The BIG LIFE S5E5 | Conference Play, College Soccer Reality + Coach Alyssa Deloice

Welcome back to another episode of the Big Like podcast. We are already on week five, which is crazy, because the season is flying by. September is here and conference play is about to start. So today we're going to be talking about our week in recapping, and then talking about the rankings, conference play, being honest about our individual and team performance, and then also what we want to improve going into the next week. And then we're also going to be interviewing my assistant coach, Alyssa. So before we get into like our week, let's start with what we did last week is like what is one word that describes your week. We are 6 and 0 for the season so far. We won both games last week, and so I would say my word is consistent. I've consistently started all six games, and I felt like my play has been consistent, and our team has been pretty consistent. I think frustrating, soccer as well as like school life. I think like our team performance, like we play well, it's just frustrating that we cannot get the ball in the back of the net, but we keep the ball, like we're getting much better at keeping the ball. So it's definitely frustrating when we don't get the results that we deserve or that we should, but at the end of the day it comes down to like who can put the ball in the back of the net. Rose Bud Thorn? Time. Rose. I played 60 minutes in both of these games, which is top for me, and then focusing on like my fitness and stuff that's very good for me, like it's a very good takeaway for me. I also got a lot of shots away, which was very good, like I've been very much involved in the attack. Thorn, we lost, a frustrating loss, like actually we had the ball for I think 85% of the game. And like at the end of the game they just got fricking, they split the line, they split the back line, and we got scored, but you know, it's a cumulation of like everything that happened before in the game. So there's no blame on anyone, it's like definitely a team, team effort there. And then Bud looking forward to playing Stanford, like we're going up, it's played a good team. Number one, or the number one, right? Yeah. Yeah, we're excited to play a very, very, very good team, like us having experience playing Duke and BYU is going to be helping for us, especially just a big name, big school. So we're excited to go up there. All right. My Rose Bud Thorn. My Rose, this week on our stats, I was second again, then my thorn is I was stupid, and I forgot to put in my tracker, and then my Bud, hopefully I get a goal within the next game. The past, both these games, I had three shots, both wrong target. Okay, what is, what is your sound, what, what sound is your week? Yeah. Hmm. It's like, it's like, yeah, and I got, it would have been yay, but now it's like, but this, so it's like, it's probably like, whoo, nice, now we're done with that little section. Let's go into where we are in the season individually, and then just talking about the ranking and stuff and how they're going to start to matter a little bit more. Just based on no one called friends ending. So well, my team, we're currently six on the United Sockers poll, which might change tomorrow. Hopefully we go up to four. Please. It's a top drawer. They still have us at 13, which I'm like, really? Conference play is obviously starting. Our first game is 11th, and we play Auburn, and that's the Iron Bull. So it's our rival. Do you pay attention to the rankings, or do you try to avoid focusing on one? Me personally, don't care. I mean, obviously, like, you see them when they come out, and it's like, it's cool to be on them and stuff, but I personally just focusing on my team growth and like, what we can focus on, because we're obviously not on that list, but I think, like, the list is there to kind of provide a little back support for those teams, like, so that other teams know that they're going to play, like, you know, a top dog. Like, if we were to play you guys, we're like, okay, these guys are whatever four or six, you say, like, that gives you a little bit more support, and it just will fuel us. But for me, it's like, honestly, it's another game, it's another opponent. So, like, it's very much hard to focus on the ranking. So for me, honestly, I don't really care too much, and it's like, how can you and your team just focus on the next game ahead instead of thinking, like, okay, in two weeks, we're going to play Michigan State. What are they? What are, whatever they are? Like, we're going to be like, okay, guys, in two weeks, we have, we're going to go playing number four, like, it's not for us. It's just like, whatever the next game, we're trying to tackle the next game. So it's not so big on our rankings. But do you focus on them, does your team pay attention? I know you guys are definitely up there, so it's definitely a different perspective. Yeah. I would say this year, especially we have been, because I mean, last year, we only got on the rankings once, and we were 25, and then we dropped off of the rankings again. So I think, and like, our start of the season was kind of, I mean, we played North Carolina and Duke back to back last year and didn't win either of those games. So we had like a hard start, but I think because we've done so well in the start of this season, it's really made us have such a better expectation as we're going into conference play. I mean, obviously, we don't want to think, like, oh, we're better than these teams, but our ranking for SEC, like our preseason was ninth, and so we kind of took that, like, are you serious? Like, some of the teams in front of us, we went farther than in the tournament, but that doesn't matter. I