Pitch to Pro
Pitch to Pro is the official podcast of Ozark United FC. This will be our platform to tell our story about the club and the special place that we call home, Northwest Arkansas. This is a journey. We want to bring you along for the ride. We'll share what's going on behind the curtain, help educate the community at large about soccer, Our league, and give updates on the progress of the club along the way.
Together, we'll explore and unpack our journey to professional soccer, the magic that is NWA, our community, and talk all things soccer from on the pitch to behind the scenes, telling the story of our club.
Pitch to Pro
Ep. 33 - U.S. Youth World Cup Roots: A Former National Team Player’s Mission in NWA Soccer
Nelson Medina's soccer journey is nothing short of inspiring. As the Director of Coaching and Player Development at Arkansas Comets FC, Nelson joins us to share his unique experiences growing up as a Portuguese American in San Diego, playing with elite youth clubs, and representing the youth national team on the global stage. We'll uncover how his formative years with the Nomads and his experience in the FIFA U16 World Cup have shaped his vision for creating professional soccer pathways in Northwest Arkansas through Ozark United FC.
Soccer in the United States has undergone a remarkable transformation since the 1994 World Cup, with the rise of Major League Soccer and the USL leading the charge. In our conversation, we break down the transition from traditional formations to modern, possession-based strategies modeled after giants like Guardiola and Klopp. The emphasis on youth development can't be overstated; it's about creating well-rounded players who thrive beyond just winning matches. Nelson sheds light on the need for adaptability in coaching, ensuring future players are ready to tackle the evolving demands of the game.
Navigating soccer pathways in the U.S. presents its own set of challenges and opportunities, especially given the country's vast geography. We explore the different trajectories for male and female players, from academy paths that leapfrog college to the collegiate emphasis often seen in women's soccer. Our discussion also touches on the cultural nuances and community aspirations that shape these pathways, as well as the crucial role of infrastructure and coaching education. As we reflect on the contributions of MLS and the ongoing transformation in American soccer culture, this episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone passionate about the beautiful game.
Pitch to Pro is the official podcast of Ozark United FC. This will be our platform to tell our story about the club and the special place that we call home, Northwest Arkansas. This is a journey we want to bring you along for the ride. We'll share what's going on behind the curtain, help educate the community at large about soccer, our league, and give updates on the progress of the club along the way. Together, we'll explore and unpack our journey to professional soccer, the magic that is NWA, our community, and talk all things soccer from on the pitch to behind the scenes, telling the story of our club.
Speaker 1:Pitch to Pro Podcast is proudly sponsored by PodcastVideoscom. By PodcastVideoscom. Podcastvideoscom is Northwest Arkansas' premier podcast recording studio, equipped with industry-leading equipment. The recording studio and services save you time, money and hassle. They are dedicated to helping you create, record and publish high-quality podcasts for your audience. Be sure to check them out today at podcastvideoscom.
Speaker 1:Hello everybody and welcome back to the Pitch to Pro podcast. I'm your host, wes Harris, managing Director for Ozark United FC, northwest Arkansas' pro soccer club playing in the United Soccer League. Welcome back for another great episode today. Guys, we've got an awesome conversation. I have a fantastic guest here, mr Nelson Medina, director of Coaching and Player Development at Arkansas Comets FC, a local club here in NWA. Nelson, welcome and thank you so much for joining me today. Man, thanks for having me. It's my pleasure. Nelson, you have an incredible soccer background, background in general. You've done so much for the game, played at some of the highest levels in the world and you're right here in Northwest Arkansas in our backyard and teaching and helping to grow the game, and we'll get into that in a little bit. But I really want to just start if you could tell people a little bit about you, your family kind of, how you kind of found the sport and start from the beginning.
Speaker 3:If you could, a little bit on your background yeah, absolutely so, um, I'm portuguese american, so my family is all from mededa, which is madera island, um, so the same island as cristiano ronaldo, so, although cristiano, so, uh, we take great pride in him pretty passionate about what he's done in the game. So we know who you are and where you're at on the Ronaldo-Messi debate.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Just a little bit right, yeah, but yeah, so my mom is from there, my father's actually from Pico, he's from the Azores, okay, so they came from two different islands and then the tuna industry brought them to San Diego at a young age and then so I was the first generation born in the state.
