Living Your mainelove: One on one with Inspiring Coach PJ Singh

What does it mean to lead with purpose, positivity, and heart?

In this inspiring episode of the Living Your mainelove podcast, host Jeannie Assimos sits down with beloved Maine soccer coach PJ Singh to talk about the journey that shaped him—from growing up in Ghana, where soccer was played with stones in the street, to building a life and coaching career in Maine that has impacted countless young athletes.

PJ shares the lessons he's learned about leadership, resilience, teamwork, and choosing optimism, even when life isn't easy. He opens up about moving to Maine at 18, overcoming homesickness, embracing new cultures, and why the greatest victories aren't individual awards—they're the moments when an entire team succeeds together.

Transcript

mainelove 0:04

Welcome to Living Your Maine Love, the podcast that celebrates the people who are living with passion, purpose, and a whole lot of heart. Each month we'll sit down with people who are following what lights them up in Maine and beyond. Otherwise known as like the coach of Maine. Everybody just calls you coach, right?

PJ Singh 0:33

Coach PJ. Or you know, a coach.

mainelove 0:36

I don't know. I like I asked Marie about, oh yeah, I know, coach. The coach. I mean, so you've got quite the amazing reputation out here, PJ. And it's just so nice to be here with you. I've seen you at Hearts of Pine Games. We've had, you know, brief conversations there, but I thought we really want to get you in here because I feel like you have a lot to say and a lot to maybe offer people. Um, this podcast is sort of about, you know, being inspirational, aspirational, helping people in some way. So I feel like you're a great guest.

PJ Singh 1:05

Thank you very much.

mainelove 1:06

Um, but we're gonna start with a rapid fire. So just to get to know things that you we've never learned about you otherwise.

PJ Singh 1:12

Sure.

mainelove 1:13

So ocean or mountains?

PJ Singh 1:16

Uh yeah, ocean.

mainelove 1:19

Oceans. Okay. Um, coffee or tea?

PJ Singh 1:23

Coffee.

mainelove 1:24

Coffee. Are you like a basic black coffee guy or like a latte guy?

PJ Singh 1:27

No, chai latte. Chai latte. Uh this is why I was like, oh gosh. The Indian heritage of is definitely chai.

mainelove 1:36

Yeah.

PJ Singh 1:37

But I think living in America, coffee, so with cream and sugar.

mainelove 1:42

Right. Of course, yeah. Okay, the whole lobster roll thing. I'm, you know, I'm not a mainer, but you'll get the lobster roll with mayo or butter.

PJ Singh 1:50

Oh my god, I'd eat everything. Uh butter.

mainelove 1:53

Okay, good. I like butter, butter, too.

PJ Singh 1:55

Butter, butter.

mainelove 1:56

Um, Noah Kahan or Role Model.

PJ Singh 1:59

Noah Kahan

mainelove 2:01

Okay. He's great.

PJ Singh 2:02

Yeah, I just think New England also supports it.

mainelove 2:05

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Okay. Whoopee pie or blueberry pie?

PJ Singh 2:09

Whoopie pie.

mainelove 2:10

Okay. There you go. True Mainer! Okay. So we're now gonna get into the, you know, the meat of the to me, like when I've met you, you're just like so positive and you've seemed to have a lot of wisdom. What were you like as a kid? Were you that kid that was just kind of always wise behind your ears? Or tell me what you were like as a child.

PJ Singh 2:31

Uh, you know, I think what I've heard about myself as a as a child was that I was a thinker. Yeah. Um, I've always been that guy. I worry for the people that I care about. Um, so I I always uh, I guess, you know, like an old man, arms behind my back and just pacing.

mainelove 2:51

Yeah.

PJ Singh 2:51

Uh, and even now when I'm on a phone call, I'll pace.

mainelove 2:54

Yeah.

PJ Singh 2:55

And I think my older son has that tendency as well. He paces when he's on the call, and I'm like, oh God.

mainelove 3:02

You know, you're like mini me.