guess. Yeah. Once we go into conference, like, like, we're going in with like the idea of, oh, we're not number nine. We're number one. You know, but our conference play is going to be hard. The SEC, like, it switches to your playing, because it's such a big, I don't know exactly how it works, but we're playing like the other side this year. It's been a motivation for us, the rankings, with anything. Let's be real on individual and team performance. How did we perform? Well, we played two games this week. We played Troy and South Alabama, so, and we played both at home. My performance, I got a good amount of time in both games. Both games I had a better second half, I would say. I think I've gotten more confident in myself and, like, trying to find the ball more and be like, because since I'm the sixth, like, you want to get the ball, like, you want to be the one that's kind of like the quarterback of your team, because you're, like, you're the center, center point. We've been leaning more towards, like, finding each other first and then going along and using our, our speed and our strengths, but I think, like, I've been doing a better job of demanding and getting on that ball for us. I think I played, I started out the sixth in the first game, so I definitely know what you feel like, or know what you're talking about when you're, like, the quarterback of the team, like, you definitely control the tempo. I think, for me, that's my type of game I love to get on the ball. I'm very technical, so in tight spaces, my centerbacks, I think, I think feel comfortable playing me the ball. We did keep the ball way more than we have in the past four games that we played, so I definitely agree with you on that. I definitely got a lot of shots off, but I think I can work on slipping more, and there's not as much chemistry. We're still getting there, but the chemistry part is kind of what's missing, I think, between our team. Is there any moment from either game that you wish you could replay and do something different? This past game we played yesterday, or whatever, like, keys, I played against his goalkeeper when I was little. She's so good. This goalkeeper is like, "Oh my gosh, she came from Serp, too. She's in a seven." And our thing was, like, she on the floor, "Oh, gosh, oh my gosh, shoot out the goalkeeper, I dribbled the corner kick. Shoot out the goalkeeper. She deflects it. She box it. I get the second ball, and I shoot, and it's such a good, like, foot save. I was like, "Bro, any other keeper is on CD, genuinely, genuinely, genuinely." So I probably wouldn't just lift it in a little more, but she saves it with her fouls, like, "Bro, have it." Anyways, yeah, so that was probably what I would fix or replay or renew, what about you? I have two, both of them from last game. I hit such a good ball that wove, like, it was at the top of the box, I got it back from my forwards, and I, like, shot it through traffic, but, like, I made it through. I just didn't rip the shot. I just, like, you know, you sometimes shoot it versus shooting it. The goalkeeper was good. Like, she's on the Mac, Herman, Trophy, like, watch those. Okay, so she saved it. She had, like, 13 saves, we had so many, we should have scored more, but, yeah, I wish I would have ripped that shot and actually made it challenging on her. And then my second moment, it was in the second half, there was a girl on the left side, like, she broke past my outside back, and so I was tracking back on defense, and she took a long touch, and I was like, "I need a side tackle here." I can't side tackle on that leg, so I just kept going and kept forcing her out, but I just wish I could, would have just tried and gone for the tackle because I would have ended the play earlier. What part of your game felt the strongest this week? Attacking. I got on the ball a lot. I was finding a lot of spockets, like, behind the lines, and that's pretty good at and turning up soon. What about you? Probably, I mean, my defense, like, getting and ending things, like, ending tackles. I love two-foot tackles. Like, I don't know anyone else that does the tackles that I do, and it's kind of hard to explain. Like, it's something you have to visualize. It sounds horrible. It sounds like I'm going and imbrexiting people. I swear. I don't jump up, studs up. You basically, like, I have shorter legs because I'm obviously not, like, the tallest, and a lot of players that I play against have long legs, and when they take a touch, that's longer, and like, it's in between us, she's going to get there first because she has long legs in me. So I just jump into the tackles instead of pushing my leg out. But I killed two girls yesterday, like, I went in, and I two-footed them, and they went in in our knees clash, but obviously, since mine was sturdy and hers wasn't, like, I could tell, like, she just bruised her knee right when I went on the tackles. Oh, damn. Three. But I won the tackles. So I didn't know. Hey, Paige, what goals do you have for this next upcoming week? Being a little more vocal when I want the ball in the middle. because there's a lot of times I'm in really good pockets of space and I even ask my coach. Alyssa, right, it's gonna be in the interview. I'm like, I feel like I'm in Good Park as a space. And she's like, yeah, just keep asking for it. I feel like I don't ask enough and let them know, like, I'm there. What about you? - One goal that I have, putting the ball in the net. I think I have probably one of the most shots on our team and shots on frame on the team. Half of them are pretty good shots. Half of them are kind of like from rain, and kind of if you, those are the ones where I should be slipping. Honestly, just hitting the net. Like, it's coming. Like, I feel