Speaker 3:So, wow, born and raised in San Diego, played for the Nomads in youth soccer, which was at the time probably the best club in the country yeah, under Derek Armstrong and some of those great coaches out there, southern California, and then Big hotbed yeah, exactly, it was massive. Back then it was the hotbed compared to what Dallas is now. Dallas has boomed over the years, but back then it's because of the weather that we have out there. It's just beautiful. And so I was very fortunate to be coached by some of the best coaches the game had to offer in the States and worked my way all the way up to the youth national team, so played in the second FIFA ever U16 World Cup in St John's, new Brunswick, in 1987 and played with some really, really good players.
Speaker 1:You, you played when it was not freezing cold in Canada. That's right. That's right, it's a little culture shock coming here right for sure.
Speaker 1:So talk about that. I mean, you were, you were a player in a lot of what we're trying to do here with Ozark United and we'll get into it in a little bit. But it's kind of build that pathway and pathway to pro right and, as someone who has experienced that, talk like what was your pathway? Like how did you kind of find your way from youth club soccer to you know? I don't know if it was ODP or if that was even a thing then, or kind of what was that journey like for you as a player and how did you end up from where you were with the NoBads maybe to now you find yourself left back, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was a little different. Actually, back then with the national team, it was that Roy Reese played in the 3-5-2, so I was more like a wingback. So like a wingback, yeah, so I was more like a wingback.
Speaker 2:So like a wingback? Yeah, so I had to add a box to box. You were a runner. Yeah, I was on the left side.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, I had to defend and attack. So transitional game for me big time. So I was actually center, mid, but you have a load of roster like that they're going to find a spot for you. But yeah, it was ODP, just like you said we. You said, okay, we didn't have any pathways back then besides that one.
Speaker 3:That was where everyone you know cycled through it and so obviously it was. It was more of like a, a city team, and then you had your district and then you moved on to the state select team and then from there you played different state associations. So, like, our big rival was northern california, yeah, and then from there, um, you know, you moved on to the regional which you would take, the four regions of the US, and then you would go play At the time it was in Colorado Springs, was where we had the Olympic Training Center. Okay, now they have one in Chula Vista in San Diego, but back then that's where we went and then the national team coach was there and they handpicked the team from there and that's how they picked it. So everyone had to funnel through, you know, one pathway. Yeah, it was in all the different pathways that we have now.
Speaker 1:Man, so many acronyms out there. Yeah, it's crazy. You need an encyclopedia. You sure do If you're a, if you're a soccer parent or anyone trying to understand the youth soccer pyramid, yeah, uh, and they're all kind of would say that they're better than the other one, and you know it's uh, yeah, uh, yeah, we gotta fix that eventually. But I agree, I agree there's too many in my opinion, but anyway, that's a whole other discussion. But I mean, that's, that's wild man. So I mean, who are some of the players like? Would we know any of the players that you played with?
Speaker 3:yeah, I played with chris henderson. Um, oh, wow. So now he's in atlanta. He's the. He just got named, yeah, big. Yeah, he came from miami right, he was in, was in Miami for a while there for four years. So I played with him, played with Michael Burns Mike Burns right, he was at New England Revolution. He was a general manager there for a while. I think he's now sporting KC. Yeah, troy Dyack another big name. San Jose let's see A kid from Texas, a really good player, named Chad Deering. Yeah, that rings a bell. He was our captain. Yeah, let's see, there was quite a lot. Casey Keller. Casey Keller yeah, just a small name there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know if it's him or Friedel. Maybe Friedel that has the most, or Tim Howard that has the most caps in the Premier League as an American. And Casey did pretty well, but Casey did pretty darn well for himself in his professional career, so that's man that's got to feel good having him between the sticks.
