Episode #26: Peighton Marrero

Peighton Marrero is a 4.0 student-athlete, State Champion Track Athlete, All-
State Volleyball Setter, and All-State Basketball player out of Strasburg High School in Colorado where she will be a Senior in the 2024-25 school year.  She's also a world class daughter, sister, mentor, leader and human being.

Peighton was my first client to join the Significant Coaching Launchpad, and she has done outstanding work becoming the CEO of her recruitment journey.  She has multiple offers from NCAA D1, D2 and D3 schools across the country because she has given her character and academics the same effort as her commitment to her sports and teammates and coaches.

Significant Recruiting Resources — Take the guesswork out of college recruiting with Significant Recruiting: The Playbook for Prospective College Athletes, sport-specific Recruit’s Journals, and the Significant Recruiting Launchpad. Practical tools to help families research schools, stay organized, and build a smarter recruiting strategy. Learn more at CoachMattRogers.com.

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Welcome back to the Significant Coaching Podcast. I'm Coach Matt Rogers, author of Significant Recruiting, the playbook for prospective college athletes. On this episode of the Significant Coaching Podcast, I sat down with multi sports superstar Peyton Marrero from Strasburg High School in Colorado. Payton was my very first client to utilize my Significant Recruiting Launchpad, and I could not have picked anyone better to introduce to college coaches. As she enters her senior year, she has already accomplished so much, including four four track state championships while leading her volleyball team to the sweet 16 as a junior and her basketball team to the elite eight as a junior in the state of colorado just last year i would have taken any one of those accolades when i was her age and she is just getting started in this episode i wanted families and student athletes to hear the other side of college recruitment and recruit's mindset to take full ownership of their recruitment journey As expected, Peyton knocked it out of the park. She's a great role model for any young athlete, and I know she'll be an inspiration for any parent or recruit listening. Enjoy. Peyton Marrero, it's so great to see you. We've done this quite a few times, haven't we, these Zoom calls? We have, yeah, quite a few times. And I thought you would be a great guest to show what you and I do when we talk about recruiting and we talk about your journey. we're going to kind of pull the curtain back today to show other athletes what you're doing to get your recruiting roll. Are you cool with that? Yeah, let's do it. So tell me where you were at back in the fall with the idea of recruitment. What did recruitment mean to you? Eight months ago, nine months ago. Oh my goodness. Yeah, but it was just crazy. Cause it was never like really a set thing. It was always so Zach with my parents, it was always like, he kind of did like little things, but like nothing a bunch. And then everybody's like, Peyton, you need to start doing this. You need to start doing this. And all my club friends were like, Peyton, you need to start doing this. You need to start doing this. And so I was just kind of overwhelmed by it of what am I supposed to be doing? Nobody's giving me, they're telling me do it, but what am I supposed to be doing? And so then everybody would kind of throw their advice, their information. And then we heard about you from one of our family friends. And so I was like, okay, finally, just one person that I get to listen to. But it was just kind of all overwhelming of I didn't even know which sport I wanted to play, didn't know how, like which direction I wanted to go with it or even how to get myself out there and market myself just besides like my performance. Cause there's thousands and thousands of athletes out there. So it's kind of just all overwhelming. Yeah, it is, and it's and it can be overwhelming for coaches to, you know, I, I think we, as coaches, we do the same things to our student athletes, like your friends and family was doing. They need, they were saying, go get recruited. You need to start. Well, how do I start? What does that mean? And I, and I, I know I've found myself telling my athletes over the years, you got to work harder. You got to be a better leader. And. And I look back and go, did I help them understand what a better leader look like? Did I help them understand the difference between what they were doing in their work now and what I wanted them to do? So I love that because at the end of the day, we've talked about the word significance a lot. And that's really what we've worked on is you understanding what do I want? How do I want to get there? What does that path look like? Right? Yeah. And we weren't looking for success. We weren't looking for, we've got to get Peyton a full ride. We've got to get her recruited to a D1. We never did that, did we? So tell me a little bit about where it started for you when we started having these conversations. When did you start feeling like, okay, I understand what I need to do. I understand the path. Honestly, I think it was probably after like our first or second call. I mean, the first one was kind of introductory, but our first serious call of like, okay, you're gonna do this and this and this and kind of our process. And from that, I'm very process oriented. So as soon as you were like. Here's what you're going to do. Like, it only takes this much of your time, like get it done. I was like, okay. And then it just became like part of my routine. And it was just like, let's do it. Yeah. And you were great at it. You know, some kids I have to kind of cattle prod and say, Hey, I just want five minutes out of you. These are the things that need you to get you done. You get them done. You get them done right away. And I think that's a big part of why your recruitment is where it is. And we'll get into that here in a little bit. You haven't even started your senior year yet. And we're in a pretty good place, aren't we? Yeah, we're in a really good place. Let's talk about one of the first conversations we had was about branding