it, like, I get the separation touch and like the shots on is just like, bro, like, half of them, like, how are you missing that? Like, it needs to be a little closer. It needs to be a little bit, like, tighter. Like, needs to be on the floor. Just a little bit more detail, but I guess on. I guess just finding the freaking back up in the, now we're excited to bring on another special guest of the Big Life podcast. Our guest today is Alyssa Doys and Alyssa played D1 Soccer at Mississippi State and she was a midfielder and team captain. And after she played, she's still involved in the college game and she's now coaching at my school as an assistant coach. Alyssa, thank you for being here. - Thanks for having me, guys. All right, to start, can you walk us through how you ended up playing at Mississippi State and what it was like playing Division of Soccer? - Okay, so I actually originally committed to Texas Tech. So I spent my first year and a half at Tech before I went into the transfer portal and then transferred to Mississippi State. How you ended up there was kind of a crazy story, but I went into the portal and when I was driving back home from Lubbock back to Dallas, I got a call from Nick Zimmerman who at the time was the associate head coach at Mississippi State and I think I was on the phone with him for probably almost the entire five hour car drive back to Dallas. And it was just a normal conversation asking me about myself as a person and then talking to me about his philosophy and what they were doing at the time at Mississippi State with head coach James Armstrong and then the other assistant coach Brian Dunleavy. So it was just a nice conversation, something different. I felt like I was kind of missing that previously, but it was nice to have a little bit of separation of just being looked at as a soccer player and what you do on the field. It was a lot of a conversation about just a human being which I really enjoyed. So got off the phone with him and I think I was on the phone with James Nex who again at the time was the head coach there. He was out of town. He was actually in Disney World with his family. He was at the time his daughter Olivia was a little bit younger and he was like, I can't be there but I need you to go on campus. So I went on an official visit, I met with Nick and Brian and then after that I had a couple more conversations talked to some other coaches and then I ended up feeling like Mississippi State was the best fit for me just I guess the most important thing for me after going through the original recruiting process when I was in high school to then going through it again after transferring. It was like, hey, what is, what's my non-negotiable? What's the thing that's most important to me? And I think at that point in my career I was like, I need open communication. I need to be able to talk freely with my coaches and my staff to let them know where I'm at, what I'm struggling with, what I think I'm doing really well at like whatever it might be. I needed to just talk to them. And so I think about like my club coach. I still talk to my club coach all the time and I was super close with him and I felt like we could talk about anything if it came to technical tactical or if it was things off the field as well could bolster me as a human being and help me develop in my career to then be able to become a D1 soccer player. And it's like I kind of felt like I was sometimes to miss that when you go to college. And it's like, okay, well, that relationship was so important to me. I don't want to be in a position where I'm willing to sacrifice that. So I was like, I have to go somewhere where I feel comfortable with the coaches and have a good relationship with them. And I definitely think that's 100% what I got. - Nice, yeah, I think like bringing up the club, the club talk, I think it's very relatable. I feel the most especially because we're still, yeah, I'm going to be still kind of, I still reminisce my club is for sure. Talking about like when you were younger, do you always see division one of the soccer as the goal? Did that become like what you want to do like over time as you kind of went through your soccer training? - I think that was always the goal. I was obsessed with soccer. I still am, clearly. But I think the only thing that I wanted to do with soccer and I always had, you know, striving for a goal in mind. I wanted to play professionally. I wanted to be on the national team. Like I had all those goals and I thought that, you know, the best way to achieve those things and put myself in a better state for that is playing at the highest level within college soccer as well. - And like, what was like the biggest adjustment from going like from club soccer and like high school level, like to the division one level? - I think so many recruits asked that too. And I think it's such, you know, a heavy question just because you can look at it from so many different angles. But I always like to say, like the speed of plays the one thing that in my opinion, you can't really prepare for just because it is a whole different beast when you go from playing. Like yeah, when you play high school, you're playing with girls older than you. But a lot of the times it's not the same level as what you'll experience even in club, let alone college. And then when you get to college, you could be playing with like 23 year old girls who've been in the system for four to five years. It's like they know what they're doing and you're fresh into it. So I would say like that learning curve of being able to know that it doesn't happen overnight and that you're okay with being patient and kind of getting yourself into it and it's gonna be an adjustment is the biggest