Speaker 3:Yeah, for sure, and that was a different time too. So that was, you know, 80 boys. You know I was born in 71. So, yeah, those guys are legends of the game now in this country. So really proud that I was able to play with such great players, you know, and be coached by such great, great managers coaches back then, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so talk a little bit. I mean, we, that's an incredible background, man. I mean you know what a cool experience to get to play for your country and, you know, represent it. You know, I know we joked off camera, you know, yeah, but it was the U16 World Cup. Man, that's a World Cup. That's a World Cup. You got to do that and so very few players get to even think about potentially doing that. Talk about what that experience was like, man.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's interesting because it goes down to just player development and being in the right place and the right organization under the right infrastructure and the right staff. And I was very fortunate, very fortunate Came from Portuguese families. I mentioned First one to speak English in my family, and so my uncle was my influence, my late uncle, and he played in some big-time clubs back in the day, and so I was guided in that direction and through it I just had some really good coaches, really good coaches the late Bobby Howe, roy Rees, ralph Perez, brian Harvey, direction and then and through it, I just had some really good coaches, really good coaches the late, uh, bobby howell, roy reese, ralph perez, um, to name it, the brian harvey that was my coach in college. You know, he's unbelievable um, actually, colin harvey's his older brother from everton, the legend there.
Speaker 3:Okay, that was the manager and player you know. So, um, yeah, I was very, very fortunate, very, very fortunate and blessed to be um, under some of the best coaches that the country could bring to us. So yeah. And then playing with those players so yeah, when you play with really good players, it makes you a better player, that's just a fact. You know, iron sharpens iron.
Speaker 1:That's exactly right, right, yeah, well, talk a little. I mean, you got to grow up and play it in the late 70s, 80s, 90s. Talk a little bit about you know the game has changed quite a bit in the country, I mean globally, but especially in the United States. Once you know we had the hosting of the 94 World Cup and then the boon of and launch of Major League Soccer, and then you know USL now coming into the mix in a big way and kind of that 2009, 2010 and the growth trajectory that it's been on the end of USL and the iterations there.
Speaker 1:I mean, there's so much that we can talk about. But from your perspective especially as a player, I mean, and just someone that's been player coach for a long time how have you seen the game evolve? How have you seen the game evolve? What are some of the biggest things that you, when you look back and say this is just so different than when I was playing and we didn't have these opportunities or whatever it is I don't know if it's a playing style or different opportunities how has the game changed from your lens in the United States from when you were a player to now in your role with Comets?
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a great question. Obviously, the game was much different back then. You know 4-4-2, you know you play with the flat four in the middle and then it would fall to the 4-4-2 diamond which is used today. But I think the biggest improvement of the game is just the possession based, and I'm a big fan of that. You know that's what I try to teach.
Speaker 3:So what I try to teach my players and educate them, you know I try to mimic what someone like a Pep Guardiola and a Mourinho back in the day when he was such a players' manager with Chelsea, and just how the modern game has changed. You got Klopp when he was at Liverpool with the Gagin press and all that. So the high press, you know, building out of the back. You know, back in the day we played with a sweeper and that doesn't even exist anymore. You know what I mean which has been a great transition in the game. So just those little wrinkles in the game of breaking lines, switching the point of attack, you know playing in those little tight pockets, and you know how much the players have gotten so much technical over the years, you know, and just the knowledge and the IQ of it is just incredible, and so the game keeps evolving every single day. So, as coaches, we've got to keep getting educated. You know we're going to fall off, so that's a big piece right there.
Speaker 1:I think that's such a huge piece and, you know, something that we in the club hope to help bring to the area and to the country right and, you know, do our part in helping to not just educate the next, you know, crop of players, but also coaches, because that makes such a huge impact on a player's experience and then whether they choose to stick with the sport. It's a massive, massive driver in participation is the environment and the experience that you have, and so I know we'll talk a little bit about that later on and something that you're very passionate about. But yeah, I mean, from the game side standpoint, it's wild to you know, it used to be kind of the kick and run and you know a lot more headers back in the day, a little more.
Speaker 3:Uber direct, that's right.
Speaker 1:And a little more target number nines and those kinds of players than maybe what it is today. I mean, you can still find that I think it's all about I'm not the coach, you're the coach, but a little bit more about who your opponent is and what's going to work right.
