Southwest Virginia Community College Men’s Soccer – Coach Shaun Schetka
In today’s episode, I speak with Coach Schetka from the Southwest Virginia Men’s Program in Cedar Bluff. We talk about how tough it is to recruit during the season. Coach also shares about how the facilities and support setup the student-athletes for success. Plus, we discuss their roster size as a two-year program. Learn more about Southwest Virginia Community College Men’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer Today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by two time now. Guest coach Sean. Welcome back, coach. Last time we talked, it was, uh, three years ago. I think you may have even in one of my, my first interviews launching the pod. It was that early. Uh, and here we are. Uh, you might be a episode, you might be school three 50 at this point.
I’m not, I gotta look at, look at the numbers, but, uh, but you’re now at Southwest Virginia Community College on the men’s side. Uh, so congrats on on the, the new position. Excited to hear about it. Uh, thanks for joining after our game day last night. I know, uh, it’s tough. Uh, this time of year we were just talking about that and, and, and I guess let’s just start there.
Like, I mean. I, I hear from kids all the time, man. I’m emailing coaches, I’m just not hearing back, and I’m like, look, August, September, October. It is just gonna be hit or miss. So how do you balance recruiting during the season? [00:01:00]
Coach: No. Yeah. First, Matt, I just wanna thank you for having me on again. You know, I like, I really enjoyed my first time and, and it really helped us throughout that process, uh, recruiting and stuff.
But now that I’ve, now that I’ve transitioned to Southwest, you know, it, it’s a great honor to speak with you and I, I’m gonna take a little bit of credit and say like, I helped really grow your, grow your podcast even. Absolutely. Even though probably not true. I just wanna call myself. Absolutely.
Absolutely. But, but no, I mean, I think. It’s very challenging to recruit, uh, during the season, you know, here, especially at the JUCO level, you know, we’re playing two or three days a week. Um, you know, we’re fortunate last night to play at home. Um, but then now we, we’ve got a game coming up on Saturday. So, you know, for me it’s, it’s how quickly can I, you know, re or close off the game, you know?
Go through film and all of those things and then, you know, kind of get ready for the next one. And I think it’s important for the, for potential student athletes to understand, you know, especially at our level. Like I’m the only coach right now, so I, I don’t have an assistant or any of those things, [00:02:00] but I think it, it’s, a lot of it is just kind of about how, how you can organize yourself, you know, you know, one of the things I try to do, I try to block off a little bit of, you know, a little bit of time every day to answer emails, you know, sometimes.
Things come up though, you know, the, whether the administrator wants to see you or guys are coming in and asking questions. So it’s just understanding that, you know, our, the men’s process is, is way different than the women’s, you know, and just, just being flexible, you know, I, I, for me, it works out better, you know, the more I hear from kids, you know, so, so being, being able to, you know, send a, send multiple emails.
If you don’t hear, hear back, you know? So I think just, just understanding that, you know, we’re trying to, we’re trying to get results right now and, you know, and while I don’t wanna say that’s the most important thing, but it is, it, it, it’s a very, it’s very important in, in, you know, most settings. So like, it just, just being patient, you know, following up with, with the coaches.
I, I would say that would be my advice to, to any student athlete, you know, [00:03:00] during this time right now.
Matt: Absolutely. Well, you mentioned timeline. Um, so I mean, you could create a lot of different buckets of, of what types of school, men’s, women’s, et cetera, fit in, what kind of timeline? So as a two year program on the men’s side, kinda what.
Is your kind of normal timeline, when does most of your recruiting happen and when do you generally close off, uh, your class for the year?
Coach: Yeah, so, you know, last year being my first full year, you know, here, here at Southwest, you know, we, we kind of started our recruiting pretty seriously, you know. Middle of September, end of, or middle of September, towards the beginning of October.
And then, I mean, we closed it out. I think we showed up August 1st, you know, July 15th. July 16th. I mean, you know, we’re, we’re open to, to taking kids whenever we can. And I think, you know, [00:04:00] it’s those situations, right? For me, it has to be the right fit. You know, I’m, I’m not one of those coaches where we just take.
Take players to take them. And I, and I think we’re fortunate in our situation where I don’t have to do that. Um, but, but no, I think it’s, you know, that early or end of September, early October, and that’s sort of just on our end where like our regular season ends, um, the last week of October. So it starts to slow down because you’re, you’re in conference play, you now you’re only down to maybe one or two games a week, and it spreads out, spreads itself out a little bit, you know, so, so we have a little bit more time to start answering emails and, and doing those things.
