Stoppage Time Special: Arkansas Soccer Talent: Proving the Critics Wrong

The college recruiting process is a massive "black hole" for most high school athletes, where months of silence can make even the most talented players question if they have a future in the sport. If you aren't putting yourself in the right rooms, your talent effectively doesn't exist to the people holding the scholarships. We sit down with players from Ozark United FC to discuss the high-stakes environment of MLS Nextfest and how a single tournament can flip the script on a recruiting journey.

We get into the technical reality of playing in front of dozens of scouts simultaneously and the mental shift required to perform when every touch is being graded. The conversation covers the specific impact of MLS Nextfest, the logistics of navigating interest from Northeast programs while living in the South, and the "missing-middle" of recruiting. Finding those small-college gems in Connecticut or Massachusetts that most players overlook. The guys share the "aha" moment of realizing that Arkansas soccer doesn't just compete on a national stage; it can dominate top-tier teams from the Pacific division.

The unglamorous truth is that recruiting is often a waiting game filled with injury setbacks and the "flyover state" stigma that local players have to work twice as hard to overcome. You’ll walk away with a better understanding of how visibility platforms actually work and why a mindset of persistence is more valuable than a highlight reel. This episode serves as a reminder that your geography doesn't define your ceiling, but your willingness to show up under the lights does.

Transcript

Playing With Joy And Emotion

SPEAKER_01 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.

MLS Next Fest As A Platform

SPEAKER_02 0:19

You're the thermometer. So the thermostat. So to hear you say, uh I I I liked you, you were the Ethan, you break the mold uh in not falling into that nonchalance. Like it's not cool to show your emotions. Right. Um, I can tell that just even I know we've barely met, but I could tell that about you last, you know, when we were at the event and everything. So um I think that's fun that you guys bring that, you know, like it's supposed to be fun. You're supposed to be able to show that happiness and that joy, right? Like I don't think you guys would still be played if it wasn't fun. That's right, right? Or choose to continue going on, right? For sure. So all right, cool. Well, I think you know, you guys have done so much together. Talk about probably one of the biggest things I I have heard. I wasn't able to go this year, but one of the biggest things that I heard was part of the biggest difference was MLS next fest. Talk a little, especially as it relates to getting to the opportunities that came afterwards on can I continue to play at the next level? Right. Can you guys talk a little bit about like what was Fest like for you guys?

SPEAKER_04 1:38

It was unreal. I mean, just the whole like the whole setup of the tournament to begin with was amazing. Um, you know, you play your three games, but just to have it at the huge complex, it's like the biggest complex I've seen in my life when every single field had games on it, and every single field had coaches watching the game, scout like coaches scouting for so like just to see while we were playing a game to you know see in the corner there just like 20 coaches sitting there with clipboards and stuff, just watching our game, just an unreal experience. Because before Fest, I don't know if I had one coach at a game ever. And so, like, it was just completely different to see the like just the sheer number of coaches actually taking interest in that. And so that obviously, you know, that follows up into talks with the coaches after the games. Um, after one of the games, I stayed for like 25, 30 minutes talking with the coach. Wow. Um, just about his program, everything. And so, you know, that's like Fest, I think, was the biggest turning point in my recruiting process for sure.

Coaches Watching, Offers, And Visibility

SPEAKER_00 2:41

I think for me specifically, it was it helped me figure out that I knew that I wanted to play college soccer. I think I know for these guys, that's always been their dream. I know I'm pretty sure Wyatt wants to go pro, Brandon wants to do, at least, you know, maybe go pro. But um, I think that for me, I was, I know I'm I know I'm dead set on on doing medicine, so trying to pursue higher education, but I wasn't necessarily sure if I wanted to give up the sport or not because I had some injuries I dealt with in the summer and then the spring prior. So I've been almost six to eight months without soccer and in total, and so you know, you just get down, just to be honest, like that. And so I think that, you know, with the team and the competition we played and even in practices, just seeing how hard those guys went. I knew that I knew that I'd regret it if I didn't pursue um college sports. And so I think that um that event especially just showed me how many opportunities were out there, and then it helped me send out, you know, I was researching schools that I didn't even know could even exist. Yeah, you know, like super small schools in the Northeast, like in Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, or whatever you name it. And so, you know, a couple of them came to my games, and then that's where I'm pretty sure why I know we're talking about it before it started, but that's where we got a ton of our our offers from and our interests was that specifically. Yeah. So I think um, I think it's a testament to just how if you if you stay focused and if you you know, if you if you give it time, I think eventually it'll it'll come to you whether in an event like Fest or just on your own thinking about it. So yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

Yeah, I think I think Fest was fun. Um there was some like it's nice playing the teams like across the country from you. It's like different teams from like the West Coast. And in terms of coaching, it's nice like seeing the coaches in person, like you email them, and they when you actually when they come to your game and you can actually talk to them. So that's also nice about Fest. Seeing also seeing the academy teams play like in person, yeah. That was a nice experience. And it was like opening to see like different levels and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Yeah, kind of lets you like, oh, yeah, I'm still on, you know, like oh, or like, you know what? I don't know. I can I kind of back I kind of back myself, you know what I mean? Um, at least in some of them, right? So it just depends. Um, but you know, I think it's I was watching you guys' games, it's something that was also interesting. You talked about the facilities. Well uh somebody told me, I think it was Kevin, every single field had its own jumbotron really that had like working scores like scoreboards every single field. It was like insane. So uh it's great to hear that you know the first experience was a good one. Um and that everybody, almost everybody got, I think came away or within a couple weeks came away with at least one offer. Yeah, yeah, um, or two-thirds of the team or something. It was something like that. Um, that that happened with. Now, obviously, you guys navigate and and whether that you know, you know, happened from I don't know if anybody took the offer that they got from Vest, but it also you know just proves the interest and and you know the platform allows you to be able to get that visibility. So um I appreciate you guys sharing your experience. I mean the teams were teams are good in decent competition. Yeah, we played on Utah.

SPEAKER_04 6:01

Yeah, Seattle, Seattle Celtic. They're the first place team in the Pacific Division. Um we played really we we did on the we played really 1-2-0, um, two great goals. Yeah, for sure. But it was fun. But it was also like it's good to see that we can go toe-to-toe with the Pacific and just beat them. Yeah, we just I mean, there's played them off the field.

Proving Arkansas Belongs In The Conversation

SPEAKER_02 6:23

It's good soccer out there. It is actually, but I think it's also to get you guys' point, what this helped do is like, hey, like let them know. There's some good soccer here in Arkansas too.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

A lot of my focus in camps and colleges over this past summer, I think in 2025, was in the Northeast. And so all those guys they drove an hour to get to that camp that was in the middle of nowhere, essentially, but they're all in the New England region. So then part of it was introduce yourself and whatever. And so I said, Yeah, my name is Matteo, come by JB. I'm from Arkansas, and you see their faces like light up to like, what are you talking about? So they think they think I'm joking, obviously.

Where To Watch And What’s Next

SPEAKER_02 7:00

I'm like, I'm from Arkansas, and so I mean it's pretty crazy just to see that it's almost that same stigma that a lot of people and you guys may know this from just living here and just flying through airports and whatever, and you get it in your soccer career. Um, your parents probably get it as well in their professional career if they're traveling. Like I would get it when I I would I was in school and I told I came here straight out of undergrad and I told people where I was going. What the why why? Why would you go there?

SPEAKER_01 7:29

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.