thing. So I think giving yourself a lot of grace, I don't think I did that at all when I first entered as a freshman. I'm so frustrated with different things of like, I know I can do that. So like why is it not panning out for me right now in this moment? It's like okay, well, it's not going to. And then I would say the other stuff is like learning how to balance everything. I think you do that to an extent when you're in high school because you're getting pulled in so many different ways, especially if you play high school club and like let's say you are in national team pools and you're missing school, like you are a little bit accustomed to that. So I didn't think that was a crazy transition when I got into college, but I also think even though you train and maybe you left and you run when you're in high school, it's not the same, it's not the same when you get to college. So I think it's also knowing your body and then using your resources. It's like am I in pain or am I just sore? And then when you are in pain, like making sure you help yourself and like talk about it and be open about it. I think when you're a competitive athlete, which I think everybody at the D1 level is it's gonna be a competitive athlete. No one ever wants to miss a practice or go out or a game. So I think you kind of convince yourself sometimes when you're in pain that you're like, "Oh, it's just soreness." I think I did that. Like I remember James using me as an example in practice because I had fractured a bone in my ankle, but I didn't think it was, like I didn't think it was a big deal. Like I didn't know I wasn't aware. So I was like, "I'll just keep playing 'cause it's not that bad." And I ran myself into the point where like I had to sit out for an extended period of time because I had like actually just not spoken up about an injury that I could have maybe prevented. And I remember James set in front of the whole team because everybody needs to know the difference between playing through pain and playing through soreness because he was like Alyssa played through what she thought was nothing and now she's out. And I'm like, "Okay." Well, that's the thing that, you know, when you come in as a freshman, you think that you have to prove yourself. I don't really think it's about proving yourself. Like you can gain the respect of your teammates and your coaches. There's so many different things, but you're at that university for a reason 'cause the coaches saw you for who you are and brought you there for all of those reasons. So you don't need to prove yourself, but I think that's the mentality that freshmen have when they first come in is like, "Oh, I need to prove myself." So I can't miss a practice, I can't miss a lift, I can't miss a game because everybody's gonna think that, you know, I can't handle it and I'm weak. And I'm like, "That's not the case." So I'd say those coupling of things, the way that you wanna look at it are all important, but if you can have a really good handle of that when you're entering into the call system, I think it gives you a leg up. - Yeah, I think the speed of play part, that's, they're coming from me, reclass, 'cause I reclassed honestly to one year earlier, like I should have been in this one. So I'm honestly thinking of this year as my true freshman season, but no one wanted to talk about, like, it's such a different, like, breed in college, like, everything's so different. I would say like, for both of us being the filters, I, are you the midfield coach for them, or is it like, you guys have like attacking? Is that how you guys is? - Yeah. - So we do it differently. We like to have our coaches look at all aspects of the game. So we kind of switch it up depending on the season and what we're looking for, but I mainly work with the midfielders, especially with the holding meds just because that is the position I played and I have a really good, really good grasp on it, but yeah, we look a lot at the, I'll look at a lot at like the midfield movements and just like off-ball, shielding, aerial play, anything that we need to interchange within our midfield, whatever it is. - Yeah, I was gonna ask like, what did playing at that level, like, how does that help you, like, help the girls out? 'Cause obviously you were in their shoes once, so how does that help you? - I was gonna say, I think it's different, right? Because when you go from playing, it's not the same, it's not the same view, so like, a lot of the times, even with Paige, for example, like all cut film for her, and what I see from my perspective, I'm like, hey, do you think you could have played this forward past and instead of pivoting and playing to our weak side outside back, do you think you could have, you know, gotten that into the attacking mid who was flaring out or, you know, could you have played that ball into it for it? And it's like, well, the gap that she saw in real time might have been a lot tighter than what I can see now back on film. So even with our technology sometimes. like what we ask of players after the fact. It's like, well coach, I didn't see that at all 'cause the gap was this big. And I'm like, okay, well perfect 'cause I don't want you to play through that gap if it was that big. I think it's difficult. It allows me to, on the positive side, it allows me to relate to them. And I can use what I learned from my previous coaches and what I learned from just watching the game as well to help apply those concepts to them. But I think the best teacher is them in the run of play. So I love when we're playing games and when we're in practice and I get asked questions of like, hey, what did you see in this moment? And it's like, well, what did you see in that moment? Because now we can learn