PJ Singh 3:05

Like, relax. Uh, I love to learn, uh, but you know, I think I'm more about like learning about life, languages, people, yeah, versus like, you know, like let's study about chemical reactions. Yeah. You know, like, yeah, I know.

mainelove 3:22

It's the stuff that matters in life, like the connection and communication and interpersonal relationships, right? Which is kind of as a coach, so important that you were talking right before this episode about, you know, it's not just about what's going on in the field or what's happening in the field, but like how you show up in life, right?

PJ Singh 3:38

Yeah, on and off the field that is what's gonna matter.

mainelove 3:41

Exactly. So, okay, so you grew up in Ghana.

PJ Singh 3:45

Yes.

mainelove 3:45

And then um, when did soccer enter the equation for you?

PJ Singh 3:50

Uh at a young age. Yeah. Um, it's you know, you'll hear a lot of people say this like, oh, football or soccer is like a religion.

mainelove 3:58

Yeah.

PJ Singh 3:59

Uh and in Ghana, growing up, you know, it was a thing you did at recess. It's a thing you did after school. It's a thing you did on the streets.

mainelove 4:09

Yeah.

PJ Singh 4:10

Um, I even tell people, like, we'd play with oranges.

mainelove 4:13

Would you?

Speaker 3 4:14

Um, you suck the juice and then you play with the orange. Or uh, we also had this game, and I don't know how many of my friends remember this, but they will once I say this. But we used to play with stone.

mainelove 4:27

With a stone?

PJ Singh 4:28

Yeah, a flat stone.

mainelove 4:29

Wow.

PJ Singh 4:30

A very flat stone, and and we played in in this whole uh assembly hall.

mainelove 4:35

Yeah.

PJ Singh 4:36

And there were rules. Like any game, anything in life, there are rules. And so some of the rules would be you can't step on the stone. Okay, you cannot shoot it. Uh everything was inside of the foot.

mainelove 4:49

What if your hand touches a stone?

PJ Singh 4:51

No way, no, so it stays, it stays on the surface, right? Okay. Um, you cannot hit it uh like too far. It has to go from one person to the next. So there was always like close um, and like you do that in a game is close touches, right? Yeah. Um so you play around someone or something like that. You can't just keep dribbling. Um, because again, it's a stone and it will get lost or it will pop up. And if it popped up, it's a foul.

mainelove 5:21

Okay.

PJ Singh 5:22

If it if it fell out of the so-called field, the assembly hall would bring it back in, and it was like not a throw-in, but a kick-in.

mainelove 5:30

Yeah.

PJ Singh 5:30

Or a pass in. Okay, so no, no tosses, not just you know, uh so football has been in my life from a very young age. Um on the streets, too, you know, stone ball is what we call it. So you you don't have goal posts, you put two larger stones.

mainelove 5:45

I was gonna ask you what the like goal posts were.

PJ Singh 5:48

Yeah, you use two larger stones. Um so we played anything anywhere.

mainelove 5:54

Yeah.

PJ Singh 5:55

Um, you know, if you didn't play in the Sunday League game, you we were playing in the backyard of a friend's, you know, uh what we call a lawn here, but we call garden.

mainelove 6:06

Uh-huh.

PJ Singh 6:06

Because you go to the garden and play. So we played all the time. And uh yeah, any opportunity, anything that looked like a ball, and even now in dress shoes, I'll end up kicking a ball, you know.

mainelove 6:18

Yeah.

PJ Singh 6:19

It's a big part of who we are. He either did football or you know, outdoor track and field or boxing.

mainelove 6:25

Oh, boxing. Okay.

PJ Singh 6:27

Uh my dad was into the boxing. Um, you know, watching it more, I would say. Maybe did it when he was younger, I'm not sure. But I was definitely into soccer. Yeah, uh, I didn't think that would really be so big in my life. Because I just did it right like everyone else.

mainelove 6:48

Yeah.

