William Smith College Women’s Soccer – Coach Aliceann Wilber and Coach Chas Allen
On today’s episode, I speak with Coach Aliceann Wilber and Coach Chas Allen from the William Smith Women’s Program in New York. We talk about what key tournaments they attend to recruit. They describe their ID camp process and what sets it apart from most. Lastly, we discuss their school’s high level academic programs. Learn more about the William Smith College program.
[00:00:00] Matt: Hi, everybody. Welcome to discover college soccer. Uh, we are lucky enough to be joined by two coaches. This is a first for me, which is great. We get to two staff coaches on at the same time, uh, from William Smith college, uh, Aliceann Wilber and Chas Allen. Thank you for joining me both.
[00:00:18] Coach Aliceann: Thank you for having us.
[00:00:20] Matt: Yeah, well, I’ll let you guys duke it out as to, as to who answers what questions, but, uh, but it should be, it should be to get, to get to,
[00:00:28] Coach Aliceann: uh,
[00:00:31] Matt: it’ll be great to have both of you on so, well, let’s start, uh, you know, when do you guys usually start hearing from players? You know, what, what year in school are they, when do you start actually going out and looking at players for your recruiting?
[00:00:45] Coach Aliceann: We were hearing from a few as first, uh, freshmen first years in high school. Um, I would say, definitely start hearing from some girls more so in their sophomore year. Um, moving into junior year is the big year as you all know. So I would, we don’t have a lot of time to, um, Give due attention to eighth graders, um, even, even freshmen in high school for what we’re trying to manage is, is this a
[00:01:23] Matt: shot?
[00:01:24] Yeah. No, that makes sense. How, how many inbound contacts do you think you get in a, in a week or a month?
[00:01:34] Coach Chas: Well, I mean, I think it varies, but I think probably, you know, in a, any given months you’re getting. Uh, 2025, um, you know, contact some more, some less, depending on whether we’re going to showcases or not.
[00:01:55] You know, so we’re heading out to two showcases this month where we’re going to Penn fusion down in Pennsylvania and Susa in long island. So we’ve been getting more than usual because of that.
[00:02:09] Coach Aliceann: Yeah, I think, um, Generally the individuals we hear from are, you know, they’ve done some research, so they’ve already targeted specific interests.
[00:02:25] Be it school location, soccer program. Um, so not so much wild west Rand. All right. Well,
[00:02:35] Matt: that’s good to hear. Cause you know, a lot, a lot of coaches I talked to, I, I say, you know, ask them, what, what do you like to hear in that first communication? And they talk about how, you know, they don’t want that just shotgun blast that obviously you haven’t put any thought into.
[00:02:49] Right. You mentioned two tournaments. Uh, what are some of the other tournaments every year that you like to get to? Uh, do you ever, uh, venture, you know, to high school games or, or are you looking mostly at club tournaments? W where do you like.
[00:03:06] Coach Aliceann: I used to do a lot with high school games, but that’s the distant past, um, you know, for, um, I think the most effective use of our time it’s it’s tournaments and showcases, um, or getting, getting, uh, perspectives here on campus to our clinics and camps.
[00:03:28] But she has, you can list off biggest, et cetera.
[00:03:33] Coach Chas: Yeah. W and so we’d be heading to Vegas next month to the players. Um, we sometimes go to Jeff cup, castle, um, PDAs one that we definitely go to. And, um, you know, at T we have also gone to surf cup and, you know, it depends on the air and depends on our crew recruiting needs.
[00:03:56] We were also looking at, uh, some of the Florida events in January. Um, so it just, it just depends. Well that’s
[00:04:06] Matt: that’s course that makes me happy. Cause I live three miles from the premiere complex. So we, we get, we get to get, go to go to all those a as well. So that’s always fun. Um, so.
[00:04:19] Coach Chas: No, but also, sorry, Matt.
[00:04:20] We’ll also go to some more local events in New York. Um, you know, being to mad dogs, empire, um, some of those kinds of events, state cup. So we’ll, we’ll look more closely at, um, Uh, smaller events, particularly if there are individual players that we wanted to see. Um, and you know, I was trying to sound point we’ll, we’ll certainly go to a high school game here or there, if we haven’t been able to see a player, uh, compete for.
