University of Valley Forge Women’s Soccer – Coach Maira Abreu de Campos
In today’s episode, I speak with Coach Maira from the Valley Forge Women’s Program in Pennsylvania. We dive into the unique aspects of recruiting at the D3 level, from scouting at showcase tournaments to utilizing the transfer portal. Coach Maria also shares insights into the team’s culture, their emphasis on work ethic and character, and how they develop players both on and off the field. Plus, we get an inside look at life at Valley Forge—its tight-knit community, academic support, and what makes it a special place to play college soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi, everybody. Welcome to Discover College Soccer. Today, I’m lucky enough to be joined by Coach Maria. I, I did my best there. I know it’s not perfect, but, uh, uh, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll let you say it a better way, uh, as we go here, but thanks for jumping on. Hopefully, uh, you know, uh, things up in Valley Forge. Aren’t too cold.
Coach: Uh, little in my office. I, I meet. Sure. It’s like, uh, more like Rio
Matt: and Pennsylvania. I like it. I like it. I’m down in Florida and I have a space heater on in my room because it’s that cold. And I saw
Coach: you guys got some snow down there.
Matt: Yeah. Farther North, uh, than, than us. But, uh, there is a frost warning, I believe for tomorrow morning here, which is, uh, which, you know, we get maybe one of those a year.
So people are freaking out, but what are you going to do? That’s right. Well, well, thanks for coming on. Uh, excited to talk to you [00:01:00] today. We’ve got some, some mutual friends in the soccer biz. As I try to tell people, the soccer world, it’s, uh, it’s not six degrees of separation, but it’s barely two. Uh, so you and I are just one away.
So, uh, it’s, but it’s fun to meet you. Um, So, it’s the end of January we’re talking, um, I always say this is the, you know, it’s like the height of showcase season, you just had ECNL a couple weeks ago, uh, Disney was last weekend, I’m sure they’re, I think ECNL Dallas coming up, I mean they’re, they’re all over the place, so for you guys as a division three program.
What kind of what’s your timeline? I mean, are you still working hard on those 25? How deep are you into 26 is where you at with that right now?
Coach: Well, first, thank you for having me. Appreciate it. Uh, so I think, like, unlike what most people think, are we still on the 25th? Um, we, like, have some room for growth.
Um, we’re definitely starting [00:02:00] on our 26th as well. Uh, me and my assistant both have been talking to our 26th already. Uh, but 25 is definitely still a focus right now. Um, changes a little bit about being off season. So, uh, we are more out and about, uh, just different tournaments, different places that we go.
Uh, actually this weekend I’m headed to, uh, New York, uh, for a tournament. Um, and then, um, yeah. So we just, right now, still looking at 25s and then continue to grow and improve.
Matt: Okay, well you mentioned going to New York, I guess what are some of your favorite tournaments to go to? Where are places you like to go to see players?
Kinda, what does that look like for you?
Coach: It looks whatever it looks best, I guess, the weekend with the schedule and everything. But, uh, the main tournaments at present state, they have, uh, uh, SCA Europa puts like a tournament of, uh, [00:03:00] Benfusion puts a tournament. Um, so I’ll. Go to those or hopefully have somebody going.
Um, and then otherwise is basically like we get schedules from some of the recruits that we’re talking to or some of the coaches that we have connections around the area. Um, and then we make the trip. So actually this tournament that I’m going This weekend is a coaching connection. I made a while ago.
Um, it’s about five hour drive. So, uh, you know, it’s going to be a nice time for some catching up on podcasts and books, but, uh, yeah, so yeah, we, we go anywhere, everywhere. Um, the goal really is to have a regular connection there with like the recruits and stuff. So we, we know who we’re watching and it’s basically more just.
Trying to figure out how the person or the player would fit with our program. Uh, but we still go and like, if I see somebody I like, of course, I’m like getting that contact at the end and be like, Hey, we’d love to connect. [00:04:00]
Matt: Awesome. Well, how about ID camps? Do you guys host your own or do you, your staff work other ID camps?
Are they part of your recruiting process at all?
Coach: Yes. So, uh, we do both. So right now, actually, we have one coming up February 8th, um, um, on campus. We have a small turf facility, uh, indoor, which helps, uh, because with how cold it is and all the snow, it’d be hard to have soccer outside. But, um, yeah, we have our own and then we do also go to a couple of, uh, local schools.
Uh, I’ve been to, uh, Messiah, runs theirs, uh, been to, uh, Villanova, uh, a couple other schools around the area. Um, so, either we get the invitation, again, I think, like, what you mentioned, like, with the coaching world being so small, like, it, it’s awesome to have those connections and, um, get that help from different coaches.
Matt: Yeah, for sure. Well, whether it’s at one of these events or an [00:05:00] ID camp or whatever it is, what is it that you’re looking for in a player? What makes up that hierarchy of things both on the field and off?