PJ Singh 6:48

But it it means w a lot to me. Way more than I I would have imagined.

mainelove 6:53

So when did it become when did you start thinking, wow, I want to do this for a living in some way, shape, or form? Did you want to be like a pro player? Did you ever have those?

PJ Singh 7:04

Yeah, at a young age, I wanted like any kid, you know, you want to be a pro. I played semi-pro. Um, I think there was one game. Oh god, I played terribly. And uh because I used to play as a defender.

mainelove 7:20

Okay, yeah, like fullback.

PJ Singh 7:21

I played fullback, center back, and then uh stopper.

mainelove 7:24

Okay.

PJ Singh 7:25

Uh I also played in goal. Um but I don't tell too many people that so yeah, I I you know I played that game and I think I it was I had heard it was being telecast.

mainelove 7:38

Wow.

PJ Singh 7:39

And I think that got in like nerves. Uh so I didn't play really well um until later in the game, but you know, it is what it is, and then um so that's where my idea to play in college came. Was like, well, this is not gonna happen. I also, you know, I think in the Western world there's a lot of support, you know, parents showing up to games.

mainelove 8:02

Yeah.

PJ Singh 8:03

Uh whether it's high school or premiere or club. And my father had said, if you want to be a soccer player, then let's become a soccer player and stop going to school.

mainelove 8:16

Oh wow.

PJ Singh 8:17

So it was very one or the other.

mainelove 8:20

Okay.

PJ Singh 8:20

It has changed now.

mainelove 8:22

Yeah.

PJ Singh 8:22

You know, but back then the society, the way they thought, it was one or the other. You cannot do both.

mainelove 8:28

Right.

PJ Singh 8:28

Um, and even now in life, I guess that has kind of followed me, you know, like I work in admissions, but I also coach. Yeah. And it's like, well, which one are you? Are you this or that? And it's like, why can't I do both?

mainelove 8:40

You can, you know.

PJ Singh 8:41

I am doing both. Yeah. And you know, so it is what it is. But it was after playing in college that I was a referee by chance uh for little kids.

mainelove 8:53

Oh, cute.

PJ Singh 8:54

And I realized everything I was listening to was booted, booted from the fans or parents and from the coaches.

mainelove 9:03

Yeah.

PJ Singh 9:04

And kids were just running around and smashing the ball.

mainelove 9:07

Right.

PJ Singh 9:07

And so I was in the middle and there was chaos. And so I started kind of coaching both teams.

mainelove 9:15

Oh wow.

PJ Singh 9:17

Because I was like, hey, you know, if you stand there, you can pass your friend over there and then get forward. And then I went to the other team and I was like, if you stand over here, da da da, you know. And then I was like, you know what? I can help people with this sport instead of just hearing them being taught to smash the ball.

mainelove 9:34

Yeah.

PJ Singh 9:35

As hard, kick it as hard as well.

mainelove 9:37

Right, right.

PJ Singh 9:38

Uh, and then I got into coaching and scouting, obviously. And I'd go to games and people would recommend a player to me and I'd say, Oh. And they'd be like, Yeah, she's got a good boot on her. And we call cleats boots.

mainelove 9:53

Mm-hmm.

PJ Singh 9:53

So I was initially I was like, Wait, what?

mainelove 9:56

Wow.

PJ Singh 9:56

And then I figured out they meant how hard the person had smashed the ball up the field.

mainelove 10:01

Wow.

PJ Singh 10:01

And they were like, see that? And I was like, Yeah, how hard can she boot it from here to about there?

mainelove 10:06

Yeah.

PJ Singh 10:06

So like the passing. Yeah. Can she boot it? Right as you're calling it from here to there?

mainelove 10:11

I don't think I've heard boot it.

PJ Singh 10:12

Oh, thank you. Really? Yeah, no. It's common.

mainelove 10:15

I played AYSO soccer. I grew up and played high school soccer, and I never heard boot it.

PJ Singh 10:18

So well, it was pretty common.

mainelove 10:20

Okay.

