Stoppage Time Special: From Fest to Full Rides: Scouting Breakthroughs and Lessons Learned

Two weeks of elite matches, one clear lesson: when the level jumps, only a real game model holds up. We take you inside our MLS NEXT stretch, what it taught our players about competing under pressure, why we refused to chase short-term results, and how that decision drew college coaches and academy scouts to our sidelines. From early setbacks to late surges, the story is about identity, resilience, and turning tough minutes into future opportunities.

We break down the competition step by step: why some squads were shell-shocked in opening games, how others clawed back, and what it means to be “just another dog” on a national stage. The recruiting lens is wide open too. You’ll hear how Division I contact rules actually work, why Division III and JUCO conversations often happen field-side, and how the transfer portal is reshaping timelines and selectivity. Most importantly, we map out what players can control: preparation routines, consistency, and the ability to perform when a dream school is quietly watching from the touchline.

Behind the scenes, our staff focused inward, refining our style, amplifying our players’ strengths, and sharing film and schedules with trusted college networks to get the right eyes on the right games. The results speak for themselves: broad interest for the U-19s, crucial reps for the U-17s, and a pathway younger age groups can now see in front of them. If you care about player development, college soccer recruiting, and the realities of MLS NEXT competition, this highlight reel delivers practical insights you can use today.

If this resonated, follow the show, share it with a teammate or coach, and leave a quick review to help more players find their path.

Transcript

Festival Culture And Team Bonding

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Stoppage Time edition of the Pitch to Pro podcast. This is a highlight reel of some of the best moments from the show so far. And every other week we will be bringing you a special five to seven minute segment featuring the best stories, tales, and moments of the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

But here at Fest, you're like, we don't we don't have anything playing. Let's go show support to the other OZFC teams. And it was really cool to see, like, oh, I didn't know he he played that position. I didn't know he was that kid's actually really good. And they started to kind of get to know each other as Ozark players.

Competition Level And Early Results

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Oh, that's fun. That's good, man. It sounds like just an awesome time. I know it was a long time to be out there. You were out there all 14 days. Uh long time to be away from the family. But a lot of soccer, a lot of top quality soccer. I mean, talk about the competition level while you were at, yeah.

Learning To Truly Compete

Style Of Play Over Results

SPEAKER_02 0:49

It was it was good because it they did a good job with the seating where our teams were in our division. They placed us with teams from around the country that are similar. Um, so we saw some teams struggle. Some teams had some really like the 15s, the first game, they went down early and they were to come back and win. Yeah. You know, my seven teams, they they they were shell-shocked and lost 3-0 that first game. And it's like, okay, let's wake up. But again, these these experiences help with that. Because how many times, my biggest critique as a college coach was how many times had a player played a competitive game? You know, you can play a state league game, and if your team is good, you're rolling through the competition, right? And then we recruit you and you don't know how to compete. Right. Now it's like we're competing within our league relatively, but now we go to Fest, you know, we go to regionals and now we're competing. You know, now we're not just a top dog. We're just another, you know, we're just another dog. Like we have to make sure our game plan is followed, we're doing everything right. I I was really happy with the competition level. I think it was the league did a really good job with our schedule. Um, like I said, we're hoping for Homegrown next year to take that next leap, take that next step. Um, but I think the players showcased what they needed to. For some of them, I as I was talking to MLS Academy Scouts, they were like, Oh, I really like how you're playing. And then they look at the score like, oh, I didn't realize you guys are losing. So, like, that's also like uh uh kind of has given our coaches new breath of like, hey, what we're doing is working. Like results at the younger ages don't matter, but like our style of play, our game model, what we want to do showcases when the call when the college coaches and the academy coaches are like, man, you guys are playing. And we, I mean, we had some good results out there too. Yeah, I think the 19s finished top five, something like that. So it's it's it was good. It was good. I think I think we represented the state well.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Yeah, you know, especially first time out, first like first season in in MLS next, like all those things. Um, you know, we'll only only take it. I know, you know, with you and and everybody at the program are gonna take it, you know, even higher going forward. But yeah, I mean that's you know, you got a start and we're off to a pretty flying start.

SPEAKER_02 2:55

Yeah, hopefully we performing well. Finish, you know, the this next two months strong and hopefully clinch a couple playoff spots for next cup.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

That's our goal for for these next six games.

Chasing Playoffs And Next Steps

How College Recruiting Works

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Awesome. Uh well, talk a little bit about you said you had like 16 D1s at the first E19 game. What for our for players out there, like what did they come away with in that regard? Like, was there just a ton of conversation? Were there some actual offers that were offered, like there? Where is it like, hey, invite you off for a campus visit? Or like, how does that what was the most of the and in you know, you were the one there recruiting in your prior role? So, like, what does that typically look like for a player? Like, what should they expect?

