Episode 15: Coach, Just Doesn't Understand Me!!

On this episode, you will get to hear about why coaches suck when it comes to treating us goalies fairly or providing feedback/comments when they know practically NOTHING about the position.  We tackle some important issues surrounding coaches who know nothing but yet feel they need to provide us their "Goalie Knowledge" and that if we don't take it, we don't play.

Listen as our Podcast team tackles this issue, with Coach Rach Costello and Coach Tyler Storer. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

On this episode, we are talking about coaches who know little to nothing about goalies. Why do they give feedback when they never took a shot in their entire life? Do they think watching other goalies gives them the knowledge to give good feedback to their goalies? Bro. Until you've been blamed for every single loss in your life, step off. The goalies matter podcast team is going to be tackling this important topic. So grab some popcorn, grab a campicture, settle yourself in. You're not going to want to miss this one.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Let's go. This is the dark side of the Mask Podcast, a Goalies Matter production. This podcast will give you an inside look behind the mask, both the physical one worn by goalies and the emotional one we use to hide our burdens we carry. We'll address the issues affecting goalies' mental health and help you see the light. We want you to know that you are not alone in this fight. So let's fight this battle together.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Welcome to the Dark Side of the Mask. I'm your host, Coach Giggs. And today, and for many of you, we are deep into the spring season, and we're getting one story after another regarding the topic we're going to be discussing today, and that is ungoalie educated coaches. Again, let me say that again. Ungoalie educated coaches and why they don't understand us or what comes with the position that we play. They think that by watching goalies, they simply know everything about the position when clearly they know absolutely nothing about us or the position. Today is a special episode because I have brought the podcast team together to discuss this topic. They all have different perspectives and opinions, but at the end of the day, we have all experienced the same bullshit feedback and treatment from these ungoalie educated coaches. Alright, as you can tell, I'm clearly getting fired up. Let's get after it. Okay, joining us today is our podcast team, which consists of myself, Coach Tyler Storr, who's a friend coach, former goalie, and now in digital productions. And also we have Coach, I can officially call you coach, Rachel Costello, local high school head coach here in the state of Michigan. Uh so team, welcome aboard and joining me on this podcast today.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Thank you. Happy to be here.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Awesome. So, anyways, so this is a topic I have been wanting to tackle for quite some time, and a topic that's gonna hit close to home for so many, if not all, goalies in the goalie community, no matter the talent lever, no matter the division. I mean, we've all had coaches for the most part who either never played goalie or never even played lacrosse, but yet they try to give us feedback, but it's not really good feedback. They make decisions without truly knowing what to take into consideration, and many just default to fucking politics, which drives me nuts when it comes to playing time decisions and whatnot. So, how did we get here? Why is this happening? And is this happening all over to include the hotbeds, or are we just the lucky ones in these non-hotbed regions that get blessed with these ungoalie educated coaches? So I'm gonna let you guys kick this thing off because I could be here to like talk you guys blue in the face uh regarding this topic. So, team, what are your initial thoughts regarding these coaches? Why don't they understand us as goalies and and how has it affected you guys personally as you guys were growing up? Rachel, why don't you kick things off?

SPEAKER_02 3:34

Yeah, so um I've had a lot of different coaches in my career as a goalie, and some understood and some really got the goalie position, and some were able to um hire outside help and hire goalie help, but that wasn't the case for for some of the teams. You know, budget, budgets are tight, especially when it comes to women's lacrosse. Um, so just trying to make sure that I'm clearly communicating with a coach, um, making sure that I'm saying what I need to be um doing um and trying to be your own coach is something that that um you really have to have to do and and and speak for yourself and vouch for yourself and not not every coach will will understand exactly what you're saying and they'll continue to do some things that aren't beneficial to a group of goalies or one goalie, depending on what team you're at. Um, so I mean it's it's all about learning. And as a goalie, I feel like we all have a very good open mind when it comes to learning different things. You know, we're we're learning goalie uh skills, but also trying to make sure that, you know, I'm able to read an attackment. So understanding that, I think that goalies have a very open mind where where sometimes coaches don't have an open mind when it comes to getting goalie education for themselves. Um, so I think that that that is the number one thing that I would I would love to see change.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Absolutely, 100%. Uh Tommy, what are your thoughts?

SPEAKER_03 5:07

So I'm not gonna lie, I'm spoiled. I've always had good goalie coaches, like I like especially for being from Florida, like um, you know, my my goalie coach all through high school um was was the person that held the record for say percentage at UMass until Salicasio came along. So like um I was blessed to have have a great uh goalie coach through through high school and and and then at limestone and by you, um a dedicated goalie coach. So in terms of me personally, like being spoiled, um I have been, right? But um that being said, I I I've seen a lot of of good and I have definitely seen uh a lot of bad. Um in terms of like how we got here, the one thing that I would love to see change is that I think there's a lot of this like goalies to be a goalie, you have to be um psycho. Like every goalie has something mentally wrong with them. And if every goalie, and to be a good goalie, you have to have something mentally wrong with you, then how the position is taught doesn't matter. Like you just have to find the kid that's like crazy enough to just pop in the goal and have shots whipped at him, and if they can make it through that, then everything else will fall into place, right? Um, and although I I think there's you know certain uh mindsets um that you know may give a goalie like a little bit of a natural edge. I think that the goalie position can be taught just like any other position. And if you teach it the right way, you could have a completely sane, normal, not off the rocker kid that is taught the goalie position and becomes excellent at it. And I think that's like one of the big things that I've seen in terms of like why maybe sometimes the coaching is off. Like I I've had coaches that tell me, like, I just you know have a bunch of kids that raise their hand, and I just, you know what, I throw the ball at them as hard as I can, and if they don't flinch, then that's the goalie. I'm like, that has got to be the dumbest mindset I have ever heard in my life, right? Or like coaches that you know fling a shot at a kid, he's 10 years old, he gets hit right in the bare shin, and then on the next shot, like doesn't move the same way and flinches, and he's like, oh, he's scared of the ball. And I'm like, no, you idiot. He's not scared of the ball. And you know, he's actually really intelligent because his brain is working, yours clearly isn't, because if you put your hand on a hot stove, you don't leave it there and go, oh, this is awesome, right? Like you touch a hot stove, you're like, oh, snap. So the next time that you see a hot stove, you're like, oh, I should be careful, right? So you take a freaking, you know, 90 mile an hour shot to your shin as a kid, um, and then you see the exact same thing, your brain goes, oh yeah, no, get out of the way of that thing. And so, of course, they flinch. It doesn't mean they're scared of the ball, it means their brain is doing its job. And the over only way to override that, right, is through good goalie training. Yep. And teaching the position the right way, because um then you can override sort of that brain's natural response to you know, perceive danger and get the heck out of the way.