But really, you know, that end of October. You know, I think this year was, this year we signed for juco, we’re allowed to start signing guys in November. And I mean, I think we signed five or six guys right, right. The first day that we’re able to, you know, start, start doing Lois. So I think that that process is just, it’s just kind of understanding what works for us and, and, but I mean, again, everybody’s process is different.
Matt: Yeah. For sure. [00:05:00] All right. Well one thing I. That gets noticed if you look at your roster is, uh, some international flavor there. Uh, so kind of how do you, how do you balance the recruiting between domestic and international? Is that just kind of a, um, a product of being a two year program and product of being in southwest Virginia?
Kind of, how does that, how does that work?
Coach: No. Yeah. I, I think it’s a, it’s a very hot. Button topic, you know, around here, especially like I’ll use Emory and Henry’s not very far from us. Right. And, and I know that that whole situation has kind of become frequent here with them knocking off ETSU here last week.
So I think on our end, right, a lot of it is where we’re located. You know, I’m very, very similar. So my previous school, you know, we’re, we’re kind of in an area where. You know, yes, we’re in the state of Virginia, but people joke here, the state of Virginia stops it at Roanoke and you know, we’re, we’re two, two hours past that.
[00:06:00] So, you know, so for us it’s sort of just balancing, balancing the interest. And also, I mean, when, when I took over here, you know, the program had a very. They had had soccer before COVID, and then the whole COVID period kind of, you know, shut it down. And then, you know, the previous coach was able to reestablish it a little bit.
So for me, being able to just come in and come in quickly and, you know, try to get players, that, that’s what I knew, you know, so, so being able to recruit internationally was something that we were like, I was able to use my connections and relationships to, to just get players here. Then, you know, for this year’s, this year’s class, you know, I think we’ve, we’ve done a little bit better job trying to, to balance recruiting.
You know, we’ve been able to pull a couple Northern Virginia kids, which I think is gonna help us as we, as we continue to grow. But, but it’s a, it’s a fine balance of trying to be, you know, be competitive and, and those things. And, you know, I think it’s also, you know, finding those kids that are willing in Virginia to kind of come here, and, I don’t wanna say in the middle of nowhere, but, you know, in, [00:07:00] we’re, we’re in a place where it.
Where you have to really wanna focus on, you know, football and, and academics and, I mean, and those are the things that we talk about with our guys all the time. It’s, it’s a great opportunity to come here if that, if that’s what your priorities are. But all of a sudden, if you wanna start having those oth, you know, other things that are more important, you’re gonna struggle.
You know, like it’s just, I mean, it’s just kind of the reality of it, but also too, like there. There’s a stereotype here, I think in, you know, the US about juco, you know? Right. I, I think it’s there, it’s a misconception in my opinion, but, but as until we can grow and, you know, and I think hopefully with the NCAA, you know, trending towards maybe.
Not counting JUCO eligibility towards, you know, for, I think that’s, hopefully that’s gonna open some more doors and, and kind of make it a better, better avenue for, for players. But from a development standpoint, I mean, you know, guys come in and play again. And I think that was the, that was the biggest selling point for me versus being at a four year school versus being, or [00:08:00] versus being here now is, you know, trying to convince freshmen to come in and, you know, maybe they’re not ready and you know, all of a sudden they have to sit for a year or two and then, and then they wanna transfer out.
Well, in, in that two years you, you’ve not really played. So then where, where are you really going? You, you know, you don’t really have any film, you don’t really have any, you know, experience. But whereas, you know, you, you come here to juco, you know, you’re playing most likely in those two years, you know, our roster’s only 23 guys right now.
So, you know, playing two or three games a week, like, you know, guys are gonna play. So getting that experience, you know, understanding the transition from high school to college. You know, no ma even no matter what level club you play, I think there’s a, there’s a transition mostly because you’re playing against older players.
So, you know, so being able to get that experience and then, and then find out what you wanna do. I think, you know, I was fortunate at 18 years old, I really knew what I wanted to, to get into, but I think right now a lot of kids are kind of. Unsure ’cause we’re, we’re just in that, you know, [00:09:00] in that cycle right now of, you know, do I go to traditional education or, you know, here we’re, we’re able to offer, we have a lot of trade school, like trade, um, certificates and things like that where, you know, they do really well.
