Ep. 52 - Inside the MLS Next Talent ID Invitational

A scouting weekend can change how young players see the game, and our trip to the MLS Next Talent ID Invitational in Houston did exactly that. We sit down with three OZFC Academy players who were selected among the top 50 in the region to talk about the pressure, the pace, and the joy of competing against elite talent. From intense rondos and 2v2s to a 9v9 tournament win, they share the moments that stretched their decision-making, sharpened their first touch, and showed why constant communication and scanning separate good from great.

We dig into the details that matter: using size without fouling, protecting the ball in tight spaces, and keeping a head on a swivel to find the next pass. The boys compare coaching styles, describe how the top players keep the field loud with useful talk, and reflect on what aligns with our own OZFC routines, dynamic warm-ups, progressive passing, and game-speed reps. You’ll hear how travel bonds a team, why speed of play is the real jump at this level, and how small adjustments in spacing and shape, squeezing compactly, switching the point of attack, unlock chances against bigger, faster opponents.

If you care about youth development, MLS Next pathways, and what it takes to grow from academy to professional soccer, this conversation delivers practical insights with heart. We highlight upcoming matches, personal goals for stamina and strength, and the simple rule that powers everything we do in Northwest Arkansas: keep the game fun so improvement sticks. Subscribe, share with a soccer friend, and leave a review telling us the one skill you’d train first to raise your speed of play.

Transcript

Welcome To Pitch To Pro

SPEAKER_03 0:04

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.

Sponsor Shoutout

SPEAKER_02 0:42

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SPEAKER_03 0:46

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Meet The Host And Guests

SPEAKER_02 0:51

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SPEAKER_03 1:07

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Pitch the Pro Podcast. I'm your host, Wes Harris, managing director for Ozark United FC, Northwest Arkansas's professional soccer club playing in the United Soccer League. Guys, this episode is going to be a really fun one. We recently had some of our OZFC Academy players participate in MLS Next Talent ID Invitational in Houston, Texas over the weekend. And here to tell us all about it are Ethan, Adrian, Sai. Welcome to the show, gentlemen. Thanks for joining me.

unknown 1:41

Yeah.

Player Intros And Favorite Stars

SPEAKER_03 1:43

All right. It's okay. You can say, you can say, hey, thanks for having me on the show. I'm just kidding. You guys are welcome. Uh, and we got a lot of good stuff to talk about. So let's get into it. So, first and foremost, before we jump into the fun and exciting weekend in Houston, I want everybody to kind of get to know you guys a little bit. So if you would, let's tell everybody a little bit about yourself. So I would love to hear your full name, your age, how old you are, school you attend, and favorite soccer player.

unknown 2:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

You want to start with Adrian? Let's go, bro.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Um my favorite soccer player is Messi.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

Messi. Okay. Good one.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

And I go to Kirksea Middle School.

SPEAKER_03 2:29

Kirksley Middle School? Okay. How old are you?

SPEAKER_01 2:31

I'm 13.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

Yeah. Full name?

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Adrian Elliott.

SPEAKER_03 2:36

Awesome. Let's go with you, Ethan.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Uh, I'm Ethan Kimbrough. I'm 13 years old. I go to go to Fulbright Junior High School.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

And my favorite soccer player is Messi.

SPEAKER_03 2:46

Messi. Okay. I see a theme here.

SPEAKER_00 2:50

I am 13 years old. I go to Lincoln Junior High. And my favorite player is Christiana Ronaldo.

SPEAKER_03 2:57

Breaking the mold there. So you guys get the Messi Ronaldo debate. I feel like that's always. Has anybody, do you know anybody whose favorite player isn't one of those two?

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Paolo's like insane about Ronaldo. I'm like, I'm a little bit of messy fan, but I like Cole Palmer too.

SPEAKER_03 3:15

Okay. Cole Palmer. More kind of recent contemporary one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

I mean, you've I like uh Hingman's son. He played for Hospers. But he's in LN.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

He's at LAFC now, yeah. Okay. Those are good ones. Palmer's a little shifty. He's a good player. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

That was not there.