and your marketing and, and really how you wanted to communicate with, about who you were to college coaches. What is that message? So what have you learned about you, the student athlete, and how you want coaches to look at you? Oh my gosh, I've learned a ton. And just some of the things that you'd have me do, it's almost like you have to know who you are. Like sometimes you just don't think about it and you would ask me questions. I bet I have no idea how I would describe myself in three words, max. I'm like, I was like other people, what are you, how would they describe me? But a lot of like, well, who do I want to be? Who do I want to be seen as? And I think for me, that was playing into, I'm very vocal. And I really like leading people. I really like helping people. And so flipping that from how to other people see me to, okay, how do I want to see myself and how do I want other people to see me was a huge part of okay, I want to find a program that fits that. I want to find a school that fits that. What I want and who I am. Yeah. And that's really my big concern. Whenever I work with a young person for the first time, I, I think when we're 15, 16, 17 years old, we're always thinking about, okay, how do I fit in? Or how do I get somebody to look at me instead of having the confidence to say, this is who I am, this is how I want to fit in. I need to go find places that fit me. Right. Yeah. And when that changed in your brain what happened? I went from like the process controlling to me to like being the CEO and just doing what I wanted to reach out to schools that I was interested in. And I think it really flipped it from Oh, like waiting for people to talk to me to, Hey, I am like, I'm confident. I know who I am and what I'm looking for. And then it just made it way easier to go to other, to reach out to programs and to other people. Yeah. Let's talk about that. Let's talk first about your attack list for you. We started with your major and geography, kind of what parts of the country you wanted to get to. What did you learn about the, your options out there when you focused Again, what's inside of you, what you wanted to do for a living when you're 23 years old and how you, how you wanted to live, what kind of environment you wanted. Did that change anything in terms of building your attack list, your school list? Yeah, definitely. I mean, it really opened my eyes to what type of program I was looking for, what schools, what division. Cause it's not D1 or bust. It's find the right program for you. And that was like a big thing. Everybody's talked about go D1, go D1. But you really opened my eyes to like, Hey, find a program that you love. That's gonna not only set you up for your athletic career for the next four years. But for your life, find somewhere that's going to be awesome. And that's going to set you up to be successful in the future career. So it definitely like my geography kind of changed what I was looking for in a program kind of changed as we went through this process, but really it was like, Oh, there's so, so many more options than just, you know what I mean? What you see on television. Yep, I agree. And you're the epitome of that because not only have you now have all these coaches that you went after and introduced yourself to, but we've got, we found some coaches that found you that really fit you and you've done a really good job of navigating. Who do I put my time into and who do I just say. Thank you. But no, thank you. I'm not interested. Was that hard for you to make some of those choices? I think a little bit at first it was like, well, how do I tell coach? No I'm not really interested in their program or it's not what I'm looking for. Like just kind of awkward with me being me, but I think that was also something that we worked through. And now it's just it's a respectful conversation of just, Hey, I'm sorry. Thank you for your interest, but you're like, I'm looking at other places or this program just isn't going to be for me. So at first it was really awkward and I was like, I don't want to tell them no, but just something that we navigated through and now it's just pretty easy. Yeah. I think it's hard when you're, when you're your age, even my age to to accept, all right, this is what these college coaches do for a living. They might recruit 200 kids and they're only going to get 10 of them or eight of them. So they're really used to, for lack of a better word, they're used to rejection. Yeah. Okay. And they know how talented you are. And they know there's, there's a lot of coaches that are interested in your talents. So they know they're not going to get every kid. And I think just accepting that just makes it easier to have that conversation. Don't you think? Oh yeah, definitely a lot easier. All right. So I preach, preach, preach, preach, preach about inviting coaches to you and you inviting coaches to get to know you. Talk about emailing coaches and what you've learned about the power of just sending that email. The email just opens the door to all kinds of conversations. I'd say most. I think every one of the coaches that I'm in contact with right now, seriously, about their programs were open through emailing and hey, this is who I am. I'd love to call and then following up with a call if I like didn't get an email back, just really opening that door to all the communication. And you might get one coach that responds to you, you might get three, but it was super helpful. What have you learned about emailing? Not just the head coach, but all the assistants as well. You usually get the assistants to respond to you. That's usually who you end up talking to, or like your specific, like in track, it's usually not the head coach, but it's usually Oh, the sprints coach will reach back out or like one of the assistant coaches, but. Yeah. How valuable have you found it that you have an online resume with your film, your grades, your schedule, your contact information? You have everything in one website that you're emailing to coaches. What have you gotten in terms of a response from the coaches about having access to you the way you've given it to them? It makes it so much easier to One for me to be able to send to them, but