So it’s, it’s kind of a, just a, you know, I think it’s a great opportunity if you’re unsure of what you wanna do, I guess is the long answer to a short, you know, short kind of statement.
Matt: No, I, I, I, I agree and, and I, there’s a lot of. Kids, I’ve been telling recently that, that this is, this is a great path. It really is.
And it, it’s an option that, that more kids should, should look at for sure. So when you’re recruiting domestically, kind of, you mentioned Northern Virginia, but, uh, where else are you going? What, what tournaments or leagues or other places are you looking at, at players? Uh, and, and kinda what, what goes into what you’re looking for in a player?
Coach: Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, for us, the state of Virginia [00:10:00] is, is important, you know, and, and a lot of that is due to cost and, you know, funding and the, and those type of things. So I think really, really anything in Virginia, you know, we, we try to be at, I mean now, you know, it is a little challenging because the junior college.
Budgets and things aren’t, aren’t necessarily what they are, you know, what they are at the four year school. But I think for me, as far as what, what we’re looking for is, you know, we want the whole person, you know, I think, you know, you’ve gotta be a good football player, you know, you gotta be technical tactically, you know, understand, understand the game.
Um, but then you’ve gotta be disciplined. You know, I, I think here the, the biggest challenge we kind of run into sometimes is, is players are kind of, they’ve had their handheld, I guess, you know, from. The, since they’ve been playing till now, all of a sudden they get to 18. And then, you know, in our guys now, like we have, they live in apartments, so they’re, they’re having to cook for the first time by themselves.
They’re, you know, they’re having to do laundry. They’re having to, you know, all of those things. So, you know, are you mature enough to handle. Handle those decisions are, are in [00:11:00] responsibilities. Are you mature enough to to be on your own for the first time and not have mom and dad, you know, setting a curfew and, and, and doing those things.
You know, just, just kind of understanding what it takes as a, as an entire person. To, to really be successful both academically and, you know, athletically. I think, you know, here at Southwest, you know, our guys are very heavily involved in the community. Um, you know, we, we wanna expose them to, to as much as we can, but also the, the more we get them out in the community, the more we we’re able to draw and, and, and get people to support us.
I think that, you know, on our end that’s kind of been, kind of been a challenge, but I think we, we’ve done well is getting, with getting people that, and people as in student athletes that embrace that, you know, our guys. They wanna be out there. They, they want to be seen. They, they understand sort of, you know, what their role is on our campus, but also in, in our local community.
So, so it’s just kind of tying it all together and finding that, you know, person that, that wants to achieve whatever they, you know, that knows what they wanna achieve, but is also willing to do the work, [00:12:00] you know, to get there.
Matt: Yeah. Love that. Love that. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about the school.
Obviously you talked about geography, but you, you, you’ve now, uh, you know, you made the transition from a, from another school, so there must have been something there you like about it. So since you’ve been there, talk to us about what are some of the cool things about the school? Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know about going through the website.
Coach: No. Yeah, I think it’s, it’s an opportunity where, you know, I think, I think we have a great opportunity to have success. Um, you know, at JUCO to have on campus facilities is. You know, not, not the normal, um, you know, having apartments that are right across the street from our campus, you know, isn’t quite the normal.
So, you know, so being able to have all of those things that, you know, you need as a student athlete, you know, right here, you know, I think our, our academic support is, you know, above, you know, compared to most four year schools. Um, you know, our, our team GPA last semester was a 3.2, you know, so. Having, having the opportunity for guys to come in and, and [00:13:00] really focus on those, you know, those things that matter and, you know, set themselves up to move on, you know, to, to the four year school is great.
You know, we have a lot of great connections here in the state of Virginia, you know, based on transferring and those type of things. But then, you know, also guys are able to, to move on and play other places. You know, I think in my first year we, we placed nine out of 12 sophomores at four year schools.
You know, being in very various levels. You know, we have a kid at Lindsay Wilson right now, you know, we, we’ve got some guys on the west coast, we’ve got some guys on, you know, the southern part of the, the country. So, so just being able to come in and expose them to have those opportunities for me has, has been great.