Speaker 3:Oh, 100%. You don't want to take away those options, right I? I think the one manager that probably plays that way and will play that way, you know, to the day he dies, is Pep Guardiola. You know he's going to use the tiki-taka possession and try to break you down with having a vast majority of the ball. You know what I mean. He's going to try to wear you out, but then you've got someone like Klopp that came in and he's going to give you the ball and let you have it, but then he's going to counterattack. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:And so it's pretty interesting the different styles of play, and as a coach, you have to understand where your strengths, where your weaknesses, right. So that's why, when you're coaching kids, you want them to give that kind of knowledge of hey, we've got to change our style, and so the more you know, the better off you are. Sometimes you've got to send it a little block, like Mourinho did back in the day, right? You know what I'm saying Park the bus, park the bus and counterattack with that quick player up top. But I think, overall, from a standpoint for player development, for me personally, and I think at the youth level, especially at the younger ages.
Speaker 3:I think it needs to be a possession style, because then you don't skip out on a player, you don't bypass anybody, where, if you're just looking to win the game which obviously winning is important, but it's not everything you don't want to give up player development for winning a young age Never.
Speaker 3:And so you know, obviously, getting the goalkeeper involved as an extension, building out of the back, you know, trying to share the ball. Everyone's touching the ball, everyone's included in it, and so they're all developing where you know, you still see those young teams that just have a loaded forward with tremendous speed and they're going to bypass their back line and their midfield and they're just going to hit it over the top. You're going to win now, but wait until you get on the big field or it gets real competitive. Then you've got the college coaches watching. So at that point it's one of those things where can he check to the ball? Or can she check to the ball? Can she link up? You know what I mean. So I think that's important for the youth game is that we really got to focus on possession at a young age.
Speaker 1:And being adaptable, right. I mean I think that there's so many you know we can so many tangents that you can go about how being adaptable is a great life skill. That's right. And how. You know sports, but soccer in particular can you know, help us learn that as players and then become great. You know human beings and adults, and I can talk forever about how sports does that very well if done right. If done right, there's so many great things that we can learn from the game and apply in our lives, and that's one of them, in my opinion.
Speaker 1:So you talked a little bit about the technicality on the field and the changes that you've seen there. What about from infrastructure or league pathways? We have academies in the US now that didn't know when when you were coming up. So talk a little bit about that and like I mean your portuguese family. So you've got, you've seen the global game. You've seen and been around it. Um, talk about that evolution from that standpoint on, like infrastructure, how we're supporting players. Um, governance of the game, if you know, if you opine on that a little bit from that side, kind of off the field.
Speaker 3:I think it's kind of like the runaway freight train for us in this country.
Speaker 2:That's such a good point.
Speaker 3:With the pathway. Now there's just too many. As we spoke a little bit earlier, I do like the options because you've got different pathways that provide something different for different level players and different level coaches and different level teams. But at the same token, you know what are you in for. Are you in to get to college? Is that what the ultimate goal is for that particular player or that particular program? Just understand, you know what your message is and what you're trying to accomplish for your program. And then then there's the other pathway, where it's, you know, especially on the boy side. You know a lot of them are trying to get to the pros, you know. So that pathway is a little different than the girls.
Speaker 1:And talk a little bit about that, because I was going to bring up two things.
Speaker 1:One, do you think that some of the kind of fragmentation, bifurcation, whatever the fun word you want to use on now, all these different pathways, is partly because of just the size and scale of our country and what it means to be a soccer player and think about trying to travel, you know, 1100 miles to go play a game versus?
Speaker 1:Okay, now we've got regional and that's how things just started to develop in that region, but then you've got this region over here that's developing really well, and now you've got these two organizations or you know, multiply that, however many regions and now how do we come together and make it mix and match and mesh Like, is there some level of that that kind of maybe went on one, then two, talk about like kind of the goals and the pathways. Like you said, like you know, there's a little bit more structure now for on the on the boy side, almost bypassing college, because the us is a little bit different from global soccer in that, and you can speak about this like the academy system versus college sports and how that feeds the professional.
Speaker 3:So talk a little bit about those differences. Yeah, you know, with the pathways. Um, you know, I think it depends on where you are in in this part of the country, right? So, for example, we have lots of hotbeds around, you know, obviously. You know southern california is a hotbed. You know the metropolitan area of dallas is a hotbed. Yeah, I think it. The metropolitan area of Dallas is a hotbed. Yeah, I think it's bigger than Southern California. Now it's grown because of all the land they have there to build. Florida's starting to become a hotbed. Arizona, you know what I mean Even in the greater northwest area too, you know, like that old area with you know Portland and Idaho and Washington, those are really good hotbeds.