What MLS Next Talent ID Is

SPEAKER_03 3:35

All right, guys. Well, uh let's tell people a little bit more about the the program. So it was MLS next talent ID Invitational, and it was kind of the best 50 kids from the region, right? In the Pioneer Conference, am I right? Where you guys got to go to Houston for a weekend and kind of tell people what the program was. Anyone can jump in. Go ahead, Ethan.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

It was um really intense and fun because you got to meet new people and new coaches, and there was a US national youth scout there that was scouting all of us. And you do these warmups to begin with, a rondo for like the second drill. Yeah. And then you do like 2v2, small-sided scrimmages, and then a 9v9 tournament at the end.

SPEAKER_03 4:24

Oh, that's really cool. That's awesome. Well, tell us, tell us a little bit, each of you, like Sai, how did you feel when you learned that you were kind of selected and got to be able to participate in this program?

SPEAKER_00 4:37

I felt good because like not a lot of people could get like in it. So I just felt good about it.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

Yeah, it was only 50 people in the whole conference, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

I mean, that had to make you feel good, Adrian?

Being Selected: Pride And Motivation

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Um, I think it felt really good to me because I thought I was special and it was like a good opportunity to become always become to become like a next step to becoming pro. Yeah. And it was fun because I can make friends and like I can make friends and play them in the future and when we're pla playing pro.

SPEAKER_03 5:13

Yeah. The soccer world is kind of a small, like, especially when you start getting to that level, it can start to be a little bit more like smaller circles, right? And you start to like learn p different kids from across the country that keep showing up in kind of the same places, right? And you know, you guys are starting to get to experience that, which is really cool. So that's awesome. Um, Ethan, what about you, man? Did you what like what was it like to hear that?

SPEAKER_01 5:41

I felt really surprised and excited because when I heard only 50 people, it's like it's it's a huge opportunity to like prove yourself and like show like other people around the region what you've got. And if it's only 50 people, then you're the best of the best, right?

Positions, Roles, And 9v9 Highlights

SPEAKER_03 5:59

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely, man. I I'd like that's why it was so huge. You you know, and you guys had uh there was a U-13 player as well that got to go. Um, so to have like four OZFC players, I mean He didn't go. Oh, he didn't end up making He stayed for the tournament. He did okay. Well, even still to have four selected, maybe one may not have been able to go, but uh to have four selected, it just speaks to kind of what you guys already know, is that we've got a lot of great talent here at NWA, don't we? You know, I mean you guys are evidence of that, right? So I think that that speaks volumes. So just first off, like a huge congratulations to you guys. Like that's a you guys should be proud. That's really something to celebrate, and kudos to you guys. You know, you don't get there without putting in a lot of hard work, have you? It's taking a lot of work and a lot of time, a lot of practice to get to where you guys are at, right? Yeah. So kudos to you guys. So I'd love to hear a little bit more. Like, let's kind of dive into the weekend and some of the drills you guys did, maybe some of the things I know you kind of gave us a bit of a rundown, Ethan, but maybe what was like your favorite thing that you guys did there, Adrian?

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Uh my favorite thing that we did there was the 9v9 scrimmage, and it was just fun because we would just have fun and play with the other kids. Yeah. And just have an opportunity to get scouted by that youth scout.

SPEAKER_03 7:29

Okay. Well, I should have asked this before uh in the tell me about yourself, but what position do you play?

SPEAKER_01 7:35

I play left mid.

SPEAKER_03 7:37

Left mid, okay. And I guess did you get to play that down in Houston or did you have to play a different position?

SPEAKER_01 7:45

They let us pick.

SPEAKER_03 7:46

They let you pick? Okay, that's nice. All right. Do you score any goals?

SPEAKER_01 7:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Not in the scrimmage, but like overall, when we were doing small sided games, I did.

SPEAKER_03 7:55

Yeah. That's awesome. Ethan, what about you? What what position do you play?

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Uh this season I played right back, but last season I mainly played winger and um striker in midfield.