[00:04:52] Coach Aliceann: Yeah. Or even an, even a training session, I would say Florida is a state that, you know, we know there’s a lot of good soccer in Florida and our coordinate school Hobart has recently. Enrolled two or three really strong players from soccer or from Florida. So, um, you know, that you all are definitely an area that we’d like to expand our, um, connection with.
[00:05:26] Matt: Well, no, I’d say yeah, they just, well, because we can play year round. We tend to be the host site for a lot of these new national leagues and tournaments. So.
[00:05:37] Coach Chas: I was just going to say we, um, you know, w we’re pretty cosmopolitan program. We have, you know, kids from west coast, from the Northwest, from, um, three or four players from Illinois.
[00:05:52] Um, and the Midwest, uh, we’re talking to some players from Texas, but Florida, you know, is an area that. We haven’t really had any traction. And, you know, obviously it’s it’s of interest to us, as Alison said, you know, and we also have waves too, so there’s no reason why not slightly
[00:06:14] Matt: different climate.
[00:06:16] Coach Aliceann: I think that that was going to be my comment.
[00:06:18] I think that there’s this sort of myth out there about the, the challenge of the, you know, New York winners, but in the last number of years, The heaviest snowfall is on the coast. That’s not us, right?
[00:06:34] Matt: Yeah. Right. Well, you mentioned, sorry, you mentioned, uh, ID camps getting people on, on campus. So what, how do, how do ID camps and maybe camps at other schools that you guys are part of, you know, how to camps kind of figure into your
[00:06:50] Coach Aliceann: recruiting?
[00:06:52] We, we love to have the opportunity to actually spend more than a half a day. With, with kids that were interested in, vice-versa interested in us. So we run our own, um, camp, um, generally early, very early July. Um, so the perspectives get, you know, get a real firsthand look of how we coach, how, what, what’s our personality like, and we have more time with them.
[00:07:24] Um, I would say. In general, especially as, as, as the smaller camps go, we like it small. We like it personal. Um, and you know, we want to actively coach, we’re not just there to evaluate and assess talents if it catches, you know, our fancy or not. We want to send kids back to wherever they traveled from. Uh, having grown in concepts and ideas in the time they’re with us.
[00:07:53] So I think those camps are important for us in our recruiting, um, piece.
[00:08:00] Coach Chas: We want to give opportunity. Understand and experience what it’s like to be in a foster training session. So they’re experiencing that firsthand with, with our coaching staff. Um, we run a, a spring ID type clinic is more of an open house.
[00:08:20] As Alison said, we’re not in the business of. Hundreds of kids. It’s 20, 25 kids that we’re working with, that we can be personable with. We don’t charge for our spring clinic. We don’t charge for our full clinic. We don’t believe it should be something where we’re making money. So it’s, it’s very much, um, concentrated and focused on, on that experience for, for the player, but also for us to really understand who the kids.
[00:08:55] Coach Aliceann: Yeah. W we just never really felt comfortable saying, oh, come pay so we can watch you play. Okay. Just doesn’t sit right with who we are. No, I think
[00:09:09] Matt: that that’s great. So when, when you’re out at, at tournament’s or you’re you’re at your clinics or anything, what, what are those characteristics both on and off the field that are your kind of top of the hierarchy of what you’re looking for in a player?
[00:09:28] Coach Aliceann: I love to see kids who can boss the game. I like to see, you know, what, what is their presence on the field? Is it a physical presence, um, in terms of how they impact the game? Is it a leader kind of presence, how they impact the game? Um, I think one reason we like to be live and not so reliant on highlight films is, um, the highlight films.
[00:09:53] Don’t show you when things are going wrong. So how do, how do kids respond when the game’s not going right, either for their team or for themselves or both? Um, you know, I think that’s, that’s soccer. It’s always going to go, right? If it is, you’re not learning much. So, you know, that’s, that’s a key, uh, quality that, that I’m very interested in as.
[00:10:20] What’s what’s that character, what’s the problem solving, um, you know, component in each person, uh, ability to process the game in tight spaces in no time, mobility, agility games fast now. Um, so you know what? You got to have vision, you gotta have technical ability and. Just experience a lot of experience in, um, more competitive situations because that’s where you’re challenged more.