You know, and, and I think our support from our administration, you know, our. Our athletic director is a former coach. You know, he is a, he is a former soccer coach, even on top of that, right? So it, it always helps having people that, that understand what our student athletes are going through. And, you know, here, the one thing that, that really outside of the, [00:14:00] all the things we kind of just talked about is the, the support from the people on campus.
You know, everyone here wants to see our student athletes and our students just have success. You know, and we kind of hit on it a little bit earlier, you know, the, with the trades and, and, and those type of things. Just having different educational opportunities for, for students and, and being able to kind of pull from a different, um, pool of, of potential student athletes that you don’t necessarily get at a four year school.
Matt: Yeah. Okay. Well. Let’s fast forward to to say October, you know, heart of the season. Walk me through what’s a typical week look like for a player in terms of, you know, winter practices, games, classes, meals, all that stuff.
Coach: Yeah, so, so a normal schedule for our guys, you know, games are usually Tuesday or Wednesday and then, and then on the Saturday.
Um, so we, we will train. Or all with the exception of Sundays, usually Sundays are usually a day off and, and we kind of like to [00:15:00] balance the, the whole person, you know, aspect, you know, so giving our guys the opportunity to attend church and, and, and those type of things. Um, usually we, we block off from one to 5:00 PM every day.
To, and usually in that, in that time, that covers our, our weight training. We’ll do two, two weight sessions a week. Um, it’ll cover our video analysis with our guys, um, as a team. And then it also covers our, our being able to train on the field. So, so, you know, being able to do those things that kind of allows us to stay within the 20 hours, you know, that, that jucos allowed and, and gives us that opportunity to maximize.
Um, our, our time with the guys. You know, that’s one of the things that, that also kind of attracted me to JUCO was just the, the amount of time we have with our players, you know, in, and especially in the spring. You know, I think the spring, the spring season for us was huge. Um, really taking that step forward.
But, you know, so that’s a typical week. Most of our classes here. Our guys are in the mornings. Um, but [00:16:00] then we also have a lot of online classes. So like, you know, so being able to have that, that flexibility where guys are able to, you know, do so, do a lot of training on their own and groups with each other, really, you know, really allow to speed up that development, you know?
Whereas if you’re versus being, you know, sitting in class for, or three classes a day, you know, in person, you might not be able to. Get as much, spend as much time on the, you know, the field or, or doing extra things. So, so we, we really try to maximize that, but we also try to, you know, make sure our students are, are getting that student experience too.
You know, last night after our game, you know, we’re out in the community trying to, um, we, they do a thing here at a local restaurant. It’s a game night. So, you know, we took all the guys down there. They’re playing family Feud, you know, with, with people in the community. But it allows them to, to get out and be, and be seen, you know?
And then today there’s a, we’re, since we’re still in the first or second week of class, or No, we’re, we’re still in the first week of class. I can’t even keep track of that. [00:17:00] Right. But, uh, they’re able, there, there’s a commu or stuff going on on campus, so. By making sure when our stuff is, the guys are able to get involved with that stuff.
So, you know, just real, it is really, it’s a good balance between both, but it also gives us a little bit more, more flexibility for the, the football is, you know, as, and that’s what, that’s what our kids want, you know, they, they, the more, the more they can have the ball at their feet or be doing those things, like that’s, that’s how they wanna do it.
Matt: Awesome. Awesome. Well, let’s talk a little bit more, uh, about the team. You, you mentioned you have a roster of 23 this season. Is, is that kind of your target number that you’re shooting to hit each year? What does that look like?
Coach: Yeah, so our, our school, they want us to have 23, 24 players. Um, I think at one point we had, we were expecting to be close to 28, but one of the things with, with the junior college ranks that I’ve learned real quickly is it’s a little better to over recruit than under recruit sometimes, you know, kids kind of just last minute change their mind and, and those type of things.
But [00:18:00] no, I, I think that that roster for me is, is ideal. You know, I, I could see a little bit more, um. You know, no more than, no more than 28, which is similar to what I had at other school. And it, and it just makes it easier to manage because, you know, at the end of the day, guys, they, they do wanna come in and play.
So, you know, you, you’ve gotta be able to, to balance having, having competition, but also being able to, to take advantage of the, of the roster and those type of things. So, so for us, you know, we, we wanna do that. I think, I think for this year, you know, we’re off to a. To rock or 50 50 start, you know, we, we played Patrick and Henry yesterday, which if anyone knows, you know, they’re a top.