for them to be able to look at it and just see all my key stats, all my. Film all my contact information when we're setting up calls. They're like, Hey, her phone number's right here. I think it's been really helpful for them because then they come into like our calls, if we chat, like it's so much easier for them to be like, Oh yeah. And you ran this and you are like, I saw that you did this based on your film. I really like this part about what you're doing when you're running, what you're doing when you're playing. And so I think it made it a lot easier for them to just kind of get a feel for how I play, who I am on the court, on the track. Yeah, it's almost like they already know you when they get on the phone with you, right? Yeah, I think that's really cool All right. Now this is the hardest part for everybody and I know you struggled with this too The email is easy. Yeah, because You're sending it out there and you got to prepare for it. I mean, we do templates and we added it and we practice the emailing and then you got to make this phone call, which is live and you're talking to a human being and you've got to, you got to be comfortable and confident. Was that hard making those first couple of phone calls? The scheduled calls were easy for me. Cause I, I like to say that I'm pretty personable. So if we set up a call, I'm like, Hey, and it was really easy for me. Cold calling coaches was so hard for me for months. You were like, Hey, and did you make those calls? No, not yet. Like I'm doing it though. Like it was kind of like pulling teeth for the first little bit. Cause I'm like, Well, they didn't respond to my email, so I gotta I actually have to introduce myself. I have to say who I am, and that was the hardest part, but once again, perspective shift, and I was just like, I have to market myself, just like they're going out to other people. I have to do it for me. What's the worst they can say? Hey, sorry, we're not interested. There's plenty of other programs. There's plenty of other, Coaches, like they're doing the same thing that I'm doing. So then it was just like, okay, little shift. And then I started doing it. And then it was really easy from there. I remember, I don't know if you remember this, but I remember getting a text from you probably was around Thanksgiving or Christmas. I remember getting a text from you. We had just done our mock phone calls. So we practice calling and I was the head coach and you were the student athlete. And. And I remember getting a text from you like three or four days later. He said, coach, I just called this coach. The conversation went exactly like we practiced. You remember that? Yeah. What was that like to know that you were prepared and it went the way you were prepared for? Was that. Was that surprising to you? I don't know if it was really surprising, but I was just like, it was like relief. I was like, Oh goodness. Like I'm not getting thrown under the bus here. Like it was just way easier. And then it just flowed into conversation of I don't have to sit here and be a robot. And so like the conversation just flowed. And then I was like, okay, he wasn't lying to me. All is okay. I was prepared. I knew what I was talking about. I knew what I was doing. I knew what questions to ask. What did you learn about college coaches in those first couple of calls? What is their mindset when they call somebody like you? They want to get to know you just as much as you want to get to know them. That's right. And if they really like you, they want you to be happy and excited about them, don't they? Yeah. And they're pretty personable and yeah, they just want to like, Kind of interview both ways. Yeah. And they oftentimes they'll lead it. Even if you call them, they kind of take it over and they ask questions that you know the answers to, right? Yes. And this makes it so much easier. Yeah. So I think most kids, they have that fear like you had, they make a call. I don't want to make a mistake. I don't want to say the wrong thing. And realistically, what did you learn? Pretty easy as soon as you start going through it and then yeah, that like they'll take charge and if there's like a lull in the conversation, take a breath, like somebody's gonna pick it up either on my end or on the coach's end. All right. I want to transition here because we could get into the school specifically if you want, but we'll just keep it vague for now. But what I'm really excited about for you being the first kid that I've kind of taken this through, and we've really done this whole thing as a process, you've got, basically, you've got offers on the table from division three coaches, NAI coaches, division two coaches. one coaches. Yeah. What have you learned about where your mindset was eight months ago about divisions? And where is it today? I guess eight months ago, I kind of didn't know. It was just like, Oh, D one is you know what I mean? The big it's all athletics. And then anything else than that was like, Oh Oh, good. Like your D two athlete or your D three athlete. But I think really going through this process, it's Hey, you're going into a program that fits you, that is going to push you. And for me, I had three big things. I was like, I want somewhere that feels like home. I want somewhere that's going to push me athletically. Like I want to get better. And I want somewhere that's going to push me academically. And so for me, that was a huge thing because. To me, it matters to matters. Like I want to go into a program and I want to be able to have a relationship with my professors. I want to be able to have a relationship with the team, with the coaches with everybody that I know. So for me, it was kind of like, Oh, well, maybe I'm not going to go to a huge D1 school where I know like the same 10 people and I'm going to sit in a class of hundreds of kids. And that kind of shifted my perspective to, okay, D3 it's. Very high priority academics. Yes, you're still on a good athletic team, but like it's gonna be academics take priority from, at least from what I've learned from coaches in D two, it's kind of split half and half. It's like, yeah, we're really gonna push you athletically, but we also really care about academics and