Chelsey Brunt - Coaching Soccer

Chelsey Brunt is the Director of Women's Soccer at Cumbre Alta, a soccer club in Quito, Ecuador and a ministry of IncaLink Ecuador. Chelsey played competitive soccer from a young age through college and eventually found her calling as a coach and a mentor. Cumbre Alta seeks not only to develop excellence on the pitch, but to provide love, care, and discipleship for athletes. Over the last ten years, Chelsey and Cumbre Alta have blazed a trail for women to play soccer in Quito, who have gone from almost no ability to play organized soccer in the city to having a team on the brink of promotion to the professional league in Ecuador. Chelsey is also the daughter of beloved members of Living Water Church, Alan and Josie Brunt. We talk about coaching, discipleship, wholistic care for humans, and the role of play in life more broadly. We hope you'll find this episode both fun and inspiring! 

https://www.incalink.org/our-team/brunt

https://www.incalink.org/ministries/ecuador/cumbre-alta

Transcript

00:00:00.080 welcome back to the current thanks for
00:00:01.760 joining us again today uh today I am
00:00:04.400 very blessed to have with us Chelsea
00:00:07.279 brunt who uh if that name sounds
00:00:09.559 familiar she is the daughter of Allan
00:00:12.080 and Josie brunt who are beloved members
00:00:13.839 of Living Water Church and have been a
00:00:15.679 tremendous blessing ever since they came
00:00:18.279 to the church Chelsea is a soccer player
00:00:21.560 and a soccer coach uh she is currently
00:00:24.080 the director of women's soccer at kumre
00:00:26.279 Alta which is in Ecuador in keto Ecuador
00:00:29.599 and she joins me to talk about sports
00:00:32.238 about soccer about coaching about those
00:00:34.239 special relationships that develop on a
00:00:36.559 team and between a player and a coach
00:00:38.680 how that can be part of a journey toward
00:00:40.600 discipleship where we find connection
00:00:42.920 and community in all of it and how we uh
00:00:45.520 make these deeper bonds uh through uh
00:00:48.239 the beautiful game of soccer I hope you
00:00:50.480 enjoy the conversation I know I did um
00:00:53.359 here it is
00:00:54.800 [Music]
00:01:09.439 well Chelsea thank you for uh thank you
00:01:11.759 for coming on here you're doing me a
00:01:13.400 huge favor I appreciate you we love your
00:01:15.479 parents and it's been just like such a
00:01:17.840 blessing to have them in the community
00:01:19.520 and then to have you come through and
00:01:21.240 then as I I shared with you earlier like
00:01:23.079 I'm thinking of doing a little more
00:01:24.720 coaching myself so this is like a great
00:01:26.920 opportunity for me to learn from you so
00:01:29.600 maybe could you just start out by
00:01:30.799 telling us like how did you find your
00:01:32.159 way into coaching soccer and into like
00:01:34.840 this ministry in Ecuador specifically
00:01:36.840 but like how' you how did it all come to
00:01:38.560 be um yeah thanks so much for having me
00:01:41.159 this is exciting and it's fun to connect
00:01:43.280 with you how I started with soccer was I
00:01:46.920 mean I played soccer my whole life
00:01:48.799 absolutely loved the game I played all
00:01:51.000 the way through high school got a
00:01:52.759 scholarship to go to college and it was
00:01:55.799 in my final College season that I had a
00:01:58.119 teammate ask me so what's next you going
00:02:00.039 to coach and I told her absolutely not
00:02:02.520 no way that sounds so boring um and does
00:02:06.479 anyone listen to their coaches anyway um
00:02:10.119 and so that was kind of my perspective
00:02:11.800 because I I just loved to play um and
00:02:15.239 about a year after that conversation I
00:02:18.200 got a phone call from my local uh from
00:02:20.480 my church pastor and he said that a
00:02:22.760 local high school was looking for a JV
00:02:24.840 soccer coach um and again I told him I
00:02:27.319 was like yeah I'm not really interested
00:02:29.680 um
00:02:30.560 I'm just I'm still playing um and he
00:02:33.239 kind of convinced me that you know what
00:02:34.959 it doesn't matter I didn't really have
00:02:36.800 any experience um but this local high
00:02:40.000 school basically they just needed
00:02:42.200 somebody to show up they didn't have a
00:02:44.200 really good record they didn't have a
00:02:46.000 good program um it was in a super
00:02:48.400 diverse neighborhood in San Diego and um
00:02:51.680 he convinced me I had done some I'd
00:02:53.920 lived a little bit in South America it
00:02:56.519 was a huge Hispanic population and he
00:02:59.159 convinced me that this was an
00:03:00.360 opportunity to connect with the Hispanic
00:03:02.239 culture and Community there and just to
00:03:04.599 give it a try so so that's how I got
00:03:06.879 into coaching um it was the hardest
00:03:10.200 thing I've ever done I think that season
00:03:12.080 was the hardest season I I've ever
00:03:14.799 experienced um this doesn't give me much
00:03:17.239 credibility as a coach but we didn't win
00:03:19.720 a single game and I think in that entire
00:03:22.000 season we scored one goal but that goal
00:03:24.760 was really well celebrated um I bet yeah
00:03:28.840 and yeah so like that's kind of how I
00:03:30.720 got into coaching I'll be honest even at
00:03:32.360 the end of that season I thought about
00:03:33.959 it I was like this I don't think is for
00:03:35.680 me like this was super tough but at the
00:03:38.159 end of this season typically in like
00:03:40.680 high school sports and most sports you
00:03:42.000 do kind of like a an award ceremony at
00:03:44.159 the end and so we celebrated with the
00:03:46.599 girls just kind of making it to the end
00:03:50.040 um and the team surprised me with a
00:03:52.599 homemade scrapbook of notes from every
00:03:55.079 single player about what the season
00:03:56.720 meant to them and there was stuff that
00:03:59.439 the had written down that I had no idea
00:04:03.319 was going on or that they were impacted
00:04:05.920 by and so looking at the soccer side of
00:04:09.319 things or from the outside it was a
00:04:12.000 total failure of a season but on the
00:04:15.639 inside the girls just um communicated
00:04:19.440 that the fact that I showed up was what
00:04:21.759 meant the most to them um and so that
00:04:25.320 kind of got me thinking and realizing
00:04:27.639 that you know I'm not called to be the
00:04:30.120 best soccer coach in the world doesn't
00:04:32.400 matter if we score a million goals but
00:04:35.000 like who we are as Christians God's just
00:04:36.919 calling us to show up in people's lives
00:04:39.360 and to be there for them and I love the
00:04:41.840 game I love soccer and I was like you
00:04:43.880 know what God like if this is the
00:04:45.840 Avenue um or the door that you're
00:04:47.960 opening so that I could show up into the
00:04:49.880 lives of these young girls who have
00:04:51.520 nobody speaking to their lives pouring
00:04:53.880 into them or investing in them then
00:04:55.919 let's do it like I'm available let's go
00:04:58.680 for it and
00:05:00.560 at the time I was like I would prefer to
00:05:02.560 not lose every game again and so I
00:05:04.720 started getting into coaching licenses
00:05:07.680 or like studying um and that kind of got
00:05:10.800 the ball R rolling to then I pursued my
00:05:14.080 masters in athletic Administration and
00:05:16.400 and soccer coaching um so that's kind of
00:05:18.840 how it all got all got started a lot of
00:05:21.160 NOS first um and God just continueed to
00:05:24.400 open the door and work on my heart to
00:05:26.120 see the impact that a coach could make
00:05:28.400 yeah I love that and
00:05:30.280 yeah I love that it's in some ways I
00:05:32.880 feel like it's harder coaching kids that
00:05:35.039 are a little lower skilled because
00:05:37.319 there's just can't do the things that
00:05:38.720 you want them to do you know what I mean
00:05:40.759 and then and losing stinks you know even
00:05:43.479 when you're like this is about Player
00:05:45.280 Development and this is about the
00:05:46.639 relationships like it's still is just
00:05:48.639 painful to to lose all the
00:05:50.880 time been through a lot of painful
00:05:53.880 Seasons well so like as a player I mean
00:05:56.680 you've talked about your love for soccer
00:05:58.520 you grew up playing you know you played
00:06:00.319 in where did you play in college or yeah
00:06:02.360 tell us about your soccer Journey yeah
00:06:04.240 oh yeah sure um yeah I started playing
00:06:06.400 soccer when I was four years old really
00:06:08.759 I loved Sports I was competitive my
00:06:11.520 parents needed me to be active in doing