Speaker 3:Soccer's growing obviously at a rapid pace, especially in the youth game, and so I think for players and programs it's tough because you know if you're living in an area where and you're a really good player and you don't have that opportunity or that option to play for that great club that has an East, you know, for a girl's side, for example, or MLS next level, for example, on the boy's side, it's tough. That's where you're looking to travel and try to commute just to get to training. And it's because you know, to what you just said, the country is so big, we're massive, we're so big, yeah, we're in Portugal. You've got a country of 10 million people. Yeah, you know what I mean. Like you, just look at all the European countries. That's how it is. So that's the big issue, and so you know, I don't think we have the scouts and the resources to get out and find every great player and develop every single kid. So that's the big issue that I think that you know US soccer is trying to figure out and probably hence why there's so many pathways to they're trying to reach out and and bring a lot more kids into these programs.
Speaker 3:Um, from the standpoint of of you know the different pathways, for you know the boys compared to the girls, well, you know, just for my experience and in the game, um, you know, I've been involved again my entire life and and as a player and as a coach, it just seems like the pathway for the girls is really about getting to college, even though we have a women's pro team, pro league now in the NWSL and then USL is coming out now and that stuff's great for the women's game because obviously we've set the bar in the US with the women's national team.
Speaker 3:But I think it's still the American dream for American families to get their kid into college and get it educated, where on the boys' side their dream is more of like a way of life.
Speaker 3:And a lot of the great players that we do have in this country are very diverse I would say a lot of them I'm not saying that we don't have enough that are born and raised from American families, but there's a lot of diversity in this country and we have a massive population of Hispanic, for example, and I think from the way they're raised and their culture, that is their way out, that is their way to get there.
Speaker 3:And any kid that plays the game me included I was a kid who don't know who doesn't want to play pro soccer, right, yeah. So I think from that standpoint, the younger you are holistic for example, made the choice to go abroad at a young age, skip out from going to college when he was a teenager, and that's paid off for him. And I think on the on the men's side and the boy's side, the earlier you get into these academies, the better opportunity you're going to have. And if you wait until you graduate from college, then your pathway is a little different because those four years you spend in college, you know those are some of your peak years in development.
Speaker 3:That's right, that's exactly right, yeah, and so not to say you can't get there, no, but you know the college game is a step down from where you're going to be at Borussia Dortmund. Right, right, right you know what I mean, or.
Speaker 1:Benfica or Sporting or, you know, barcelona, whatever, and I think you're hitting on it is kind of the development of the academies in the United States in particular. Right, because it used to be kind of the college game was still just like a lot of the other sports. We draw a lot of our professional athletes. You know, yes, there's international, but at least us domestic, homegrown from college sports. Look at, you know, the nfl draft is one of the biggest events of the year for god's sake and in all of sports. Right, that's right. So, um, you know we used to pull heavily and now is the we've started to adopt or, you know, build some of the infrastructure on this academy side, on the boys in particular, I think, is a little bit further along than the girls and we hope to change that and you know, you see that with the usl super league and usl expanding and all of that.
Speaker 1:But on the boys side the academies are a little bit more further along and that's where you're starting to see kind of that shift over into okay, well, if pro is my goal, now I'm actually trying to get into the academy at 13, 14, 15 and be discovered or whatever it is. Get the development, get the coaching, get in the system, get my foot in the door. And then, on the girls side, still very heavily reliant on a fantastic college soccer program that we still have in place and that's where a lot of the talent goes in the pool, for that feeds NWSL and others. And you have examples like, I think, alyssa Thompson, you know, in Angel City, right, that's right, that is, you know, kind of that more that what we would call the boy approach, I guess, yeah, and what you see more commonly, where she was, you know, 17 and still in high school classes and playing professionally, right. So I think we'll get there on the girl's side, hopefully, I hope to, and, you know, help provide that infrastructure in that pathway? Yeah, absolutely, because it's.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of good players out there, so they're real players, really really is so many good players, yeah, and a lot of them are not that I identify. They're undiscovered, um for various reasons.
Speaker 1:Why does the us have to be so big?
Speaker 3:yeah, true, can you just take all the soccer players and move into it, right?
