Shoreline Community College Women’s Soccer – Coach Dr. John Thornton
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Thornton from the Shoreline Women’s Program in Washington state. We talk about how he likes recruit everywhere he can. He describes their excellent student support center. Lastly, we discuss how he helps his players move on to 4 year schools. Learn more about Shoreline Community 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 John Thornton. Welcome coach. Hey, how are you? I’m doing well, thanks. You are up at Shoreline Community College up there just north of Seattle. Right.
Coach: That’s where we’re at. All right.
Matt: Well, I think right now you and I almost could, couldn’t be farther away in the contiguous United States, but, uh, but that’s all right.
That’s the beauty of, uh, of, of this platform. Right? We can, uh, be thousands of miles away, but, but we’re talking to each other right now, so that’s great. Exactly. Well, uh, congratulations. I think you just took over that program, right?
Coach: I did. Wonderful opportunity. I left, uh, bear Creek High School, uh, shortly before, and, uh, ready for this challenge.
Matt: Okay. Well, I, I know you’re, you’re a junior college. What, uh, what division of, of junior college is Shoreline?
Coach: Uh, so we play in a conference called the nw, which really just bakes up, uh, Washington schools, Oregon schools, and a couple Idaho schools. And, uh, so that’s our, that’s our division and our, our conference rather.
And, uh, Washington itself is broken up into three different divisions, and we’re in the Northern Division, so.
Matt: Okay. And are you guys able to give out, uh, athletic scholarships at your particular junior college?
Coach: Uh, yeah. We actually have a great program where, uh, as the coach, I can give out, th we’re in a quarter system so I can give out, uh, 33 quarters of reduced tuition up to 25%.
Okay, awesome.
Matt: [00:01:30] And, and so well, let’s talk a little bit more about recruiting cuz as I, I mean the hardest thing, uh, to, to do as a new coach is recruit. And it’s, even, it just being at a junior college makes it doubly hard cuz you’re turning over half, as, you know, doubled the amount of players each year. Uh, so, um, I guess what, uh, what’s been your focus?
What have you been trying to, to do to, to, to get players? Where do you go to, to try to find players? What’s that look like?
Coach: Uh, so where do I go to get players? Everywhere. Everywhere and anywhere. Uh, we’ve, we’ve got three committed returning players, uh, from the previous year. Uh, so we’re effectively building a brand new program.
Uh, so I have, I’ve talked to players in Hawaii, I’ve talked to players in Florida, uh, all over the us. Uh, even, even a couple abroad. So yeah, we’re, we’re looking everywhere and anywhere. And really what my focus is, is people with the desire to play. You know, like a lot of, a lot of girls get, you know, overlooked and, you know, that sort of thing.
And I wanna make sure that, you know, people that, that want the opportunity and wanna put in the hard work and the dedication, get that opportunity to try.
Matt: No, and I think that’s a great way to look at it. And, and I’m always telling people, look, if if you really want to play, there is an avenue for you. And, and, and sometimes that avenue may be junior college in, in.
Seattle, Washington. But, uh, but there’s always folks out there that are looking and, and possibilities are available. So I I mean, it’s, it’s, I know you’re kind of [00:03:00] rebuilding from scratch, but it’s not a new program. It’s one that’s been around a while, right?
Coach: Oh, yeah. It’s been an existing program. Uh, you know, the, the, the good part about the Pacific Northwest is we have a really robust soccer culture.
Uh, you know, we’re gonna be hosting, you know, one of the World Cup games in Seattle. You know, everything revolves around soccer in the, in the Pacific Northwest. So there’s a lot of great competition and a lot of visibility from, uh, D one, D two, D three schools, a couple N N A I schools in the area too, you know, that are always looking to, looking at the, the local talent or the local community college players that are playing in this area.
Matt: Yeah, for sure. And, and it can be a great pathway. Now you mentioned that you’re looking for desire. What else are you looking for in a player, uh, when you’re out there about watching games and, and talking to folks?
Coach: You know, when I’m, when I’m talking to folks too, you know, what’s important to me is, is academics.