SPEAKER_01 8:40

Right. Yeah, because we have that we have that fight or flight mentality all the time as a goalie. You have to. Um, but I want to touch back on on the crazy psycho part because I think that's interesting because I always say it in my camp. I go, to be a goal, you have to be a little bit off. You have to have you're missing something upstairs, a cell here or there, to say, yeah, I'd love to jump in the goal. And what's so funny about that is I just got back from a week-long work trip at in uh in South Bend, and I had some free time. So I went to go check out uh the Nordame's campus, and I was over there, and holy shit, Nordame was actually practicing the number one team in the country. So I literally sat there, and of course, I'm gonna watch all the goalies play and whatnot. So for two hours, I'm sitting there watching Nordame practice, D1, you're right, and I thought there was a lot of interesting things. So, number one, some observations. Number one, the goalie coach who was actually worried for first of all, all four goalies were getting warmed up simultaneously at the exact same time. The one who was warming up their top goalie was actually the offensive coordinator, and he wasn't just he was the one thing, and I watched him the entire time, he didn't take one hard shot, you know, a natural hard shot, but nothing. He wasn't ripping it, he wasn't crease-cranking it, he wasn't seeing how fast he can. He literally was just placing the shots and getting the goalie to move, and he just kept was repetitions about you know placements and things like that, getting the guy to move one way or the other, right? And and after about maybe five minutes, I think the guy I I it was a Ricardelli, I think is his last name, uh, their star goalie. Literally, I think he was like just dripping in sweat, and he wasn't getting ripped on by that very much. So then later on, I'm watching the midfielders and the attack, man. They're doing a shooting drill at the far end of the field, uh, and they got their number one backup, and he's a grad assistant. I was doing some research, but anyways, he was a he's a he's a grad grad student, and he was in there and he was getting shelled. Here's the funny thing these kids were ripping shots on them, right? But you're talking about the best team in the country right now. Uh literally, they're they weren't missing the goal, they literally were hitting the pipes, the inside part of the pipe. They were scoring every single shot, ripping shot. The goalie could just I could have just stand there and I wouldn't have gotten hit because that's how fast the shots were coming. And the ones that did hit him, they either hit him in his stick because, well, they were shooting, and right, and he's a lefty. Uh, so naturally, he's gonna make the save, right, Tyler? Lefties always have to have the advantage, and and and he either he didn't even move a stick, they literally shot it right at a stick. He took one off the hand, which you could tell it hurt him, he took one off the shin, which you could tell it hurt him, took one off the foot that hurt him. And the funny thing is this coach stopped the drill and he yelled at those four guys who hit the goalie, and not so much because out of the safety of the goalie, right? Because I mean, these things were pinging off them, and you could just tell they were hurting. He's like, But he yelled at them because those were not going to be goals, those were going to be stopped shots by any goaltender in this division one level. You hit a goalie, that is not a goal. You are here to score goals, so that's why they were hitting corners and dinging pipes because that's what they should be doing. If you're hitting a goalie, you're not actually scoring the goal. Um, but at least it was control, and the offensive quarter and slash goalie coach was actually monitoring that to make sure that, okay, not just for the safety of the goalie, but also reminding the uh offensive players that that you you take good shots, take better shots, and then we don't just hit goalies because we want to hit goalies, which is what has come come of it uh in these non-hotbed regions. That's the reason why we're here today and talking about this because coaches are letting players shoot on these goalies who don't know how to shoot properly and are pinging goalies left and right, and goalies are stepping out like is this natural? Is this right? My head, I have a concussion, parents are losing their martibles too because my kids coming home with headaches and concussions, this, that, and the other thing. And what did the coach do about it? He did nothing. I was just working with a program that I worked with this this this spring, and the same thing happened. Girl hits my goalie in the square in the head and immediately stopped the stopped the drill, told her to drop, give him, give the whole team, give the uh take, give 15 push-ups, and everyone was gonna watch her. We're gonna stop. She has to take do 15 push-ups, and then the girl got up on her own when she got done and went right over to her goalie, apologized, and said, I apologize, I didn't mean to do that. That was unintentional, that was accidental. I didn't mean to hit you, whatever. Same kind of concept, like the Notre Dame situation. Um, but she she meant the apology, and coach was dead serious about you're not gonna hurt her goaltender. That's not how you're going to, you know, that's not how you you're hitting the goalie, you're not scoring goals. That's a that's pure and simple. So I thought that was pretty awesome. I think I want to, you know, give kudos to to that coach and to the team that I was working with. Um, and then the last one the last example I had too was Angie Benson. So I've one of the things I learned from Angie a long time ago, she did a thing like if you and and she this is when she and Taylor were actually Moreno were actually grouped together and they were doing clinics for a little bit, and they said, if you want to be a good goaltender or great goaltender, you got to do something a little bit crazy. Make a save that's not your routine typical textbook save. You have to do something a little bit different, drop to a knee, do the splits, you know, throw your body in front of the ball, you know, unexpectedly. Do whatever you can to make that big crazy save um to make that additional stop. So, yeah, there is a little bit of a a missing link in the brain that you actually have to have in order to be a good goaltender. Um, but at the same time, we gotta get back to the good goalie instruction. And again, you were privileged, Tyler, to you know, grow up in an environment where you had good goalie coaching. But then you go out to Utah, and Utah is not a hotbed state by any stretch of the means. So you have these, yes, you have if you're if you're from a hotbed, you're gonna be blessed with with goalie coaching and coaches that care. Um, and even the coaches that I I've come into contact with, you know, here's the Notre Dame, here's Angie Benson, you know, the team I worked with, they all come from relatively good programs and they understand that goalies are a big part of the team and that we have to take care of them. So we're not here to just beat the crap out of them, which some of these coaches think they can get away with and just do. And so when parents are arguing and goalies are arguing about what they just they have, they throw us in there like pin cushions. I said, Well, is it structured shooting and are they watching looking out for you as well? So, like if you're getting so my thing is if you're getting hit in like shoulders, that's one thing, if you're getting hit in arms, that's one thing. It means they your body's in the right spot and they're actually making an attempt to shoot to the sides of you or to the corners. Um, but if they're hitting you, you know, center chest in the head, you know, directly in the midsection, those aren't quality shots, they're not legitimately taking shots to score. Um, whether they're accidental or on purpose, you know, that's where coach has to step in and they have to say something and control that environment and control that drill. And this is the shit that drives me absolutely a bonkers is that I I will go and I will watch a practice from a distance, and I'm like, what are they doing? Even with the warm-ups, like they're getting 10 shots and they're getting crease crank shots. I'm like, that's not warming up your goalie, that's not taking care of your goalie. So there's always these root causes, and where could we start with? We could start with the goalie, but at the same time, the coaches have to take some accountability at some point, and they have to be accountable for their actions. And that's where I think we see a disconnect today among coaches and good coaches. Like, yeah, you have coaches that can do X's and O's all day long. You don't have to be in the lacrosse environment to understand X's and O's. You can be a basketball coach coaching lacrosse, but until you truly understand what lacrosse is all about and truly understand what a goalie is all about, you're never gonna really be able to put those two pieces together and really truly fully understand that.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