00:06:13.520 something or I would be in trouble um
00:06:16.720 and so I I did a lot of sports but um
00:06:20.639 soccer I really loved soccer I loveed
00:06:23.479 the team aspect of it because I did some
00:06:25.639 individual sports and like that was fine
00:06:27.880 but there was a lot of pressure
00:06:30.280 um and I didn't just love like the
00:06:33.000 spotlight on myself um and so I loved
00:06:35.720 being a part of a team and I think was
00:06:37.639 soccer like I just felt like I was a
00:06:39.280 part of something that was so much
00:06:40.479 bigger than myself and that's what drew
00:06:43.120 me drew me to the sport and so I played
00:06:46.240 since I was four I did recck leagues and
00:06:48.440 then I got into club and I basically
00:06:50.319 played year round and absolutely loved
00:06:52.759 it um and played in high school and I
00:06:55.199 knew I wanted to play in college um and
00:06:57.840 so I was able to get a scholarship went
00:06:59.800 to Trinity Christian College in Chicago
00:07:02.240 and again it was just like it was like
00:07:04.360 living the dream like I got to play
00:07:06.400 soccer with my best friends um do
00:07:09.440 college life and from there because
00:07:13.160 soccer in the states and at the time
00:07:15.360 like women's soccer wasn't as big as it
00:07:17.680 definitely is now and there wasn't a
00:07:19.280 professional league and so it was kind
00:07:20.520 of like the college soccer season like
00:07:22.800 that's the end of your career and I
00:07:24.360 accepted that and that's one of the
00:07:25.759 reasons why I wasn't really interested
00:07:27.240 in going into coaching because I was
00:07:29.039 like I just loved to play and so that's
00:07:31.560 kind of my soccer journey and while I
00:07:34.759 was in college one of the things that
00:07:37.400 that happened um I went to college in
00:07:39.240 Chicago and from San Diego um it was a
00:07:42.039 dramatic change in climate and I could
00:07:45.479 not handle the cold Winters and so I got
00:07:49.759 to the point where I was like I'm going
00:07:51.159 to transfer even though I love my
00:07:53.759 college soccer team and what I'm
00:07:55.240 studying and everything I'm going to
00:07:56.759 transfer because I can't handle another
00:07:58.360 Chicago winter or maybe I'll do semester
00:08:00.759 abroad and my coach was like please
00:08:02.240 don't do anything dramatic just try a
00:08:04.000 semester abroad and come back um and so
00:08:06.639 I looked up what would be the warmest
00:08:08.280 place in Ecuador it means equator okay
00:08:11.400 and so it's like it's got to be warmer
00:08:13.280 in Ecuador than it is in Chicago and so
00:08:15.960 that's kind of how I got introduced to
00:08:18.639 Ecuador as a country um I came down to
00:08:22.199 Ecuador um on what is basically like an
00:08:24.960 intro to missions semester Abad program
00:08:28.759 um I say Spanish and the whole time I
00:08:30.840 was here I played soccer I played soccer
00:08:32.519 in the park um I hung out with um a lot
00:08:36.760 of locals and again like women's soccer
00:08:39.799 was not a thing down here so I was the
00:08:41.799 known female soccer player from the
00:08:44.360 states that played the gringa at the
00:08:46.279 park so that's kind of how I fell in
00:08:49.360 love with Ecuador the the food their
00:08:52.040 culture what God's doing here and then
00:08:55.480 from there it was just kind of trying to
00:08:57.600 figuring out like what's next and God
00:09:00.320 kind of opened the door after I moved
00:09:01.959 back to the states that somebody heard
00:09:04.440 about the girl who played soccer here
00:09:06.640 and they gave me a call so you were
00:09:08.519 famous already before you went down
00:09:10.079 there with you know to do what you're
00:09:11.839 doing now I don't know if famous is the
00:09:14.120 right word but no
00:09:16.959 you're I was
00:09:18.959 unique because there was no other there
00:09:21.600 weren't females who were playing soccer
00:09:23.440 down here um and so that that's just the
00:09:26.040 scene unfortunately it's changed over
00:09:27.800 the past 10 years a little bit but I am
00:09:29.800 still it's a very small community and so
00:09:33.000 there's probably a lot of people out
00:09:34.640 there who know who I am simply because
00:09:37.399 because of that um I would play at the
00:09:41.040 park and I would people come up to ask
00:09:42.760 to take pictures of me oh really because
00:09:44.920 they thought that I would I knew like
00:09:47.000 Alex Morgan or they thought that I
00:09:49.399 played on the US professional soccer
00:09:51.480 team and I'm like you guys have no idea
00:09:54.240 I'm really just just a peanut soccer
00:09:56.880 player in the states in comparison um
00:10:00.000 but the female soccer World Is So
00:10:02.040 Different Here that that anyone from the
00:10:03.920 states really is a soccer star yeah yeah
00:10:07.399 well and I mean now there's a lot more
00:10:08.839 women playing Equador partly because of
00:10:10.320 you and like the things that you guys
00:10:11.600 are doing with kumala and all that right
00:10:13.959 so like what are what are you doing
00:10:15.360 Ecuador yeah so that's the goal to be
00:10:17.880 able to kind of open the door for for
00:10:20.240 girls and not just open the door but I
00:10:22.880 mean the reality is is they want they
00:10:24.360 want to play and they've wanted to play
00:10:26.079 for a long time they just haven't had
00:10:27.880 the opportunity to to play and so me
00:10:31.120 coming from the states where I got to
00:10:33.480 play at 40 years old and there's a bunch
00:10:37.279 of young young girls my same age that
00:10:39.399 are playing all across the United States
00:10:42.200 I'm coming from a point of of privilege
00:10:44.320 like this was an opportunity that
00:10:46.680 everyone had basically and then stepping
00:10:49.560 into the soccer scene here for women um
00:10:52.320 that's just not the case and so as a as
00:10:55.600 a club and it's one of the big things
00:10:57.360 that my my boss kind of when he started
00:11:00.120 the sports Ministry about 10 years ago
00:11:02.320 is he wanted to start a women's team
00:11:04.399 alongside the men's program to be able
00:11:06.760 to speak value into women's lives and
00:11:08.600 give them the space and the opportunity
00:11:10.600 that they're just not getting anywhere
00:11:12.120 else um and that's kind of where my role
00:11:15.000 came in so I started the women's soccer
00:11:17.560 team and now it's developed into into a
00:11:20.320 program and so what it looks like for me
00:11:22.920 is we we have a top women's team that's
00:11:25.519 competing in a in a regional amateur
00:11:28.480 League um and we now have within the
00:11:31.600 past four years Ecuador now has a
00:11:33.680 women's professional team um and so
00:11:36.959 we're actually uh one game away from
00:11:39.959 classifying for National playoffs and
00:11:42.720 from there would be promoted to the
00:11:45.320 women's professional league so part of
00:11:47.519 the goal is that we would be promoted
00:11:50.600 and be in the professional space our
00:11:52.600 men's team is already um professional
00:11:55.320 and so that we would be in that space to
00:11:57.560 be able to pour into to that athletes at
00:12:00.600 that level kind of increase our sphere
00:12:02.440 of in influence and be able to share the
00:12:04.959 love of God in that space and have that
00:12:07.040 kind of trickle down to now our our
00:12:09.320 youth programs um so we have youth
00:12:12.240 soccer teams and then we also have uh
00:12:14.440 well youth competitive soccer teams and
00:12:16.240 then we have wck soccer soccer teams um
00:12:19.600 we probably have a total of around 250
00:12:22.040 soccer players um here here in the in
00:12:25.040 keto that are a part of our club um and
00:12:27.480 then we have coaches who most most of
00:12:29.800 which have been players on our team have
00:12:31.959 kind of been mentored and then now are
00:12:34.240 mentoring the next generation of players
00:12:38.120 and from there I mean a lot of what we
00:12:41.160 do is is outside the the soccer field so
00:12:44.959 we my like dayto day is what it looks
00:12:48.160 like we there's a lot of soccer practice
00:12:50.240 and soccer games but outside of that
00:12:53.160 it's meeting with players oneon-one it's
00:12:55.839 doing get togethers um having um Team
00:12:59.760 events and activities um we have kind of
00:13:02.480 like a a non-traditional church for our
00:13:05.360 soccer players um to get connected to go
00:13:08.360 deeper um and we work with Fellowship of
00:13:11.040 Christian athlete chaplain um to ride
00:13:13.399 devotionals and and spiritual
00:13:15.160 discipleship for our players um so