PJ Singh 10:20

Uh in this side of the country.

mainelove 10:22

Yes. Not in Cali.

PJ Singh 10:24

So it was, you know, it was um, I think people, once I got players that would come local players, uh, and they'd have, you know, I'd have players from Louisiana or Illinois or California, and they they saw the way we I wanted them to play. And they'd go back and watch their high school teams and then come back and be like, Coach, it was painful to watch. And I was like, ah, job done. I've educated someone, you know? Yeah.

mainelove 10:52

So so your job as coach, like you always saw it as like this is a team effort. We all we're all here together. We all, it's not about like one star, but it's you know, it's all working together for to win or to prevail.

PJ Singh 11:05

You know, stars will be born.

mainelove 11:06

Yeah.

PJ Singh 11:07

Um I always use uh analogies or references, and so like in a car, right? You need every part of the car to work, but somehow, like the engine is going to be an important part of movement. Yes, the steering wheel is going to be very important of the gears, yeah. So there's always going to be someone in in one part of the field, or I will call it a department, right? Attack, material, defense. That's gonna be very critical in in what happens, but everything needs to work, or else you're not going anywhere.

mainelove 11:43

True. Very good. That's a great analogy, actually. We're all needed here.

PJ Singh 11:47

Yes.

mainelove 11:48

Do you and I'm kind of like sidetracking, but I'm interested to know do the kids get jealous of the person who's sort of like the leader of the team, or how do you deal with that? Is there envy that goes on, or or if somebody has getting an ego a little too large?

PJ Singh 12:02

No, I thought I mean it does happen on occasion, but I think overall I try to uh create an environment where people believe in the togetherness, so they celebrate their teammates winning.

mainelove 12:16

That's awesome.

PJ Singh 12:17

They celebrate uh I remember one year I had a forward who should have been all conference, uh, and she didn't get player of the year. She was all conference, uh, and so that was upsetting her, and then I didn't get coach of the year. And that upset half the team, and we had a playoff game and they performed poorly and they were very young, so yeah, that was part of the problem was that they were they were there for the team but then got wrapped up in the individual awards. Um so the individual awards are where it gets complicated because people are like, Well, we've done this work, we deserve it. And is and I had to teach them that I don't care about that individual award. I want the championship at the end.

mainelove 13:05

Yeah.

PJ Singh 13:06

Because that shows the work of everyone and myself, right? Because I'm no winner if my team's not winning.

mainelove 13:13

Right. Yeah.

PJ Singh 13:14

So I had to help them understand that uh that I don't win if you don't win. And I'm kind of secondary, right? Yeah. Um players on the game. Yeah. So I can try to teach you stuff if you don't if you don't do it on the field, then you know, it makes my job harder because every session I'm trying to I cannot progress unless you you can run if you don't know how to walk and jog. Uh and sometimes people want immediate success, right? Yeah. Um, or they think, oh, we've got this player very skillful and they can do it. And it's like, all right, you know, we can try, but yeah, at the end of the day, we're not playing the way I would like us to play, and it's going to backfire.

mainelove 13:56

There's no I and team, right, PJ?

PJ Singh 13:58

There's an M and an E, but I tell them to turn the M upside down.

mainelove 14:01

Oh.

PJ Singh 14:02

So it's a we thing, you know.

mainelove 14:03

There you go. I love that. That's amazing. Um, so let's talk about. So you uh grew up in Ghana and moved to Maine when you were 17, 18?

PJ Singh 14:14

Yeah, I turned 18.

mainelove 14:15

Okay.

PJ Singh 14:16

Uh I was here for I think a week or two, and then I turned 18.

mainelove 14:20

What brought you uh to Maine specifically?

PJ Singh 14:23

Uh so I was looking to attend college, okay, university, and I was being recruited by a couple places um by my friend, who I'm actually gonna see next week at the Ghana England World Cup game.

mainelove 14:37

Awesome.