Uh, our athletic director has a goal of 90% graduation rate of the athletes at our program. So that’s, that’s a, that’s a lofty goal. Uh, so, you know, I have a background of being a high school teacher for 10 years. So, you know, bringing that piece into it and you know, really making sure that the athlete is focusing on their academics as well as playing soccer that way, you know, it’s kind of double-edged that way when they go off at the end of our program and try to go to a four year university, you know, they’ve got a good GPA and a strong academic background as well.
Matt: No, and I, and I think that’s fantastic in terms of, um, you know, Academics as [00:04:30] well as the financial perspective. You know, we’ll talk a little bit more about the school, but, um, what, what would a, a typical player, you know, depending on the scholarships you mentioned, and let’s just say they had good academics, what would a player be walking into or expect to have to pay if they, they came from outta state?
Uh, let, let’s just say,
Coach: So we have a really cool program here in Washington where any of the, the, the neighbors, any of our neighbor states to include Alaska and Hawaii actually pay in-state tuition. So, uh, in-state wise, we’re about $1,700 a quarter, and the, the scholarship that I can offer takes about $400 off of that, off of that $1,700.
So, uh, you really can’t beat that. And when it comes to accommodations, we do have, uh, dorms, which, you know, not all. Community colleges have, but uh, our team has decided to, they’ve rented two houses and, uh, the players divide themselves up and they live in these two houses right in the subdivision, right outside of the gate of the college.
So it’s a really cool experience for them. And it’s, you know, kind of cost saving as well, because then they can use the kitchen and cook and, you know, prepare meals at home and, you know, that kind of stuff. So,
Matt: Yeah, that, that is a great option. I know, uh, had to wait to, to be an upperclassman at my, when I was in college to do that, but, uh, but so that, so that’s great.
Um, well let’s talk a little bit more about the school, just cuz I’m sure there’s folks not familiar. Um, you know, what, what are some of the the awesome things about Shoreline that maybe we wouldn’t learn just by clicking around the [00:06:00] website?
Coach: Uh, I think one of the cool things about Shoreline is that it’s, there’s something for everybody.
Uh, we have an auto mechanic program, you know, dental hygienist program, fine arts, music. Uh, you know, psychology, everything that you could want, you know, so a lot of the schools around this particular area are either technical two year colleges or they’re, you know, more academic two year colleges. And I think the shoreline has a great mix of both of those things.
So whether you, you want to, you know, go into a, you know, a technical field or you know, something that you can. You know, do a couple semesters or shortline and get your certificate and you know, go on about your career or if you want to transfer to a four year university, we have programs for that as well.
Okay.
Matt: Well, in terms of. You know, I know you haven’t been there for, for the season yet, but just in terms of, of how student athletes kind of balance those, those rigors of, of both playing a sport and academics, does the school offer any kind of support services or, or how do students go about that?
Coach: Oh yeah.
Our support services are awesome. We actually are putting the finishing touches on a student success center or an athlete, student athlete success center. Uh, and then that center is going to be the, uh, the navigator positions are gonna be held in there. And those are folks that, you know, will help you, you know, with your degree and, you know, help figure out what direction you want to go and that sort of thing.
Uh, tutor accessibility, uh, you know, and all that kind of stuff. And then as well, we, we do require a mandatory study hall, and that’s with me. So, you know, I’m checking up on your grades to make sure that there’s, there’s no [00:07:30] surprises when it comes to, comes to academics. So the support is there. And everything that a player needs to be successful is in place.
So I think it’s a great opportunity for somebody, especially fresh outta high school, that maybe this is their first time, you know, away from home or, you know, that sort of thing. A lot of supports there to make sure that you stay on track.
Matt: Okay. Well, let’s, let’s fast forward to the fall, right? Your first season, you’re, you’ve got the roster set, you’re ready to go.
What, can you walk me through what a typical week might look like, just in terms of when classes, practice, meals, games, that sort of thing.
Coach: Yeah, so the, the great part about, uh, our school schedule is we don’t actually start school until September 15th. Uh, and, but our practices will start August 1st, so we will go into about a two week camp and then, uh, we, we drive down to Seattle itself and we do a friendly tournament.