So um, I got a funny, I got a funny story for you about that, Utah. So uh Jason, Coach Lamb started um junior high lacrosse in Utah Valley um when I was there, and got he got some of the players to help coach along with some other people, right? And so I got a team, and two years in a row, my team went undefeated in the junior high league and win a championship. And after the second year of doing it, Coach Lamb attributed it to the fact that I was the only team that actually had a goalie that stopped shots. And so he made me the next year, he didn't let me coach a team, he made me coach the goalies at every team. And so to like, because it was just that bad. And uh, and so I did. So the third year of doing it, I ended up only coaching goalies, but for all the teams in the Utah County Junior High League, because he said that's the biggest difference. He was like, Your team, the goalie actually makes saves, and a lot of these other teams, the save is when it hits the kid, and that's it.

SPEAKER_01 17:28

Yeah, so so yeah, and that's that's what you gotta do. Sometimes you have to be like the the county coach, the county goalie coach, or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

And that's what it was. And I and I did it for one year, and after that I miss I missed my team too much. So I was like, I I want to have my team back.

SPEAKER_01 17:44

I get it. So all right, as always, so I'm gonna I'd like to kick off my my my topic here as always with my top 10 list of contributing factors that affect mental health. Uh so here we go. And so contributing factors that affect our mental health due to bad coaches uh or ungoalie educated coaches, and I will repeat that again ungoalie educated coaches. So kicking off my list at number 10, they simply have no initiative to learn the position. Number nine, blatant disregard for understanding physical pain that we experience. Number eight, politics playing favorites over qualified goalies. Number seven on my list, support us when we win. Awesome, but blame us when we lose. Tip of the spear. Always is the case. Number six, hot coaches have high expectations of us all the time, and if we don't live up to it, it's just gonna result in failed results. Number five on my list, no empathy nor sympathy for what or how we are feeling as a goaltender, whether it be losses, pain, you name it. Number four on this long list of factors. Stupid comments like, hey, why don't you play more like insert some D1 or pro goalie? Sorry. Now do no two goalies are the same. Hate to tell you that. Number three, we're getting to the top three now. Broad or general comments that don't exceed one or two words for feedback. Move your feet. Great. Stop the ball. Fantastic. Number two, poor goalie guidance. They tell us to do it one way, but the coaches tell us to do it another way. So you have goalie coaches telling us to do it one way, and the head coaches to do it their way. We're only to listen to the coaches, but not the goalie coaches' way. Because the head coach is who calls the shots. And last but not least, the number one reason why we have poor mental health is because we get poor feedback from the coaches. You can have you can go up there after a game, hey coach, I had a really rough day today. What could I have done better? Or hey, I didn't see enough, I didn't see any playing time today, what could I do better? Uh just get more reps. Huh? I try to, but you keep taking it away from me. Uh so they make these feedbacks, they give feedback, and there's like they don't understand what they're really truly saying to a goaltender. So that's my top 10 list. Uh these are my list, my my top 10 list, my factors uh that I've seen both as a goalie myself and as a goalie coach for over the last 26 plus years. Uh seeing it, hearing it over and over, and lately reading more about these same issues through the Lacks Gold forum all the time. And I am literally appalled that I mean it's every year, it's every year. Here comes the same issues, new parents, new situation. They go out there or they just stumbled upon lax goly rat and they gotta share their same same story. I'm like, okay, this is the this is like beating a dead horse here. I've heard this before. Let me tell you what I think you need to do, you know. So anyway, so with that team, your thoughts on this top 10 list. Agree, disagree, make your points. Tyler, I'm gonna kick this one off of you.

SPEAKER_03 21:32

Do I agree? Yeah, I mean, I definitely agree with with it. You know, it sounds uh I I wouldn't disagree with any of them.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Um what was number five again? So number five was no empathy or sympathy for what or how we are feeling from the coaches. And then number six. And number six was high expectations of a goaltender. Like your job is to stop everything that comes your way.

SPEAKER_03 21:58

You're just expectations. Are way too off in terms of the goalie position for lacrosse, especially, right? Because when you think about like a lot of people, I think have this idea when you look at hockey, when you look at soccer, when you look at other sports where there's a goalie involved, um, scores that go into a double digit almost non-existent, right? Right. Um in soccer, like I don't know that it ever would happen, right? Like, um, and in lacrosse, like 10 goals, like that may be a spectacular game, actually. Because the other side might be 20, right? Right. Um, and so I think that's a huge one, is like um really setting up a newer goalie, especially like for what they realistically need to expect in terms of like, you know, goals against save percentages, some of those things, right? Like if a hockey goalie had a 50% save percentage, that would be awful. Right?

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 23:04

If a lacrosse goalie has like 55%, 58% save percentage, that's actually freaking spectacular.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Right, exactly. That's why telecamists.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

Which in any other sport, like that, you know, saying 60 is awesome, that's a D and anything else, right? Like, but for lacrosse, it's awesome. And so I think that that's a big one that goes unmissed is like, what is the expectation really supposed to be? You know?

SPEAKER_01 23:45

Um and that goes back to the the coach not truly understanding the position because we talk we talk about this all the time, and and and Rachel, you can understand this too as well. Is that you can take your top 10 programs in Division I, women's lacrosse, men's lacrosse, and at best, their say percentages might be in the high 40s, maybe mid 40s at best, averages probably around 40%. And then you're like, if you go to look at the stat lines, the say percentages of who's leading in save percentages, it's gonna be the ones who have the shittiest teams, who literally have like because they're seeing a thousand shots in a game, pretty much, right? And I of course I exaggerate, but they're seeing a crap load more shots, so they have a great a lot more opportunities to see those, and the shots at the the those top 10 schools are legitimately like I was talking about Notre Dame, those are accurate, finesse right in the corner, right inside the pipe, and they're scoring on those a good chunk of the time. So your your save percentages are definitely gonna be a lot lower than than the what we might think is 50% being phenomenal, 52% being even better, 60%. Like so, when I see stat lines of 60, 70, 80 percent, I'm like okay, I'm just gonna shake my head. But needless to say, you're you're those top 10 teams who have some of the best goalies in the country are only at best 45%, you know.