Speaker 1:just everybody moved to the southeast or the middle, like whatever. It is right. So, yeah, man, it's um, it's a, it's a challenge, though right like I think something that people don't necessarily think about is the logistics of what does it mean to be a youth soccer player in the United States at the highest level, and where are you going and traveling? I mean, where did you have to go and play growing up, man?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean. So in San Diego the rivals were us and Huntington Beach the Untouchables. At the time. They were a fantastic club and our shortest drive was going out there an hour and a half away in LA, but we were having to go to Dallas, get on an airplane and fly to go to the Dallas Cup. Those are some things that we were doing. We were going to Europe to play against the top European teams of the time, so, but you know, the club was a good club and it had the resources and the facility, and that's another thing that is needed in any club is the infrastructure Facilities.
Speaker 3:Yeah, facilities are massive Coaching staff right, having full-time coaches that can be leaders and directors that can educate the coaches, develop the coaches and then, through that, having the right infrastructure from the grassroots all the way up, and so understanding that every kid needs a ball at their feet when they're young and we want to be technically savvy and comfortable and brave on the ball and all those things. And if they get bypassed then they're so far behind compared to like Europe, you know, for example. So there's got to be emphasis on that and so you know it's easier said than done because you need the money to do it, but if we can educate more coaches in this country and you know all over the country, I think um the more you have, the more you can develop. That's just the bottom line.
Speaker 1:You know, that's it. I think that that's a huge piece. Um is coaching, education and consistency, at least in education. You know everybody's going to have a different style. I'm not saying that everybody needs to have a different style, you know, and I don't think anybody would say that, right, but at least some of the core tenets of no matter what your style of play is, if you're going to be a soccer player at the highest level, you should be able to do X, y and Z, and then these are a lot of different ways on how to develop that, but at least the end goal is there and then go develop it and then coach how to coach it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely, cause we all see the game through a different lens, every single one of us, you know. We may, we may have a similar style, but we see the game through a different lens and that's the beauty of the game. I love it. You know what I mean. That's the beauty of the game.
Speaker 1:But coaching education is is um, you know, there's there's whispers of promotion relegation, maybe in 15, 20 years. Yeah, right, so, um you know, almost like we're trying to become a real soccer nation, yeah yeah, right, wouldn't that be something right?
Speaker 3:look at us, I think it would put a lot more uh pressure on uh, you know, being successful. You know what I mean. Yeah, it's in the mls. I mean you, just, you, just, you're still in the top league the next year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, yeah, so, but yeah, it's got to be built and they're like they. You know I know we jokingly bash on MLS, but they've done so much for the game. I mean, we would not be where we're at without them.
Speaker 3:Oh, 100%. Yeah, you know North American soccer, you know what I mean. Yeah, and that was a great league back then. I mean they had the legends of the game there. You know what I mean. La, I mean France, france, beckenbauer, you know. Yeah, they had Georgia, canalia. Yeah, you know what I mean. Some really good players. They had Xavier from Portugal, you know what I mean. So there was like, yeah, that was that's kind of where it got started. Yeah, the professional side, yeah, and so, yeah, what must it feel like to have a consistent league for more than 10 years? Yeah, that's exactly right. Then you get into the us isl. Yeah, all the different, like when I was coming up it just and so, yeah, to be fair, mls is sustained and and they've they've done wonderful things and their game is growing and they're getting stronger, absolutely, and they're bringing in some big, big, massive names into the league too.
Speaker 1:So then to see I I mean some of these cathedrals they're building man Soccer-specific stadiums.
Speaker 3:That changes the game? It does, doesn't it? Because of the culture and the environment, absolutely. I mean, look at LAFC. What they did, oh my gosh, coming in a brand new team and built that stadium and then had these fans instantly, from day one. Yeah, just incredible. Yeah, the atmosphere and the environment in that stadium.