[00:10:53] What do you want to add there? Chance?
[00:10:57] Coach Chas: Pretty much. Nailed it.
[00:10:59] Matt: Well, good, good answer. Good answer. Um, so. You know, obviously you guys are division three, so there’s no athletic money being handed out. But what is the overall kind of scholarship financial aid situation, uh, for players, uh, at your school,
[00:11:17] Coach Aliceann: but like any D three program it’s um, it’s going to be based on the family’s ability to contribute through the fast.
[00:11:24] So the CSS profile, uh, we do have merit awards, which, um, Um, not, um, taking into consideration family needs. So for high achieving students, uh, it’s possible to win different levels of merit awards, even if they don’t have, uh, established financial need. So we’re, I think we’re strong in that sense. Um, The average package that I thought was quoted somewhere is in the 40,000.
[00:12:02] I think I’m somewhere between 30 to 42,000. I believe, you know, we’re at more expensive school, but I would say the majority of the people we work with in terms of recruiting, uh, have financial need.
[00:12:19] Matt: Yeah.
[00:12:23] To you. So I have, I guess, a kind of a catch all of the non-traditional recruit. How do transfers walk ons and international students kind of, uh, all fit into your program?
[00:12:40] Coach Aliceann: As you can, I’ve been talking all the time so you can answer it.
[00:12:44] Coach Chas: That’s usually my remit. Um, well, I mean, obviously, you know, we’re, we’re looking to bring, uh, a transfer student in this year, um, who has accepted, um, she actually an international.
[00:12:59] We have a couple of international players here, one from South Africa, um, one from Germany and one from Holland. Our, um, Spanish international player was a national player of the year in 2019 when she, we were in the final. Um, so, you know, we’ve got very strong, uh, Um, with international players and, and we do like transfer students because, you know, they’ve had a college experience.
[00:13:30] They, they, uh, they already understand what’s expected of them. Um, and so, you know, they’re a little bit in advance and, um, you know, of, of a first year, perhaps that’s, that’s coming in. So, um, we’re very much open to any player that can, that can help.
[00:13:50] Matt: Okay, well, let’s shift gears. Talk more about the school itself.
[00:13:53] Uh, you know, like I said, I’m down here in Florida, so I don’t know if there’s many, uh, people around me that I’ve ever heard of, of William Smith are aware of, you know, the, the school in upstate New York. So, but besides, you know, what I could find on the website, because, you know, that’s, that’s easy to do.
[00:14:10] What are some of the things that are really awesome about your school that I’m not going to find just by clicking around a website?
[00:14:17] Coach Aliceann: Sure. Um, well you have to visit the finger lakes to experience. I think just the natural beauty of this area is very much wine country. So tons of wineries breweries, a crop popping up all over the place.
[00:14:31] That’s for the parents, um, to get them willing to have this kind of track to, to New York. Um, but it’s very much a, uh, Tourists becoming a huge wedding destination area now, um, I think we have a really special and unique history of, um, as William Smith, college of strong support for women, you know, starting before women ever had the right to vote in 1908.
[00:15:05] And so there, uh, I think in my experience here, a lot of expectations for our, when you Smith students, that they will become by the time they have four years with us, um, they will be young women who are confident, have a substance, have depth, um, and, um, Really very much in the leadership, uh, realm of wanting to be leaders demonstrating the qualities would make them good leaders.
[00:15:39] And, um, you know, and I think that is, um, very indicative of the experience for, for female students here. Um, I think that. We have really strong, uh, liberal arts basing a lot of, um, I think awareness and sensitivity to what’s important for helping our students move from their undergraduate years into professional ranks, into graduate school, um, with a strong background in figuring out things.
[00:16:17] So, um, Lot of emphasis on writing here that you need. And just about any, um, professional area of expertise, I think to make things better for you easier. Um, we have very strong pre-med program. Our economics, um, department, uh, has great track record of success in placing our students strong psych department.
[00:16:42] Architectural studies has a lot of, um, I think firepower. Um, and we’ve created, oh, environmental studies, which that’s a hot unintended area right now. So that’s a very, that’s another really big area of study for us because it incorporates a lot of the other disciplines on campus. Entrepreneurial studies is gaining some traction.