Tournament Banter And Winning Moments

SPEAKER_03 8:05

Oh no. So like all over You're all over the place, man. You're a bit of a utility player. That's great. That's really valuable for coaches and teams, I'm telling you. So that's cool. What was your maybe your favorite drill from or whatever activity it was that you guys do?

SPEAKER_01 8:21

The 99.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

The 99, yeah. It's always the scrimmages. That's all.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:25

But I think it also speaks to you know, drills are great, but people, kids just want to play and want to play the game, right? So, coaches, don't get too bogged down in drills. Sometimes you just gotta let the kids play. Uh Cy, same thing, man. What what position do you play? And then tell me a little bit more about your experience over the week.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

I play right mid and right wing, and like my favorite drill there was probably the scrimmage, the 9v9.

SPEAKER_03 8:50

Yeah, 9v9.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Because we got like a lot of touches on the ball, and we can score.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

That's cool. Okay, I asked him, did you guys score some goals?

SPEAKER_01 8:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:59

Yeah?

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Yeah. He scored a lot of goals in this uh five-five against his team. Yeah, against my team.

SPEAKER_03 9:05

Oh, scored like five goals. Little little banter back and forth between you?

SPEAKER_01 9:10

But me and Sara were on the same team for the tournament.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

Oh, okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:14

Our team won too. Yeah.

Coaching Intensity And Off-Field Fun

SPEAKER_03 9:16

Oh, your team won the tournament? Mm-hmm. Oh, that's pretty cool. So, all right. Talk to me. You guys, what was like the coaching? What were the coaching staff like? Like what what maybe was your big kind of takeaway from the coaches? Like, what was their style? Did they give you guys any kind of good new nuggets for you guys that you might take away and learn and and put into practice?

SPEAKER_00 9:44

They didn't really like coaches in anything new, but like they were like really intense about like our trails.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

But they were pretty nice, like when we were not doing any drinkers. Yeah, pretty fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:55

They were nice guys, but they're intense, huh? On the field. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

Okay. What were you gonna say, Ethan? Go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

So whenever we got like our water break, yeah, we start this guy came up to me. He was like, if you can land it in the next the w uh the bottom in the next three tries, um and then the next two tries, I'll get you like ice cream or something like that. Okay. And I landed it first try, and it was like, oh shoot. He's like, if you can flip a coin and then land it, yeah, I'll get you ice cream. But I didn't have a coin, so I just flipped a bottle. I I missed it. They were just like super chill, nice, and intense, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:31

Okay. So intense when it came to their soccer, but off the field or in the breaks, they made sure to have some fun.

SPEAKER_01 10:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Is that fair?

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

Okay, good. Well, maybe that's something, you know, I think you guys probably do too, right? You're when you're on the pitch or on the field, like you know it's game time, you locked in, ready to rock, but water breaks or you know, off the pitch, you guys are okay to have goof off a little bit and be kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's still important to have fun on the pitch stuff, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

I don't think you guys would be playing if you weren't having fun.

unknown 11:05

Yeah.

Lessons Learned: Speed And Strength

SPEAKER_03 11:06

Right? That's my that's my number one rule. That's what I tell my players is you gotta have fun. If you're not having fun, then I'm doing something wrong, or we gotta have a chat. So I guess did you guys learn anything different or new, or did you see anything from other players that stood out to you over the weekend that maybe you haven't seen or experienced before, like a different version of coaching or a different way of thinking about things? Did you learn anything over the weekend that kind of stood out to you? Sorry?

SPEAKER_00 11:46

Oh well, I feel like like on Ozark, we just needed like more like speed and faster footwork on the ball.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

Yeah, the so the speed of the guys playing not only just physically, but speed of play as well. And then touches and how quick they were.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

And we need to be like stronger too.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

Because we were really small compared to them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

We're gonna hit our girls for maybe this year or next year.

SPEAKER_03 12:14

Yeah. Yeah. You I mean everybody, you're you guys are at that age. It's it'll come.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

I think we're like one of the smallest teams, I feel like.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:22

All the teams that we play have like giants on their team. Louisiana. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:26

Yeah, that Louisiana team were they big. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

They were on.