you're gonna be in a classroom size and your majors are gonna be your, your professors. You'll probably get to know them and then at the D one level, yeah, you're probably gonna be sitting in a class with a ton of kids. Maybe you get to know them, maybe you don't. It's kinda iffy. So I guess it's just perspective change on what you really want in a program. One of the things I made you do early on was really sit down and write your priorities and really, think about where you wanted to be, how far away from home you wanted to go, the type of school you wanted, the culture you wanted. Have you found that your priorities have changed by getting to talk to D3 coaches and NAI and D2 and D1 coaches? Have you found that maybe what you thought was going to be your priority has changed? Has changed and it's maybe a little bit further down the list. Yeah, I think big part of that has kind of been location a little bit location and then focus like on kind of classic class size has actually been a big deal for me. And I didn't really think that it would matter that much, but it turns out that it's kind of a big deal for me. And like I would prefer to be in smaller class sizes. And so looking at colleges that kind of, Is a huge thing where I'm like, I think that might be too big. But definitely it has changed in my priorities sheet of Oh, that really matters to me. And then Oh, that's not such a big deal. And I think what's, what's fantastic about that for people that are going to be listening to this, that don't know, you don't know how good of an athlete you are. I want to put some context to this. You are, you have division one track and field times. So you have the ability to kind of say, I only want to play division one. I only want to run division one. I'm going to go do it. And you have those opportunities. But as we've gone through this process, again, you've started thinking about you and how you want to feel and how you want to be treated and how, what kind of support system you want. And I think that's really it. Invaluable and the reason that I wanted you to talk to coaches at every level not because I wanted you to look d3 or naid2 but I wanted you to get a sense where do I fit Yeah, where am I going to be happy and healthy? And I think you've gotten there, haven't you? Yeah, I definitely have gotten there. Good. What's let's talk a little bit about you being a multi sport athlete because it's no joke what you do. You're the captain of the volleyball team. You're the starting setter. And you took your team to sweet 16, right? As a junior, you're the starting point guard on the basketball team and you led your team to the elite eight top eight in the state last winter. And this year you won your third and fourth state championships on the track. Most kids would be like, I would just like one of those things to happen to me. You don't get a break. Yeah. You go from one sport to the other. And if you get a week or a couple of days off in between seasons, it's a lot. Yeah. What is the benefits that you found of being a multi sport athlete? I think being a multi sport athlete one for me, I love it. Don't like. I like being busy. I like doing it. I like that. I'm always in shape, but I'm always in like different shape like being in volleyball shape is not being in shape for basketball. Being in basketball shape is not being in shape for track. I think it's made me a more well rounded athlete. Each sport makes me better for the next. Is what I felt and that I'm just stronger mentally, physically, I get faster track has helped me with my speed and agility for basketball and volleyball a ton. So I think as far as being well rounded, being a multi sport athlete is great. And then also I get on the phone with coaches and they're like, Oh, I love to hear that you're a multi sport athlete. Like it gives your brain a break from track. It gives your brain a break from volleyball. And it just. You don't see as many overuse injuries. They always talk about that. They're like, Oh, we love that. It just makes you better. And I think it's also helped me to lead in different positions, being a part of a volleyball team, being part of a basketball team, and then on the track where it's like individual, but you're still a team. I think it's just really helped shaped. my character and then just my physical abilities and talents as well. Yeah. And for the last 25, 30 years, there's been studies about being a multi sport athlete and you're the epitome of the success of those trials that Harvard's done. Johns Hopkins has done kids play their sport longer if they're a multi sport athlete. They're healthier. They're happier. They're more coachable. They make more friends. Like you said, they're less injury prone. So I think you're the epitome of that in, in every shape and, and form. So I think that's really, really cool. What advice would you give to a girl who's maybe playing club volleyball and high school volleyball and she's getting pressure from her coaches? Hey, you've got to focus on volleyball and only volleyball. What would you tell that student athlete? Don't do what makes you happy. I mean, I went through the same thing and that was part of the reason that I had kind of quit club for a few years because they were like, if you don't, if you don't do volleyball all the time, all year round, Like you're not going to go play college. I started recruiting for college and I was getting plenty of looks. And for three or for two years in high school, all I did was be a three sport athlete. And I, then I found a club program that was like, no, we want you to play other sports too. Go play basketball. If you need to miss a practice, that's okay. I think part of it is again, just finding where you fit of I found my, Club volleyball program. And once I was there too, and I was allowed to go do other things besides volleyball, six, seven days a week. It made me better on the court for the long, long season. Cause those seasons get long and they run into each other. It made me better overall. And my mental health was so much better. Like it's just do what makes you happy and go find somewhere that. Works with your values, your what you want. Great advice. And it's ironic 'cause I just