SPEAKER_03 24:56

Um, and so I think like that's a big part of it, like the expectation, and like also then like letting like a goalie know like really what the other expectations are in terms of like being able to clear the ball, being a team leader, like um, like don't don't look only at like if you're a coach that only looks at your goalie save percentage, like you're you're missing so much of whether or not they were successful, right?

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 25:20

Um another one I think is um I think it was number five.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

The empathy and the safety for how we feel.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

I love it because here's the thing, right? Um if a player takes a shot to the helmet in a game in high school here, they stop play and make sure that they're okay. Right. I could take eight shots to my freaking face, and not once are they stopping play to make sure that I'm okay. And so I always laugh when like somebody like you know takes a shot to the arm or the leg or a defender and everybody stops. Oh my gosh. And I'm like, what are you crying about? I take that on a regular, nobody's coming over here to me to take make sure I'm okay. Like, I get you weren't expecting it, but welcome to my world, like, but yet they don't realize that. Like, oh, he's scared of the boy, just took one off the leg, and now he's okay. But the second your defenseman gets hit in the leg, you're running over there, you know, with the you know, the the the gurney to make sure he's okay and can get off off the field. And I take that 90 times in a year.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

Yeah, we have birdies around our heads, we got like right, and I don't want or need them to come over and check it.

SPEAKER_03 26:41

Oh, are you okay? No, right? But recognize like that's literally what we do, right? We get hit by those shots sometimes, right? Like, um, and nobody's coming over to check on us, right? Like, I take the shot right to the face, and you know, play goes on, and it happens to a regular player in the game and it stops play. And so when like when I when I maybe act frustrated because you're putting me in a shooting drill, and I just took 15 freaking shots off body parts, and then I'm a little frustrated, and and maybe want to step out for a second, and you're like, what are you doing? And it's like, well, um, I'm pretty sure I'm good. Like, I I took about 50 shots, 15 of them hit me in the freaking body in a way that like the only way it could hit me there is if the guy literally has never aimed in his life. And so whether I'm in the goal or not, it ain't gonna make much of a difference. So, you know, like, hey, let me go get a breather, let me take a, you know, a quick one. Um, it's you know, and I see it's like, oh no, right, get back in there. And so, like, that's a big one that I see. Well, it's like I was watching some of my goalies, some of my other coaches, right? They get like a shooting drill set up and like, um, every coach are those goalies ready? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, yeah, get started, we'll be right over, right? And it was to buy my goalies just a few more minutes of time of not getting just freaking um pelted by freaking you know shots because guys they don't pay attention to the fact that like guys are aiming like not at all, or just like terribly to where it's like one of these freaking goalies just took like 10 shots right to the freaking body. Like, my goodness, like so. Yeah, that's why, you know, at that point say, uh, you know what? Hey, go get some water. Let me tell my guys how to freaking shoot again. Because clearly they forgot.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

Yeah. Rachel, what are your thoughts on all these?

SPEAKER_02 28:38

Yeah, um, I feel like number four is like the I feel like I've heard that so many times. Like, I feel like I should have that tattooed on my body at at at because I've heard it so many times. Like, you should play more like this goalie or that goalie. Like, why aren't you playing this certain way? Like, I think that coaches need to realize that every goalie, like, two goalies are not the same. Like, lightning doesn't strike twice in the same spot. Like, no two lacrosse goalies are the same and they will all play differently. And I think that, you know, I'm a goalie coach at Madonna University, so glad that they have have a goalie coach to be able to say, you know, like both of those goalies there play completely different games that I that I played, but I'm still able to say, you know what, this is how you save this shot. That's okay with me. You know, I'm not I'm not making them play the exact same game that I played because it worked for me. It the way that I play is not gonna work for you. We are all different goalies, we all are gonna do different things, you know. Like, um, we all play different angles, we all play different arcs, we all play, we all have a different style, and and I think that that's what coaches need to understand about goalies. Like, they are such a unique player, you know, like it's the same with a Fogo or a draw specialist. Like, that draw specialist is not gonna be like your backup or or whatever. Like that FOGO is not gonna take the same face-offs as your last one that just left your program. Like, they are all going to play their own unique game. Um, and I feel like goalies sometimes don't get don't get that that love the same as like draw specialists or FOGOs do um when it comes to the game. Um, I also think that number nine is a big one of of saying, you know, like, okay, yeah, sure, you just gotta hit, but keep going. It's it's sometimes difficult to keep going. And I feel like as goalies, we do have a lot of grit and we do play through a lot of stuff. Like playing club for a little while, I was the only goalie there. And so, you know, I can't, at least in my mind, I can't show that I'm hurt because then there will be no goalie in that. Yeah, you know, and I think that I think like when Tyler was saying, okay, you get a shot and you need to step out of the net and re-recoop. Um, and I've as a head coach, I tell my goalies, both JV and varsity, that okay, we're about to do this shooting drill. I would love for you guys to step into this drill. Um, please either rotate or if both of you are gassed or whatever, like it is okay if you know we don't have a goalie in the drill for a few reps. Like, that is not the end of the world. That is okay. By all means, take that break that you need. If you got drilled, take a step back or switch. Um, and I feel like a lot of coaches don't really let their goalies know then that that's okay to do. Um, so coming into the program, like I really wanted to emphasize that because as a kid, being the only goalie, I was very hard on myself of saying, I can't step out, I can't step out, my coach is gonna be mad at me. That always ran through my head. Whether, and I don't even think that my coach ever said anything to me before the season about if I could step out or if I couldn't step out. You know, that was just never discussed. Um, so I kind of took it upon myself of like, I can't step out because that's gonna show my my teammates or my coaches that I'm I'm weak, that I'm not, I'm not playing the position that I should be playing. And I think that that is something that needs to be addressed by the coaching staff before the first kit practice of the season or um in fall season, if you're in college, you know, like that or when a new goalie comes into the program. I think that those those things need to be addressed and would be a great way to to change change the narrative.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