SPEAKER_01 12:33

You're only like five eight inches. Yeah. We have like a really tall teammate though. He's like 6'3. What? Yeah, what of our teammate? It's only one. He's like the giant. He's tall.

SPEAKER_03 12:44

What position does he play?

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Defender. He used to play center back.

Communication, Scanning, And Decision Making

SPEAKER_03 12:47

Is he playing center back? Okay.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

He used to play um striker, but what's his name? Devin.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Devin Moody.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Moody.

SPEAKER_03 12:56

Moody. Okay, I'm sorry. That's well, that's cool. I th you know that's but that's important though. Speed of play is huge, right? I think as you guys start to get level by level, right? That's one of the biggest things is speed of play. And then what comes with that is decision making up there, right? Yeah. And how much quicker you need to make decisions. And I think that that's a great observation there, Mr. Psy. So that's awesome. Ethan, what about you, man?

SPEAKER_01 13:22

I noticed that they would like can constantly communicate, even on and off the ball, and they would utilize their fakes and like feints a lot.

SPEAKER_03 13:32

Okay. I think that's a huge one. Communications, like, if you guys, you guys have obviously probably been to some pro games or college games or older boys, it is never silent on the field, is it?

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:45

It's like constant, right? And I tell my boys too, uh, they're younger than you, but they're one of your biggest things that you can control is your energy on the field. And one of the biggest ways to lift your energy just naturally is talking and communicating. Because if you're talking and communicating, you're you're locked in, you're clued into what's going on, and it lifts your energy automatically. So that's uh that's a huge part of the game. So I'm glad to hear that. What about you, Adrian?

OZFC Routines That Translate

SPEAKER_01 14:17

I think that they were using their size wisely, you know, bodying, like at a smart way.

SPEAKER_03 14:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:25

Not just like full sending you to the ground.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

Yeah, not just like fouling you, but actually using it to their advantage.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Yeah. And they were like looking up. I don't think I saw a single one looking down at the ball. Unless you're like shooting or something, but they were just like had their head up the whole time.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Yeah, having that ability, right, to just be that comfortable and just know where it's at. We gotta have that ball on a string, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:53

Okay. So is there anything that you guys experienced that you felt like this actually is right in line like with what we've been doing at OZFC with our coaching staff and what we've been learning and and trying to do? Is there anything that like stood out to you there? Like when you experienced it, you're like, man, this is I feel like I'm at home right now. Like this is this is stuff that we do. This is stuff that coach tarps on, this is stuff that he preaches. Is there anything that you stood out to you there?

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Oh, just uh like warmups were like really similar. Yeah, they were similar.

SPEAKER_03 15:31

Okay, in what way?

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Like like the stretches and like the passing drills that we did. Yeah, we usually they do like the same thing we do on game days.

SPEAKER_03 15:39

Okay. Like game day, game day routine. So what do you guys do on a game day routine?

What Changes After Houston

SPEAKER_01 15:43

So first off, we do like our normal high knees, like butt kicks, lunges, all that sorts of stuff, and then after that we get a like a little sip of water, and then we just pass around like first the first passing drills, like two touch, and then one touch, and then uh one twis.

SPEAKER_03 16:05

Okay. So like a dynamic warm-up and then get into some passing and just getting a touch and feel for the ball.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:11

Yeah. Anything else, Ethan?

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Sometimes we set up these like this square drill, and there are players on each side, and there's a person in the middle. Then you lay it off to that person and they do they could do like a one-two with the person on the outside, or they play it back on the outside, and that person plays it inside. And then the person who played it to the person who was originally in the inside, they follow that pass and that person passes it to them.

Life In The OZFC Academy

SPEAKER_03 16:40

Okay. That's awesome. That I mean, it's good. So I like experiencing new things and new coaches, I think is awesome and a huge part of development. And then I also love understanding like what are new things that you may have learned, right, that you're gonna take away and like implement. Is there anything is there anything that you guys feel like you're gonna do differently in your kind of normal everyday team or training or uh even even off the field, like even by yourself? Like, is there anything that you guys feel like you came away from the weekend, you're like, man, I want to do this differently? Anything like that for you guys?