interviewed Ryan Kerrigan, who is the, one of the coaches for the Washington Commanders. He was an NFL all Pro and I asked him, I go. I go, tell me about being a multi sport athlete because he played football, basketball, and baseball throughout high school. And he just flat out said, he goes, Matt, he goes, I don't know if I would have made it to the NFL if I didn't do all those sports. He goes, I'm so much healthier. I understand my sport so much better because I was able to walk away from it and have some perspective being coached by other people and playing with other athletes. And he goes, And he even said, he goes, he, you look at the guys I played with in the NFL, almost all of them played baseball or basketball. As well. I ran track. So I think your advice is right on and it's consistent advice. And it's funny because I never hear college coaches tell me that. Never. I never hear a college coach say, I only want kids that only play volleyball or I only want kids who want to play basketball. So it's other people that are saying that not, not the people that you want to play for down the road. Right. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Let's talk about social media a little bit. Because I think you do as good a job with your social media as I could ever ask one of my student athletes to do. What have you found has been healthy about social media for you? And how do you go about it? I like, I don't know, I just so I never really use social media or I wasn't allowed to have social media until High school or like the end of middle school. So part of it is like, Hey, use it maturely. Don't post dumb stuff. Don't somebody wants to like, if you wouldn't want your grandma to read it frontline of a newspaper, like a headline, then you probably shouldn't be posting it. And so that was always something for me. And that was pretty easy for me. I just like posting little glimpses of what I'm doing, or this is what just happened to my sport. So I usually do like end of season posts. A lot of my stuff is on my stories of just like highlighting little things that have happened or all the good moments and then like little pieces of training or like little bits of awesome things that have happened, like in track and volleyball and basketball Hey, we made it to the elite eight or Oh, we just had a huge win. That's always the stuff that I use it for. Cause I think. It's a healthy outlet if you're posting it in that way. And it's also attractive. Like other people get to keep up with you of what you're doing. What I love about your social media from a college coach perspective. is it's so humble. Your s never about, hey, look at I'm doing. It's always ab It's always about your br It's always about your fa about all those things th And I think as a college coach, if I didn't know you and I was recruiting you for the first time and starting with your social media, it would just make me so much more comfortable recruiting you because I was like, I want that kid in my program. I want to share her with the kids I already have on my team. And I think that's, what's really profound about your social media is you do such a good job of being authentic. with your character. Do you feel that? Do you even try to do that? Or is that just how it comes out? I don't know. I guess that's probably just how it comes out because I don't even I don't think about it a ton. I'm always just like, Oh, this is fun. I always Try to, but you're right about like the friends, the family. Cause that's when I'm having the most fun, like with my teammates, with my family, with my siblings. So that's always the stuff that I post. That's great. That's great. Talk about you're a three sports stud. Okay. There's no ans ifs or buts about it. Talk to the other kids that are, might be listening to this. What is training look like for you when you're doing, you're really good at three sports and you have to prepare for three sports. What is your training look like for, from January to December to continue to be great at all three? That's kind of hard. I looked out and I have an amazing, amazing support system, both at home and at school. With my teachers, with my weight training coaches, they do a great job. And so part of that is just It's like everybody being on the same page for me and hey, here are my goals. Here what I want to accomplish or here's the team's goals. Here's what we want to accomplish. And then everything goes from there because you have to have a common goal to be able to go from there. So for me, for training, I do a lot of individual work. But also I'm always in the gym with my teammates during the school year. So I take weight training classes during the year. Training quick, fast twitch muscles has been kind of a game changer from just lifting heavy. Hey, let's lift fast. Let's lift like athletes. So I think that changed. That definitely helped my vertical a ton. But also just having fun with your training make it enjoyable when you're at practice, when you're in the gym, listen to music or throw a game in there every once in a while. And I think a big thing for me is like you need a break. So it might just be a couple of days in between sports, but take a break, give yourself a mental break, a physical break, because a lot of times that's when you see the most growth, at least for me. As far as training, weight training in the morning. Your diet is super duper important. At least for me it is. Thank you. I'm, you get out, make sure my daughter hears this now. Yeah. You get out what you put in. It's okay to have a cheat day or have your summer, but it's really important. A lot of the physical growth and things that I see in the gym is a lot of times when I'm eating right, like I have more energy to put in better work. So diet is super important for me. That was huge 'cause I had. A lot of like little passing out problems and stuff. My sophomore year where I really had to get it on track and then just being intentional. If you can do as much as you want, but if you're not being intentional with it, then you're really not going to get anything out of it. So that's a huge thing for me is being intentional with when I'm working and what I'm doing. Cause you don't have to be in