00:13:17.839 that's kind of kind of what I do here in
00:13:20.240 Ecuador it's and then um we also have a
00:13:23.760 club team in the states and then run
00:13:26.440 soccer camps over the summer so we're
00:13:28.839 busy we got a lot going on so if you
00:13:30.959 know of any coaches that want to come
00:13:32.480 down we're we're open all right well
00:13:35.160 that's good to know and I mean it sounds
00:13:36.800 like you're super busy you have players
00:13:38.360 like essentially at every level of the
00:13:40.320 game right from from almost professional
00:13:42.959 hopefully professional soon all the way
00:13:44.720 down to just like recreational beginners
00:13:46.800 and I mean it sounds pretty awesome uh
00:13:49.839 and you get to like invest in the lives
00:13:51.360 of the of the of the kids and the adult
00:13:53.480 I guess in in such deep ways you've kind
00:13:55.920 of hinted at it a couple times but I
00:13:57.360 guess like the Reas part of the reason I
00:13:58.519 wanted to talk to on this podcast to
00:14:00.560 begin with was because you know I can
00:14:02.880 see from my own experience in sports and
00:14:05.519 from now my kids experience in sports
00:14:07.519 how uh how many different ways like
00:14:11.040 being on these teams and like having a
00:14:13.240 coach invest in you and having like the
00:14:15.399 relationship with your teammates like I
00:14:17.279 feel like there's several different
00:14:18.440 levels and ways that that develops you
00:14:20.920 know you as a person and I know that
00:14:23.360 your primary goal obviously you're
00:14:24.839 trying to develop soccer players and
00:14:26.079 you're obviously doing a very good job
00:14:27.560 of it if you're like I got you know
00:14:29.320 Semi-Pro on the edge of like promotion
00:14:32.519 uh Team going um but it seems like your
00:14:35.560 bigger priority is more developing
00:14:37.160 people like right leaders and disciples
00:14:39.199 and so like what how do you balance that
00:14:41.680 do they just go together 100% like we're
00:14:44.360 you know where are those priorities and
00:14:46.160 like how do you do that yeah I mean
00:14:48.000 that's that's the tough question is to
00:14:50.440 continually to be missional minded and
00:14:53.920 making decisions both on the soccer
00:14:55.839 field and off about how you how we
00:14:58.639 pursue Pur our goal to to excel
00:15:02.000 professionally but to also continue to
00:15:04.040 invest in the players that are entrusted
00:15:05.800 to us um and so I think there there's
00:15:08.040 always kind of a tension there but I
00:15:10.240 think that that's the neat part is
00:15:12.320 because you're always trying to figure
00:15:14.000 out how to consistently reach the
00:15:17.720 players that are that are a part of your
00:15:19.880 team and a part of your program while
00:15:22.120 trying to Excel on the field but also um
00:15:25.279 the relational side and this uh
00:15:27.240 spiritual discipleship is what's what's
00:15:29.480 really important and we found with our
00:15:31.399 players I mean so many of them are
00:15:33.000 coming from some some tough backgrounds
00:15:35.759 and so honestly honestly the soccer side
00:15:38.600 of things if it was just soccer it' be
00:15:40.120 really easy right right um if all we
00:15:42.759 were doing was just soccer and worrying
00:15:44.680 about you know the results um that would
00:15:47.319 be easy but we found our players like
00:15:50.519 some of them are coming out of
00:15:51.440 situations where they don't have daily
00:15:53.880 meals or they don't have access to
00:15:56.000 health care or they don't have access to
00:15:58.319 even like a an adequate living situation
00:16:01.680 or support in h in home and so we're
00:16:05.120 finding that holistically Meeting those
00:16:08.279 needs and working through working with
00:16:11.199 them at where they're at that in turns
00:16:14.160 can be um shown on the on the soccer
00:16:17.000 field and so the soccer stuff turns out
00:16:19.639 to be very little of of what what we're
00:16:22.639 doing so that we're trying to develop
00:16:24.600 these players but also set them up for
00:16:26.680 success for life and also kind of um
00:16:29.639 helped them figure out who they are and
00:16:31.639 who God has created them to be yeah for
00:16:33.600 sure I mean like if you're not eating
00:16:34.959 well then you're going to have trouble
00:16:36.199 performing on the field right I mean I
00:16:38.160 had a kid in my team that like hadn't
00:16:39.720 eaten breakfast a couple weeks ago and
00:16:41.519 you could just see him just like moping
00:16:43.399 around the field because he's just you
00:16:44.759 didn't have any energy you know and like
00:16:46.839 yeah it's so important you know from a
00:16:49.040 soccer from a athletes perspective to
00:16:51.120 have those basic things but obviously
00:16:52.680 like those basic things are more
00:16:54.399 important than the game also so you're
00:16:56.560 kind of meeting both of those needs I
00:16:58.600 know for me like so when I I grew up I
00:17:00.600 played lots of I played basketball
00:17:02.120 soccer my main two sports and I looking
00:17:04.559 back I felt like there was some tension
00:17:06.559 because I think I learned a lot of about
00:17:08.760 teamwork and skill development
00:17:10.640 commitment discipline you know all those
00:17:12.640 things that are so beautiful in soccer
00:17:14.880 but I also felt like there was some
00:17:15.760 tension CU I feel like I was encouraged
00:17:17.400 to be angry because I played better when
00:17:19.039 I was angry you know and to be you know
00:17:21.039 what I mean like I feel like that some
00:17:22.520 of those negative things in me were
00:17:24.400 kindled because it made me a better
00:17:26.839 soccer player and looking back I'm like
00:17:29.280 and thinking about how I you know lead
00:17:31.320 my kids and Coach my kids like I don't
00:17:33.520 want that to be the case uh you know I
00:17:36.360 want to I do want them to play
00:17:38.360 aggressive and hard but like I want to I
00:17:40.799 also want more importantly for them to
00:17:42.840 be you know learning some self-c contr
00:17:45.000 control and learning how to like Channel
00:17:47.240 those emotions and stuff like you know I
00:17:49.679 don't know how do you how do you
00:17:50.799 approach that like what do you what do
00:17:52.200 you guys do with that yeah so I think
00:17:54.919 especially here and it's probably in the
00:17:56.640 states as well um as far when it comes
00:17:59.480 to coaching there's definitely a you get
00:18:02.799 responses based on how angry or
00:18:07.200 insulting you are and um I know there's
00:18:11.000 a style of coaching that that's called
00:18:12.480 but I I forget what it's called but it's
00:18:14.799 it's very prevalent here and so I can
00:18:16.799 speak to my experience here and so like
00:18:18.559 that is what like the average soccer
00:18:21.159 player is used to they are used to a
00:18:23.240 coach screaming at you insulting you
00:18:26.360 demeaning you um and from that you then
00:18:29.679 have to respond so that you're you're
00:18:32.760 not put in that place um and so as a
00:18:36.080 club our culture is is different and so
00:18:39.559 we speak obviously you have to demand
00:18:42.440 Excellence but there are ways that you
00:18:44.280 could do that that is outside of
00:18:46.880 demeaning somebody as as a human being
00:18:49.880 um in their intelligence um and so we we
00:18:53.039 work with our our players and our
00:18:55.120 coaches and like how to find that
00:18:57.400 balance so that he when they step onto
00:18:59.720 our field they experience something
00:19:02.039 different instead of learning just how
00:19:04.679 to respond to insults and anger that
00:19:07.559 they can respond to a coach that
00:19:09.440 lovingly supports them but has a high
00:19:11.840 standard of what the expectations are
00:19:15.039 and if it's formula I would love to tell
00:19:17.440 you what it is um but but there isn't
00:19:20.480 and so there's a constant trying to
00:19:22.400 figure that that balance out um but I
00:19:25.760 think it comes down to like people know
00:19:28.760 know when they are loved and when they
00:19:29.960 are valued and so if you pour into a
00:19:33.200 relationship and have that be the basis
00:19:35.360 of the relationship it speaks volumes
00:19:38.960 into that relationships and gives you
00:19:40.720 the space and the trust to be able to
00:19:43.080 then demand excellence in a way that is
00:19:46.120 not insulting and and demeaning and so
00:19:49.159 we try to approach our relationships
00:19:51.400 with all of our players from that
00:19:53.400 platform first and then be able to speak