[00:17:11] That’s a new one and we have a couple of master’s program. Education
[00:17:16] Coach Chas: as well. And I think, I think the other couple of big, uh, areas, uh, on campus or study abroad, I think we’re one of the top, um, programs in the country, um, in placing students, you know, 90, 95% of all soccer players go, go overseas during.
[00:17:37] Traditionally during the spring of their junior year and our career services is very dynamic. We guarantee paid internships. It’s something that students are encouraged to visit during the first year and continue that relationship during the time that they’re here on campus and just. You know, physically what you’ll see on campus.
[00:18:02] I mean, it’s a beautiful campus, so we always want to get students here because we feel once you get them here, they’re, there is the wow factor. Um, and, and is it campus setting? Um, next to the lake. So you do get, you know, the campus is gorgeous. You know, we’ve got a very traditional quad with, with classic buildings, um, nestled right next to Geneva where students can walk into town and go out for dinner and, uh, obviously jump in the lake, go for a cycle along the lake, that kind of thing.
[00:18:35] So, um, it’s very attractive in that.
[00:18:39] Matt: Yeah. How do you know you talk about some great academic programs? How do your students specifically balance the soccer part with the academic part?
[00:18:50] Coach Aliceann: You have to be very good managers of time. Uh, I think. We tend to have really strong students in our programs so that they come to us for the most part, having a good background in, in time management.
[00:19:08] Um, you know, we give them a calendar at the very beginning of preseason with every practice time. Uh, departure time team meeting time, team mealtime for this, for this season. So then when they, um, go to their first week of classes and they get their syllabus. They can check against our calendar and have these very early conversations with faculty where there’s a conflict.
[00:19:40] So we’re very, uh, preemptive, I think, um, in heading off conflict by encouraging a lot of early conversation and resolution in that way. Um, You know, if kids have a lab, let’s say that runs late and interferes with practice time, the policy on campuses, the athletes will finish their class and come, come to practice.
[00:20:07] As soon as they’re done often, you know, to help I think, make best use of our time. We might back the practice. Start time up a little bit on heavy lab days, for example, but we don’t. We take our program very seriously in terms of. You know what we’re hoping to accomplish both for, um, you know, regional national conference results and what we hope to accomplish day-to-day in, in training.
[00:20:37] So we kids have to be good and I think very committed to both academic success and success in the soccer program.
[00:20:49] Matt: Yeah. I mean, you guys are always, you know, a top, top program and division three, always, you know, highly, highly ranked. So besides your, your conference schedule, um, you know, what, what would be a typical distance traveled for away games and, and things like that?
[00:21:07] Are you playing a national schedule or you kind of keep trying to keep it somewhat regional base to, you know, our kids missing a lot of class time for games, et cetera.
[00:21:16] Coach Aliceann: But the early, the earliest part of the season, like generally every other year, we like to go to an, a tournament out of region, I think take COVID years outside.
[00:21:28] So this past season, we all pulled in many of us because we weren’t sure about COVID the in 2019, we flew to Texas to open our C. Um, most of our kids had never been to Texas. So that was a great experience for them. We we’ve bused out to Chicago for a tournament. You know, these are like every other year occasions where we like to get out to other regions, have our kids experience something other than the New York, um, uh, regional play, whether it’s conference or out of conference in New York.
[00:22:05] And we do, we do have. Uh, out of conference in New York opponents, um, because there’s some, there there’s some very good programs, not far from here that can, um, you know, um, make our travel commitments more concise. So it’s a balance like that, but we definitely have an eye towards what’s a strong national level schedule.
[00:22:31] That’s going to hold up when NCA’s or slate.
[00:22:34] Coach Chas: No, it makes me very need that experience to play against, you know, top teams so that they understand when you get to the sharp end of the season, you know, what’s expected. Yeah,
[00:22:46] Matt: for sure. For sure. Well, w w um, what support mechanisms does your school have? Both either academic and or athletic to help players, uh, you know, while they’re in.
[00:23:00] Coach Aliceann: Yes, we have a very active, I would say academic support system. Um, the, the first line that we always, um, counsel our kids to tap into is the faculty themselves. So we don’t have. Graduate assistants, teaching our undergraduates actual full professors. So that’s the first line. Then we have our CTL center for teaching and learning.