the gym for eight hours, but if you're in there for one or two and you're focused and you put in really good hard work, I think that's probably the biggest thing. Great advice. I don't know anybody that could have said it any better. What I really loved about what you just said there was you listened to your body and when your body says, I need a break, you give your body a break. Yeah, and I think that's what's keeping you healthy through your multi seasons is you're listening. Okay How much of that do you communicate with your coaches when you say? Hey, my shoulder's hurting today or my knees are hurting today, or i'm just really worn down today Do you communicate that with your coaches or do you just hope they don't see it? If you would have asked me that a couple years ago I'd be like, nope, they have to be able to be like something's wrong with her But yeah, a big part of being healthy and of maturing and that is being like, Hey, coach, I really don't feel good today. I'm not going to be able to go all out the way that I normally do. But I also have found that when I do that, and I keep those open lines of communication with my coaches, I'm back to being healthy much faster. So instead of me being down and like hurting for weeks and weeks, it's a couple of days, they're like, okay, go take an ice bath or take it easy today, maybe don't do this drill. And then you're able to get back into it and back being 100 percent and being yourself a lot faster than if you're like, Oh, I just hope they don't notice. So I definitely have started communicating all that to my coaches. We haven't talked about this and I probably should have started our conversation about this, but this is a great piggyback. But you're also on track to be valedictorian of your school. Yep. Yeah, there's about three of us that are right up in that running. So there's that three or four battle there for the time. But the fact that you're in that battle as a three sport athlete and not just somebody that's on these teams, you're the leader of your teams. Talk, talk first about why academics are important to you. And then I've got some follow up questions for you. Okay, yeah, academics are important to me because, well, I just like having good grades. I love having good grades. But also It's a pride thing, right? It is a little bit, but I love learning and I love the growth. That I see of just like always being able to advance my knowledge and a lot of the stuff that like I learn in Some of my elective classes of oh human anatomy or we have an exercise science class a lot of that I'm, like, okay, I can apply this knowledge that i'm gaining to being an athlete. But it's just so important. It's so important for your future of like It sets you up to go to school, to go to college, and it makes you way more recruitable. I know that's something that me and you have talked about on and on forever is like, Hey, make sure yes, you're still awesome on the court. You're awesome on the track, but make sure you're keeping up with your grades. Make sure you're keeping up with all that. Cause it makes a difference. Talk about what coaches college coaches that are recruiting you and have reached out to you Talk about some of the things they've said about your grades and your academics. They always ask me they're like, okay what's your gpa? I have 4. 0 and they're like, oh, it's just like always a sigh of relief They're like that's awesome. Then we can give you the max on the academic side They're like you can max out like you get the most scholarship on the academic side. Have you taken your sat? You I give them my SAT score and they're like, Oh, awesome. You know what I mean? You can get like the more money that coaches can give you from an academic side, the better it is for them. And the more they're like, yes, you're like, you're an awesome athlete. You're an awesome person. Like we want you for those things, but also when you're good in the classroom, that makes it easy for us to get you into the school. The school's going to pay for however many thousands of dollars, just because you have good grades and then we can just cover. Whatever, we can give you this much. Yeah. And I used this analogy with you long, long time ago. When your grades are great, you are a Mercedes that the coaches can get for the cost of afford. So they get this great, great kid, this great athlete that can make their program better. But they get you cheap because your grades are so good because they know the school is going to give you a ton of academic money Yeah, do you find that coaches are recruiting you? Because of that or maybe a little bit more because your grades are so good Oh, yeah, I think it just makes you even more attractive if you're on the edge and they maybe wanted you they Definitely like you're definitely in that like they definitely want you Absolutely. That's great. And it's such, you're such a good example for every student athlete out there because until you understand that coaches want you, have to get you in the door and if they can't get you in the door or they're concerned about getting you in the door or concerned about getting you enough money, They're just going to go find somebody else to recruit. You're not a priority for them. So when your grades are really, really good, you're making it easy for these college coaches to recruit you. Am I wrong? Nope. You're spot on. Yeah. So I wanted everybody to hear not only how important it is for you. Pride wise, you don't get good grades for your mom and dad and your coaches. You get good grades for you, right? Yeah. And it's made a huge difference in the quality of coaches and the quality of schools. You're getting some really great academic schools reaching out to you and and following up with you, which is great. I'm going to transition back into recruiting a little bit to talk about where you're at now. Okay. The last couple of weeks of kind of deterrent, we've turned the table, haven't we? Yeah, yep. Do you feel like because of what we did in the first five or six months, you're finally driving the car? Do you feel like you're in control? Yeah, I do. Talk a little bit about what you've done the last couple of weeks and you've had, you've got a couple