Point University Women’s Soccer – Coach Randy Douglas
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Randy from the Point Women’s Program in Georgia. We talk about how he takes a detailed look at the recruiting calendar. He describes his very specific schedule for the team during the season. Lastly, we discuss how they focus on a welcoming, family atmosphere. Learn more about Point University Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody, welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Douglas at Point university in Georgia. Welcome coach
Coach: Hey, thanks for having me
Matt:. Yeah. Thanks for being here. You guys are, you’re in the other West point, right? West point, Georgia, not, not, not up in, up in New York.
Uh, so you were talking here end of November, wrapped up the season. I’m guessing you’re hitting the, the recruiting trail hot and heavy at this point. So can you tell me kind of what is your normal calendar look like, you know, the. In a recruiting cycle, are you looking at 24’s right now? Is that wrapped up and you’re looking at 25’s kind of where do you guys kind of fall in that, in your timeframe?
Coach: Yeah, I think every year is a little bit different. Just kind of given the landscape of what we’ve been going through the last few years with the extra year that, that some of the players have taken advantage of. So it’s, it’s kind of had an impact, but typically, you know, what we’re doing is sometime in the middle of October, I will start.
Arranging my, my recruiting calendar for, you know, which, which basically would start maybe the last couple of weeks of October going to some club games on weekends. Um, if we play Saturday, then I’m trying to hit something on Sunday and then looking at showcases. Um, if we don’t happen to make a post season tournament.
Then, you know, you know, that’s sad, but at the same time, that does give me some ample opportunity to, to be at some places. Some other [00:01:30] coaches aren’t going to be at. And, um, so typically November is, is really busy. Uh, the beginning of December is, is busy. And then, you know, we, we, there is a break from looking at players, I guess, in the month of December, but we’re still, um, contacting and being in contact with them and then we’ll pick back up.
Um, just at the end of the year or 1st of the year with D. P. L. and some other things and, um, we’ll organize our own, um, preview days or, you know, I. D. days or whatever you want to call them where we’ve got, um. Those that have not signed or committed that want to play that maybe haven’t been discovered yet.
Um, we’ll give them an opportunity to come in and show what they can do. And then typically, when we get to the month of February, I should be. If I’m not, like, finished, I should be in that final phase of, like, completing the roster, um, with any JUCO transfers that we’ve been talking to, any internationals that we’ve been talking to, uh, any of the domestic kids that, you know, have, have already kind of finished things up.
So, by the, by the time we get to middle to late February, um. We’re we’re done for that particular year, and then we start shifting our focus on. Okay. What’s this next class look at? And we’re not in division 1 or a high level of 2. so I know that those programs a lot of times are [00:03:00] are 2 years out. I would say that we’re, we’re still current in our, you know, with the senior class coming up, um, and then, you know, with always an eye on the future looking at 25, but.
We do have some contacts with 26, um, but it’s, it’s few. Yeah.
Matt: So, okay. Makes sense. Well, and you mentioned your ID camp, uh, that you guys try to do to you, your staff work, other ID camps and, and how, I guess, how integral to the recruiting process do you see camps being?
Coach: Yeah, I think that. I try to get involved with as many that I think are legitimately going to give me some prospects, um, whether that’s at a 1 of the clubs here in the Atlanta area, or, um, if it’s a, um, you know, it’s bringing in different players, um, that are.
Like I said before, have not been signed had not committed still want to play. Um, if there’s some of those out there and their position that we’re still looking at, you know, I’ll, I’ll sign myself up for it. Um, we’re not going to every 1 of them, but if it’s, you know, definitely if it’s advantageous for us, if there’s players there that we are have been in contact with, or we want to be in contact with, we’re definitely going to sign up for it.
And I think the. The good thing about those is that we can start a rapport with some of these players. If we’re [00:04:30] in charge of a session, or if they’re rotating a session in, like, I may be placed with a coach from UAB, uh, and then I may be placed with a coach from. Um, you know, Troy state or something like that, where we don’t normally bump heads and, and they’re looking for a certain player and we’re looking for a different type of player.
So it usually works out. They’re not usually putting us in with, you know, our conference opponents that we see day in and day out, basically.
Matt: Right. No, that makes sense. And, and earlier you mentioned, you know, going to these showcases and events. So. Are there ones that are kind of the top of your list must see every year or where do you like to go to look for players?
Coach: Yeah, I think I think right now for us, you know, if we’re not going to find the, the juco transfer players that we feel like can come in and make an impact, then we have to start looking at. You know, things like DPL, um, sometimes ECNL, it just kind of depends on if we’ve got good time contacts or not, because a lot of times they don’t know what the NAIA is and they kind of like, they, they’re not steering clear of it.