Offers, Fit, And Transfer Portal Reality

SPEAKER_02 3:45

Some so there's different rules within different levels. So, as a division one program, you're not allowed to talk to the player until the event is over, until they're done playing. So, like for a lot of the division ones that came, if they liked the player, they weren't able to reach back out until they were done that you know, fourth day. So I told the players, like, hey, it's okay. Like, it's not that they don't like you, it's just that they can't talk to you. At the division three level, we had a lot of division three's come up and talk to the MAIs, Jukeo, same thing. There's no rules. They could come up and talk. Division two is similar, they have to wait till the event is over. Um, some of the guys left Fest, you know, as soon as you know they were back home, they had a couple of initial conversations. Some left with offers. Um, for the 17s, again, it was huge for them to get that exposure. Uh, if anything, they learned that you can't take games off. Because like that one game where your dream school is sitting on the sideline, you have to play. Yeah. Right. And that's as a division one coach, that's what we would tell the boys is like we might be playing an unranked opponent, we might be playing SMU. It doesn't matter because every game now, once you step across youth soccer into a you know, pre-pro pathway or a pro pathway or whatever it is, every game matters because from an RPI standpoint, the division one, that's huge, but also you don't know who's watching you. Right. And that's what we tell and try to tell the boys here now. It's like with MLS next, now we might have sporting Kansas City here. We might have Nashville here, we might have Atlanta here. We don't know. We don't know who's gonna want to recruit our region, want to recruit Ozark. You need to make sure that you're ready to go. And I think to me, that was the biggest learning curve that I saw the boys kind of start to adapt of like, okay, I need to be on, I need to prepare prior to the game, as I'm getting ready to step on, I need to prepare. Um, but from the college standpoint, it was they saw the value of I'm good enough. You know, these colleges didn't just come because I invited them, because Dean invited them. Like we're gonna get them there, but you're gonna keep them here. And they stayed for the whole game because they saw something within some of the boys. I think it's it's tough now with the transfer portal. You know, I think everyone that was when the transfer portal had just opened. So I think they're still kind of recycling and seeing and looking at those offers. I sent a round of emails again today. Hopefully, that you know, we can get some some guys signed and committed here soon.

Prep Philosophy And Coach Outreach

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Yeah, so talk about um I think I heard from another coach on the U-19s, there were 17 players that like touched the field during Fest. And at the time that I spoke to them, and it was like a week or two after, 16 of the 17 came away with at least one if not interest offer. It was like offers, yeah. Um, which is phenomenal like to to think about.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Yeah. And it it's one of those things where we tell them too, it's like be realistic, yeah. Right? Like some of these schools might be a really, really good fit, they just might not be what you had hoped for. You know, and it's like the school, the academics, the finances, the playtime, you know. So I think again, that opened a lot of eyes of like this school really wants me. I want to go play. Let me let me show some interest on their end as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

Um, but yeah, just the sheer fact of like our 19s had so much interest, it was cool for them to see that. And it was cool for the 17s to see that because they're gonna be in that situation next. Right. You know, of like, hey, I know so and so, I know Al Kelly, I know Wyatt, I know these guys were able to do it. Why can't I?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

And I think as we build this, it's the same thing for the U13s. You know, once once we get that MLS Academy signing of like, oh, I knew him. If he could do it, I could do it. And that's all, that's all this is. It's like once we have one or two that kind of break that ceiling, it's like, okay, let's let's start to really, you know, commit to this.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

Yeah. Talk a little, I mean, you kind of talked about it a little bit or or alluded to it. What does the like prep look like? And you know, this is, I mean, this is a big deal. Like you're talking about futures for kids and their goals and aspirations, and like we're here to help them, you know, on their soccer journey, whatever that looks like. But if you're playing within our program, you know, you want to continue typically, you're gonna want to can try to continue to play at a high level. So, how how do you and the coaching staff kind of work together? And what was that like ahead of FEST, during FEST, and now kind of after, you know, to help these guys in those conversations, prep them, but also do you guys do like coach outreach to schools or scouts for MLS academies? Like, bring us into your world a little bit on that.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

Yeah. We I I told our coaches to just focus on us, like, let's go in and let's keep going with our style of play, let's keep competing, let's keep doing what we're doing. And it was funny, one of the opposing coaches talked to one of the coaches after the game. I think we had one, and he was like, Man, I watched the last six of your games trying to figure out a way to beat you guys. And it was funny because we we went back to the Airbnb and we were like, man, we didn't watch any video on the opponents. You're worried about us. You know, we want to make sure that our players have a good showing. We're not really worried about the result. We want to show and like the 11 that are out there, how can we amplify their abilities to whoever's walking by? Um, so that was our prep was like, let's worry about us. It's not a tournament. Like, yeah, you know, we're not gonna go win anything. Let's showcase our players. That's that was our prep going forward for the college prep side. You know, Dean, myself, and Scott did a lot of reaching out of like, hey, here's our schedule. Here, here's when we're gonna play, hey, here, here's some video on our guys prior to it. Hey, I think you should really look at, you know, so and so and let me know what you're looking for. And I think that also drew a lot of attention with kind of the connections that Scott and Dean and myself have of like, you know, come either hang out with us because we're friends, or look at the I I've been at the level, I know the level, Dean knows the level, Scott knows the level as college coaches. Trust us a little bit, come look at this player. You know, even if you don't like them, you know that there's something there because we see something there. And I think that's also what drew so much attention to our games was us kind of outreaching a little bit to college coaches of, you know, like I think Dean's Dean's really good friends with the SMU staff, so SMU was there, you know, and it was like, okay, cool. Like that's all we're asking for. Like, is SMU gonna take one of our players? We don't know, but what player from here could say, like, hey, SMU came to my games? Right? That that that's really cool. Like, obviously, Memphis wasn't there, but Memphis would have come to our games, right? UAB, Omaha, all these programs, you know, that we have friendships and relationships with, they were at our games. And all it takes is that one kid to show they're good enough to play at that level to get that offer. And that's again, that's what we're trying to provide.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Thank you for joining us for this stoppage time special of the Pitch to Pro podcast. If you've enjoyed the conversation, you can click watch the full episode here. Be sure to tune in next Thursday for a new episode of the Pitch to Pro podcast, the official podcast of Ozark United FC. Available on YouTube, Instagram, and everywhere you get your podcasts.