from something based off the decision that you made rather than, hey, let's script it. You're gonna pop into the pocket here and then I want you to turn with your back foot and I want you to play to the outside mid that's running wide, okay? Like, Coach Hart says it all the time. It's like soccer's not black and white and I feel like some, at some points, I did view soccer like that. I'm like, you can make it black and white for sure, but that's not the point of it. It's supposed to be creative and fun. So I like it from the sense of it allows me to be way more interactive with the girls that I coach specifically for that midfield position because we can have a really lengthy conversation about it. - Yeah, no, we definitely have a lot of conversations. And I mean, for me, I need to think more that the game is not black and white 'cause a lot of times the questions I ask are like, what did I need to do in this moment exactly? And it's like there's no answer. Well, you were also a captain at Mississippi State. Like, how did you go from obviously transferring in and then becoming a captain? How does the leadership work, basically? - I came in to Mississippi State when James Nick and Brian had been there for, it was probably about like eight months to, like they had come in at different points in the spring. So James had been there for a full year when I had came in. I think Nick had been there the whole time and maybe Brian was there for like eight months or something. So it was only their second spring with the team when I first came in. So obviously as you know, when new head coaches come in a lot of the times you inherit players and depending on how that coach wants to go about, things are either retaining those players or you're letting them go and trying to bring kids through the transfer portal. So with that, there was no roster cap at that point or anything. So those coaches were bringing in a lot of transfers to help rebuild the program from what it previously was. So I was one of the players that they brought in for that first spring of their rebuild. And I'm not gonna lie, it was a really difficult transition 'cause I was coming from a program with Texas Tech that clearly has established great success and at that point when I was there there had been several, I think there were two back-to-back sweet 16 runs. Coming from a really high caliber program where this was the expectation with fitness, this was the expectation with your tentacle ability, this is what you're learning for tactics. It was like everything was very laid out and everybody had the same mindset. And then when I came to Mississippi State, it was a little different because of previous coaching whatever it might have been, but I think we were all kind of going in different directions. So it was super hard because if you think about going into a D1 program, you're hoping that everybody's going in the same direction. Unrealistic, let me tell you that, it's unrealistic, but at the same time, it's like I came in and I was like, you know, how we not pass in the fitness test? Like, how we not going to classes? Like, I was just confused by it because my personality, I feel like I'm definitely a perfectionist. So sometimes that did not help me when I obviously was playing, but I was just like, dude, what are we doing? So I think because I'm so competitive, I was like, okay, we're going to do something about this. So I think I kind of walked myself into a little bit of a leadership role just because I was so determined to help the program into what we as players, but especially our coaches were trying to achieve. So it was difficult just because I was the new girl and by no means was I trying to insert myself into a role. It's just kind of those natural qualities. And again, I think anybody and everybody has the ability to be a leader. It's just the way that you lead. And you don't always have to be a captain with the arm band or whatever to be a leader. Like, I love it when underclassmen are leaders on our team because it's like, okay, this is amazing because now they're leaders as freshmen and sophomores. Like, and then we get to keep them for the next two to three years and they're already leaders when they're young. Like, it's only bolstering the program to be better and to help shape younger girls that are coming in from now or older girls who did it when they were freshmen. So I think it makes a big difference, but I think the biggest thing was getting people on board. I think a lot of my teammates at the time are like, you are so intense. And I was like, yes, I know. But I am trying to achieve something and I want to be a part of something bigger. So it was a culmination over the next several years to get where we did, which was again awesome. But I think it was just, it's okay to be like the person that comes in, if you're not, usually it's a lot of people, but I felt like sometimes I was the one and people were like, okay, yeah, you're super intense. I'm like, okay, well, you're gonna do it or not. Like let's try to achieve something together. And I think although it was hard, it was worth every second. And then every couple of weeks there's a new person stepping up and doing something different. So it takes time, but everybody wanted to go in the right direction too. - I definitely think like, there's a lot of leadership on our team by actions. When I go in the weight room, it's 'cause I wanna get stronger, I wanna get better. And I think other people have started to go along with that and be like, okay, well, I don't have to keep benching this much. I can do more five more each time. - When you come in like with that type of determination, I truly think it's contagious. So if I see you doing all of these