of ebb and flow with your, with your classes?

[00:04:46] Or how does that, um, we,

[00:04:49] Coach: we like to bring in, you know, I think that standard, um, seven to 10. An average class. Um, COVID with the fifth year, it’s been a little bit interesting, you know, figuring out how, how we’re going to use that. If we’re going to use that with certain players. And it’s not always as cut and dry, as I would say, it’s been in the past.

[00:05:10] Um, and since I took the program over just a few years ago, we had really low numbers. Um, so we’ve been bringing in pretty large classes. Um, we brought in 13 of first year, I didn’t lose anyone. Thanks to COVID. So we were able to have a little bit more normal size, um, and we’re going to bring about 10 to 11, um, this coming year as well.

[00:05:35] Okay.

[00:05:35] Matt: Now of that split, you know, you are division two, so you have some athletic money. Uh, how does. How does your team look like? What does your team look like from a scholarship perspective? Both athletic and academics.

[00:05:48] Coach: Yeah. So all of our girls receive, um, academic money. That’s something that we look for at Nyack.

[00:05:55] We want to make sure that, um, you’re going to graduate, you know, you’re, you’re going to college to go to college and to get a degree. So all of our girls do get academic money and we are. Stock athletic money on top of that, um, as we’re increasing our roster size, um, we are looking at having more walk-ons than we’ve had in the past, um, which is still scholarship money available for that.

[00:06:18] Um, but we’re seeing our roster grow, which is good for competition, but there is always that opportunity to earn some additional scholarship if you get here and, and you can prove you’re spot on.

[00:06:28] Matt: So you mentioned walk-ons. What about transfers? Do you guys get many transfers either in or out?

[00:06:34] Coach: Um, we do get some, I would say every year we get.

[00:06:40] Two to three. Um, we also do get some transfers, considered transfers, but looking at our grad programs, we have a pretty strong, um, group of different grad programs that are available. And especially with that extra year of eligibility, we’re seeing girls coming in and using, you know, two extra years with their grad school.

[00:06:58] So we have transfers and we also do have graduate programs that girls are taking. That’s awesome.

[00:07:05] Matt: Um, when you’re, when, when you are recruiting, what’s kind of your hierarchy in terms of, you know, the, the key aspects you’re looking for both on and off the field.

[00:07:17] Coach: Yeah. Like I mentioned, culture is really, really big for us.

[00:07:20] Um, but when you’re on the field, I want to see that you love the game. Uh, I, you know, it’s important. You’re doing this for yourself as a recruit and not because coach says so, not because dad was a soccer star, so we want to see that it’s new, that loves the game and. Different ways that shows, you know, some, some girls loved the game, they love the ball at their foot.

[00:07:41] Some girls love the game. They love, you know, the, the work that you can put into it. So we look for that when we’re on the field. Um, you know, as far as specifics, we’re a very possession oriented team. So girls that have a good vision of the game, high soccer IQ is really important. I think we’re pretty unique.

[00:07:57] A lot of our girls love watching soccer. Um, some of that I think is a little bit the international influence, but you know, Saturday mornings, when we’re traveling to the game, all of them have, have their phones out there watching from the Bundesliga. And that’s fun for me as a coach because you can see that in how they play with, with their soccer IQ.

[00:08:16] Um, so those are two things. And then off the field, how do you treat people? Um, how do you treat the rep? How do you treat your coaches? How do you, you know, mom and dad come up after. They’re driving you around to games. Are you happy to see that frustrated? You know, what’s, what’s that kind of interaction.

[00:08:32] We don’t get to see a lot of that. Um, and so, you know, it’s, it’s just a few quick moments, but those are important things that we really, really do look for.

[00:08:41] Matt: Great. So let’s shift gears a little bit, talk more about, uh, the school. So you’re, you know, you’re, you’re in New York city, um, but you know what, give me some of the nuggets that maybe I’m not going to find by clicking around the website.

[00:08:54] What’s what’s some, some cool stuff about.

[00:08:56] Coach: Yeah. So truthfully. It’s a little bit difficult to figure out, you know, where do I live? When, when I go to Nyack, our, our primary campus building is located lower Manhattan. So Manhattan, those who are not familiar with New York city, New York, city’s made up of five boroughs.