00:19:56.000 into their lives yeah I mean yeah it's a
00:19:58.240 different kind of accountability and a
00:20:00.000 different kind of discipline right I
00:20:01.720 mean just you know we talk a lot about
00:20:03.080 discipleship in the church the root word
00:20:04.799 of that is discipline like there needs
00:20:06.520 to be some of that like we all need that
00:20:08.600 for growth um especially in developing
00:20:11.200 you know fine skills or or like you know
00:20:13.720 developing excellence and it's
00:20:15.360 interesting now as you're talking I'm
00:20:16.799 thinking about the ways that parallels
00:20:18.480 like my experience of even the church
00:20:20.520 culture downtown San Diego like people
00:20:23.360 go to so many churches and just get like
00:20:25.679 yelled at by by the preacher the whole
00:20:27.760 time you know and I've had a lot of
00:20:29.760 people come up to me and be like I like
00:20:31.120 you're preaching because you don't yell
00:20:32.159 at us and I'm like that's weird I don't
00:20:34.240 I never thought about yelling yelling at
00:20:36.400 you guys um but you know what I mean
00:20:38.200 like I think there's something in the in
00:20:40.039 the culture uh and it sounds like it's
00:20:42.360 cross-cultural so I don't know if it's I
00:20:44.000 don't know where it comes from but where
00:20:45.960 we we want to I mean I think some of it
00:20:48.640 comes from like wanting to control and
00:20:50.720 wanting to get an outcome quickly that
00:20:53.280 like we feel like if we can in assert
00:20:55.280 our will in this angry way we can get
00:20:57.120 that um but there's other ways ways
00:20:59.039 there's other ways to develop disciples
00:21:01.320 right and other ways to develop soccer
00:21:03.039 players yeah anyway so I'm just
00:21:05.559 reflecting as I'm as I'm talking here
00:21:07.760 well so like I think most people in
00:21:10.080 living water at least know we've got
00:21:11.960 three soccer players in our family our
00:21:13.600 middle son Sam is like he just wants to
00:21:15.760 be playing soccer like every moment of
00:21:17.200 the day the other two love soccer and
00:21:18.559 they play lots of sports but Sam is is
00:21:20.880 getting pretty good and wants to play
00:21:23.279 all the time he's playing for like kind
00:21:24.840 of an entry-level club team and it's
00:21:27.159 just been a little bit interesting
00:21:28.679 explore cuz I just played wreck soccer
00:21:30.360 growing up I didn't my sister played
00:21:31.919 club and stuff but I didn't really like
00:21:33.480 enter like the true Soccer World in the
00:21:35.440 United States like I feel like there's
00:21:37.400 some reasons that United States soccer
00:21:39.120 doesn't excel at the highest levels
00:21:40.880 because it's we're kind of kicking
00:21:42.679 ourselves with the way it's so expensive
00:21:45.400 and there's just these different ways
00:21:46.919 that players get selected I imagine
00:21:49.679 Ecuador has like a very different soccer
00:21:52.440 culture and system like you've been in
00:21:54.880 both a little bit at least like how
00:21:56.120 would you compare the two yeah so I
00:21:58.799 guess I mean my soccer my soccer club
00:22:02.400 experience in the states we're now
00:22:04.279 talking about over 20 years ago so I
00:22:06.600 think it's even evolved and exploded
00:22:09.640 past from my experience but I'll just
00:22:12.440 share like a little bit about the
00:22:13.919 differences and kind of I mean the US is
00:22:16.880 a major pay-to-play system right um and
00:22:20.279 so that's why it is it is so expensive
00:22:23.200 it is a money making machine and so you
00:22:27.559 are already limiting the player who will
00:22:31.559 have access to coaches to clubs to
00:22:35.520 Opportunities um and so that's one one
00:22:37.760 of the problems with player developments
00:22:39.440 in the states is the the opportunity
00:22:41.840 piece I will say like from my experience
00:22:45.200 I am fully you know American culture
00:22:48.960 here in the United States and so one of
00:22:50.520 the things that I loved about the US
00:22:52.480 soccer system is it's organized it's
00:22:56.440 structured and it's very predict able
00:22:59.159 and so like those things like you can
00:23:00.919 count on when seasons are across the
00:23:03.600 United States no matter what different
00:23:06.240 League you're playing in um and so those
00:23:09.440 things I think are pieces that do help
00:23:12.360 development because you do have some
00:23:14.760 systems in place um here in Ecuador
00:23:18.279 there's there's definitely a lot more
00:23:19.919 opportunities for lowincome players
00:23:22.840 because their system is a little
00:23:24.559 different and like the better player you
00:23:26.600 are the more likely you will play for
00:23:28.880 like the top age bracket of your club
00:23:32.159 and that top age bracket typically plays
00:23:34.360 for free um and so it's based on ability
00:23:39.520 first and then if you are kind of if you
00:23:43.039 need if you're in a formation type of
00:23:45.039 school so like a wreck League then
00:23:47.000 that's based on on paying per monthly or
00:23:49.720 Club dues um and the thing about like
00:23:53.640 Ecuadorian soccer there's a lot of it's
00:23:56.720 so ingrained in the culture and and so
00:23:59.039 you have family gatherings that you're
00:24:01.159 playing soccer you're going to the park
00:24:03.440 every every weekend to play soccer and
00:24:07.200 it's so ingrained into the community
00:24:08.880 that it doesn't matter if like oh this
00:24:11.039 is your favorite sport or if this is
00:24:12.960 what you're pursuing as a kid it's just
00:24:14.919 what your family does and so part of it
00:24:17.919 culturally is soccer means so much and
00:24:20.720 so it's everywhere there's lots of
00:24:22.840 access to planing and one of the things
00:24:26.039 I love about here is there's kind of
00:24:29.200 this reverse way they look at it there's
00:24:31.919 a lot of adult leagues there's
00:24:33.840 neighborhood leagues and you you're your
00:24:36.640 family has played in this neighborhood
00:24:38.679 league for
00:24:40.000 generations and you know when you turn
00:24:42.520 12 or 13 is when they allow like a youth
00:24:45.039 player to play for it like you're gonna
00:24:46.679 play on that neighborhood league and
00:24:48.240 you're going to represent your
00:24:49.679 neighborhood and so in a way there's a
00:24:52.720 sense of like adults are still actively
00:24:55.640 involved in the sport all through I mean
00:24:57.960 there's under 40 teams under 60 teams
00:25:00.919 like you are playing soccer your whole
00:25:02.600 life and there's a sense in the states
00:25:05.279 where sports are like sports are for
00:25:07.840 kids and there's almost like an
00:25:09.880 entitlement so like your kid plays
00:25:12.240 Sports and I do everything so that my
00:25:14.480 kid can play the sport but I feel like
00:25:16.600 we've lost as an adult like this ability
00:25:18.840 to play and opportunity to play so I'd
00:25:21.559 say that's one thing that I do like
00:25:23.039 about the Ecuadorian system and I think
00:25:24.760 that that's what lends to more
00:25:26.760 opportunities for players
00:25:28.960 because you have a whole family culture
00:25:31.559 that is around that is around playing
00:25:33.520 and you have adults that are continuing
00:25:35.200 to play which which is important like we
00:25:37.919 should we should be playing and I think
00:25:39.559 it's it's neat to watch kids go to their
00:25:41.880 parents games and they sit there and
00:25:43.200 watch their parents play which in the
00:25:45.360 states hardly ever happens um I think
00:25:48.679 from my perspective and so I think that
00:25:51.000 part of it is neat because it's not so
00:25:53.159 structured here there's a lot of
00:25:55.520 creativity um flexibility there's a lot
00:25:58.720 of small-sided games which means that
00:26:00.919 you're playing on a smaller field you're
00:26:02.960 getting a lot of touches um and that
00:26:05.440 that's what you need as a player to
00:26:07.279 develop I have a hard time with the lack
00:26:09.640 of structure and so th those those parts
00:26:13.480 are difficult sometimes it's like we we
00:26:15.880 signed up for a league or a tournament
00:26:17.679 and it's supposed to start next week and
00:26:19.200 it starts in in a month instead because
00:26:21.159 they keep pushing off the DAT or all
00:26:22.919 that stuff so like there is cultural
00:26:25.840 aspects of structure that are different
00:26:28.679 here and there's pros and cons to both
00:26:30.919 of that so those are some of the
00:26:32.360 differences that that I've experienced