[00:23:27] Um, and we will connect some of our students who are maybe just trying to get a feel that first fall of college, what, what it takes to be successful. So, um, Working with people in CTL and certainly any, any of our kids who have any kind of learning disability immediately connected with CQL people. Um, we also have, um, Teaching fellows program.
[00:23:55] And these are students who have excelled, um, not, not under, not, you know, first years, rarely sophomores, juniors and seniors, a lot who are teaching fellows who work, you know, their hours are typically like seven to 10:00 PM at night. And students can come in for extra help and tutoring from, from them. Um, so.
[00:24:18] Yeah, our deans are very active working with our students. Um, as every institution I think in this day and age now, like you can never have enough people in the counseling center. Right. Um, but we have, uh, counselors assigned to teams as their kind of, uh, immediate go-to with, if we have people that need that, um, And then Chaz, why don’t you talk about our support and athletic training and, uh, strengthened dishing?
[00:24:52] Coach Chas: Yeah, so we have, um, obviously, uh, athletic trainers, um, that, that cater to any, any student needs. Um, we have an excellent strength and conditioning, uh, program and staff, um, Um, you know, works very closely with the students individually, but also as a group. So, you know, during the full, the they’re working on, um, strengths and, and, uh, development, and then, uh, sorry in the, in the spring and then in the fall, it’s more about recovery and.
[00:25:27] Um, and so on and maintenance. And, um, then also within the Williams Smith athletics, we have a leadership program called peak performance, um, that runs in conjunction throughout the year, um, that has leadership programs as well as programs for all athletes. So, um, you know, again, that’s catered our, um, strength and conditioning, um, uh, Options and, and, uh, um, facilities are, uh, available just to student athletes, and then there’s a separate facility available for the students.
[00:26:06] So, um, they get their own, um, setup if you like. Okay.
[00:26:12] Matt: Um, what. You know, you kind of mentioned it a little bit with the, with in case there’s a lab and practice moving back. So it sounds like you practice in the afternoon, but what, what would a typical, uh, practice day during the season look like for a player from when they wake up to when they go to bed?
[00:26:31] Coach Aliceann: Yeah, for the most part, we like to run our practices in the afternoon. Uh, so we keep our, our athletes on a consistent schedule routine. Um, Sometimes that’s not always the option. If we’re grasp, um, gain facility, we’re grass training field, we have access to turf. So if we have to accommodate, uh, other teams in their training hours on turf, that can get a little bit disrupted depending on our game schedule.
[00:27:06] Uh, but I would say. Mostly kids, Fronton their class schedule so that they’re able to get to the practice field or do any kind of, um, training, athletic training treatments that they need ahead of practice. That that opens up for them about an hour before training time, we like to start practice at four 30 if we can.
[00:27:36] Um, but having said that it’s also a requirement in our program that our, our student athletes have worn themselves up conscientiously and intentionally. So that starts about 20 minutes before four 30. So at four 30 is that’s coaching time and we will go. Generally till six 30, um, sometimes before games or tough weeks midterms prior to nationals, we might streamline that down to 90 minutes instead of the full two hours.
[00:28:12] But, um, and then it’s incumbent on them if they need post-training treatments to add that onto their day. So it can be, you know, three hours, I would say. Yeah. On a normal day, that probably is taken up by soccer.
[00:28:33] Coach Chas: That’s six days, six days a week if, um, you know, including a game during the season, if we, you know, with one day off and just to, to add Matt about the facilities, and as Sam mentioned, the.
[00:28:45] You know, we play on grass. So we have our own grass practice field, uh, our game field, uh, we share with, with Hobart. Um, and we also have the stadium, uh, turf to train on and we’re very fortunate. And one of, probably the only one of very few programs to, uh, have the benefit of a full. Um, field in our dome.
[00:29:08] So, um, that allows us to, to train, um, during inclement weather. Oh, that’s
[00:29:15] Matt: great. Well, let’s, let’s talk a little bit more about, about the team and, and, and the soccer side of things. So, you know, I noticed you guys do have a, uh, a development team. So how many overall players would you say you guys. Carrie between the two squads
[00:29:33] Coach Aliceann: this year, we were about 50 strong.