[00:09:12] Manhattan is the borough that has central park times square empire state building. You know, it kind of. Landmarks that people think of it is on Manhattan. So lower tip of Manhattan looking right over at the statue of Liberty is where our campus classroom is. Our residence facility is located in Jersey city, which is just a seven minute subway ride, um, from Manhattan.

[00:09:36] And so what I think is pretty unique is, is your. Getting New York city as your campus. It’s not a traditional campus. We don’t, you know, spans several anchors with, you know, rolling Hills and going building here at dorm building there. But, you know, I get the question, like what, what do I do? What is there to do around.

[00:09:54] Um, like anything you want, like New York city, you can literally, anything you want to do, any interest you have, you can find it, um, where we are. I also like some of just the life lessons it teaches, you know, you’re, you’re learning what it means to be a commuter. How do you plan your time? What is your schedule look like?

[00:10:12] I think those are important things, um, to teach as, as you know, you’re going through that college process and you have people around you experiencing it at the same time.

[00:10:22] Matt: Cool. Well, how so you know it, like you said, it’s a little bit non-traditional in that aspect, but so how, how do students really balance their studies and their sport commitments?

[00:10:34] Coach: Yeah, I mean, for our team, we had eight, 4.0 this past fall semester. So I’d say we’ve, we’ve managed to find a group that is dedicated in that. And I think that’s important is the time management, you know, they stress that. Get my work done. I want to do it well so that I can go enjoy this time in the city.

[00:10:53] And it’s not the other way around. It’s not, let me enjoy, you know, what I’m doing and then I’ll do my homework. Um, so I think it’s just, you know, that mind frame of why are you here? You’re here to get an education. You’re also here to play soccer, but you’re also here for four years to grow these relationships.

[00:11:08] And some of the fun of that is that you get to do it in New York city.

[00:11:13] Matt: What, uh, support mechanisms does your school offer students to help with that transition from high school to college and, and for probably a lot of people transitioning into New York city.

[00:11:23] Coach: Right. Um, what I think is first academically, we have a tutoring center that’s free.

[00:11:30] So, you know, first of all, if you Excel in any areas, you can get a job there. But if not, you can schedule a time, get a tutor for whatever class you need. We also have a writing center, which is separate, um, which is open. You can schedule a time. You can walk. Forty-five minutes, hour and a half, whatever you need, um, help with writing.

[00:11:48] And it doesn’t have to be English class or writing class. Um, we have a pretty strong music department, so there’s several music students that are writing a song and they go to the writing center, like help me let this make sense type thing. So that’s really used on a lot of different spectrum. Um, as far as getting used to the city.

[00:12:07] That’s something that I think our team does a great job with. Um, this past year, we did not have a single player on our team from the state of New York. So every single player was. And far away, actually the closest player to home was from Wichita, Kansas. And so they were all coming and making Nyack their home.

[00:12:25] And if they weren’t doing it for the first time, they remember doing it for the first time. And you know, what is the subway like? How do I do this? Where do I go here? Um, so it’s really a group of girls that are used to being together and want to take care of each other because nobody’s. Driving home on the weekends or mom and dad coming to pick them up because they’re not flying home to Germany.

[00:12:46] Um, but something we’re actually adding this upcoming year is an advisement center, specifically looking at career success. So every student will be assigned an additional advisor. So separate from your major advisor who helps schedule classes. This is a career and academic advisor that. Helping you navigate, you know, the new system that we use for our classes, helping you navigate is this class really, you know, something that’s going to help me towards my major, or this is my major.

[00:13:17] And I hate all these classes. So maybe I need to have a little bit of a conversation of where I want my career to go. So some of those real life questions that I don’t think are always addressed, you know, professors do a good job. Y you got an a, or why you got a D, but how does that tie in longterm to who you are and what you want to do with it?

[00:13:37] That’s something that this advisement center is going to help address.

[00:13:40] Matt: Uh, that’s a, that’s a great addition. So let’s talk a little bit about a normal, a normal day in the life of, right. So if, if we’re, if you’re in season, what does that typical, you know, let’s call it a practice day. Not a game day look like.

[00:13:53] Coach: Yeah. So we practice in the mornings eight to 10. Um, what I really like about that is, um, getting everybody fresh. Um, you know, I know some people aren’t morning people, so maybe it takes a little bit to wake up. You’re coming to practice and it’s, it’s the first thing of your day, you know, it’s not afternoon coming from practice.