Coach: On the field, of course, we wanted the technical. Um, I think that’s, again, like you want to play soccer, you need to be able to kick a ball, right?
Um, but off the field, I’d say, um, the work ethic, I think like that’s something that as a coach, you cannot really instigate on a player, either they have it or they don’t, um, that that positive attitude being coachable and all. Um, because the technical way that we do that in our practices, like how we run things like I think it’s important we do every day at least 15 20 minutes of technical.
Um, and then, as I said, like the work ethic piece is something that we can’t really, um, instigate on the players and putting them in a competitive situation. Um, so for us. Yeah, for me, it’s going to be somebody who is [00:06:00] dependable, reliable, uh, can take care of business both on and off the field, like academically, you have to be able to, to get the grades because you need to be able to, to be eligible, right?
We can’t play, you can’t even practice if you’re not eligible. And that’s something that the player has to take care of on their own. So for us, all of those things are. Like kind of like a holistic approach really to, to recruiting, um, to make sure that if they come here, um, they will succeed, right? We, we have to support, we’ll try to help on our end, of course, uh, but they also need to be able to, to do the things on their own.
Matt: Well, when you are recruiting and you’re bringing in your team, is there a roster size that you find is ideal that you’re trying to hit each year?
Coach: Yes. So for me, I would love to have around like [00:07:00] 18 to 25 players, uh, three goalkeepers, um, on, on roster. Um, I’ve been blessed actually with like some of the goalkeepers that we have gone also played the field.
So it’s easier sometimes to manage that. Um, But being able to play like a full size game in practices, uh, it’s definitely important in preparing for, for games. Um, so for me, like having, also accounting for injuries, like this past season we had, like, uh, kind of crazy trying to manage, like, injuries, sickness, uh, felt like for a while there, like, we had everything and, like, every week was somebody different, so.
I’m trying to account for those who like the bigger the roster, the better. Uh, but I feel with like having, uh, smaller with like me and my assistant coach, I think like 25 would be the ideal number for us right now.
Matt: Now, one of the [00:08:00] big things, uh, in all college sports, but especially soccer is the transfer portal.
Uh, is that something you guys look at or do any recruiting of, do you look at international players at all? How does that work?
Coach: Yes. Yeah. But, uh, we, we hit the transfer portal on a weekly basis, almost daily for me. Um, because yeah, we see a lot of the. The importance really, like, of getting those players who have already had experience in college.
Um, also, like, trying to take advantage from this new DNCA rule with, like, the Division I’s being only able to carry, uh, a certain number on their roster. So, kind of, like, kind of trickling down to us, uh, so trying to take advantage of that as well. Uh, so Yeah, we definitely hit transfer portal, um, in that, I mean.
Okay. Well,
Matt: let’s talk
Coach: a little bit more about
Matt: the school. I’m sure there’s some folks not familiar with the University of Valley Forge. I, I was driving through PA back [00:09:00] in the fall and, and think I saw a sign off, off one of the roads I was on, uh, as I was over near Westchester. And, uh, the kind of the, the great.
We’ll say the greater Philadelphia area. So you’ve, uh, you’ve been there a couple of years now, if I’m not mistaken. So what is it that you found is really cool about the school? Maybe some things we wouldn’t even know by going through the website.
Coach: Um, I think like for me, the community, um, I, I, sometimes I even joke with, and when I’m talking to recruits and people outside, it’s like, it feels like it’s a little cliche, but it’s so true.
Like I’ve been blessed with the places I’ve worked at. Uh, outside from by the forge. Um, but here the community is like across campus. It’s not just athletics. Um, it’s everywhere. Like you have the professors will come to the kids games. Um, I had actually like last year, which I thought was the coolest thing was a one of the professors sometimes would take a [00:10:00] break, uh, during their, um, afternoon class, come to our games for a little bit and then go back to class because they have like that long three.
Our plus for psychology or social work. Um, so it’s pretty neat to see that, um, here on. And I know that, like, if there’s anything going on, I can call anybody from the department that they’ll come to help out. So everyone here is hands on trying to help the students. It’s not just the athletes, but the students in general, which is actually one of our Yeah.
Um, core values like students are, are a focus. So yeah, it’s, it’s pretty cool. Um, to see that support, um, even like academic, emotional and mental health and everything that we, we have going on in our society nowadays.
Matt: No, absolutely. Well, let’s. Rewind back to the fall. Um, walk me through, what does a typical [00:11:00] week look like for your players in terms of when our classes, meals, games, practices, you know, what’s a typical week look like?
Coach: All right. Uh, so usually Mondays we do, um, our strength and conditioning. Uh, we try to like keep it as far away from games as possible. So usually I coming back from a week where they had a break, um, and kind of trying to restart. Um, kind of like that fitness, uh, piece. Um, so we usually, once we hit the bulk of the season, it’s a little lighter.