[00:29:36] Wow. So, yeah, so we’re managing a lot. I think our own as coaches, we have, you know, pretty established and strong feelings about the benefits of an athletic experience in college. And so, um, you know, we’re willing to undertake. Um, the added work of management and logistics and a lot of logistics management to deal with that many kids.
[00:30:05] But, um, it doesn’t matter to me if they’re on our development team, our varsity team, if they’re using the program and great citizens of the program, we’re going to promote them for every kind of opportunity. After school. So whether it’s gas or campus recognition, it doesn’t matter. They’re in our program and everybody’s, you know, we want success for everybody following
[00:30:36] Matt: well with, with, uh, with a large number like that.
[00:30:38] Do you have a set number of players you’re trying to bring in every season from a recruiting aspect or is it just kinda ebb and flow with how many are graduating?
[00:30:45] Coach Chas: I think there’s absence close, man, you know, and it. Recruiting’s generally on a cycle and, and, you know, maybe you’ll have a bigger class one year and a smaller class.
[00:30:56] The next, this, this coming year, we’re looking at a very small class. Um, you know, we had a bigger class for the last couple of years with COVID and, uh, kids returning for a fifth year at some admissions needs and that kind of thing. But, uh, generally I would say it’s, it’s more sick.
[00:31:14] Coach Aliceann: Yeah. And the development team, um, and there’s not many division three programs that have this kind of operation.
[00:31:24] Um, but that, that serves. So there’s a lot of purposes for different kids on campus. Um, some people are happy to be on the development team for all four years. Um, They want the structure. And I think the competitive fun of, uh, of a college athletic experience, but they don’t want the time commitment that the varsity program entails.
[00:31:49] So it works fine for them where we’re happy to have them with, um, the development team for four years. Other kids. You know, maybe want that connection to start school with a, being with a team. So they have, um, a social group nice already, you know, the power of that, which I, I get it. Um, but as their interests evolve in their time here, maybe it stays with soccer.
[00:32:18] Maybe it doesn’t. So there it, that. A program that, um, is auxiliary in some ways intentional for those kids who maybe just need a little bit more time with us to get, think into our training style, our competitive necessities requirements. And, um, so, you know, every year is different. I would say.
[00:32:47] Matt: What if I’m a freshmen, am I going straight to the development team or am I competing for starting minutes?
[00:32:53] Or how does that
[00:32:53] Coach Aliceann: work? That’s a good question. I think in one that a lot of people have when they go there a development team. What does that mean for me? Um, but no, we have, we’re very pragmatic about, uh, success here. And so. Kids can come in as first years and they affect the game more powerfully or impact it in a stronger way than somebody who’s a senior.
[00:33:20] They’re going to start. They’re going to play a lot. Um, just show us basically, that’s what we say. Show us, and we’ll be responsive.
[00:33:29] Coach Chas: Yeah. And I think we’re, we’re very much, you know, to, to run the program in a way that we do to, you know, to motivate the players. They understand that, you know, they need to prove themselves every year.
[00:33:43] There’s no pension plan. As we, as we always say, you know, if you made varsity one year, it’s not like high school, you have to come in and show us everything. So, you know, there’s every opportunity we’ve been to final four with six first year starting on the team. So, you know, again, some kids, uh, adapt very quickly and some struggle, but I think that the nice thing is here is you’re not going to get cut.
[00:34:09] You’re going to come in. And even if you know, you’ve had an injury or it takes. Uh, season to get on board, you know, we’ve had players come through the development program that, um, have actually been, um, Liberty league player of the year, um, by their senior year. So, you know, I think within the program itself, I think development is huge.
[00:34:29] I think we love, love the spring. That’s a really important time for us in developing our players. We don’t like mid-week games. We liked to train. We like to develop players and, um, we feel that. You know, we do a really good job of that.
[00:34:46] Matt: Well, and, and perfect segue, you know, it’s, it is the off season. It’s.
[00:34:52] So what is your typical off season program look like?
[00:34:57] Coach Aliceann: Uh, we’re busy. Uh, we have a lot of expectations in the program and I’m really, I think, strong team culture that supports, um, the. Execution of the, the expectations that we have, because we can’t be a consistent national contender with a drop in drop out sort of thing.