PJ Singh 14:37

After so many years. He was attending a university in Maine. And so he introduced me to the state of Maine, you know, because I was looking at the typical Florida, New York, you know, Louisiana, California, yeah, Rhode Island too. And then he was like, uh state of Maine, you know, and I was like, oh, what is that? What is it? And he was like up here, northeast, you know, blah, blah, blah. And so I looked at the temperatures, but that didn't bother me. Uh-huh. For some reason, I was just like, oh, I like the cold. I didn't realize what the cold was at the time. But uh, he said, you know, come here, and then I was looking at a couple schools, and he was like, Nope. Look at the smaller ones. You can focus on your studies, and you so he did the sales pitch to me.

mainelove 15:24

Yeah.

PJ Singh 15:25

Obviously, he was here, so uh, I grew up Indian, right? So I'm I'm from Ghana, but my family's Indian, so there's a lot of community.

mainelove 15:34

Oh, yeah.

PJ Singh 15:34

I have a a mesh or mishmash or whatever you want to call it of of different cultures. So my friend is there, so I have to listen to what he's saying because it's you know, yeah, uh, I'm not there, so he probably knows better, and that's an Indian thing.

mainelove 15:49

Right.

PJ Singh 15:50

Uh, and so I listened and I was like, oh yeah, sure. So I ended up in in a in a small school on the coast of Maine, and um the rest is his still here, uh yeah. So he was in Maine for like two years and then left. So he went to UMass. Yeah, I mean it was but it was good, you know. Yeah, it was uh if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be in Maine. Yeah so he did leave. He's now in uh the Carolinas with his family, and I'm still here in Maine. So a lot of people will be like, Wow, are you still in Maine? And I'm like, Yeah, you know, this Maine six soccer coach, I'm here, you know. Yeah I'm uh representing my culture and my people in the state of Maine. Uh Maine's given me a lot.

mainelove 16:38

So Yeah, I wanted to ask you about, you know, do you remember when you first came and was it a difficult adjustment?

PJ Singh 16:45

Absolutely. Uh I do remember when I came, it was January.

mainelove 16:50

January?

PJ Singh 16:51

It was January, it was snowing.

mainelove 16:52

Yeah.

PJ Singh 16:53

The school actually had a snow, a snow day.

mainelove 16:57

Um you're like, what have I done?

PJ Singh 16:59

Well, so I, you know, back home, you take a two-hour trip, it's uh vacation, uh-huh. Picnic.

mainelove 17:05

Right.

PJ Singh 17:05

And I had a nine-hour bus from New York to to Bangor, Maine. I slept so many times. Woke up and I was like, oh, I guess there's snow, but I didn't realize how much snow. So the first few a month or so, I'll say, was like adjusting to like it's cold, I can just run everywhere. I fell so many times.

mainelove 17:29

Did you?

PJ Singh 17:29

Yeah, because I'd be running to class and I'd slip and fall on ice. Or so the nurse, Sue, can't remember her last name. But anyway, Sue, she was a good friend of mine because of the number of times I would go in there.

mainelove 17:42

Oh she's like, You're back again.

PJ Singh 17:45

She was like, What did you do? And I was like, Well, I was running, and I took it, I I took that right turn and flew in the air and landed. Uh huh. You know, so I stopped running, obviously, but um had to adjust to that. And I did get homesick uh for one weekend. Um, not a whole weekend, it was like a couple days, and it was so like I I don't know. So what happened is I I got homesick and I was sleeping. You know, you have that low depression, yeah. Of course. I slept. And there was a comedian on campus, and everyone came to my room, my f my teammates and friends, and they were sharing how much fun this comedian was. And I sat there like, I've just missed out. You know, and then I also thought, you know, all these guys in my room excited, and then I think they knew that I was down. Uh so they were like there, and I was like, you know, I made a choice. I made the choice to be here. All these people want me to be here, they care about me. So why am I sulking? Because I'm missing something, I'm missing family and whatever. So I got over it, and I know not everyone can do that that quickly. Yeah. Um but I always remember that story, and I always share it with people I'm recruiting. Uh, whether they're athletes or non-athletes, I share that with them, whether they attend my school or not. Uh, for a couple players of mine, I remember I I got them lemons and had a smiley face, and on the other side was a frowning face. So I was like, it's your choice which one you want to look at, and you know what to do with this lemon.

mainelove 19:26

Yeah.