And you nailed that right there because that right there is what's gonna hit home to all these goalies listening to this podcast, because that right there, right there, where they have blatant disregard for how we feel because of retribution, and that is what is driving us down this rabbit hole of like, like, I don't know what to do anymore. Because when I get hurt, I actually feel pain. Yes, are we supposed to show great? Are we supposed to suck it up and stay back in there? Because if we don't, then you know we have a weak goaltender or whatever the case may be. And that kind of stigma has to fucking change, and coaches have to understand that we will experience pain. That sometimes, sure, if I get hit in the thigh, it may not hurt as much as it might hit me, but if it hits me in the right spot because stingers happen, and I've gotten one too many of them in college where I'll get one right in that shoulder, right? That nerve ending, and I will lose all feeling. Like, I will it'll it'll take me two minutes to get my feeling back, but I will lose all feeling. Do they stop play? No, they see me look like I'm grabbing my shoulder, yeah. But do they stop play? No, they don't, they keep on playing, and they're like, You good? I'm like, uh, I can't feel my arm right now. I can't even hold my I don't even know my gloves on my hand right now because I can't feel it. But yeah, we're gonna keep you in the game. But if we step out, then it shows like, okay, we're not the right goalie for you. And if there's other goalies on the team, immediately that was their say ex their their their green light to say, okay, you're going in now. And now you play the rest of the time. And now you play the rest of the season because our goalie is too weak to be in there because that's their job is to get hit with the shot of the shot. Yeah, I understand that concept, but it's that is the bullshit part, is like you step in there, you step in and take a shot, and you tell me how long you're gonna stay in there. Let me take one off your freaking shoulder and see what you how that feels, right? And I guarantee you you'll think differently about that. But do they? No. Do they want to think about that? No, because they don't we're an afterthought, which is the problem with it.

SPEAKER_03 34:49

We and it's like it's fun and a good balance too, right? Because I tell my son that plays, you know, I tell him, I'm like, listen, man, I was like, you know, he's 12 uh now, right? But he's been playing since he's like eight on and off. And I've told him, like, listen, dude, sometimes there's gonna be moments where you're gonna get hit and it's gonna hurt, and you might have to cry under that helmet for a minute and get through it. Um, but not like I don't that in a game, maybe, right? Um, in practice, if you take one like that, can you freaking step out for a second? Like, yeah, and that's the difference, right? Like you're in a big, you know, you're in you're in a game and and and and you know, you're in the middle of play, and you get that one that hits you in the leg, and uh it it you might have to cry under that helmet for just a second until you got a second to either like let somebody know, or you know, um that's just sometimes how it can be in a game. I'm like, but you know, that the di the difference between that happening in a game versus a practice, right? Hugely different because I maybe get like one of those ones in a game where it really gets me, and I'm like, ooh, right? But if you're stuck in a shooting drill for the right amount of time, you could have ten of those in freaking 30 minutes. And in which case, like, yeah, then no, I don't expect you to just sit there and cry under your helmet while you get repeatedly beat to hell, you know. Um, it's very different, you know, in terms of you know, when or when that may not be acceptable, you know.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Yeah, and and that's the thing, and and but we have to have the we have to have those moments, and this is where where I wish coaches would have some sort of formal training somewhere required, but heaven forbid the US lacrosse do any kind of formal training or requirements outside of level one, level two, level three, uh, that actually pertains to understanding your team. You know, this is where the US lacrosse convention back in the day was great because you could go there and they had all sorts of these kinds of topics to understand your team and how to get more out of your team and you know, things to consider when you're actually you know working with individual players or individual specialists, let whether it be a FOGO or draw specialist goalies, you name it, because we're all gonna be a little bit different, especially goalies. And so, but did they ever take that advantage? Some did, not many, but you know, if we had more of those things today, then they might understand exactly where we're coming from, especially if you're a new coach, like you're a you okay, you're a dad or your your mom, and you know, you have a your kid who just picked up the support for lacrosse. No one wants to coach, but you figure, yeah, well, I I swam my whole entire life through college, and I understand how team works, and and they try they they try their hand at uh at coaching lacrosse, so they try their best. Um, but at some point they get to that point where okay, that's a position I don't know anything about, so eh, we'll just let it work itself out. Well, that's the problem. Is like it it's it's and I always say this too like head coaches, you're yeah, you know the sport, but you need to and you might know how to coach, but you need to know a little bit about every position, and that's what I think great football coaches are. Like they talk about Bill Belichick, you know, he lacrosse player, football guy, whatever. He's diabolical because he doesn't he's not an expert in all the positions on on his team, but he knew how to work a team, he knew personnel, he knew you know how to get into each each guy's brain and and find out what works best for them, uh, because he got to get personal with each one of them. I feel like coaches today literally are using it as a paycheck or like, okay, we're gonna because my son or daughter played, and so I'm just gonna coach the cross until they graduate and then move on. And whatever. They just you know want us to win and they want to win championships. And I feel like there's not enough uh educated coaches who take the initial, who take the uh extra go the extra mile, um, or take the extra step to get to know all the positions. And I say, like, yeah, attacker, attack, and there's three of them. There's middies, there are middies, there's three of them, there's defense, there's there's three of them, but there's only one goalie, and they're by themselves. And so when they're just standing around not doing anything, they literally are standing around not doing anything. But um and so therefore it's like when something happens all of a sudden, they're like, well, just stick it out. Like, well, you don't really truly understand what we're doing. So I really think that they need to take a take a slice of humble, you know, humble pie, take a shot to the face, and see how that feels, and truly understand what it's like to be a goalie, because we d we deal with it, and yeah, I get it. And this is I'm not gonna name the individual because there might be some legal rights that come from it, so I don't want to say that say the person's name. But they said, look, you know what you signed up for when you decided to be a goalie. You know that you're gonna get hit, you know that you're gonna suffer losses, you know that you're you'll you'll have some successes and you'll have wins, um, but this is what you signed up for. Well, not every goalie, yeah, you're gonna expect wins and losses, but I don't think many goalies who ever tried lacrosse for the first time understood that, yeah, you could give up 20, 30 goals, right? I'm not even gonna jump on the the soapbox of what's good what could be coming down the road with sixes, where you play six on six, you're seeing 20 to 30 goal games all day long. And so that is goldfish mentality. And so they're like, well, just get over. Just well, yeah, you're when you get to sixes, you're gonna have to learn to get over it. Well, right now kids are struggling with just giving up seven or eight goals a game. Uh, and that's a struggle bus. So you know, it's one of those things where that look, I get it. You're gonna get scored on, and then we sign up for this stuff, but what we don't sign up for is the negative comments. We don't expect the crap from the from the we don't we don't expect to be get shit on by our own teammates and players and coaches uh and parents just because we gave up a few goals.