things, I'm like, okay, well, I wanna be like Paige. Like I want to follow in the direction of Paige. I think if you can do that as a freshman and sophomore, it's only making the program better. And that's always my thought process. And I think that is what leadership is and that's where leadership stems from. - Okay, we're gonna go transition into coaching. So like, after you're playing career, you chose obviously to stay in the game and like move into coaching. What does that path look like? When did you first start thinking I wanna coach after you're done playing? - Okay, so I have been coaching youth teams for quite some time. So I started working with youth programs when I was in college and then I got really immersed in it when I was at Misby State. We are all from big places that are huge like soccer hubs and you could close your eyes and you could point in any direction and find a club. Some of these smaller college towns don't have those same resources that we have, especially with our sport. So it was one of the things that I was really passionate about because I think why can't these kids have an equal opportunity to be at the same level as the kids in Texas, California, Florida, wherever it might be? So I think that's what kind of got me into it is I love helping people, but I wanted to use it through my sport and I think my biggest thing is I always wanted to just cultivate the love for the sport. Really started getting involved with it when I was in college, like sophomore junior year, started coaching kids and I think when I was doing that, it opened my eyes to some of these things get overlooked. Like I think the tentacle level of the kids that I first started working with was pretty low from what I know that I received when I was a kid playing soccer. So I was like, okay, I'm really gonna hone in on that and see if I can help with the tentacle development of the kids in my areas that I can help them, step into the next level and hopefully, now when they're being introduced these tactical things, like it's easier to apply those tactics because they have the technical ability to be able to do those things. I definitely wanted to go play pro soccer, but in my fifth year at Mississippi State, I tore all the ligaments in my ankle and I was like, there's just no way that after I had that surgery, I was finishing my masters, didn't really have like the financial stability to be like, oh yes, I'm gonna rehab my ankle and have no source of income and find a way to go play pro. I was like, I think it's time for me to kind of just separate into the next step of my career. While I was finishing my masters in Mississippi State, I was a grad assistant for our soccer program since I had exhausted my eligibility. And so I was helping our program with a lot of like film breakdown, like return to play. So anything I could help with with our staff, that's what I was doing. So that's how I split into the role that I was in at Mississippi State. So yeah, that's a culmination. I think that was a little long-winded of an answer, but that's that's that. - What was an transition like from being a player who receives coaching to being the coach who has to like plan everything, communicate and actually teach players stuff? - I was gonna say, I'm not sure it was as difficult as maybe I imagined it to be just because I had been coaching girls and being involved at ID camp. So I did feel like I was already coaching. I do think that transition though that you're talking about is difficult because again, like what I said earlier, like the way that you view the game while you're playing on the field as a player, it's a little different from a coaching perspective 'cause as a coach, you have to consider everything that you're trying to accomplish. So it's not just like, you know, it's our build out through phases one through four. And it's what philosophy we're trying to achieve. And it's the defensive positioning on different parts of the field. What are the center backs doing? What's the connection between the four? It's like we're considering all of those things and looking at those things in real time while you guys as players. I think a lot of the times are focusing on your true roles and responsibilities in the position that you're playing, but then also trying to be creative and make things happen that are not, like we said earlier, so black and white. So it's definitely different. I think it's more of a holistic view of everything versus maybe more individualistic or you and your system partner. Like, I know the holding mid, like for Paige, like you have to have good relationships and with the people around you and the midfield, but you also have to be in consideration of, you know, your two center backs and how you can help them with shielding forwards, but then also if we're inverting an outside back, like how are you creating space for them? I don't know, it's definitely different, but I think it all intertwines, but it was a transition that was difficult because a lot of the times I was thinking, okay, well, if I were doing this and it's okay, well, maybe that's not the best way to coach. - Okay, so me and Jade and both obviously went through like the recruiting process, but we went through the player side of it and like I wanna know personally, and I'm sure the audience wants to know how it works from like the coach's perspective. What are like the first things that you notice when you're evaluating a recruit? - So this is gonna be the hardest part for recruiting if not. When it comes to recruiting, you think about those, you know, those big EC and LRGA events, we go to a even, you know, we go to club visits, like we are seeing players and flashes. So we're trying to see them multiple