00:26:34.120 and like I said I mean there's some good
00:26:35.919 stuff about the OS soccer system and
00:26:37.520 then there's some stuff that hopefully
00:26:38.960 will will change over the next couple of
00:26:41.240 years um if it's going to continue to to
00:26:43.720 develop players in Ecuador yeah I mean
00:26:46.200 I'd pay good money to see Josie or Allen
00:26:48.760 play soccer for sure so that would be
00:26:50.919 great to watch some parents playing
00:26:53.159 please um did they play I don't know I
00:26:55.840 love that yeah I would absolutely love
00:26:57.840 that I I told my mom so one of the
00:27:00.200 things that when I started the women's
00:27:01.919 soccer team here because like women
00:27:04.360 weren't really playing it was open to
00:27:06.480 anybody to show up I was like anyone who
00:27:09.039 wants to play come on down like I had in
00:27:10.960 my mind I was like oh it'll be a bunch
00:27:12.240 of young girls but actually I had a lot
00:27:14.200 of older women who were like we've
00:27:16.279 always wanted to be on a team like can
00:27:18.080 we play and I'm like sure why not I mean
00:27:20.559 at the time there was there was nothing
00:27:22.200 El so we would just have everyone and it
00:27:25.120 ended up being a lot of moms with their
00:27:27.520 daughters and so I had an age range of
00:27:30.080 like8 n years old up to 50 plus and we
00:27:33.200 would have 40 girls and women out there
00:27:36.320 practicing and I mean there was it was
00:27:38.799 really neat and it was beautiful and and
00:27:40.720 I I remember telling my mom I was like
00:27:42.279 why didn't you ever come to practice
00:27:44.080 with me it would have been so fun to
00:27:46.080 practice together with you um so it was
00:27:48.600 it was a NE unique community that we
00:27:50.840 were able to to develop and the the
00:27:53.360 older women poured into the younger
00:27:55.120 girls and over the years it's now kind
00:27:57.600 of changed and there's a little bit more
00:27:59.120 like I mean we've had to as we get more
00:28:01.679 competitive um Define like the ages and
00:28:05.120 experience and all that and there's now
00:28:07.360 a little bit more space for older women
00:28:09.360 to play in other leagues but it was it
00:28:12.159 was really neat to be able to experience
00:28:13.919 that and I would have loved it if my mom
00:28:15.840 came to practice with me that's amazing
00:28:17.880 I like I love that story um man yeah
00:28:20.519 that's so cool and I wonder if uh you
00:28:22.399 know like a big issue in American Sports
00:28:24.679 and I can sense it even in myself as
00:28:26.360 like parents trying to live vicariously
00:28:28.240 through their kids soccer exploits and
00:28:29.640 like if you're still playing then you
00:28:30.919 don't need to do that because you can
00:28:32.320 still you know you can still go out and
00:28:34.960 uh and score a couple goals on your own
00:28:37.039 instead of like having to having to like
00:28:39.320 pressure your kids to to do that EXA
00:28:42.399 yeah I mean yeah I feel like there's
00:28:43.799 payoff there oh go ahead oh I was gonna
00:28:45.799 say so what what we will come out of
00:28:47.720 this podcast is I would like to hear the
00:28:49.960 next time that you are on a team and
00:28:52.679 that you're out there scoring goals all
00:28:55.000 so my league just wrapped up a couple
00:28:57.039 weeks ago and Sam did come to lots of my
00:28:59.679 games uh I had a I had a rough uh season
00:29:03.480 I only scored once in that season but I
00:29:06.679 have been I have been scoring some goals
00:29:08.320 in that league so I think I start up
00:29:10.080 again in a week if I can get if I can
00:29:11.960 get healthy I kind of been running these
00:29:14.679 ultramarathons the last two years I've
00:29:16.360 run an ultramarathon and I've really uh
00:29:18.840 got some overuse injuries that have been
00:29:20.799 plaguing me so I'm trying to get healthy
00:29:22.799 because I think my I think my season and
00:29:25.399 it should be more predictable because
00:29:26.760 it's the United States I think start
00:29:28.600 either next Wednesday or the Wednesday
00:29:30.159 after so so yes I am playing and uh my
00:29:33.000 kids have had fun uh coming out to the
00:29:35.279 games kind of watching shagging balls
00:29:37.240 and mostly just messing around on their
00:29:38.600 own on the sidelines but yeah it's been
00:29:40.799 it's been really fun to get back into it
00:29:42.600 and I'm not like a great soccer player
00:29:44.960 I'm I'm like a passable soccer player
00:29:47.279 but it's fun to get keep your body
00:29:48.960 moving you know and keep out there and
00:29:51.399 play in a league where there's like no
00:29:52.919 stakes and if anyone gets upset you just
00:29:54.919 kind of laugh at them because you're
00:29:55.960 like guys we're pay to play be here and
00:29:58.039 there's no reason to like be angry about
00:30:00.240 like a bad call or whatever um yeah but
00:30:03.080 yeah I you know and I feel like there's
00:30:04.640 some tradeoffs with cuz like I even that
00:30:07.519 I can see in the United States
00:30:09.519 everything is like highly structured I
00:30:11.840 think one of the complaints is that kid
00:30:13.360 and our kids actually play they play
00:30:14.640 every day after school at the park with
00:30:15.760 a bunch of kids from their school but
00:30:17.679 that's kind of rare I think you know
00:30:19.640 because I think the way that it's so
00:30:21.279 structured it's almost like this is the
00:30:22.919 place for soccer and there's not really
00:30:25.799 just kind of like open spaces and I
00:30:27.559 think you're right does limit creat
00:30:29.200 creativity both in the game and just in
00:30:31.039 like thinking about like where you can
00:30:32.840 play but I also think there's there's
00:30:35.320 obviously some benefits to that because
00:30:36.600 you have more coaching and you have more
00:30:39.279 direction and you yeah you're if you
00:30:41.120 have a game on Saturday you know unless
00:30:43.080 there's like a hurricane or something
00:30:44.240 like you're probably gonna have a game
00:30:45.440 on Saturday you know what I mean um but
00:30:47.919 like that family Connection in in
00:30:49.760 Ecuador is interesting to think about
00:30:51.279 how that would affect just soccer
00:30:53.000 culture of being just ingrained in
00:30:55.200 everything you know I don't know in some
00:30:57.240 ways I love it yeah yeah yeah it's neat
00:31:00.120 and I think that's a big reason why it's
00:31:02.480 been important for us to provide spaces
00:31:04.279 for women to play because they also I
00:31:06.799 mean their whole families that they have
00:31:09.120 teams that they followed for Generations
00:31:11.960 you know they're following the world cup
00:31:13.840 or the the national team and so like
00:31:16.679 they've been a part of the culture it's
00:31:19.080 been a part of their culture their whole
00:31:20.399 lives but they've just never really have
00:31:22.320 this space except for the past probably
00:31:24.799 about 10 years it's kind of opened up
00:31:26.639 and I think that's it's been a game
00:31:28.120 changer for them to be able to also
00:31:30.320 share in the culture by actually playing
00:31:33.480 yeah for sure did they come out with
00:31:35.120 skills already you know what I mean like
00:31:36.440 did they because they I imagine girls
00:31:38.720 are like out there juggling and kicking
00:31:40.440 the ball around even if they're not like
00:31:41.760 supposed to like did they could they
00:31:43.880 play already you know what I mean but it
00:31:46.039 definitely is also based on region um
00:31:49.639 that there's probably been a little bit
00:31:50.960 more openness or opportunities to play
00:31:53.200 in other regions of the of the country
00:31:55.840 and more smaller towns I feel like
00:31:57.960 there's women have had more
00:32:00.159 opportunities around the coast but yeah
00:32:03.360 I mean there's definitely there's some
00:32:05.039 very talented players um and because
00:32:08.480 girls have at least grown up playing
00:32:10.320 with their families or like at the park
00:32:13.480 there's some really talented players
00:32:15.159 doing um like very skilled in like moves
00:32:19.519 and stuff for like small space movement
00:32:22.000 of the ball and really to me what what
00:32:25.159 is lacking is vision of the game and
00:32:28.440 it's the lack of opportunity to play
00:32:30.200 games and so like having the Tactical
00:32:32.720 tactical ability to to adjust in games
00:32:36.840 and move the ball as a whole group is
00:32:39.559 probably one of the biggest differences
00:32:41.440 and that that lends to not being able to