They’re just not aware of it. And it’s kind of hard to be in a place where, you know, that there’s. 30 to 40 NCAA Division one coaches that, you know, those players and parents are there for that [00:06:00] reason. And for me to be there, um, sometimes it gets lost in the shuffle. And, uh, I, I really need to have someone that I’ve got a good relationship already.
If I’m going to do a tournament or showcase like that, where I know I’m going up against a lot of schools that are, you know, in the sun, You know, not Sun conference, but in, um, uh, what a, what? I’m trying to think of Sunbelt Sun. Oh, sun. Um, or, um, you know, one of those that are not far from here that, you know, they’re not SEC or a CC, but they’re, you know, they, they’re in a division one conference that I just.
Don’t really have a good chance of getting those players. So we try to focus on what’s the most bang for our buck. No, it makes a
Matt: lot of sense. Well, in terms of whether it’s at an event or a ID camp or tournament, whatever it is, kind of what makes up the hierarchy of things you’re looking for in a player, both on the field and off the field stuff.
Coach: Yeah. I think, you know, on, on field stuff that we’re looking at. Like a lot of other coaches are their ability, you know, with their first touch their movement off the ball. Um, how, how communicative are they? Uh, are they making themselves, you know, if they have possession of the ball, are they making the right decisions?
Uh, how quickly are they making those decisions? Uh, if they do get their ball taken for some [00:07:30] reason, are they someone that is going to, um. Well, you know, just kind of let it happen, or are they going to like, try to go after it, you know, and, and, and, uh, make an effort, you know, in, in every, you know, legally to get that thing back.
Um, so I think first touch is, is probably the most prominent thing and then their ability to possess and their ability to be, uh, threatening when they have possession. Okay. Well.
Matt: You mentioned JUCO, uh, and transfers and international. So, so where does that fit into all of your recruiting and, and, you know, is the transfer portal kind of changed the way you look at things or how important is that component in your?
Coach: Yeah, I think, I think what has changed with us. Um, is that we had been in the Appalachian Athletic Conference, um, from 2012 through the end of the 2022 23 school year. Then, you know, we were, we were moved into the Southern States Athletic Conference starting this school year and we’re behind. And I don’t, there’s no way to hide behind, you know, what our record was.
Um, there’s reasons for it, but a lot of them have to do with that. We’re, we’re not up to speed definitely with the top tier of that conference. And, and not a lot of, not a lot of teams are because not a lot of conference can say that they’ve [00:09:00] got, you know, three of the final eight. And that’s what our conference is, um, with life and William Carey and U.
T. Southern. Those, those are all elite teams in our conference and their elite teams in the nation. So, um, that’s what we’re up against. Now. We had not been up against that in our old conference. Our, our top. Two teams would definitely be top 25, some, sometimes getting as high as maybe 15 to 18, but generally that’s kind of where they landed.
And in our matches with them, yes, they were probably a little bit better than us, you know, but we felt like we were competitive. Um, we got into this conference and we, we saw quickly that we’re, we’re miles away and for us to get. Into the end of the game, um, we’re going to have to have some ready players that we don’t have to wait on for 2 years to develop.
So that’s why, you know, I’m looking at least for now at what’s available out there. Um, in the junior colleges of of good programs that are in good. conferences that are doing well, and then are these players their main players? Because if they’re just at those schools and they’re just on a roster, that’s probably not gonna help us.
I need I need starters or impact players in good juco conferences that that’s going to translate into coming into here and being able to hold their own.
Matt: Okay. Makes sense. [00:10:30] Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school. Um, like I say, you’re there in, in, in West Point, Georgia. Um, you’ve been there for a number of years now.
So, so kind of tell me what are the things that keep you there? What are the great things you find about the school and, and things that maybe we wouldn’t even know just by going through the website?
Coach: Okay, well, I started the program in 2001. I got to the school in 2000. We were in East Point, Georgia at the time, and we were known as Atlanta Christian College.
So we were National Christian College Athletic Association only, and it was Division II with no scholarships. And I coached both the men’s and the women’s program the whole time that I was there and before we moved. And then the first year that we moved down to West Point was the 2012 13 school year, and I still coached both, but it was You know, I, I had already made that clear to my bosses and CEOs and CFOs that that’s probably not going to work after that first year.
And, and they saw that it was, you know, you’ve got to recruit for both teams. You’ve got to monitor both teams. You’ve got to, so they, they saw that that was going to be the way we need. So I, I went. With the women’s team. Um, I thought that would be better for me. Um, it’s and whoever was coming in to coach the men would have a better, I think, opportunity because it’s it’s a little bit easier to get.
Guys in to be honest with you that it is women’s, um, you know, program players. So, [00:12:00] um, what keeps me around here is, I think, just the staff and the support that the school gives us. Um, you know, it’s, um, I, I’ve been at other schools before, but I really feel like we’re valued as coaches, um, by the administration.
