Western Iowa Tech Women’s Soccer – Coach Eddie Vongsiprasom
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Eddie from the Western Iowa Tech Women’s Program in Sioux City. We talk about how he recruits locally and internationally for his young program. He describes all that the city and school has to offer. Lastly, we discuss how he uses the spring to build a culture that competes. Learn more about Western Iowa Tech Women’s Soccer.
Matt: [00:00:00] Hi everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer today. I’m lucky enough to be joined by coach Eddie out at Western Iowa tech. Welcome coach. Hello. Hello. Thanks for being here. Hopefully, uh, winter hasn’t set in too, too harsh on Western Iowa at this point yet.
Coach: No, no snow yet, but yeah, it’s cold. It’s getting cold.
Matt: All right. Well, we’re talking here end of, uh, November, uh, in terms of, you know, You got to recruit twice as much as everybody else, right? As a community college. So, um, what it kind of is your timeline right now in terms of finishing up your class of 25s? How, how, how many do you have? How much, how long do you go before you finish that class?
Is it ever really done? What does it look like for you guys?
Coach: It’s, I mean, it’s an ongoing process. Uh, I mean, at the JUCO level, it’s like, We really get like, uh, it’s kind of, we get the trickle down effect, right? Everybody, obviously they want to go D1, D2, you know, NAIA, and then we’ll kind of get whatever’s left over if, you know, uh, but like, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s ongoing, um, this year as you may know, like, you know, we just got done with our second year, so like our program’s not out there yet.
Uh, and it’s, we’re, we’re so establishing ourselves, so not a lot of people know us, but, you know, from, I was just talking with, uh, my athletic director, like, from the first two years, man, like, this year has been like a gold mine, right? Like, we had a little bit of success, and it’s going into our third year, or [00:01:30] finishing our second year, going into our third year, and I was like, man, I haven’t, coaches contact me, and I was like, man, it, it, it feels like, it’s exciting, right?
Matt: Yeah, no, for sure. Well, when it comes to your roster, I see it’s, you kind of got that mix of, of Iowa and then international, a lot of junior colleges kind of have that local and international mix. So is there, is there anything you’re looking for in particular or any places that you go to, to find local and or international players where your hotspots for recruiting
Coach: as far as like locally, right.
I’m a Sioux land guy or in the tri state area. Like I, I love. I coach high school here, so I love to have all the local girls come here. I think we’re a great start, but like the Omaha, uh, area, that’s a gold mine, right? That’s all D1, D2. Like, we’re, we’re trying to get up there. I think, like, we’re not established that we’re recruiting against, you know, Iowa Western.
And, you know, I was central. I mean, they’re just powerhouses up there. Like, why some travel an hour and a half? Well, you got, you can stay home there, but as far as internationals, man, like, uh, you know, like, like, with the process with the agencies and stuff like that, like, it’s just kind of deciphering through, uh, all the information and then kind of seeing what we need.
And then, uh, the budget is a big thing. Uh, and then, um, but yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s, I want a good mixture of both.
Matt: Okay. Well, when it comes to looking at players, whether domestic or international, kind of what makes up that hierarchy of things you’re [00:03:00] looking for in a player off the field and on the field?
Coach: Uh, for me, it’s, it’s like, you know, have they, how far have they, like, at the highest level, have they competed, right? Are they, you know, championship? Have they won before? Right? Because it’s like going through the process of winning and, you know, One before like, you know already what it takes to and the workload, right?
Um, and then we we have a program that we take Uh, I have them take it’s called a mind. It’s like a tap assessment. It’s through a riser And it like it gives me a lot of information of you know How they are like character wise their mindset and their strengths and their weaknesses and I kind of they give us They give me a score and I kind of Use that just kind of as a reference, but I was like, I’m looking for players that just are hard work that are not scared to invest in themselves.
Matt: Well, and, and not planned, but, uh, we’re, the podcast is definitely friends with the riser mindset tool as well. And folks can, folks can go to discovercollegesoccer. com and, and get our code to save 10 percent on that product. It’s good that you like it. It is, it is pretty, pretty cool. Uh, it’s really. Dig deep.