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Our sta like working on our stamina and like our dribbling.

SPEAKER_03 17:24

Stamina and dribbling, okay. Good. Adrian, injury or anything?

SPEAKER_01 17:30

Um our ball security.

SPEAKER_03 17:33

Ball security, okay. So your touches and just being even more confident on the ball.

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Our aggressiveness and like getting at a tackles.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

Oh, I like that. So is physical.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Not just our awareness of the field.

SPEAKER_03 17:46

Awareness of the field, I love that. So what do you gotta do there?

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Scan scanning, turn your head off.

SPEAKER_03 17:52

That's right. That's what's up, and I'm sure coaches have talked to you about that, but like they they study this stuff, right? And some of the best players are the ones that scan the most.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

I have to do that because I'm in the midfield. It's like you you're like surrounded by people.

SPEAKER_03 18:08

You got people on both sides of you all the time. Head on a swivel. That's good. Yeah, it's not just how big they were, right? But you know, from Ethan, like it's hard hitting. It's you know, you got reminded that soccer was a contact sport down there, didn't you?

unknown 18:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:28

No injuries, I hope though, right? No, no, no knocks, no, all good, good. Well, that's awesome, boys. Listen, it sounds like it was you know a good experience, would you say? Yeah. Overall. Happy you guys went and thankful that you were able to go.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:45

No, that's awesome. So let's transition a little bit into like what has been kind of the experience like? Tell people what it's like to be an OZFC Academy player a little bit from from kind of your perspective. What would you tell them if they asked you what was it like?

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Um it's it like sounds hard at first because it's an MLS next. Like once you start getting used to the feel of the play, it's not that bad.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

And it's just fun playing, it's just normal soccer, but a little bit more intense.

SPEAKER_03 19:21

Yeah. Kind of that you take a little bit of a step up from what you're used to, but you know, once you can kind of understand that you can play there, you got selected for a reason, right? And you get used to the level, good.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Ethan, it's really competitive, but overall, it's really fun because your teammates are there to support you, even if you do like something wrong. And you get to travel like all over the region. And there's this tournament that's coming up. It's uh MLS United Region.

SPEAKER_03 19:58

Is it the regional event?

SPEAKER_01 19:59

Yeah, I think the region's been next week.

SPEAKER_03 20:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

I think this week we have one in Tulsa, right? I think I think that's Greenwood.

SPEAKER_03 20:07

Yeah, Tulsa is this week, which at the time of the episode that it'll come out, it will be last weekend. But yes, you guys at the time of recording have Tulsa, right? So that should be a good one. We had you that was like y'all's first matchups, right?

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Here, yeah. When you hung behind them, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:24

You need some revenge on them.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

We can beat them, but because we're getting like closer and closer to winning a lot, yeah. Yeah. What one in what was it like that were we in Dallas? Dallas, yeah. Yeah, you know. We uh we only lost by one, which is like our closest game yet. Nice. They just scored a runaway gill. Uh you just like had their fast card just triple up the field.

SPEAKER_03 20:45

Yeah. You guys, I mean it's it takes time to gel, it takes time to learn about each other, right? So that's awesome. I think and hold up before we go on, Cy, what would you tell people? What's it like playing in front of the FC?

Team Focus: Space And Shape

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Well, it's really just like more competitive and like it's more faster and a lot of people like bigger than you. So you have to like use your abilities to make yourself better than the other people.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Yeah. Okay. You gotta think differently. Yeah, and adapt. Yeah. What about the coaching staff? You like coach?

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Yeah, I like coach. They really do. Coach Christian's funny.