PJ Singh 19:27

You can suck on it or you can put it in water, make lemonade.

mainelove 19:32

Make lemonade, right? I love that. That's so I love that. That's so cool.

PJ Singh 19:37

Try to stay positive for people.

mainelove 19:39

Yeah, I love that. Well, that's a great area we can vary into. Um, what advice would you have for people? Like, I feel like you're very authentic, intentional, um, positive. What advice would you have for people that want to live that way, want to have that shared perception?

PJ Singh 19:57

Uh, to accept that it's not easy to be this way. Um, I do, you know, uh let's be real. I cannot live positively all the time. Oh right.

mainelove 20:07

Who does? Yeah.

PJ Singh 20:08

Uh but I'm thankful that I have people in my life that I can vent to or share sometimes. But at the end of the day, I also think, you know, can I like for for someone else?

mainelove 20:23

Yeah.

PJ Singh 20:24

Can I be positive? Can I say something or do something that'll make them smile or laugh? Or and sometimes, you know, people like I don't care. I'll just chat up with anybody and uh and sometimes it's weird, right? People like, well, what was this guy doing? Just chatting and trying to be funny. And uh I feel sorry when people think like that. Yeah. Uh, because I'm like, wow, you must be so miserable.

mainelove 20:53

Well, I mean, there's like the an epidemic of loneliness nowadays, you know, and like we're more connected than ever, but we're lonelier than ever. So, you know, I feel like out being actually out and talking to people is what it's about, right?

PJ Singh 21:08

It for me it is. Yeah. And then there's also, you know, sometimes there's these things like, you know, keep your thoughts to yourself and don't share. And, you know, I don't know. It's supposed to be a growth mindset. I'm like, yo, that's miserable, man.

mainelove 21:21

Like really?

PJ Singh 21:22

I yeah, I you know, I was in Iceland for my 40th.

mainelove 21:27

Cool.

PJ Singh 21:28

And I was like, just being me. Cool, cool place to be. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I was, it was, I don't know. I something called and I went. Um, and there was people that were being like, you know, like closed off.

mainelove 21:41

Yeah.

PJ Singh 21:42

Or it's just me and my wife or me. And by the end of our little tour group, it was a food tour. Um, because I was just I, you know, being myself, just chatting and laughing, and and I shared with people like, listen, I don't know if I'll ever see you again. Uh, don't really care. If you want to or not, but why I want you to leave here is you remember that hey, this guy was on a tour, and he was happy and he shared joy with us and he made us smile and laugh. And you know, it's a food tour, so people are eating, some people are not eating certain things, but at the end of the tour, everyone was like laughing and chatting and you know, getting to know each other. And a young couple announced to everyone that they were going to have a child.

mainelove 22:28

Aw.

PJ Singh 22:28

And that's why she was not having alcohol. And so that only happened because of breaking down those walls.

mainelove 22:37

Yeah. No, absolutely.

PJ Singh 22:39

Uh, and yeah, and I felt so happy to know that about them. And, you know, having two young kids myself, I was I was so happy for them and and shared that with them. And I felt like uh, you know, I don't know how to maybe like a Steve Harvey out there, you know. I was like seeing people and they were engaged, an introvert, an extrovert.

mainelove 23:00

You're kind of like the mayor. You seem to like know everyone, you're just open and people want to talk to you and well some does that's a gift.

PJ Singh 23:09

That's fine. But shut up, man. And I'm like, all right, well.

mainelove 23:12

That's just more about them though, and their uncomfortability, maybe with themselves, you know.