Yeah, for sure. Well, in terms of, um, the school itself, um, you know, some folks maybe not familiar. So what, what is it that sticks out to you that made you kind of want to go to, to Western Iowa Tech? What, what makes it a great school? Some things maybe wouldn’t even know by going through the website.
Coach: No, I’m, I’m, man, I’m a local guy here.
I’ve been in the Siouxland area. They, uh, opened the athletic program like two years ago. I’ve been [00:04:30] coaching club and, uh, high school for like two decades, right? And this opened up and I was like, man, this is, this is a great opportunity because we have great players around here. Uh, but like, as far as the college wise, like, man, they’re, they, they, they are so, uh, like, they don’t cut the corners, right?
They, they, they, they provide everything you need, right? Uh, they meet you where you are. Right. And like, you come here and you feel the support, right. You feel the love, you know, talking with my players one on one after the season. It was like, it’s my sophomores are like, man, I wish we were a four year school.
Right. We love it here. And it comes to a point where, you know, like, like, man, like we spoil these kids and like, they kind of feel the, the sense of entitlement here. Like we want more, we want more. And I’m like, dang, we created some monsters here. But like, no, that’s just, that’s the, the culture here at Western Nival Tech though, it’s just.
Overwhelming support.
Matt: No, it’s fantastic. Well in terms of um, the school itself Sometimes one of the for many people the benefit of going to community college is the cost savings. Um, Talk to talk to me about you know, what is kind of What would a player coming in expect on average, what kind of financial aid is available, whether that’s soccer related or other related, and are, you know, some community colleges have dorms, others don’t, kind of what’s your all set up there and what’s kind of the costing structure?
Coach: I think like just a walk on in general, if you’re going to stay here on campus is about around 14k to 15k. 15 k around there. [00:06:00] Uh, but like, uh, with the, like the domestic players with the FAFSA and the, um, you know, the other grants and scholarships that we have here in place, a lot of our local players are, are free or, you know, they’ll come here free or they’ll pay around 4K or 5K for the whole year.
So it’s, it’s very, a very affordable. Uh, and then as far as for internationals and division two, right, like, uh, we, we can’t pay for housing, uh, and, and food. So, you know, their minimum costs, uh, would be at least 6, 800 around there, but like, you know, the dorms are right here on campus, uh, and it’s, you know, like we have everything we need here.
Matt: Oh, great. Well, take me back. Let’s say end of October. You’re kind of in the heart of that that conference season Walk me through what’s a typical week look like for the players in terms of winter classes practices games meals all that kind of stuff
Coach: Yeah, so, um, you know end of october here like this past season like just uh, so, you know We’re kind of getting into the you know The the end of the playoffs or the start of the playoffs just say it’s just you know We have practices every day four to six Um, but then, you know, we have classes, we have, uh, study halls as well throughout the week, at least once every Thursday for us is a study hall and then like film sessions, uh, you know, a couple of days before the game.
Um, but and then, you know, there are. I guess their, um, fitness [00:07:30] goes in there, uh, depending on each player as well. Uh, we have with the trainer, but it’s like, it’s, it’s hard being a student athlete, man, like, and then you throw life into it too. And it’s like, it’s, it’s, it’s chaotic. Uh, but like a typical day, like, you know, they have class until about three, uh, three 30 and then the practice from four to six.
Then after that, they have dinner and then, you know, then some on Thursdays we have study hall. Uh, and then after, or they don’t have study hall throughout the week. It’s just basically recovery that late in the season is like trying to get healthy again, uh, and, and, you know, being able to play on come game day.
Matt: Yeah, absolutely. Well in terms of of the team and that you know, how many Are you trying to have on your roster? What’s an ideal roster size for you? You know, I know it’s it’s only as you’re going a new third year But kind of if you have your druthers, what’s that number going to look like?
Coach: Um, I mean just take you back the past the first year was just like man I just want to fill fill the roster.
I want to make sure I have a a starting 11 every game. Second year, we got, um, around 24 to 25. And then I was like, that’s a good number. Like, we were able to hold 11 v 11 practices, right? Like the first year, like we, we struggled. We never had a 11 v 11. And then come this third year, I’m looking to add a second team.
So my goal, right, is to hit around 33 to 35 players total.
Matt: Well, besides the roster [00:09:00] players, you know, it takes a staff, right? So who else, uh, maybe is on your staff or what other staff are within the athletic department to kind of help with the team and what are, what is everybody’s role there?