[00:14:10] Maybe you had a long class, maybe there’s a call for mom, or, you know, a friend from home that was tough to handle. You’re kind of sorting through that. Everybody’s waking up and they’re doing the same thing going right to practice. Um, that starts with getting into our athletic training room. Um, we have a really great athletic staff, our, our head athletic trainer.

[00:14:27] The NCAA division two national athletic trainer of the year in 2019. So, um, really, really knows her stuff and does a phenomenal job of taking care of the students. So almost everybody’s arts in there taking care of their bodies, getting ready to go. We had to practice. Come back. They’re right back in the training room, taking care of what they need to.

[00:14:46] And then from there, it’s really up to the student. Um, we have blocked scheduling. So class on Monday two to five, you only have class on Monday. So some of my girls, they like putting all their classes on one day. I have one girl back to back to back on Wednesday, straight. No classes the rest of the week, she gets a 4.0, so it works for her.

[00:15:03] There’s other girls who like to have class every single day. So they break it up a little bit. Um, so really it’s up to the student as to figure out how they study best. And that’s something that we as coaches, you know, we help kind of talk through some of that.

[00:15:16] Matt: Okay. What about a game day? It looks like, you know, I was checking out your conference website here before the call and, and I think they, they touted it’s the smallest radius, uh, for, for a D two conference.

[00:15:29] So that means you don’t have to travel as much. So what, what’s a game day look like? How far do you usually travel? Uh, during the, during the season. Yeah.

[00:15:36] Coach: So our conference is actually split north and south. Okay. For soccer. That doesn’t mean too much, except for that we’re in the north division. So we only play north division teams midweek because it’s a shorter travel.

[00:15:47] So mid-week games typically no more than 45 minutes to get to a game. The south division teams. We only play on the weekends and at most that’s two hours, 15 minutes, maybe two and a half. Um, you know, we all are kind of in pretty heavy traffic areas. So sometimes it’s like, is it going to be two and a half?

[00:16:10] Or is it going to be three and a half? So just depends on when we travel. Um, but yes, every, we played two games a week, either Tuesday or Wednesday, and then every Saturday,

[00:16:20] Matt: Okay. Okay. Um, well, let’s talk a little bit more about the team then. So, uh, if I’m, uh, if I’m an incoming freshmen, um, am I able to compete for a spot, you know, or do you guys carry a large roster enough to have a reserve team?

[00:16:35] How does that

[00:16:35] Coach: work? We don’t have a reserve team, um, but for us preseason first day, Everybody starts a new, um, you could have been a starter for me, 90 minutes, every single game, but I need to see that you did the work to, to keep that spot and to earn it. So everybody comes back in and they earn a spot.

[00:16:53] Um, I get asked a lot, you know, do play freshmen. Do they get chances? I’m going to play the team. That’s going to win the games. Now, if you’re a senior and you’ve given me four years of hard work loyalty, you know, are you going to maybe get an extra look at, you know, another chance for sure. That’s something that we do.

[00:17:10] Um, hold pretty sacred is, is that dedication and that, that loyalty, but that’s not to say the freshmen isn’t going to come in and potentially challenge that starting position. I like to keep fresh legs. Um, soccer. Difficult game. We all know, so I can keep some fresh legs in there. I want to do that. Um, but every day in practice, you get your chance to earn, earn a spot and to earn your playing time.

[00:17:33] Matt: How many players you like. To carry on the squad.

[00:17:37] Coach: Yeah. Like I mentioned, since I started, we had a small roster. Um, so I’ve been building that up, um, for the past few years. Uh, my ideal number is 28 to 32. And until we start to push to have a reserve team, once we get over 32, I think that’s when we need to start, you know, looking at the numbers and seeing the best way to split up some practices.

[00:17:56] Matt: Yeah. How big is your soccer staff and what roles to each of them play?

[00:18:01] Coach: Yeah. I have, um, two assistants and I have a shared goalkeeper coach with the men’s team. Um, so we have, um, my first assistant, you know, heads up a lot of the recruiting efforts. Um, he’s also, you know, loves film, loves that breakdown. So those are kind of his areas.