SPEAKER_03 40:24

And they're the worst.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

Oh, they're the worst, you know, one finger's pointing at the person, three or four pointing right back at you as the one who's really at fault. Because when you think about this, like they forget that there is a thing called the team sport, right? And I always say this like, okay, you're gonna blame the goalie for the 20 to 2 game that you guys just lost. I'm sorry, your team couldn't put up more than two goals in a game.

unknown 40:46

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

Yeah, it's their fault, but it's our fault. Unacceptable.

SPEAKER_03 40:50

Get mad at me if I let in 22 and the other goalie let in 20, you know, one.

SPEAKER_01 40:55

Yeah.

unknown 40:55

Right?

SPEAKER_03 40:56

Like they're that when there's that far of a spread, I'm sorry. It's not the goalie's fault. No, he's the last person they'll be looking at when it's that big of a spread. But yeah, parents are the worst, man. I hear, you know, oh you know, gotta make a save. And I'm like, I mean, we are also the only player out there.

SPEAKER_02 41:15

Yeah, yeah. We're the only player out there who has their mistakes put on the scoreboard.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

That's the big one that I think is.

SPEAKER_02 41:21

You know, everybody else out there who's missed a ground ball, missed a shot, missed a a face-off or a draw control, like those are mistakes that happen in a game, but those aren't displayed for everybody to see. Yeah, they're displayed on your stat sheet after the game, but when a goal goes in, the whole team, the every other team is celebrating, the whole fans are celebrating, the coaching staff on the other side is celebrating, and you're the one who's the who they're celebrating that you let that in or you missed that, you know, like as a goalie, you feel that emotion and you feel that put on you. And I think that like these coaches gotta understand that on the other side of it, you know, like, okay, but so everybody else is is, you know, celebrating against my goalie uh as a head coach, you know. But I'm still able to yell at my goalie and say, hey, that's fine, that's fine, get the next one, talk to the defense, you know, defense will say, you know, that's my bad. Or as a goalie, I was always like, no matter if it was my bad or not, I liked keeping my defense positive and just saying, you know, hey, that's my bad, I'll get the next one. That's my bad, like, let's go, let's let's keep it up. And I think that having that same like goalie mentality as a head coach, um, being able to tell my defense and and uh the goalies in that, you know, just like hey, you know, goldfish mentality, let's let's move on and go to the next one. Um, it's the same concept as saying, you know, you didn't get that ground ball, let's get the next one. Yep, you gotta be doing that same thing to your goalies.

SPEAKER_01 42:59

Do you think, and here's a good, and this is one of my questions I had, and and I'll save the other two for the next time. But do you think this kind of an issue that we're seeing today is all over, or is it an universal, or do you think it's more in the non-hotbed regions than it is the hotbed? Or do you think it's a little mixture of both? Uh you know it's gonna happen in the non-hoppeds because there's just not the experience, there's just not the ones who are well educated. We got that, but when you're talking east coast, you know, uh right in the Mecca, there's I mean, you have goalie smith, there's goalie coaches all over the eastern seaboard, you have graduated goalies that are just hanging out there. There's all sorts of resources at you know, you're back in call, you know. But are they do you think that's these issues are still happening on high school teams and club teams on the east coast? Tyler, what are your thoughts on that? Do you think it's happening?

SPEAKER_03 43:47

I I I think so.

SPEAKER_01 43:48

Some like to some extent.

SPEAKER_03 43:50

Only from a perspective of like not every hotbed like is sort of like the budgets, right? Right from a private. Private versus public school like can vary drastically, right? So even in Maryland, you know, the budget for coaches at Boys Latin is drastically different from, let's say, the budget at Northeast High, you know, and they may not have a budget for a goalie coach, you know. Gotcha. Um and I because I see it here in Florida, right? Like I I I watched a game the other day that had eight coaches on the sideline. Okay. And this is a state, state championship, uh competitive level team, right? Um, and and another team that has two coaches on the sideline. And so I think I I would imagine, right, that like some of that has to happen still in some of the hotbeds.

SPEAKER_01 44:50

I mean, I would say it's the same thing. I you're right, with the budgets, but you also think that, and that's the other problem, too, is some of these non-hotbed regions, you just don't have the resources as well. And that's the other thing that hurts too, is is like, you know, there's goes out there, but they were so put off probably their whole career. Like, I can like dealing with the one student that I just saw yesterday play, like, I can tell you right now, she wants nothing to do probably with lacrosse after after yesterday. Uh, probably wants nothing to do with coaching. She's ready to move on with her life and ready to start her her uh her next journey and in uh getting her graduate uh her graduate degree. And uh I don't blame her because the way she was treated for four years in college, uh, I wouldn't blame her. And so it kind of makes sense. Again, so we could have more resources had there been proper treatment from the get-go, had there been proper respect given and uh by the by their coaches all the way through life, whether it was through college or in high school, whatever. Because I feel like we're missing out on some really good goalie coaches in in this country, uh, but but because they're so just blatantly disregarded and disrespected their whole time, they're like, I don't want to deal with this shit anymore. I already went through it once, I don't want to deal with it again, and they don't want to give back. I understand, I mean everyone has their reasons, um but I think some of that i i is played into that. So um so so we can we could sit here and for time purposes, I don't want to continue to keep bashing because we can be bashing all day long and talk about these things, but how can we help goalies who are struggling with these coaches that give shitty feedback or not so much shitty feedback but don't really truly understand the position of being a goalie or the the or how we feel inside the goalie. Like what are some things and so I always talk about what are the things that we can control to help us overcome these obstacles and what are the things that we can't control that we it's gonna happen regardless, and we can't do anything about uh but we gotta go back to the control as well, what we can control. So the things that we can control, I know for a fact, number one is probably how how we perceive things or how we react to to what is being said, right? Like, you know, sh we're getting drilled on in a one-on-one with no defense. I can walk out of the cage, you know. What the coach does, I don't care what they say or do, but if I need to take a break, I'm gonna take a break. You know, so that's something that is in our control.