18 JUCO in division two. So, you know, for us it was, it was a really good test. I think, you know, we’ve, we ended up losing two, nothing, you know, kind of two little mistakes on our end. But when you, when you play teams at that caliber that, like, that, that’s what it takes, you know, it just takes too little mistakes.
And then you’re, you know, next, next thing you know, you find yourself down and, you know, [00:19:00] chasing after the game. But I, but I think we, we’ve really grown in the last, you know, the last two years since I’ve been here. Um, I, I think we’re. I think we’re going in the right direction. You know, we’ve got a lot of experience.
You know, I think of those 20, 23, 24 guys over half are sophomores. Um, you know, and, and we were able to do that sort of, you know, the traditional way kids coming in and, and staying here for two years. But then we were also able to bring in some transfers, you know, whether it be from other jucos or, or you know, guys coming in from a four year school and to really kind of help us.
You know, solidify some, some needs in our roster and, and those type of things. But it, it also brings a little bit of, little bit of maturity, some experience. To, to the team. And you know, I, I’m excited to see what, see what we do this year. I think we’re, I think we’re gonna surprise some people, um, which, which is always a good thing.
But, you know, I think, I think we’re just continuing to go, you know, step by step. It’s right, it’s always a process and, you know, every day [00:20:00] believing in what we want to do and, and the things behind that, and the things that lead to that. And, and I think as we continue to understand those things, the, the success on the field will come.
Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, I know you mentioned you don’t have any assistant coaches at the moment, but talk to me about what other support staff are there at the school that help out with the team in, in any capacity.
Coach: Oh, yeah. So, you know, we, we have a trainer that that’s here full-time, which I think is great.
You know, like I said, not having an assistant coach right now, and for me it’s kind of a, it’s a good thing because he went on to take a four year job. So, you know, that, that, that, that, that’s always a good thing. But it, it kind of hurts us here right at the end. But like I said earlier, you know, our administrator is, is, is very hands on.
Um, you know, he’s constantly around, whether it be at, at games, he goes on the road with us to help us, you know, travel and those type of things. Um, one of the cool things here, my, one of my. School roles is, I’m the sports information director here. So, [00:21:00] you know, being able to kind of do different things on social media and, and that kind of stuff with our guys, I think we’re, we’re starting to go into that, we’re starting to do a little bit better job than that or than what we’ve done in the past, which I think is helping us, you know, being able to kind of expose them to them, kind of creating content and, and that kind of stuff.
But also it helps them so that like our guys get a real hands-on experience, you know, with that kind of stuff. Tutoring. You know, like I said, the academic support here is, is is really good. You know, I, I think that’s been something that I wasn’t, I was impressed with, and I think I talked about this a little bit earlier when I first got here, was understanding the difference, you know, between JUCO and, and a four year school, but realizing, hey, a lot of the resources are still the same.
Yeah. So, you know, I, I think in our, we have a lot of. People on, like I said, they, they really care about the kids. So like, anything our guys need, there’s, there’s someone here that they can talk to.
Matt: Yeah. That’s fantastic. Well, coach, really appreciate it. [00:22:00] Gonna leave you with one last question, and that is, if you had one piece of advice for any student athlete going through this college recruiting process right now, what would that be?
Coach: Yeah, no, I, I think, you know, you drive your process. You know, you’re gonna get out of it what you put into it. If, if you’re, if you’re organized, if you’re consistent, if you, if you really know what you want there, there’s a place out there for you. But I think if you kind of just, kind of, sort of fly by the seat of your pants or, or are unsure a little bit, you know, you, you might.
Find yourself not necessarily having the option options that you think you should have when you think you should have them. Right. So, so my advice would be organized, understand what you want, but also understand what you want from a whole picture, not just, not just from a football standpoint, because right, that, that academic piece, the, the community piece, all of those things are gonna, are gonna set you up to succeed, you know, well after the football career ends.
So, so making sure that, making sure everything checks the boxes. [00:23:00]
Matt: Yes, for sure. Find that right fit. Well, coach, really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck the rest of this season and, uh, hopefully you can, uh, keep, keep those, keep those wins coming and, and moving those players along. So, congratulations.
Coach: No, thank you so much, Matt. I appreciate it.
Matt: Take care.