We’re valued by. Um, you know, the leadership. Um, I think they, they realized that without athletics, um, you know, the school would not, you know, be as. Viable, I guess, as an option. So, um, you know, that, that kind of is what keeps me around. Um, also just, you know, I, I enjoy watching a team grow, uh, and even in a year like this, that was really bad, you know, I, I saw growth and it’s hard to see when, when you’re getting beat, um, as many times as we did, but I think that, you know, I look at it as like, all right, did we improve over the last game?
And if that’s. You know, if, if we’re taking baby steps and that’s all we’re asking, then that’s, that’s what my expectation is. And if we check that box, then fine, let’s not worry about, you know, wins or losses or draws right now. Those will come, um, in time. And it’s more of a, uh, issue of managing, uh, this year than, than any other.
And I. As as hard as it is to understand, I did enjoy watching the growth of [00:13:30] individual players and seeing some players step up that probably at the beginning of the year didn’t think that they were going to be in positions they were, and we had to rely on them.
Matt: Okay, well, let’s walk it back a month, but you know, you’re, let’s say you’re in the heart of that conference season.
Um, can you take me through a typical week for a player in terms of when’s practice classes, game schedule, that kind of thing?
Coach: So we’ll, we’ll start on Monday and obviously they’re going to have, you know, their classes or labs or whatever they have on Monday. And then, um, we share. The, the field space with not only the men’s team, but the city of West Point.
And so, um, on, on certain days, um, everybody has to be off the field by like a certain time. So we can only get one team in on the afternoon. We have a natural grass surface, so it’s, it’s not really, um. plausible for us to have a morning practice because it would just tear up the field. So, um, only one team can be on the afternoon on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
So we, we traditionally give the girls the opportunity to study and to get caught up on everything that is given to them on Monday. And, um, they have all afternoon long to get that done. And then we have practice at night. And then Tuesday rolls around and we’re on in the afternoon. So three 45 to five 30 is, is our [00:15:00] time on the field.
Um, Wednesday, if we have a match, then we’re getting ready for that. And, and either going or coming, uh, or going or hosting. And then if we’re, if we’re practicing, we’re, we’re on right after the men are off and then Thursday we’re on in the afternoon and then Friday, um, we don’t have classes. Uh, at point on Friday, it’s either you either have a Tuesday, Thursday class or a Monday, Wednesday class.
So Friday is off because of all the travel that is necessitated out of the athletic schedules between football and and us and baseball and softball and basketball. So generally. Um, they give a, they, they, they decided probably about four years ago to go to this, um, this calendar and it’s, it’s worked out well for us.
We don’t miss as many classes and the students, um, seem to enjoy only going to school four days a week instead of five. So. What happens on Fridays is that we’ll practice at 11 a. m. It will be done at 12 30. Players can go straight to the CAF, get their lunch in and then they have the rest of Friday off.
I think the men come on at like one o’clock and then they’re done by like three and then we’re either getting ready to leave on Friday night if it’s an away trip that we’re going to stay over or If it’s an away game that we don’t have to stay over, we’ll get ready and leave Saturday morning. If we’re hosting on Saturday, um, you know, it’s usually going to be a double with the men and that could either be 12 and 231, [00:16:30] 330.
Uh, it just kind of depends. So, uh, but usually we’re playing two matches a week. Um, when, when that match on Saturday is over. Our players know that we will not be getting together again until Monday night so they can get, um, home. Um, and hopefully at a decent hour on Saturday. Uh, if they want to drive to their house, um, you know, that’s that’s all up to them if they’re within driving distance, which a lot of our players are, um, and that gives them an opportunity to go home, do laundry.
Get lunch, go to church, whatever, and then, you know, they’re usually coming back Sunday night. We, we don’t have any meetings on Sunday. We don’t have any practice on Sunday. We give that completely day off for them to kind of, um, you know, get recharged a bit. And for me too. And so when Monday rolls around, the good thing is that we, we don’t have anything until night, so we can kind of slide into Monday a little bit.
And I can use Monday a lot of times in the mornings and early afternoon to focus on, uh, on recruiting. Okay.
Matt: Awesome. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the team. I mean, we did talk recruiting, but is there, is there a roster number that you find is ideal that you’re trying to hit?
Coach: Well, we, we have a goal of 30.
Um, that goal has been given to us by the administration and they feel like for us to sustain what we’ve got as far as a program. And, um, [00:18:00] the budget, you know, is set up for that. If we, if we fall below it, it’s usually not a big deal. Uh, as long as it’s like one or two, uh, if we happen to go over, then it’s, it’s actually a little bit better because, uh, we can, we can extend some things and, um, it gives us, uh, an opportunity to, um, have some reserve games.
Um, you know, because if you’re, if you’re going to carry 30. four, which a lot of times we’re right around that number, uh, generally speaking, 17 or 18 players are going to see varsity minutes on a regular basis, which means that you’ve got another group of 15 to 16 players that might get in here and there, but aren’t getting what they came to, you know, as far as playing goes.