SPEAKER_03 47:11

So what are some controllables that you guys that you guys think would be a good one to share with our um I mean one thing that I always tell my goalies is like um you're you know, you're gonna have that moment when it comes to like some coach yelling at you about like, oh, you gotta have that one. You know, like I always hate those, like you gotta come up with that save. And I'm like, okay, it was streaking from eight yards, like um, but I so I always tell my goalies, one thing to remember is this. I always say to them, listen, I was like, at the point that you're getting shot on, whether um it is a shot that you absolutely should save, or if it was just a ridiculous, like, yeah, who's saving that, right? Like, doesn't matter. If you should have saved it, shouldn't have saved it, whatever the case may be. I'm like, anytime you hear that, like, just remember that that means that somewhere else on the field, someone else also failed.

unknown 48:09

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 48:10

And it's like, you know, go back to what you said. Like, if you're getting shot on, that means a face-off was lost, or that someone took a bad shot, or that someone didn't pick up a ground ball, or someone missed a slide assignment, or someone made a bad pass, or someone didn't catch a pass, some like somebody else on the fate on the field failed. So even if you should have had that shot, guess what? You're entitled to fail sometimes, just like everybody else on the field is entitled to fail sometimes. And I'm like, so just say, yep, you know, just like truck it, but you I'll get the next one. Even if you're even if you're like, yeah, that's ridiculous, right? Just like I'll get the next one, you know. Um, and that's like the one thing I always tell them to control that too as well. Like, even if they get told something, like, uh, you know, do it this way or do it that way. I always tell my gold, say, okay, yeah, I'll give it a try. And I'm like, and then, you know, if they're watching, like if you're sitting there like in a warm-up or something, give it a try a few times. And like, and then just go back to playing the way that you normally were, because they probably won't even recognize that you were doing anything different because a lot of times they don't. They were just like, Oh, yeah, do this different because they heard it or they saw it one time. And I'm like, say, oh, okay, yeah, let me give it a shot. Do it a two or three times, and then just play how you're gonna play. And I I bet you most of the guys that that coach you won't even notice that you started doing it the same old way again if you're making stops, you know.

SPEAKER_01 49:30

And you made a good point too. It's you know, to and here's the thing you you started talking and I was gonna and I was thinking about something else, but one of the things we can't control is also come on, kids stop playing video games during the season, right, and turn on ESPN and watch some of these D1 goalies because you can pick up some things from time to time just watching better goalies and see what they do. I'm not saying you have to be like them because now we're going back to why don't you just play like so-and-so? No, but you can pick up certain things, like maybe like for an observation I picked up a long time ago, and like, you know what, I'm noticing a lot of these goalies are dropping to their knees, then making these textbook like form saves for low shots. If every goalie is is is dropping to their knees to make a to make a low save, why not give it a try and practice and see if it works? Yeah, what's the worst that could happen? It goes in.

SPEAKER_03 50:18

I mean, it's practice, it's not like a real-like I had a kid recently, like this last year, he asked me, he's like, you know, he was like on on hip shots, right? Like hip shots. He's like, Do I should I go under more or over? And I'm like, Me, I have always aired on if I don't think it's gonna be, if it's gonna be below my shoulder on my offside, I am coming under every time. And he's like, Okay, and then literally that night, I see some Instagram about a coach talking about going over. And I was like, okay, I watched the whole video, and I'm like, man, you know what? He makes some great points. I'm almost convinced to give it a try. So like I sent it to my goalie, and I'm like, I do it this way. This guy made some great points about doing it the way he does it. So, hey, you know, whatever you think, you know, and uh my goalie's like, well, I like it your way, and I'm like, okay, well, cool. But hey, but like, hey, let's say you were at a camp or you were somewhere and somebody told you to try it, hey, go ahead and try it. Man, that guy, like I said, the whole video I watched it, I'm like, dang, like the way he's saying it, like I could pick it apart if I wanted, but at the same time, he's also made a few great points to where, hey, if I have a goalie that ends up saying I like going this way, I'll probably be like, okay, keep going that way.

SPEAKER_01 51:35

Rachel, what are you you have some controllables and can uncontrollables you would like to share with us?

SPEAKER_02 51:40

Yeah, I would love to speak on this in two separate versions of myself. One as a goalie and then the other one as a head coach. But my first as a goalie, and if I was playing for a coach that that you know was disrespectful and and just not not understanding goalies, you know, I would just say they don't. I think that both coaches and goalies should think about walking a mile in each other's shoes. Like if you're a goalie, just know how much your coach is doing, not only for you if they're helping you out as a goalie, um, but if they're not, they are controlling the whole entire team. They have a lot on their plate. They are doing this, being understanding on both ends will help your mentality of just being like, okay, you know, maybe they're having a bad day or whatever like that. And I think that having that mentality and just just being a more understanding goalie or person is gonna help you not only in your lacrosse career, in your lacrosse experience, but in life itself, you're gonna be able to, you know, let things roll off your back more easily. Um, whether it's a shot that went in that you're like, oh, I should have saved it. Okay, cool. Already forgot about it. I'm ready for the next one. Or, oh, I didn't like that comment that that girl just said to me or that my coach just said to me, but you know what? Let's forget about it already. Like it's already out of my head. I'm ready for, I'm ready for the next coaching. If you if you want to coach me, I'm ready for it. But if you don't, you know, those comments that you're making, I'm just gonna ignore and focus on the game that I need to play. Um, and I think that that that um could be different for guys and girls. I feel like as a as a young female athlete, we can very we could take things to heart very, very easily. Um, so I think that, you know, just just saying, hey coach, I I appreciate the fact that you are trying to help me coach um or help me be a better goalie or be the best goalie that I can be. And I know that these things that you that in your mind you are saying these things to me and you think that they are helping me. I'm gonna tell you from from my perspective as a goalie, the advice that you're giving me or the coaching that you're giving me right now is not the best coaching that I can I can use, saying move my feet, save the ball, those are things that aren't gonna be able to make me change my my goalie, like my style of saves or or what have you. But, you know, hey, if you if you tell me step up, I know what that means. So if you want me to be moving my feet, instead of say move your feet, say step up. You're not stepping to the ball enough or whatever. Like I think that having more open communication with your coaches can can ultimately help. I know from experience that sometimes that doesn't help and nothing gets better. Um, but but just I mean, it doesn't hurt to try. Um, I mean, for me, it it did make it worse. Um, but you know, I think that coaches like that are very few and far between who are just gonna ignore what your what the athlete is saying to you. Um for me being a coach, um, I really enjoy listening to all of my athletes. And I even before my start of the season, because I'm a new coach, I sent out a questionnaire to all of my athletes just so I could understand them as players and individuals. So I knew this person likes this style of coaching, and this person would rather me wait till after practice to give them instruction or wait till after a game to give them instruction. Um, if they're having a bad day, you know, they might act this certain way. So before I even was able to see my athletes in action and then have to guess during my whole time my whole first season, I went and did these certain things beforehand. So I was able to know how to coach each individual as an individual player. For I didn't really necessarily care what position they played. I just needed to know how these kids would be coached. Um, and I think that more coaches should be able to humble themselves. I think a lot of coaches out there, especially in the non-hotbed regions, aren't as into lacrosse as I might be. You know, I love lacrosse and I've been playing this sport for my whole entire life, and I've never wanted to leave the sport behind. Um, so I have that. But I understand that there's coaches out there who are just doing it for a paycheck or just doing it for this, and they don't have that same heart and that same drive. And I think recognizing a coach who cares about lacrosse and cares about the team and cares about the sport and a coach who doesn't are very night and day difference. And I think that if you are an athlete who cares a lot about this sport, you are going to be able to recognize a coach who cares and a coach who doesn't care. So I think knowing that and seeing that, um, having that conversation with that coach, okay, I can see that this coach is trying to learn and is trying to better themselves as a coach or or as the person who's trying to teach me something and a coach who's not going to. And I think that a conversation needs to happen in order for an athlete to be able to see that. Um, and I think that that is that is something that I think would benefit the lacrosse community as a whole.