00:32:43.600 have the same amount of game time as as
00:32:46.159 kind of like the male counterparts yeah
00:32:48.639 that's interesting and yeah like even
00:32:50.559 just hearing you reflect because the
00:32:52.679 kind of the I don't know the I the
00:32:55.320 Assumption The Stereotype is that like
00:32:57.840 South American players are just more
00:33:00.159 creative on the ball they have all these
00:33:02.080 like ball skills and then European kind
00:33:04.480 of more Western American players like
00:33:07.559 they do all this tactical stuff but they
00:33:09.600 just don't have like the footwork and
00:33:11.519 the creativity and you can kind of see
00:33:13.600 how that develops like really from like
00:33:15.880 truly from the Grassroots of like the
00:33:17.639 game it's not it's not something that
00:33:19.279 you can necessarily like coach you know
00:33:21.360 like you get a a Brazilian player over
00:33:23.720 in Europe and like they're doing things
00:33:24.960 that none of the European people can do
00:33:26.440 because they just learned you know yeah
00:33:29.200 absolutely yeah so yeah so coaches you
00:33:33.080 know getting back to the coaching stuff
00:33:34.720 because this is I want to talk soccer
00:33:36.679 the whole time but this is a churchy
00:33:38.039 podcast so let's talk about church
00:33:39.880 church I don't know it doesn't even have
00:33:41.480 to be on the on the nose churching but
00:33:43.519 but I think like it's interesting to
00:33:45.519 think about the different kinds of
00:33:46.679 relationships we have in the world you
00:33:48.480 know like there's you have like these
00:33:50.639 unique roles I think as I've gotten
00:33:52.120 older this has become more like obvious
00:33:54.159 or parent or something that like there's
00:33:56.399 there's a role for a coach that's
00:33:58.120 different than a role for a friend or a
00:33:59.799 role for a parent or a role for whatever
00:34:02.639 um there's like this this place that you
00:34:04.960 have where the space is created
00:34:07.159 primarily to like develop skills grow in
00:34:09.918 a sport but there's also this way that
00:34:12.800 like coaches can kind of set the tone
00:34:14.839 for life and a lot of players in a lot
00:34:17.399 of different sports would call some of
00:34:20.119 like the most influential cult coaches
00:34:22.280 like some of the most influential people
00:34:23.760 in their entire lives like do you see
00:34:25.879 that in in your work and like how does
00:34:28.079 that like why is that such a special
00:34:29.560 role yeah absolutely I mean one of the
00:34:32.639 things is here and I think it probably
00:34:35.560 goes for a lot of other spaces is I
00:34:38.679 think there's a lot of people who are
00:34:41.480 who lack mentors in their life or who
00:34:44.560 lacks support at home or you know we
00:34:48.359 have such we've built and even in this
00:34:50.560 space like you've built like family
00:34:52.040 systems that like both parents are
00:34:53.839 working like everyone is so busy doing a
00:34:57.200 bunch of stuff and so like on the soccer
00:35:00.240 field in a sense it's like you get to
00:35:02.240 show up and do something that you love
00:35:05.200 with this figure who is investing in you
00:35:09.000 developing in you as a as a player and
00:35:11.520 is building this relationship with you
00:35:13.680 and so it's a a safe place that you
00:35:17.000 could then turn to for advice or for
00:35:20.440 help or for support um that kind of
00:35:23.160 trickles over into these other spheres
00:35:25.880 of your life um and so I I think just
00:35:28.720 the unique part of sports and how it is
00:35:32.560 like you're working together you have a
00:35:34.680 common goal and your coach has already
00:35:37.160 invested in you because as a coach like
00:35:39.800 you want to succeed on the field and so
00:35:41.800 like it's your goal that every single
00:35:43.839 player on on your team is able to
00:35:46.680 perform and so like you're already
00:35:49.280 invested in this relationship and so
00:35:51.560 many of the players that we we see on
00:35:53.280 the field they have no one else in their
00:35:55.599 life and like this is their this is
00:35:58.440 their escape this is their safe place
00:36:01.560 and so it just naturally kind of builds
00:36:04.520 that opportunity to then go beyond just
00:36:07.520 developing the the soccer side of things
00:36:11.280 um to then speak into their lives and to
00:36:13.839 kind of be that mentor to walk alongside
00:36:16.440 them and allow them to invite you into
00:36:18.800 their life and and be able to kind of um
00:36:22.240 help them navigate what what they're
00:36:24.359 going through um in those spaces and
00:36:27.040 obviously there in the World of Sports
00:36:29.680 there's a lot of coaches who are not
00:36:32.520 either equipped or not interested in in
00:36:34.839 doing that but I think because the
00:36:37.359 nature of sport and how you are working
00:36:40.480 together like it naturally lends the
00:36:43.240 opportunity for the coach to play that
00:36:45.880 Mentor role in in the lives of their
00:36:48.680 players and it's like it's kind of like
00:36:51.720 discipling your players and so like
00:36:54.359 teaching them this is the game plan for
00:36:56.240 the field but like there's also game
00:36:57.920 plan for life and like here let's figure
00:36:59.880 out how how to walk you walk you through
00:37:02.680 that and so it's an incredibly unique
00:37:05.079 experience or unique relationship like
00:37:08.160 you said and super impactful and I think
00:37:11.119 the reality is is like getting people to
00:37:13.680 realize like how much influence you have
00:37:16.599 and also how easy it really is and so
00:37:19.760 like I I'm no expert in in relationships
00:37:23.520 or really in mentorship but like I said
00:37:26.760 like when I was talking about how I got
00:37:28.000 into coaching like God just calls us to
00:37:31.160 show up and so like showing up in
00:37:33.560 someone's life speaks volumes and so you
00:37:37.000 don't need to be an expert in all these
00:37:39.200 different fields to be there for
00:37:42.560 somebody um and I think that's what a
00:37:44.560 coach has the opportunity to do like you
00:37:46.280 have the opportunity to show up in a
00:37:48.040 kid's life in a player's life unlike any
00:37:51.240 other person in their life most other
00:37:53.720 people in their lives are you know you
00:37:55.119 have the parents role and you have
00:37:56.359 teachers and and they also can fill some
00:37:59.200 of those mentorship or guiding guiding
00:38:01.440 roles but like as a coach it's so unique
00:38:04.040 and special and so we just need more
00:38:06.520 people to show up in people's lives and
00:38:08.440 and the world will be changed yeah oh
00:38:10.960 man it's great and like part of what I
00:38:13.119 hear you talking about is like the
00:38:14.920 significance of being on a team together
00:38:17.040 you know like because I think how often
00:38:19.319 or how many adults do you have in your
00:38:21.359 life who are like on your team you know
00:38:23.400 what I mean like who don't uh you know
00:38:26.480 like so many people and it depends on
00:38:28.400 your relationships like there's some
00:38:29.880 great teachers out there and some people
00:38:31.119 have great relationships with their
00:38:32.119 parents but like a lot of people don't
00:38:33.480 and they have very adversarial
00:38:34.800 relationships with most of the adults in
00:38:36.400 their life but then when you're like in
00:38:38.160 a in a team environment like that like
00:38:40.440 it's pretty obvious that your coach
00:38:41.920 wants you to succeed because like
00:38:43.880 they're on your team you know what I
00:38:45.119 mean I think there's something so cool
00:38:46.560 about that Dynamic that opens up trust
00:38:49.359 in a different way and just allows you
00:38:51.760 to to potentially if you step into it
00:38:54.440 which you know I think is probably a
00:38:56.520 learn skill for sure even if you don't
00:38:58.560 have to have all the you don't have to
00:38:59.599 have a degree in Psychology or you know
00:39:01.079 what I mean but like I think there's a
00:39:02.680 there's got to be some ways to learn how
00:39:04.720 to like take that next step and be like
00:39:07.440 yeah I'm here for you on the team but
00:39:09.240 like also if you need anything else like
00:39:11.520 call me you know um yeah I love it it's
00:39:14.680 so good and yeah how do you like for you
00:39:17.319 where do you find yourself growing in
00:39:18.920 your own discipleship in your faith as a
00:39:20.599 coach like in it and as you invest in
00:39:22.400 the players like where do you find God