dozen coaches that are talking to you, but we've narrowed it down to about a kind of a top six, maybe top seven. It kind of fluctuates still a little bit here, but what have you done with your top six to kind of push the journey a little bit in your favor? So with my top six schools I sat down with my parents. First of all, I texted them and I was like, Hey, coach, can you give me a good time to meet? You're one of my top schools. Can we do a zoom call? Me and my parents just have some questions. So Me and my parents actually sat down with you, of course, and you were like, K, you want to go into this and really figure out where you're at with these schools. Yes, they're taught for you, but are you taught for them? And so that was kind of the main thing going into these calls was like, K, where do we stand as far as like our athlete coach relationship? Where am I on your recruiting roster? Where can we move from there? So it's kind of, Like a little logistics meeting with all these coaches sitting down and being like, Hey, I'm really interested in you, but where are you at with me? What can I do to speed up that process? What can I do to help you be more sure about me? Or really just realistically to set priorities of Okay, they might be number one on my list, but I'm like number five on theirs. So then it kind of just reshuffles schools a little bit of, where they're out on my list. And even with a couple coaches, I was like, okay, so I really thought I liked this program, but me and my parents decided, Hey, we really don't think this is going to work for us. Like this just might not be for me. Do you feel like you would have eventually had those conversations with coaches if you wouldn't have asked for it, or do you feel like you'd have been waiting, waiting, waiting, hoping that they would have had that with you? I think a little bit of the waiting, waiting, waiting. And on some of them, but on others of I think we could have eventually have the conversation, but it's a lot better to have it now. Well, I'm really working of like, Hey, these are the schools that I really, really like. Like I'm trying to get my decision made before Christmas. So it just expedites the process of all the hemming and hawing around of Maybe I'll get a visit. Maybe I'll get a visit. And you sit down and you have a respectful, direct conversation of where you're at. And so it just makes it so much easier. Do you feel like they appreciate the fact that you were coming to them saying, Hey, I know you've shown interest in me. I'm really interested in you. We were really want to understand what your, what the calendar looks like. What does that schedule look like to get us to a point where we're making a decision? Did you feel like they respected you for that? Yeah, I think every coach really respected us for that and being able to ask their own questions too with my parents sitting there where else are you looking or like how interested Are you and us because they kind of need the same validation that I need it to. That's right. I think that's a, it's a really great point that I'm gonna have you elaborate on how important it is that you are showing some level of respect and loyalty to them, but they want that same thing back from you. Right? Yeah. And what did you, how did, what kind of questions do you feel like you asked that you've got the answers that you wanted from them? I think a huge part of it is how do you see me fitting into your program? Is there actually a spot for me or are you just recruiting me like, cause I have good times. And so seeing that they've thought about that or Hey, we've looked at your film and we would. As far as training goes, we want to increase your top end speed. Like you look like you're a volume runner. So we want you to be more fast, quick Twitch, or just them being able to give that feedback of yeah, you have a spot in our program. Like we have a plan for you. If you come here made it yeah. Super solid okay. So they've thought about me. Like they do want me to go there. I think that's probably the biggest thing for me is do I actually have a spot in your program? Yeah. Because I know some of these conversations you went into thinking this was going to be my school and you walked away going, No, I'm not so sure. And then there were some that you weren't sure where they were at. And they were like, Gosh, boy, that's it. That is because of the way they answered that question. Am I reading that right? Yeah, spot on. And especially Like one of my favorite questions to ask coaches is what's something that you emphasize within your program? What's something that makes you special? Like what makes you stand out against other programs? And a lot of times, by the way that coaches answer that, I get a feel for Oh, like I really liked that. Or, Oh I didn't really like that. Like the way that they responded to that. Yeah, that's great. Now you, I re we talk about you being the CEO of this journey. So a lot of your conversations you've had with coaches, just been you and the coach, and I asked you and your mom and dad to this level of conversation we're having, I asked you guys to have those conversations together with these coaches, what was the result of having mom and dad on those calls with you? Did you feel like there were things that each of you caught that maybe you wouldn't have caught or asked? Yeah, I really liked having my parents on these conversations with me because they weren't able to ask their questions to the coach. Just spot on and kind of get a feel for what they thought. But then it was also good because after the calls, then we all kind of got together and it was like we all really liked it or maybe, oh, Peyton, you should think about this. Like he just said this, maybe you should think about that a little bit more, or are you really going to like doing that? So just little stuff like that, where like my parents know me really well. And so they're like, Hey, have you thought about this? Just little points that I would have just kind of right over my head. So it was really helpful to have them on there ask questions that I don't think about because I'm thinking a lot of athletics and then my dad is very academics oriented. So he can