And so we provide for them opportunities to play other reserve. College teams, uh, club teams, uh, or, or, or club teams at colleges that maybe don’t have soccer, or they do have a soccer team, but they also have a club team as well. Like Auburn, UAB, these teams have, um, you know, proper, you know. You know, number one teams that are varsity that, you know, we’re not gonna play them, but, um, they also have a club team, which is made up of players that, you know, you know, played a high level of club and soccer, I mean, in high school or at the youth level, um, and they just happen to be at that school, but they’re not on the [00:19:30] varsity team, but they enjoy the sport.
And so they get together and put a form a team and they’ll contact us and say, Hey, can we get a game? And usually we will try to schedule. Cool. Cool. Cool. Six to eight reserve games in the fall to go along with our varsity schedule So it stays pretty busy. But as long as we’re staffed properly, i’ve got an assistant coach a grad assistant You know, we can we can get it handled.
Matt: Okay. Well, and I was gonna ask about the staff, but you you told me there So how about you those specifically? Uh, what’s your coaching style? What do you hope to impart on the players there as as the head gaffer?
Coach: Yeah, um, I think um as I get older Um, you know, some of the some of the things that I thought maybe were maybe a bit were important when I was younger aren’t I don’t see them as important anymore.
But 1 thing that doesn’t go away. Is it? Um, you know, we, we have to have good chemistry. Uh, we have to be able to get along. Um, we have to have mutual respect. So it’s, it’s the idea of bringing players in with the idea of getting close camaraderie early on. And then let’s, let’s work together towards this goal.
Um, you know, it’s never perfect. Um, but, you know, I’ve been, I’ve been happy with, you know, the, the progress that we’ve made in those areas each year, even, even if a year has not been like what we would want it to be on, on our [00:21:00] record, at least I can say that, okay, you know, for the most part, we get along now, obviously there’s, yeah.
Individual challenges and things like that that go on all time, but we, we really try to stress a family type structure. And that’s 1 thing that our recruits, when they come in, they were, they were marked to me. Like, I felt very welcomed. I felt like this was a family atmosphere and this, this is a place that I am considering and I will hear that.
When they come to visit, so it’s really important for us when I’m talking to recruits to get them on campus, because I can do only so much as far as sales go. But if they can see my players and how well they get along and kind of the fun that they have in training and in the playing. But at the same time, it is business.
Um, I think that speaks very well of us as a, as a team. And, um, it, it’s very inviting, you know, for players that, that are looking for, you know, an option of where they felt like they’re going to be taken care of. So, uh, now the X’s and O’s type things, it, it, it really is dependent on what personnel we have.
You know, I love a three, five, two, if it’s played right. Um, and if you’ve got the personnel to run it, but if you don’t, um, it could be super disastrous. And, um, so if, if it’s a default, you know, we’re probably going to be looking at like, uh, you’re just garden variety for [00:22:30] 4 to, um, we haven’t had a ton of luck, at least in my.
Two or three years that I’ve, I’ve thought about playing a 433, having the right personnel in, in the midfield, like, we may have had three forwards. I felt like I could do the job and maybe four backs that could do the job. But I, at some point in time, you’ve got to have all those levels, um, on the same page.
And if you don’t. Then, you know, it’s going to put stress on the backs. And, um, you know, I, I, I typically will like to try to find the players that will fit what we want to do in a 352. And if I can’t, then we have to kind of like, look at, okay. This is not working. Um, maybe we can’t go through the midfield as much as I’d like.
Maybe we’re going to become more direct. So it just really is dependent on what players we get it. Okay.
Matt: Well, you’ve been generous with your time. Don’t want to keep you, but I do want to ask you one last question. And that is if you had one piece of advice that you wish every player going through this process would know, what would that be?
Coach: Uh, just to, to make sure that they’ve. Are keeping their options open and not be closed minded, um, towards, um, schools that they may have never heard of before. Because at the, at the end of the day, um, you know, you have to look at. If you have, have played since you were five or six years old [00:24:00] and you get to the age of 16 and North Carolina, Florida state, you know, these, these schools are not contacting you.
It’s not over. You still have options out there. And your options may not be ones that you’ve even thought of. It could be a school that’s within 30 minutes of you that you didn’t even realize had a, had a program and they’ve got the math, uh, they’ve got the, the academic program that you need. So my piece of advice is making sure that you don’t close doors too early.
Couldn’t agree more coach. Well,
Matt: Hey, I appreciate the time. Best of luck and all these recruiting, uh, events you’re going to be at. And if you get down to Lakewood ranch Bradenton area, give me a shout. All right.
Coach: All right. Sounds good. Thanks, Matt. Appreciate you. Thank you. All right. Have a good one.