Coach: Yeah. So I mean, like coming in, it’s, it’s.
Budget is a big thing, right? Starting a program from fresh. And so, uh, they provided me with an assistant coach that was assistant coach with the men’s team and, and the women’s team. And we found out like, that’s hard. Like he was, you know, he was going around in circles. He, he, he couldn’t, he couldn’t commit, right.
You just can’t, but you don’t have enough. hours in the day. Uh, so we hired a assistant coach, a friend of mine very late in the season. Uh, and then he right now he’s kind of just helping with the recruiting class. We had potentially, well, we had, um, a goalkeeper coach at the beginning of the year, uh, hired, but then he took another job in florida.
And I was like, man, so that kind of cut us. And then the hiring process is, you know, it takes a while so that we’re just getting into the season. We never was able to get another goalkeeper coach, but that’s kind of one of my goals, uh, this off season is to get a goalkeeper coach in. Cause like I said, my goalkeeper, I told him, I was like, man, I feel like I failed you, like we just didn’t have the time.
So, I mean, that’s my goal for the off season.
Matt: Well, what about you? How would you describe kind of your style of coaching and the style of play you’re looking to play there?
Coach: My style, I would say, like, the truth, right? The truth is, I’m hard. I’m hard. I’m [00:10:30] demanding. I’m, I hold you accountable. But I love hard, right?
My love is not like, I may not tell you I love you all the day, every day. But at the same time, like, I make sure that, you know, you have everything you need, right? My, my, my way of showing you love is me checking up on you, making sure you have everything you need. Um, but my style of play, man, I, I love, I love the game.
It’s, it’s, it’s a beautiful game. Um, but the past few years, I have not had the players to play the way I wanted to play. But then in the ideal world, you know what I mean? I would love, I’m a defensive coach, defensive minded coach. I love possession of the ball, right? But then I love scoring goals as well.
Uh, so it’s, it’s a low risk, high reward kind of deal. Um, but, um, the way we’ve been playing the past two years is kind of find the opponent’s weakness and then, you know, trying to exploit it. Um, so we’re playing direct and it’s like not always the way, but like I said, we got to get results to just kind of build a program until we get the player, the right players in here.
Matt: Well, part of building a program is, is what you do in the off season as well. So what, what would players expect to do in that spring, you know, spring season?
Coach: Uh, compete, right. We, we got to build a culture to compete. Uh, the biggest thing is. The culture. Um, we get touches on the ball. We want to build. Uh, we have a, uh, I read a book.
Um, the UNC coach, I forget his name now, but they have a points league, [00:12:00] right? So they have, we have three on three foot saws, um, and then we just rotating, uh, players in all the time. And then we have a points lead to create that competitive, uh, just, uh, bond within the team. Um, but then, you know, we’re hitting the weights.
Uh, we got a great, um, um, physical trainer, uh, strength and conditioning coach here as well. And, and like I said, that’s the off season, off season is mainly just to elevate, right? Personal growth.
Matt: Okay. Well, you’ve given us a lot of good insights here to the team. I’m going to leave you with one last question.
That is, if you had a piece of advice for a student athlete going through the recruiting process right now, what would that be?
Coach: I would say enjoy it, right? Enjoy it. And then, uh, explore all the opportunities you have. Don’t settle with one. Uh, you know what I mean? Like, go out and talk to as many coaches as you can.
Ask tons of questions. That’s one of the things I look for in a recruit is like, do they ask questions, right? Like, I want players to ask questions. I want them to invest in themselves. Because the more they ask, the more, you know what I mean? They’re, they’re, they’re trying to gain. Knowledge, right? So they’re doing the due diligence of recruiting.
So that’s the biggest thing like enjoy the process is I know it’s stressful I know it can be stressful But like I said, it’s at the end of the day It’s it’s very fun trying to get all the information you can and like sell yourself, right? Don’t be afraid to sell yourself be confident. [00:13:30]
Matt: Absolutely great advice coach.
Well, hey, I really appreciate it Good luck as you’re wrapping up this, uh next recruiting class and can you know best of luck continuing to build this program?
Coach: Awesome. Thank you matt.
Matt: Thank you