PJ Singh 23:17

I feel like, oh man, you know, you don't want to laugh about this. Okay, you know?

mainelove 23:20

Yeah.

PJ Singh 23:21

But sometimes, you know, through a negative experience, a very positive experience can come.

mainelove 23:26

That's true.

PJ Singh 23:28

If I offend somebody, I let them know, like, hey, you know, I maybe I joked too far, yeah, you know, and uh it wasn't meant to offend you or hurt your feelings. Um, I just wanted to see you laugh. And unfortunately I it went the other way. So uh forgive me, and if maybe later you can think on this moment and and laugh about it and say that idiot, you know, you know, peed me off and whatever. Just yeah, you know, hopefully you've you can find it in your heart to forgive that. I was being silly. And even when I coach, you know, like people don't understand uh asking a player not to play or subbing a player uh for the sake of rotation, or uh no, they're not playing well and they just need to be out. Yeah, right? Yeah, but uh it's our profession, it's our job, and we need to do what's right for the team. However, it's not always fun. Yeah, I was gonna think people need to understand that like coaches who care genuinely care about you, it's not fun. Yeah. Um, if you're just looking for the result, then it's a job, and then you know, we have a job to do, and um, and you have a job to do, which is to improve and get better. And not think that you are the finished article and yeah, you know who's ever the finished article?

mainelove 24:55

I don't know anyone, right?

PJ Singh 24:56

Keep growing, right? It's exactly what life is.

mainelove 25:00

Yeah, what's the hardest part of being a coach?

PJ Singh 25:02

Uh I'll speak for myself. Yeah. Uh I care a lot about my I'll call them my family, right? My team. Uh so the hardest part is uh knowing that I care so much. Sometimes it it cannot be reciprocated. So that's hard, which is okay. It's life. Yeah. Um or when they don't get the result that they've worked hard for. So that's tough, you know. I coached a team this year, uh that had no one uh I think they won one game the year before. And this year they won, I think they were undefeated actually in the in the season. Too many ties, unfortunately. But again, that's not a loss. Uh so that's a positive. And um we went to a tournament and didn't concede a goal, scored a bunch of goals, and we got to the final and didn't have a goalkeeper. And so unfortunate scenario, not to ask a forward to be in goal, and she did a great job. She even made the game went to uh shootouts. Wow, yeah, so the pressure and we had no subs, you know, so 11 players, no keeper all the way to shootout. She did make a save and then she made another save, and then the ball like trickled through. And we ended up losing. Uh, and I was super proud of the team, but they were hurt and I and that hurt me because I was like, you know, they deserve this.

mainelove 26:39

Yeah.

PJ Singh 26:40

Because if we had one sub, I think we could have done it. But the fact that they had to play all weekend than uh lack of a goalkeeper that so I was very proud of them, they were proud of themselves, but it took a minute for them to, I think, realize you know, the whole the bigger picture. Um and so in life, I think these young ladies have hopefully learned that no matter what scenario environment or situation you're in, remember this game and how hard you worked. And the fact that it took this team because they had six subs at a time or five.

mainelove 27:18

Wow, wow.

PJ Singh 27:18

It took them all the way to penalty shootouts.

mainelove 27:21

Exactly.

PJ Singh 27:22

And still didn't concede, it wasn't like oh, it was one-one and we went to shootout. It was they didn't score on you. We didn't concede a goal. So like you've done great. Yeah. Um, you know, maybe next year we'll go back and and and take what is rightfully ours. So it's about reframing, right? It's always like different ways to look at things. And it's like, let's choose to look at this from you know how we showed up and did so well.

mainelove 27:50

Yeah. Um, what are you excited about in your life now? Like what, you know, what are you looking forward to?