00:39:24.440 in in the mix yeah no absolutely I mean
00:39:27.560 think it's been it's been an amazing
00:39:30.359 experience as a coach to walk alongside
00:39:32.680 players and then also be able to
00:39:35.839 experience like how God's speaking into
00:39:37.839 my life at the same time and challenging
00:39:40.400 me through the experiences that my
00:39:43.000 players are facing and learning a lot
00:39:46.319 I've learned a lot about um dependency
00:39:49.240 and you know it's like I can't control
00:39:52.319 the situations that that my players
00:39:54.359 encounter um I can't control you know
00:39:57.119 the things that are going on around me
00:39:59.760 my relationship with God is like
00:40:01.599 learning to depend on him as my source
00:40:04.960 of strength as my source of wisdom um
00:40:08.640 guidance and being able to to face the
00:40:11.560 ne the next set of uncertainties and
00:40:14.800 instabilities that you know that we all
00:40:17.000 face and so it's been an interesting
00:40:20.520 journey to be able to pursue God in that
00:40:23.680 way and learn how to depend on him and
00:40:26.640 then the the goal is then to transmit
00:40:28.800 that same Faith to to my players um and
00:40:32.800 help them every day just take a step
00:40:35.720 closer to knowing who God is and who's
00:40:38.280 he's he's created them to be yeah that's
00:40:41.200 so good because it's interesting as you
00:40:43.680 get older and get into these roles of
00:40:45.800 like I'm not the player anymore I'm the
00:40:48.000 one guiding the players you know and you
00:40:49.920 have to kind of let go of control in in
00:40:53.000 different ways and that does yeah
00:40:55.319 there's like an interdependence there's
00:40:56.599 like a dependence on God and that but
00:40:58.160 there's also a dependence on like these
00:40:59.560 other people who you know you can see
00:41:01.960 their shortcut especially if you're
00:41:03.000 coaching them you're like I know you
00:41:04.599 can't use your left foot you know what I
00:41:05.760 mean or like I know your shortcomings
00:41:08.280 but like I'm still like our success My
00:41:11.440 Success is your success your success is
00:41:13.079 my success and we're we're kind of in
00:41:15.000 this together I wanted to ask a question
00:41:17.079 about trauma because in our church we've
00:41:18.520 been focused a lot on traumas has been
00:41:20.440 like a growing Edge for me in my own
00:41:22.160 vocational life and in our kind of
00:41:24.200 practice as a church and one of the
00:41:26.319 things that we've been learning that's
00:41:27.480 been really intriguing we've developed
00:41:29.319 some programming around trauma that we
00:41:30.640 call Flow groups and they're very much
00:41:32.400 rooted in like arts and creativity and
00:41:34.560 that kind of stuff but one of the
00:41:36.200 Dynamics I don't feel like we've fully
00:41:37.560 explored we have a little bit but not in
00:41:39.520 fully is how play is this activity that
00:41:42.800 heals that that promote provides a place
00:41:45.040 to heal from trauma and I think it's
00:41:46.680 because there's like a controlled
00:41:48.480 vulnerability in Play Because ultimately
00:41:51.160 it's just a game you know you can really
00:41:53.079 put yourself out there you can try you
00:41:55.040 can like be vulnerable in a way of like
00:41:57.560 I might fail at this like I might I
00:41:59.480 might wank the shot to the side you know
00:42:01.200 what I mean like there's there's ways
00:42:02.280 that you can fail but ultimately like at
00:42:04.440 the end of the day after you've had your
00:42:06.800 moment of sadness because you lost or
00:42:09.160 whatever like you go about your day and
00:42:10.920 and it's it's just a game and so there's
00:42:13.280 there's something in that space and
00:42:14.960 having teammates and you know that
00:42:17.200 that's so uh helpful for folks that are
00:42:19.880 trying to just cope with a larger world
00:42:22.359 and it's just there's like a sanctuary
00:42:23.839 space in play so maybe I'm saying more
00:42:26.160 of what like what I'm reflecting on but
00:42:27.800 like where do you do you see that in
00:42:29.200 your work like does that make sense to
00:42:30.920 you as like someone who's been so deeply
00:42:33.200 involved in sport for your whole life
00:42:35.200 yeah um no absolutely like I said I mean
00:42:38.240 I love soccer because I love to play and
00:42:40.400 there's a safe space about it or safe
00:42:42.760 place about it it's fun I can be
00:42:45.720 competitive I can be who I Who I Am
00:42:48.040 because there's there's some scenarios
00:42:50.640 in life where it's like I have to tone
00:42:52.599 that competitive um competitive nature
00:42:55.200 down um and so to me like soccer has
00:42:58.640 always been a safe place and our goal as
00:43:01.520 as a club is that our teams are safe
00:43:04.520 places for our players to be able to
00:43:06.800 experience exactly what you're
00:43:08.079 describing to be able to to play and to
00:43:11.200 have this safe opportunity to to be free
00:43:15.240 and to enjoy life um so there's there's
00:43:18.400 that side of side of things and um we're
00:43:21.400 big into having our players uh creating
00:43:23.920 a space where like they feel like they
00:43:25.480 belong like they are they are here here
00:43:27.440 they are on the team they're part of the
00:43:29.119 team they belong even if even before
00:43:31.640 they believe um and so they get to
00:43:34.319 experience that freedom and that safety
00:43:37.119 and then provide the opportunity to then
00:43:39.160 be vulnerable and and grow in the next
00:43:42.160 steps all that being said I think part
00:43:45.400 of the tension that that we encounter is
00:43:48.520 like we also are pursuing the
00:43:51.280 professional platform and so there's a
00:43:54.200 big part of especially players on our
00:43:57.200 top teams um have pressure to perform um
00:44:01.800 and so that's when this like safe space
00:44:04.640 at the recreational level or the play at
00:44:06.880 the recreational level is then kind of
00:44:08.880 flipped on its head and you're it's a
00:44:11.200 pressure environment because in in
00:44:13.200 scenarios especially for our men's
00:44:14.680 professional players and our top women's
00:44:16.280 players like it's almost it's a job um
00:44:19.640 and so there's a lot of things that are
00:44:21.440 riding on this opportunity um because if
00:44:24.680 I perform well I get to play if I
00:44:27.160 perform really well I can get called up
00:44:28.960 to the next level I and then it changes
00:44:31.800 my life because then I could then now
00:44:33.920 pay for all these things or you know
00:44:36.079 fill these needs that I don't have um
00:44:38.559 currently even just this past season a
00:44:41.319 couple weeks ago had a conversation with
00:44:42.880 it with one of my coaches at our youth
00:44:45.359 girls level so it's youth girls but we
00:44:48.559 we were encountering um players that
00:44:50.720 would come to practice and they were
00:44:52.800 breaking down in the middle of practice
00:44:55.640 um for reasons you know and they would
00:44:57.800 they would share with us coach because
00:44:59.040 like it is a safe space but it got to
00:45:01.720 the point where I was like they're not
00:45:02.800 even able to play like we're we're at
00:45:05.400 practice and they're having a hard time
00:45:07.640 playing and participating in practice
00:45:10.240 because they have so much that is going
00:45:12.520 on um and so we realized as a coaching
00:45:15.119 staff we had to go through like what are
00:45:17.000 ways that like we can serve these
00:45:19.599 players so that when they come to
00:45:21.240 practice like they can play because we
00:45:23.720 want them to be able to participate in
00:45:26.280 you know this opportunity and they want
00:45:27.920 to play they just have you know they're
00:45:30.079 so um have so much baggage that they're
00:45:32.520 bringing to practice and so we realized
00:45:34.400 that we needed to create spaces in our
00:45:37.160 practices for uh connections and for
00:45:40.960 checking in and then we we also talk to
00:45:44.240 our team chaplain to be available during
00:45:46.280 certain time slots and communicating
00:45:48.640 that to players and like even teaching
00:45:50.760 them like hey these are these are the
00:45:53.559 the options or opportunities that you
00:45:55.800 have to express yourself or to seek you
00:45:58.760 know get help or support and then within
00:46:01.319 our team building relationships in safe
00:46:04.440 a safe space so that when they show up
00:46:06.720 they feel supported by their teammates
00:46:08.480 and then they could participate exactly