Speaker 1:Totally changes the game and different from playing in NFL stadiums. You know the majority of them, yeah, you know, in the mid to late 90s and even into the early 2000s, yeah, exactly, you know, columbus Crew kind of got that going and underway and that just it completely changes the game. The experience as a fan, yeah, which is a game changer for building fandom, right like it's. It's such a different experience I think everybody's had it where you may be in a capacity of 25, 30, 000 seat stadium but there's only three, four, five thousand people there, right, I mean we were all at those games as a kid. I mean I grew up in dc going C, going to watch DC United at RFK, right, so like they could only barely fill the lower bowl, you know, and you know I was, you know, a little kid. I was having a blast, you know. But I look back and I remember like you could hear the players on the field and listen to their conversations at the one end, you know, and it's just such a different experience. But anyway, we came a long way for sure. We have, we have and it's, you know, it's awesome to watch and be a part of, and man you've been there from you know, kind of that pivotal shift.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, where you know there's this generation of players, coaches, administrators, you know that have helped push that over the edge right To now, where you know, and you're seeing the results in the national team, right, and we're hosting, my goodness, we're hosting the FIFA World Cup we just hosted okay, crazy. Let's transition now and talk about how freaking crazy it is that the United States is hosting Copa America, fifa Club World Cup, fifa World Cup and probably 2031. Well, 2028, la Olympics and then probably, hopefully knock on wood, knock on something 2031, co-host with Mexico Women's World Cup. Knock on something 2031, co-host with mexico women's world cup. There has never. Well, do your research, but call me out on it if I'm wrong, but I don't think that there's ever been a slew or a slate of that caliber international tournaments hosted in the same place in that amount of time ever yeah, that's pretty incredible.
Speaker 3:Yeah, who would have thought that back in the day? Yeah.
Speaker 1:And if you had thought that in you know, when I was growing up playing and watching, you know MLS and you growing up and playing and where we were at, we would have laughed at you. Yeah, especially at this. I mean, that's a short amount of time. Yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely Right. Yeah, it's changed, Like you said. Going back to what you just said a little while ago, with our national team, we've got so many players playing overseas, now you know, which just makes a huge difference. Now you know the vast majority of our players. So the exposure we're getting and things have changed, yeah, and it's only going to get better. I mean, I think the timing of you guys to come out and launch in, you know, Ozark United FC couldn't be a better time, Couldn't be it's prime, I mean right when the world cup is coming here, you know. So it's exciting times right now, you know, in this country, for for soccer, for sure.
Speaker 1:I think the other thing too, just thinking about differences, like when I was growing up and I'm sure you as well, like global broadcasting rights and, yes, that's made a difference on the revenue side. I'm talking more about access and exposure of the game here in the United States, right, like where that clicked and changed in kind of the early mid-2000s, um, when I don't know if it was fox, had the first one, or espn and I was watching the premier league and or syria, or the bundesliga and or la liga, and you're getting exposed to now some of these global massive names. And we actually knew who david beckham was when he came over to LA Galaxy, right, yeah, but growing up like in the at least for me, early days, but for you like teenager, probably like yeah, if you didn't speak Spanish, good luck.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we just had the soccer made in Germany on Sunday. Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah, and then it evolved to getting you know some games in the World Cup, but remember it wasn't commercial free. They cut away from it and come back. And what did you miss? Wait a minute, because they had to put their advertisement in, right? Yeah, so 100%, ryan. And then, obviously, with the internet now and all that Tech has changed, everything's right in your hand. It's unbelievable the resources that a young player has now. I mean now we've got the english premiere, you know, you can see every single game if you want. Yeah, peacock, you can just record it and that's right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's just it's you can have all four, like four different screens up or whatever it is. I know I do. Yeah, my wife loves me for that you and me, my dvrs just maxed out yeah, oh.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Well, man. I think that's a great place to cut it for this convo. Thank you so much for joining me and it's been an incredible journey for the sport for someone that's been a game changer and part of that generation. So really, really incredible to have you here as a part of our community and helping lead the next generation of players and good humans, and so thank you for what you're doing. But that'll do it for this episode of Pitcher Pro. We hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to catch all of our episodes at pitcherprocom or look for Pitcher Pro on YouTube, spotify, apple or wherever it is that you get your podcasts for more content. Until then, we'll catch you next time. Cheers, northwest Arkansas for more content.
Speaker 2:Until then, we'll catch you next time. Cheers, northwest Arkansas. Thanks for joining us on this episode of the Pitch to Pro podcast. Be sure to tune in again in two weeks for the next installment and check out the Stoppage Time series for a recap of today's episode. Be sure to find us at Pitch to Pro on YouTube, instagram and everywhere you get your podcasts. Until next time, northwest Arkansas, cheers.