It’s more focused on like just keeping them healthy and safe, uh, versus the fitness itself, beginning of the season. We do focus a little bit more on the fitness aspect. Um, so Mondays. Practices are usually in the evenings, like not around like four to six, uh, so about two hours there. Um, and then they have classes throughout that.
Some of, some of our girls do have night classes. Um, so they do, I think, like six to nine here. Um, [00:12:00] but usually they have classwork throughout, like, the day. Um, and then we play twice a week. We try to sprinkle, um, like, the games mostly in conference. We go Wednesday, Saturdays, and then off conference, we try to kind of, like, play a little bit more with those to make sure that they’re not missing classes.
Um, and then meals are, I think, like, 7 a. m. opens and they can go whenever. It’s basically open all the way through, but then lunchtime is at 11, um, and then dinner starts at four. Um, but really, like we, we kind of try to work all across, like the girls are all over the place, especially with having on campus and off campus jobs, some of them do.
Um, so trying to manage all of that sometimes can be Interesting. So we try to help with like, um, even like creating with them like a time management situation here. [00:13:00] But, um, yeah, so our practices games, usually on Thursdays, because we usually play on Wednesdays, we do it like a recovery day. And we do have Bible studies with our team.
We are private Christian schools. And that’s something that is important to us here. Um, so we’ll do like the first half hour of our practices will be, uh, kind of recovery or some like more technical things that we need to work on, um, depending on how our game went. And then, um, we finish the last hour of our Bible studies.
Um, and then Friday is Pre game prep. Um, just kind of trying to figure out what we need to work tomorrow. Um, do like maybe a little bit of game analysis walk through like, Hey, this is the team will play here is our things that we can do to help ourselves. Um, Yeah, so and then Saturday bright playing games and then Sundays they get they have, um, so they can do whatever they want to.
We do have four hours study [00:14:00] hall, so they have to also manage that there. Um, we try to encourage them, like, depending on what’s going on. I’m just putting them, like, like, who are recovering, they go, like, go to the study hall at the library or in my office, depending on the player.
Matt: Gotcha. All right. Well, let’s talk a little bit more about, about the team and the soccer side of things.
Um, we talked about roster size, but, uh, The other part of the roster is the staff. So talk to me about who else is on your staff. What role does everybody play and maybe what other folks are within the athletic department that maybe help out with the team in some way?
Coach: Uh, so my stuff is me and my assistant coach.
Um, she is actually an alum from UVF. She is a, she’s a blessing. She’s awesome. Uh, but she definitely was with us all the time. She helps more with like trying to like manage the team. Sometimes I’ll split. Um, I’ll have the defenders and then she will have the VA. Yeah. Uh, the forwards and [00:15:00] the midfielders.
Um, sometimes I’m, we’re actually with the goalkeepers. We, we split the goalkeepers. practice. Actually, we have practice outside from our practice because I don’t like to split them all the time. I think it’s important for them to be with the team. Um, but occasionally it’s just kind of happened that we have to do that way.
Um, but she, she will run some of the things for me, um, some of the drills, um, and then help with pointers. And then outside of that, yeah. the department. It’s kind of what I mentioned, like the piece of the community. So like we have our A. D. Sometimes we’ll help with different things. Uh, men’s soccer coaches.
Uh, mainly, really, we have the baseball, softball and basketball coaches helping With more like on the stats side of things, um, game film, like they will be the ones doing the recording and then so it’s easier for me to, to do the breakdown afterwards. Um, yeah, so we, we have [00:16:00] like a lot of people like helping out, but like the, the main bulk of soccer is me and my assistant coach.
Matt: Okay, well. Let’s talk about you then. How would you describe kind of your coaching style and the style of play you want to implement there?
Coach: Well, like a true Brazilian, I love to have fun. Uh, I think, you know, we’ll play soccer because we find it fun. And then the competitiveness is what makes the game fun.
I think anybody who has watched me either play or watching a game, um, supporting my team in Brazil knows how crazy I am. Um, but, uh, yeah, I like to make the environment fun. Um, I think that’s how they learn. I think I encourage mistakes, practice is the place where they should be making mistakes. And that’s.
Where, you know, they pay me for, you know, to coach them on those through those mistakes. Um, and then I, I usually actually joke with my team too, is like, if you get to game time and you don’t know what you’re doing, we’re in trouble. Um, [00:17:00] so for me, creating that practice environment where the girls want to be there, they want to grow, they want to show up and they wanted to give 100 percent effort is something that is important to me.
So, um, I tried to create that family environment really with the team. Um, And having, building a real relationship is kind of how it goes. Um, and then everything else kind of falls under that. Um, so like being able to teach the technique, being able to, to speak and, and say like, hey guys, that was not good, right?