00:46:11.480 kind of it sounds like what you guys are
00:46:12.720 going through as a church like we see
00:46:14.280 that with all of our players um and so
00:46:17.760 even though we it's the game of soccer
00:46:21.200 because of the the the bigness of it the
00:46:25.280 professionalism this the money that is
00:46:27.680 attached to it there's a lot of
00:46:29.079 pressures that are also involved um and
00:46:31.760 so we're seeing as a staff building in
00:46:34.880 moments of pure play is what our players
00:46:39.040 they need that um and we all need that
00:46:42.200 and it's fun um last week we had a
00:46:44.200 coaches game and I'll tell you when we
00:46:47.040 do a coaches meeting we'll have coaches
00:46:48.599 are like hey I can't make it I have all
00:46:50.079 this going on we said coaches game and
00:46:53.079 all of them showed up I'm like I'm sure
00:46:56.119 they they told whoever they moved stuff
00:46:58.920 around so that they could come and and
00:47:00.680 it would and they were just playing they
00:47:02.040 didn't have to coach they just had to
00:47:04.000 show up and they had so much fun um and
00:47:06.960 so it's been convicting as you know as a
00:47:09.640 director to be like we need to build
00:47:11.240 more opport exactly what you're
00:47:13.520 describing to have that safe place to to
00:47:15.839 play yeah and you can see how I mean so
00:47:18.599 many different things can have that
00:47:20.040 they're like the double-edged sword
00:47:21.200 thing where like it can be this really
00:47:23.119 great source of healing and like kind of
00:47:25.319 sanctuary space but like you're saying
00:47:28.119 and I've seen Sports turn this way with
00:47:30.200 with friends siblings in my own life
00:47:33.000 where it can kind of turn the other way
00:47:34.599 where all a sudden like you're not
00:47:35.960 getting playing time or you're not
00:47:38.000 getting chosen for the team that you
00:47:39.640 wanted to make the team or you know and
00:47:41.760 it becomes this like actually it can be
00:47:43.640 a source of trauma uh in in other ways
00:47:47.240 because now there's like this Cutthroat
00:47:49.760 Competitive Edge even within your team
00:47:51.720 you know and you know like one of the
00:47:53.839 Beautiful Things is like when you have
00:47:55.240 people who are on your team like you
00:47:56.480 make mistake hopefully they're lifting
00:47:58.040 you up but that depends a lot on the
00:47:59.240 culture of the team some teams you make
00:48:01.000 a mistake and all your teammates are
00:48:02.119 screaming at you you know what I mean
00:48:03.440 and uh you know you got to like create
00:48:05.480 the right kind of culture which
00:48:06.960 sometimes it's probably hard to I'm not
00:48:09.640 experienced enough coach but I imagine
00:48:11.280 that's like hard to do in and depending
00:48:13.280 on the personalities you have on a team
00:48:15.280 but like there's potential for play to
00:48:17.079 be this tremendous good but when we turn
00:48:19.400 play into something that's not play uh
00:48:22.480 then it can it can almost like hit you
00:48:24.319 back in the face you know yeah exactly
00:48:26.359 do the oppos yeah exactly yeah yeah any
00:48:29.520 other like I don't I want to respect
00:48:31.359 your time I appreciate you coming on
00:48:32.920 it's been really great talking to you
00:48:34.839 you have other thoughts anything else
00:48:36.200 that you want to share with us before
00:48:38.119 you know I let you go and uh I'm sure
00:48:40.520 you've got some more soccer to coach or
00:48:42.200 play or be out there with at this point
00:48:44.520 today I think that's that's pretty much
00:48:47.079 it I think we've covered a lot it's been
00:48:49.040 a lot of fun so who is your team who's
00:48:51.839 the team that you follow do you have one
00:48:53.720 my team yeah so I have I'm kind of new
00:48:56.480 to like watching soccer more seriously I
00:48:58.680 kind of started I went on sabatical last
00:49:00.760 year and I was like you know what I've
00:49:02.200 always wanted to get into soccer it's
00:49:04.160 not hasn't really been easily available
00:49:06.359 as a spectator in the United States but
00:49:08.359 now it kind of is so I started watching
00:49:11.079 La Liga a lot and I kind of picked
00:49:13.000 Atletico Madrid that's like my team that
00:49:15.040 I've kind of chosen they started to lose
00:49:17.720 as soon as I chose them but I still do
00:49:19.799 kind of support them uh and it's been
00:49:22.400 fun my kids have all kind of picked
00:49:24.359 their their people Sam who's like our
00:49:26.400 biggest soccer nut in our family likes
00:49:28.760 uh Barcelona and um Ezra my youngest he
00:49:32.760 really likes Harry Kane for some reason
00:49:34.280 I don't even know why he loves Harry
00:49:35.599 Kane so much so you know he likes Bayern
00:49:37.599 Munich a bit and but yeah Atletico M
00:49:39.960 who's your team who do you follow um I
00:49:42.240 mean this is slightly lame I guess but I
00:49:45.240 kind of follow Chelsea just because of
00:49:47.079 my name um and I really like I really
00:49:50.799 like the Chelsea women's team so I
00:49:53.839 follow them but also the interesting
00:49:55.960 thing on
00:49:57.440 there is uh one of their midfielders is
00:50:00.480 from Ecuador so I enjoy watching him
00:50:03.200 play he's on our n the national team
00:50:05.040 here in Ecuador um and he's he's a big
00:50:07.480 name and a really really good player so
00:50:09.839 I guess that's the team that I follow
00:50:11.680 outside of the US Women's National Team
00:50:14.599 yeah well I should say we also support
00:50:16.040 the wave in fact we went to the wave
00:50:17.280 game just on Saturday night and we've
00:50:19.000 been uh having really a fun following
00:50:21.480 them and San Diego is getting an MLS
00:50:23.880 team next year so we're hoping that they
00:50:26.160 keep tiet affordable so we can actually
00:50:28.119 like get to some games cuz that's not
00:50:30.359 always the case in Pro Sports but the
00:50:32.000 wave San Diego had the loyal which was
00:50:34.240 like a kind of lower division team
00:50:36.079 before and they they both have done a
00:50:37.799 really great job of like giving access
00:50:40.119 to to the game so the kids can come and
00:50:42.520 and watch and play so hopefully that
00:50:44.520 continues on in San Diego and hopefully
00:50:47.480 it brings in some support because uh
00:50:49.480 hopefully it brings in some youth
00:50:50.760 funding maybe and some ways for more
00:50:53.000 kids to have access to playing the
00:50:55.040 beautiful game here in San Diego because
00:50:56.480 it's it's been really fun getting into
00:50:58.319 it yeah our goal is as far as like with
00:51:01.400 my Ministry because we do camps in the
00:51:03.720 the us our goal is to be out in
00:51:05.960 California one of these days in in San
00:51:07.920 Diego specifically so we'd like to bring
00:51:10.079 some of our our players here from
00:51:12.280 Ecuador to run a soccer camp in the
00:51:14.480 Southern California area I don't know if
00:51:17.000 it'll happen next summer but within the
00:51:18.880 next two years like we would like to be
00:51:20.599 there bring it we got some connections
00:51:23.119 in San Diego soccer scene a little bit
00:51:25.359 now and uh yeah reach out anytime you
00:51:27.720 need some help with that for sure all
00:51:29.240 right well telsey thank you so much for
00:51:30.640 joining me this was a really fun
00:51:31.720 conversation you know basketball's been
00:51:33.839 my number one sport for a lot of years
00:51:35.200 but Sam was asking me in the car the
00:51:36.559 other day like do you still like
00:51:37.799 basketball more than soccer and I did
00:51:40.640 say yes eventually but I hesitated
00:51:42.640 because I like soccer has been so much
00:51:44.200 fun to get into this year and I love
00:51:47.000 both I've I've always loved both Sports
00:51:48.960 um and it's just been great talking to
00:51:51.079 you and especially like I I said earlier
00:51:52.960 as I'm I've been considering coaching
00:51:55.880 like a higher level team here uh cuz I'm
00:51:58.599 not anyway it's it's great really
00:52:01.040 helpful to reflect on like the Dynamics
00:52:03.319 of coaching get a little inspiration to
00:52:06.160 keep playing and uh and step into that
00:52:08.200 coaching role thank you so much thank
00:52:09.880 you for your work I love what you're
00:52:11.319 doing down there and hopefully we'll see
00:52:13.440 you someday when you come back through
00:52:14.920 San Diego and many blessings to you yeah
00:52:18.599 awesome thanks so much chrisy have a
00:52:20.240 good day than shelsea you too bye see
00:52:22.079 you
00:52:26.640 l
00:52:29.580 [Music]