[00:35:21] And I tell our kids, like you’re not really an athlete. You’re only part time, like not in my dictionary anyway. So there’s an overall eye on an annual training program, certainly, you know, time for recovery regeneration, um, like coincides of that season, ending in, into the winter break. Um, and we have to stay within the confines of NCA rules, uh, w which we do.
[00:35:55] But we have like opportunities for kids, um, where the indoor soccer class right now, it’s open to anybody in this school. We meet three times a week. I’ve 58 kids registered in that class. And, um, so it’s, it’s about half and half co-ed and, um, So it has a different field, you know, a lot of our girls, if they don’t have class at that time come and participate.
[00:36:23] But I think it’s social in the sense that it is guys and girls. It’s a different feel from what they normally get. Um, and we teach, we teach in it. Um, We also, and that’s in our dome. So we’re lucky we have that nice facility in New York and in the winter, um, we also have expectations that our kids are doing consistent, um, you know, weekly, um, by three, three to four times a week, individual training sessions with each other, um, intentional, highly focused and not just go out and kick the ball around and say that.
[00:37:04] Individual session, you know, there, they will choose to work hard with the strength coaches, cause this is big time for, for growth. So this semester re really look at here as growth time. It’s we focus much on the team growth in those in the fall semester and a lot of individual growth in the spring summit.
[00:37:29] Coach Chas: We’ll also incorporate, uh, during one of those sessions a week is his footstool, which we’re very lucky enough. One of our coaches is a junior Wilson, um, who we met when we traveled to Brazil about 10 years ago. Uh, he was on the Brazilian national staff and played professionally in Europe and, uh, he’s an expert on foot Saul.
[00:37:53] So we felt that our players benefit from. You know, developing their foot Saul skills. And the other point again, Matt, is that our seniors have focused on their academics. This, this in the spring, our juniors are abroad. So this is the opportunity for sophomores and first years to really do.
[00:38:20] Matt: Yeah, that makes perfect sense.
[00:38:22] Well, you guys have been fantastic, very generous with your time. I appreciate that. Uh, so I’ll leave you with one last question, kind of the catch all. What else would you like folks to know about your school, your program, or anything that we, we didn’t get a chance to cover?
[00:38:36] Coach Aliceann: We w we have, I think something that’s very unique, probably because my longevity is a little bit unique, but our alumni.
[00:38:49] Um, we caught our hair and nation that that is a very spirited, uh, loyal, committed group. And, um, it really fun. So we, uh, maintain a ton of traditions in this program. And I think traditions are what binds peoples together, family. Cultures. And so our here in soccer nation, we are doing the same walkout song that the team chose in the mid nineties.
[00:39:22] And we still walk out to that. So that’s just one example, but I think for our lumps to see that the current players are. Uh, still doing some of the same things they were, it just makes us really strong fervor family. You know, we say the work we do today, honors the work of those who came before us. And, um, there’s a real awareness of legacy here.
[00:39:46] I think so. Um, and I think it makes it easy for kids when they finish their time as. As a current player and their four years are up, they feel very welcome and instantly a part of, um, the alum basis. So there’s, they, they don’t feel quite as disconnected. I think as other wise might be positive.
[00:40:10] Coach Chas: I’ll just, I’ll just add again to, you know, any, any player or family that’s that’s, you know, looking at, uh, uh, a college of liberal arts college in the Northeast.
[00:40:21] I think that, you know, as Alison said, we provide a, uh, program with story tradition, that’s family orientated, you know, I think we’re a coaching staff. That’s really committed to who the player is as a person. We like good character. I think character is the bookends of the program. Um, and so we worked really hard at developing really good citizens, both on and off the field.
[00:40:50] And I think you’re going to come to a very dynamic academic institution with a soccer program that challenges for national honors every year. So it’s a pretty intoxicating mix.
[00:41:04] Matt: That definitely sounds like it from, from my end. Um, well, I, I appreciate your, your time and being willing to talk about your program and congratulations on all the success this past season, and I’m wishing you nothing but the best for, for the next fall and we’ll keep track and see how you guys are doing all right.
[00:41:26] Coach Aliceann: All right. Thank you.