sneak questions in there. And then my mom just overall process of do you really think it's going to be a good fit for you? So we all Come together to work together, and it works pretty good. Yeah. And I think that's, what's really powerful. I have some kids where dad is doing everything with the student athlete, or mom is doing everything and dad's not involved or mom's not involved. I think for you guys, again, you're a really great example because both your parents have very great values and love you, but they see the world differently and how they attack the world differently. And I think the fact that they got to be a part of this and give you their own advice, I think has really helped shape. Where your decision making is going to go, right? Yeah. Oh, a ton. Yeah. I think it's fantastic. All right. I've got one more question. I've actually, I've got two questions for you. And then I'm going to let you go because I know how busy you are and you don't get much time in the summer and I want you to have it. What advice would you give to that 15, 16, 17 year old that's thinking about starting their recruitment? What advice would you give them to do first? To get going, set your priorities, I think would be the very first thing. What really look like within yourself of K who am I, what type of program am I looking for? And also sit down with your parents or whoever. And everybody get on the same page. Cause I think that was the hardest part starting for me was it was again, chaotic and overwhelming because everybody was on different pages. So sit down, get on the same page and then really just start from square one. Purchase Matt Rogers's book, because that was super helpful to me. I know we got it and I would just be like, my dad read it. I think my mom read it. And then. I read parts of it that I needed as a flip through. I was going to say, if you read it all I'm shocked. I was lucky. Cause I got to sit down and talk with you all the time. So I didn't have to read the whole thing. But just little pieces of ice and it take advice where you can get it. It's a learning process as you go. So definitely just keep going, keep rolling with the punches and Trust the process, cause it's hard at first, but stick with it, be diligent, do what you need to do, market yourself to who you want to be, whoever that is, and then kinda go from there. That's great. And thank you for the plug it. That wasn't where I started with. Now, I do have one question for you. It's going to sound like it's a shameless question, but it's really not. It's it's more of the things that the reason I do this and you and I've talked about this. Neither of my parents went to college. I'm a first generation college kid. My high school coach didn't really want anything to do with our future. So I wasn't getting any help from the high school. So we were really lost. What advice would you give to families that. Are thinking about working with somebody like me that to partner with to help you through this journey? What advice would you give to families about the, is it useful? Is it valuable to have somebody doing this with you? Having you for me was the best thing that we ever did for my recruiting process. It's good even to just have somebody to shoot a text to and be like, Hey, so this coach said this, how do I reply or they said this on a call? What do you think of that? Make sure that whoever you're going to is genuine and respects what you want. I know a lot. They just will either look at your times or look at whatever. We had a few conversations with different people and they're like your D1 material. Let's get you to a D1 school instead of what do you want? So make sure that they're genuine. Genuine, you can have. Open and honest conversations. And I think everything kind of falls into place from there. And of course that they know what they're talking about. But it's great advice. And I think what's really cool for me is, and it's the heart of that word significance that I use all the time. I wanted you to be able to walk away from this journey to be able to teach others how to do it. Anybody that any young person, your siblings that you have, The younger friends that you have at your high school. I am so confident that anybody that comes to you and says, I need help with my recruiting, you can sit down and do the job. You can be their recruiting coach. You can give them the advice because you did it right. And you did it the right way from beginning to end. So that's why I'm so proud of you. And, we've got a little work left yet. We've got to. We've got some visits to do and we've got some offers that are coming and we've got to balance those offers and we're going to go through the financial aid and scholarship and admissions part of this over the next three and four months which is going to be intense, but we're in a place where most of that's just going to be paperwork and some conversations because we've done all the heavy lifting, haven't you? Yeah. Yep. That's great. Well, Baten again, I'm so proud of you and so thankful that I've gotten to be a small part of this journey with you. And, and I can't wait to see what comes of the next 10 years for you, let alone the next five. Yes. Thank you, Matt. I'm super excited. Well, thanks for being on today. I know we'll talk soon and whatever you need, you've got me. Yeah, of course. Thanks for having me. It was a pleasure and it was fun. Well, that's a wrap for this episode of the significant coaching podcast that is available. Audio only wherever you get your favorite podcasts. I'd like to thank my great guests, Payton Marrero. She has such a bright future ahead of her. We didn't get into the topic of her family, but the big reason this young lady is doing so well is the fantastic support system she has around her. Her parents, siblings, and coaches are top notch and provide her with the love and guidance that enables her to be the best version of herself. I'm so thankful for them being so easy to work with and such a great partner in their daughter's journey. That was a fun episode for me. And I hope you enjoyed hearing a student athlete's perspective on recruiting. Uh, Matt Rogers. Thanks for listening. Have a great week. Goodbye until next.