It’s not, I don’t yell. I don’t like to think I’m a yeller. Um, although occasionally, you know, you can tell, you know, frustration comes. But, um, yeah, they, they, they know. I had their backs. Um, yeah. So for me, I love a possessive style of game. Uh, we try to create, keep possession. The more we have the ball, the less running.
It’s like the interesting thing. It’s playing soccer, but some of our players are like, don’t like running. Uh, so I tell them like, the more [00:18:00] we have the ball, the, the, the less running you have to do, let the ball do the work. Um, and then try to create opportunities that way. So. Switching point of attack, uh, moving the ball from one side to the next and trying to create gaps on the defense, the opponent’s defensive line to then penetrate or something like that.
Um, there is a moment, of course, like to play down the line and send crosses in, so we work on those as well. But for me, like, it’s really important everyone starting from the forward fence. It’s 11 behind the ball. There’s no such thing as, like, just the back line fence. Um, everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing defensively when we are attacking.
Like for me, I love the creativity, I guess, also comes with being Brazilian, um, you know, I, I encourage them to be creative. I, I want them to have fun, um, so, um, when they are attacking, of course, we’ll go over a couple things, like, [00:19:00] to help, um, but I also tell them, like, play what you see on the field, you know, because thank God, soccer is not math, so it’s not exact, and things happen, and if you see something, like I told you, like, hey, maybe this portion is open, but you’re seeing somebody else making a run, and it’s a good run, play it, you know, play what you see, and, um, hopefully that will work well for us.
Matt: Well, we’re rolling into, uh, springtime. So what does that non traditional spring season look like for you guys? What will. Players be doing kind of, what does that, that spring training look like?
Coach: So, yeah, so for us division three, I think it provides a unique, um, kind of like perspective for players. A couple of my players, I actually do well athletes.
So some of them are starting season for other sports right now, uh, which is pretty cool. Um, and then for the ones that are just [00:20:00] strictly soccer, um, right now we focus on building strength, um, so a lot of like weight room, tackling that, um, and then, uh, once we start like non traditionals, usually, uh, when I can come back with the soccer piece of it, uh, but my, most of them will play pickups or intramurals, uh, just try to keep, uh, touches going, um, some of them, I know, like, have, uh, outside from the school, like, they have a facility that they could play.
They put a team together, a co ed team, uh, to play. Um, and I know quite a few, which is awesome. But, uh, mainly really is focusing on building strength and then the foundations. I keep working on the foundations of soccer. Um, the, the piece of, like, conditioning, all of that, it’s kind of like falls a little bit just because it’s like far from season.
Like we do want to make sure that they are healthy, uh, trying to take care of the injuries that some of them pick up throughout their season. [00:21:00] Um, so like really connect with the, our trainer to come up with a PT plan and then put them through that to make sure that we’re not just strengthening, um, And preventing injuries, that’s like a huge thing that we, we focus here is, uh, prehab instead of rehab.
So we do a lot of prehab things, um, again, trying to make sure that when summer comes and then pre season is coming around, we are good to go, um, and we can go 100 percent versus trying to manage too many injuries. If, if we’re having injuries, they are more impact than they are, um, just things that we could have worked on.
Matt: Well, coach, I really appreciate your time. I’m going to leave you with one last question. And that is if you had one piece of advice for anybody going through this college recruiting process at the moment, what would that be?
Coach: So I’d say talk to as many people as you can, especially if there’s like a school that you’re interested in, [00:22:00] um, really like.
Uh, like search, do your search, like you want to know, like, who, who are the coaches for the teams and everything? Um, just because, you know, it’s four years, you want to make sure that four years of your life, um, you’re going to come out and you’re going to be like, wishing that you could go through it again.
You know, um, I have, you know, my best friend. Uh, is in Arkansas still, uh, I still visit her actually wasn’t able to go home. Um, for Christmas So I went to Arkansas to visit and then thankfully it was something a connection made through soccer teammate So i’d say like yeah, like talk to a lot of people Email coaches yourself.
If you can get on the phone call, that’s the best one of the best things to do best thing really is coming for a visit, um, and meeting the coach meeting the players showing up for a game. It’s always good because you can see also like how is the team, the chemistry, the environment, the culture, [00:23:00] everything.
Um, all of those things will be huge. Making that decision and making sure that when you choose, you’re choosing a place that, you know, you’re going to enjoy being there.
Matt: Couldn’t agree more. Well, coach, I really appreciate it. Wish you the best of luck here in your spring season and closing out your recruiting class.
And, uh, if you get down to, to Lakewood ranch here for any tournaments to hang out with Jamie and I, I think that’d be a lot of fun.
Coach: Oh, I think so too. I’ll probably try to make my way down there.
Matt: Sounds good. We’ll take care.
Coach: Thank you.