times over a course of, you know, two, three years so that we're not judging a kid based off of like two flashes. We have a compilation, then we get a better idea of how they actually are as a player. We recruit a lot from those events, and I think the biggest thing that we might look for right off about is like what's your monster quality? What separates you from every other kid in your league that plays the exact same position? What separates you from the other girls on your team? You're not gonna have your best game every single time a college coach is there. So again, remember that it's just because that college coach showed up for that one game doesn't mean that we're judging you only off of that one game. Like we're trying to compile multiple games that we can watch our practices together so that we can get a better picture of who you are. Let's say you are a midfielder. Like what are the qualities of a midfielder? And do you do those things well and then how do you elevate yourself to be better than just the average midfielder? - When you watch them, what separates a recruiting video from another that may look good but doesn't tell you much about the player. - That's a good question. We always like to talk about repetitive communication. A lot of recruits always ask like what's too little of communication and what's too much? And it's like there's no perfect answer for that. It's just what you feel like you want to share with a college coach. And if it's too much, then like I'm not gonna tell you that it's too much because it's showing your interest. So I would say like when it comes to a video, you kind of want to have those same things. Like if there's a way to highlight that monster quality, like are you awesome in the air? Like we want to see some clips of you when it balls in the air. Even if it's defensive or if it's getting on the end of corners or crosses and scoring goals, like that's massive in the college game as you guys know. And then if you're super technical player, like show us that technical side, but it's like sometimes we get clips from players and it's like them in a college or in a high school game and they score like 50 goals. And it's like that's an awesome stat. But who are the opponents that you're playing? Is that showcasing who you are as a player when you're facing adversity? It's sometimes hard to judge like, well, could you do that for us here? We always say like short and sweet videos. We probably don't have, you know, we have 80,000 emails in our inbox. If you could give us highlight video, that's less than three minutes. It's easier for us to be able to see, you know, you and those flashes and then break them up for us and then, okay, this is a kid that we're interested in. So the other side of recruiting is like, those college camps do matter. Those camps do help us identify players at a younger age that we then track through ECNL or GA or if they're not in those two leagues through their league. Like it helps us identify those players to be like, okay, this kid performed really well at camp. We need to make sure that the next event that we see her play. I don't think I utilized camps enough. I think I went to one. It's hard. Everything's changed, right? Like, so I even think about my recruiting process from when, even y'all's recruiting process. Like when I was getting recruited, there were absolutely no rules. I committed when I was a freshman. Before going into my freshman year of high school is when I committed. So I didn't go to any ID camps. I went to the ID camp of the school that I committed to and kind of takes away some of the things that maybe you're supposed to, you know, experience freshman. Going off of that, what are some like questions that players and families should be asking college coaches before they go and are like committing. So once they're in that phase when they can talk, I think it's more about understanding and figuring out if it's the best fit for you. So like, what are your non-negotiables and what questions can you ask to see if that university and that program can provide you with those things? Everybody always ask about team culture. And I think that's hard because like, what coach would say that their culture sucks, right? Like, no coach would say that. And most places that you go as a coach, you hope your culture is really good. But I think it's important to, you know, talk to the players on the team if there's a way to get connected. Like talk to the people who are actually experiencing it rather than the coach that's like, well, yeah, it's great. Talk to the people that are in the system and are dealing with those things day in and day out, not just a college coach because it's like, well, we're not going to say something, no coach is going to be like, yeah, or something bad about your program. Like you're not going to say something bad about your program. - Okay, I'll also thank you so much for sharing your story with us and giving us an honest look at what the business soccer was like for you and as well as recruiting and what it was like to turn this thing back into coaching. - Now, we really appreciate you taking the time to give people behind the scenes look at things that they might always see. And thank you again, thanks for coming to you guys. I was so excited to be on here and chat with you guys. - Thank you guys so much for listening to this week's big life episode. Make sure to follow Girl Soccer Network on Instagram for more content and you can find me on TikTok and Instagram at page Thomson_30. And you guys can follow me at datearoundreviews.7 on Instagram, make sure you guys stay tuned. For a week, the episodes are regarding everything college soccer and we'll see you guys next week. - Woo!