Uh, with, you know, other schools in our, in our conference and then we roll right into, right into the season. So what I really like about that is that, you know, the players get an opportunity to figure soccer out before we add, you know, academics on top of that. And then, uh, we’ll play, we play on Wednesdays and Saturdays and we’ll play up until about the end of November and then we’ll go on hiatus until the spring season.
We actually play two seasons at Shortline. Oh, okay. So, so a lot of opportunity. And I think that that’s, you know, something that’s super important, especially for players that want to transfer off to four year universities is we get, you know, two seasons so they get twice [00:09:00] as many looks.
Matt: Okay. That’s awesome.
Well, when it comes to season and, and you’re there coaching, uh, is there any other staff? Is it just you? What’s that gonna look like in the fall?
Coach: Uh, actually my, we just hired my assistant coach, norm Gibbs. Uh, he’s, he’s awesome. He comes to us with about 35 years of experience of coaching. And, uh, a playing history in England, uh, before he, before he moved over here to the us.
Uh, so he’s gonna, he specializes in development of players, so I think that he’s gonna be a great asset to our team and our community, uh, help build up this program.
Matt: That’s great. Well, how would you describe kind of your style of, of coaching and what you hope to see the team style of play be?
Coach: Uh, it’s a very fast style, very, very aggressive, uh, The, the formation that we’re kicking around is a 3, 2 41.
So it’s gonna be, it’s gonna be super top heavy, uh, upfront, heavy. Uh, so I, I think that we will be in a great situation. We’ve got three really great I center backs identified that I think can hold off the storm and, uh, you know, great returning goalkeeper. So it should be an interesting season. Okay.
Matt: Well in terms of, um, the Bigger picture and, and, and, you know, kids going to junior colleges, a lot of times they are focused on, on those next opportunities. So, uh, any advice for players that, that would be kind of using that junior college [00:10:30] route as, as a way to, to a four year university?
Coach: Yeah. Uh, to me I think it would be, you know, make yourself indispensable.
You know, make, make it so that when, when you’re leaving the program, I want to sell, sell you to, you know, UDub or, you know, central Washington or, you know, whatever the case may be, whatever school that you wanna, that you wanna pursue. And because I think that that’s a, it has a great benefit for the player, but it also has a great benefit for us as Shoreline, you know, so that we can advertise those successes and, you know, show that, you know, people are going on to bigger and better things when they leave here.
Matt: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I know you said you, you had three returning committed, uh, at least at the moment. But is there a roster size that, that you’re really hoping to hit?
Coach: Uh, ideally, uh, we would like 22. Uh, that’s our max roster size, and that’s what we would like to carry off into the, into the year. And, uh, I think that we can do that.
Uh, you know, we’re gonna have a team. Uh, there was some question about how big we were gonna be, but yeah, my goal is set at 22. Okay.
Matt: Well, In terms of you, you mentioned potentially having international players, but I, is the, the transfer portal something that, that you’re, you’re looking at or, or coming into play with your recruiting at all?
Coach: Uh, I have not been specifically targeting transfer players. Uh, if a, if a transfer player were to reach out, you know, we would definitely entertain that. Uh, because we are a self-contained conference. There’s a little bit of wiggle room with [00:12:00] eligibility and, you know, things like that, that we, we actually have as a benefit.
Uh, so yeah, if you’re an international or if you’re a transfer player, go ahead and reach out because we’ll definitely talk to you. Okay.
Matt: Well, coach, we’ve talked, talked about a lot of different things, and, and one of the things I always like to, to ask is if, if you had one nugget, one piece of advice, uh, that you could pass along to, to recruits or parents of recruits that are going through this process right now of, of the college recruiting process, what, what would you want them to know?
Coach: Uh, I would say open and honest communication is probably the most important thing to me as a coach. Uh, you know, this is the start of our relationship together, you know, the player and coach relationship. So if we start that with good open communication, I think that that, that, you know, really sets us up for success, you know, later on.
Okay.
Matt: Well, coach, I really, uh, wish you the best of luck and, and hope that, uh, you get a nice 22 person roster and, and rock the conference. And, uh, we’re talking a year from now and you’re telling me about how, what a wonderful year it was.
Coach: Oh, I hope so too. All right.
Matt: Thank you much. All right. Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