[00:18:19] Um, my second assistant. You know, really good about, um, taking care of the team, the logistics, really getting, you know, that, that heartbeat of the team, making sure that I’m kept in the loop when needed. And if not, if not, I’m really good with, you know, on campus visits. Um, that’s one of her areas that she, she focuses on and then our goalkeeper coach.

[00:18:41] Kind of does it all in the goalkeeping world. I was not a goalkeeper. So I defer to him completely when he, for what he says, that’s

[00:18:48] Matt: always, always a good idea. Um, I understand that. Um, well what about your specific style of coaching and your, your team’s style of play? Tell us about that.

[00:19:00] Coach: So we typically play.

[00:19:03] A four-three three. Um, I’d like to get a little bit more versatile and, and, you know, at times be able to maybe play a 3, 5, 2. Needing to get some extra numbers into the attack, but 4, 3, 3 is kind of our bread and butter. We’re very possession oriented team. We like to play out of the back. We’d like to use the space.

[00:19:22] Um, we’re very technical team. We’re not always the fastest team, but, um, we do a pretty good job with moving the ball and all the girls know that the ball moves faster than any player. So as long as we can keep that, um, another, uh, team with more speed, we’ll have a hard time keeping up. Um, so we like to teach.

[00:19:38] Um, our, our players, how to play with each other. Um, by that, I mean, you know, I want to find what my players strength is. I wouldn’t say that, um, we’re a program that has a cookie cutter player. This player is going to go to Nyack because of this. We’re, we’re a team that finds what the strengths are and how to work best with that and teaching each other how to play, um, with what those strengths.

[00:19:59] Matt: Okay. Um, you know, we’re, we’re talking here in February, so, uh, what does your, what does your off-season program typically look like?

[00:20:08] Coach: Yeah, so we’re actually just about to jump into that. We’re waiting for the snow to melt this week so we can get out on our turf. But the first part of off season we’re limited in hours.

[00:20:18] So we were allowed to be with the team for eight hours a week. So four of those strength and conditioning and four of those, um, on the field, um, I should definitely shout out our strength and conditioning coach. Um, we feel really blessed to have her she’s actually on the us women’s national handball team.

[00:20:33] Um, The strength and conditioning. So I think it does a really, really good job with sports specific training. She had played soccer before handball, so, um, definitely knows what the girls need. Um, but then as we transition into, um, the second part of our spring season, we’re able to increase our hours on the field.

[00:20:51] So we get out almost five days a week and we can have a few scrimmages.

[00:20:56] Matt: Okay, well, we’re, we’re, we’re here to, to the close of this and I have my one final question for you, which is kind of the catch all here. W what else haven’t we talked about that you’d love to share with any prospects out there about, about Nyack, your team, or anything like that.

[00:21:14] Coach: Yeah, I think, you know, what I found, um, to be my favorite part of, of Nyack and, and getting to coach this team is just the team itself. Um, like I mentioned, you know, culture’s really important to us and, and that’s a Testament to the girls. We could not have a more diverse. Group of girls, not just where they’re from in the world, but you know, the backgrounds and, and you know, where they came from.

[00:21:39] And I think it’s really special to see how that comes together on the field. So learning who each other is as a soccer player and how that translates off the field, you know, there’s a room of girls, one German, a Filipino and English girl and American, and they’re the best friends. And that’s just so fun to see.

[00:21:58] Them overcoming language and culture and finding a way to come together. And I have so much confidence in whoever I recruit. They will find a place and they’ll find a home on my team. Um, I think because of that, the team really, really enjoys being here. Uh, our dorms are open over breaks, whether it’s Thanksgiving or Christmas.

[00:22:20] And I have several girls who choose to stay here. Great family lives like great home lives, but they just like being here. You know, I remember when I was in college and brakes came, I was like, let’s go, let’s go home. I want my mom’s cooking, you know? Um, but that doesn’t seem to be the norm here. And it’s a Testament to the family that the team has created for themselves.

[00:22:42] And I just think that’s really unique in that.

[00:22:45] Matt: Uh, definitely sounds special for sure. Well, coach I appreciate the time. Uh, I wish you the best of luck, uh, this coming season and continued success and hopefully we’ll get a few, a few people watching this and, and shooting you some, some emails interested in Nyack.

[00:23:00] Coach: Awesome. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.