SPEAKER_01 57:15

And I think that's absolutely 100% true because I think really, you know, there have been so many of the successful programs that if you look at their coaches, they have longevity. They didn't just come in and win a state title, they didn't come in and win one in two years. The ones who are seeing success, whether it be on the, you know, whether it be on the scoreboard, whether it be in in uh the records, or whether it's in trophies, whatever the case may be, there seems to be an un a common underlying, which is the the fact that they take their job one step further. It's not just X's and O's, it's getting personal with their their st their their players, and that includes the goals as well. And that is to truly understand the players, like you did with the with the with the survey, you know, and when uh coaches start to get to understand their players better, like it's beyond beyond lacrosse. You know, you look at you look at some of these tenured coaches in in in the NCAA, they're they're good for a reason because the longer the coach is with that program, the more they know their kids, they know what's working, and when they find too, they because they treat it like a family. Like we need to, you know, you find success when you're when you when you work together as a family, you can hash out you can hash out issues without any retribution. You know, like I can swear at you, I can get mad with you, but at the same time, I'm gonna love you and respect you the same way, and your playing time is not gonna be based on this conversation right now. It's just saying, you know what, I hear you, I understand you, I don't I disagree with your comments, but you know what, it's not gonna make you lose any more playing time or gain any more playing time. You know, but I'm glad that we had that conversation. And those are things that has to happen more often. So one of the things that we can talk about when it comes to control is regardless of what you think your coach has of you, have conversations with them frequently and and as often as possible, because if you can get to know them more and they they're gonna start to open up to you more, and you might you might see more playing time or they might under get to understand you better. That's the end game, is to get them to understand you versus whether it's playing time or whatnot, because every situation is going to be a little bit different. So um yeah, so that's good. I mean, I love that kind of stuff, and that's the thing is is once you get in touch with understanding your players, and a lot of coaches don't want to take that time to do so. You know, um, you know, like I said, when I when I was when we finally turned the turned the page back in high school and we had a new coach my junior year, he was uh in our school like weekly, like you saw him around campus like once a week, and this is high school. We s and he had his own uh business that he ran, but he was in our our school almost weekly checking up on the kids, and then if he saw somebody like, hey, you might have a conversation real quick, two-minute conversation, and he'll go back to class just to kind of touch and base. Hey, you're making classes okay, you got any issues with your schoolwork? It's showing that he actually's taking the time to care for us, and that's that's right there. And but since then we went on a 20-state title run for a long time. So, I mean, um, there's there's proof in in what you see. So no, these are all definitely good things. Um uh at this point, I think I'm going to kind of pause the rest of this because I think we have so much to talk about more. I we didn't get to the statements I want to talk about, and a lot of it has more to do with uh feedback, and I think feedback has its own topic in and of itself, and again, it starts with these coaches. And I just want to put a disclaimer out there for those who are still listening at this point that we're not talking about every coach because there's still a lot of great coaches out there. I'm I'm I'm talking to the 90% that I talked about in my very first podcast. 90% of coaches across America, boys and girls, all divisions, you know, know little to nothing about the position itself. There's 10% that do, whether they were former goalies, they're a goalie coach, or they took the initiative to educate themselves in the position. And I appreciate those coaches that if you are listening, I appreciate you for doing that. But for those that have little to no knowledge about goalies and don't want to get yourself educated, these are the ones who I'm talking to. Uh, these are the ones that that upset me the most. So um I think this is great. I love the feedback that I've heard from you guys today. Um, I think it's gonna help a lot of these young nut meners out there suffering from this what I call epidemic of poor coaches. Um, and like I said, I'm not saying you're horrible coaches. What I'm just saying is you're not a a full coach to who truly understands the goalie position or your players, but you need to take you know take accountability for yourself as well as we as just as us goalies and other players take accountability for their actions as well. At least they should be. So uh seriously, I think this was a killer topic today. Uh, thank you two for joining me talking about this debilitating issue facing the goalie community and other student athletes. Uh, you don't have to be a goalie to understand how to handle coaches uh who think they know it all, uh play it off if they play it off if they know it all, but know very little about the about the sport or the position. So um, not all of us can be blessed with a coach who has played the position, uh, lived for the sport and understands coaching, and that goes beyond just the X's and O's. Uh, it's so much more. So, anyways, I hope you enjoyed this episode. I know I did, and hopefully, we were able to provide you some guidance when it comes to trying to figure out how to understand and work with these ungoalie educated coaches. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at goaliesmatter at gmail.com. We would love to hear from you, any feedback that you got, because you are not alone in this fight. Uh, we have all experienced back coaches at some point in our careers, and I hate to tell you this, it's not going away anytime soon. But like I've always said, it's it's how you respond to the adversity that defines who you truly are. So, team, thank you again for joining me. Any last words of advice before we get out of here? We'll start with you, Tyler.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:51

I just always tell everybody just love the game and it'll love you back in its time. And it may not be your timing, but it will love you back.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:00

Awesome. Rachel? If you are a goalie or if you are a coach, you can always learn more about the goalie position.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:07

Love it. Simple and sweet and to the point. Uh, great job, team. I love you. Thank you again. Couldn't be more grateful to have you guys on. We will talk soon. Okay, there you have it. That was our conversation with Coach Rachel and Coach Tyler regarding coaches who just don't understand me, bad coaches who just don't want to take the initiative to understand what it's like to be a goalie. I can tell you this that during our lacrosse careers or even your careers, you're going to experience good coaching and bad coaching, but it's how you respond and cope when you experience one of these bad coaches. So once we try to understand what they really want, all we can do is our best to understand and take that feedback, work on the elements of our game, and improve our performance. So, as always, be grateful to play the sport. Enjoy the time that you have because we're not here for a long time. We're here for a good time. Let's find the good in our lives and live our lives with joining our hearts. Thank you. We're out of here.