PJ Singh 27:55

I've had a lot of changes this past year, you know, a new job, uh, a new club. Um, the club I was with, I was very happy with. Uh, but you know, I'm getting older and uh the situation I was I am in, right? Where I I'm uh now at Thomas College and working with the women there and we're rebuilding the program. It's a little bit more work than my previous institution. Right. Where uh they've been winning and a little easier, not say it's easy, but a little easier there to there's attraction and we have to build that attraction for sports. Um and so that new challenge I'm excited about, the new changes we can hopefully bring. Um so I had to switch clubs too. So again, there's an excitement of that being able to work with these young ladies and see them grow. That's exciting. Um life in general is a little exciting. I'm getting to meet new people, you know, even this right now. This was uh a chance moment, yeah, I believe maybe two years ago. And it's grown into a moment like now, right?

mainelove 29:09

Yeah, that's cool.

PJ Singh 29:10

Yeah, I think I'm just I don't know, I'm just excited for things happening in in my life and in Maine.

mainelove 29:18

Yeah.

PJ Singh 29:18

Now there's women's soccer coming to Maine.

mainelove 29:20

I know, that's so cool.

PJ Singh 29:21

Hearts of Pine in the second season, and the there's a lot to be thankful for. Um, my my older son is going to high school, he had the highest average, he was uh uh spelling bee champ in Maine.

mainelove 29:36

Wow, congrats!

PJ Singh 29:37

Yeah, thank you. I didn't do much he did, so but you know, but he's an extension of you, you can be proud, you know. He wanted uh to earn an award in something, and he he he said he worked really hard and he got it. And I was like, oh, cool, what was that? What was it? And he goes, Jim, and I was like, oh god. So, you know, I am super proud of my kids too.

mainelove 30:01

That's great.

PJ Singh 30:02

So there's a lot to be thankful for and and excited for uh in life.

mainelove 30:06

Awesome. Well, I'll ask one more, and I did ask you this at the game, but I want to get it on camera too. If you could share main love, and I'm gonna switch it up with a car full of like amazing people in the world, living, dead, famous, not who would it be and why? Who would you do a road trip drinking maine love with?

PJ Singh 30:23

So Mandela has to be here, right? Because I also said Mandela. So Mandela, yeah, dead and alive, so Arsen e Wenger. You know, he's probably my idol when it comes to coaching.

mainelove 30:34

Oh, awesome.

PJ Singh 30:36

Um, I would have Pele.

mainelove 30:38

Of course. Hello.

PJ Singh 30:40

He's gonna be there. And then uh Thierry Henry.

mainelove 30:43

Wow.

PJ Singh 30:45

He's now on uh gosh, he's a pundit as well, but oh cool. He's the all-time goal scorer for Arsenal. Uh Wenger and Henry are pretty thin, and so is Pelle. So I think I can squeeze one more person in the back seat. Yeah, we haven't talked about what kind of vehicle, but yeah, I think uh and the one other person I'd probably have in there. We need someone for music.

mainelove 31:10

Yeah.

PJ Singh 31:11

Oh man, I don't know, but maybe we can have Bob Marley in there.

mainelove 31:14

Bob Marley would be awesome.

PJ Singh 31:16

You know, yeah. You know, Bob Marley put him in there and it should be fun.

mainelove 31:21

Bob Marley, I love it.

PJ Singh 31:22

Each person can have their own flavor, but the classic has to be with me.

mainelove 31:26

Are you gonna bring orange oranges? If you guys want to pull over, actually, you know what?

PJ Singh 31:33

Bob plate, Bob Marley played soccer. Um shining video, you know.

mainelove 31:37

Yes, I love Bob Marley. I love Ziggy Marley too.

PJ Singh 31:40

Some uh uh sunny D.

mainelove 31:43

There you go.

PJ Singh 31:43

Yeah, really take it to the next one. 100%. I love and I'm a dessert guy, so we need cake at some point.

mainelove 31:48

So yeah, the whoopee pie.

PJ Singh 31:50

Oh, yeah, true.

mainelove 31:51

We can do the whoopee pie, chocolate, chocolate, of course, chocolate. PJ, thank you. What a great conversation! That was so fun. Um, that's it, guys.