SPEAKER_03 21:27

He's a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

He's a good coach.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

Yeah. He won state coach of the year for high school last year.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Yeah, the best coaches.

unknown 21:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Because we have Coach Kevin, who coached D1 soccer for Memphis, and then Coach Christian, who was uh coach for state yeah, Faraday State Champions.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

You guys have some great coaches, that's for sure. We love our coaches. Shout out to the coaches. Appreciate you guys. So all right. What are you guys maybe as a team, what would you say you're working on right now? What do you think? What would you share with people if you said, hey, this is what we're doing?

SPEAKER_01 22:06

Space on the field, because last practice, which is yesterday, we all are gone. Like um what was it called? Finding open space. Yeah. And rotating the ball. In like the what's that one called again? Squeeze. Squeeze. It's like space. Our goalkeeper tells us to squeeze and we all like pinch in to get a smaller because it's gonna cunt the ball up. But we still like have the same shape. Yeah, we still have to say the same. It's just like a mini formation.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

Yeah. Like how do you how do you move around the field but still maintain some semblance of shape.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Last week we just switched on uh switching the point of attack, like when everyone's like crowded in this area and someone could switch the ball to like an open person on the other side of the field, then we have a chance to score.

Looking Ahead And Final Thanks

SPEAKER_03 22:51

Yeah. It's it's interesting how some of the you know same stuff maybe that you guys first started learning about maybe five, six, seven years ago, but it's it changes the way that you guys are practicing it though, right? And how it shows up on this field. It's much faster, it's much tougher, it's like constantly changing and moving, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:18

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

So that's it's cool though. You know, it's it's interesting. You know, the game is the game, no matter what level you play it at. It's just the fundamental stuff, you know, makes a big difference in the speed of play, like you guys said, and the touch it's all right, bro. Yeah, you all right over there, Mr. Sod.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

It's because we said a meme.

SPEAKER_03 23:41

Oh, I did six seven. Okay. Okay, these kids, man, six, seven. I get ya. All right. Oh, okay. Like when you were six or seven years ago. I got it. Six, seven. There it is. Okay. All right. That shows my age here. Um, all right, boys. You guys have been awesome guests. What? Let's go around the table. What are you most looking forward to coming up with the Academy?

SPEAKER_01 24:08

Going to Houston on that charter bucks. Okay. It's like really fun. And then I cooked this kid in FIFA and how yeah. I cooked it in the airport. We didn't even get to finish the game, yeah, but I still cooked you. One-zero.

SPEAKER_03 24:21

There's a lot of fun bonding that you guys get to do, right? Yeah. As a part of this, I think. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Rawl stars.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Well, he was playing the whole time, bro. Him and one of our teammates.

SPEAKER_03 24:33

Okay. Ethan, what about you, man?

SPEAKER_01 24:35

Um, looking forward to winning games. Yeah. Winning's gonna be.

SPEAKER_03 24:40

You guys will get there. You guys will get there. It takes time. Cy, what are you looking forward to, mate?

SPEAKER_00 24:45

Uh, our games in Houston.

SPEAKER_03 24:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Cause we get a skip Thursday and Friday. Whoo, picture of you.

Outro And Where To Listen

SPEAKER_03 24:51

All right, so two fall breaks, huh? All right, guys, I love it. Listen, thank you guys for coming on to the show today and sharing with us what you know sounds like it was an amazing experience. And congrats again on your selections to attend and for being able to represent not only OZFC, uh, but more importantly, Northwest Arkansas, guys. Like, represent, show the people, right? The NWA, we got some talent here, right? So listen, best of luck this weekend in Tulsa and for the rest of the season. And uh we're with you guys, we're cheering for you guys. So thank you guys for repping OZFC and being class axe. So thank you.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Thank you. Thank you for having us.

SPEAKER_03 25:33

All right, guys, that's it for this episode of Pitch the Pro. We hope you enjoyed it. Be sure to catch all of our episodes on pitchtopro.com or look for Pitch the Pro on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcast for more content. Until next time, Northwest Arkansas, cheers.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

Thanks for joining us on this episode of the Pitch the 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 the Pro on YouTube, Instagram, and everywhere you get your podcasts. Until next time, Northwest Arkansas, cheers.