The She Plays Flag Podcast

Coaching Female Athletes in a Growing Game with Kelly Bendall - Milton HS, Alpharetta GA

• Season 1 • Episode 10

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In this episode of the She Plays Flag Podcast, I sit down with Kelly Bendall, assistant girls flag coach at Milton High School in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Kelly didn’t come into flag football with a background in the sport. She came in as a coach.

With years of experience in soccer and a deep understanding of how to lead and connect with female athletes, she stepped into a brand new game, learned it in real time, and helped build one of the most respected programs in the state.

This episode focuses on what matters when you’re starting out in flag football:

  • How to coach when you don’t know the sport yet
  • Why relationships come before schemes
  • How girls teams build culture differently
  • What new coaches should focus on first
  • Why female coaches are essential in this space
  • What the growth of college flag football means for today’s players

Kelly shares incredible insights into coaching female athletes and leaves us with a clear message:

You don’t need to be an expert in flag football to get started.
You need to be willing to step inside the fence.

SPEAKER_00

All right, we are ready for episode 10 of the She Plays Flag Podcast. I'm Matt Mashburn, your host, and today we're going to hear from Kelly Bendle, an assistant coach of the girls' flag program at Milton High School in Alfredta, Georgia. It's a really, really good conversation. We had a specific goal going into this episode, and you'll hear us talk about it. And the first part of that goal was we wanted to encourage more coaches to get involved, particularly more female coaches. And then the second part of our goal here was to then give them a little bit of direction on how they can learn the game and how a coach that doesn't have experience in the flag game can step on the field and contribute early on. We also got into coaching female athletes and how important it is to understand that there is a difference between coaching male and female athletes, and we shouldn't run away from that. So this was a really, really fun discussion. Clearly, Kelly knows what she's talking about. She knows what it means to be a coach of female athletes. So I think you're really going to enjoy the episode. And then before we get to that, I just do want to say thank you to all the listeners that have joined me on this podcast journey over the past uh shoot, I don't even know what, two months or so. Uh this is the 10th episode. And uh the listenership is growing every single week. And really that's that's just uh I want to thank everybody for uh for tuning in and listening and and being interested in helping to grow the game of flag football. So, with that, let's hear from Kelly Bindle of uh Milton High School in Alfredo, Georgia. Hey everyone, welcome to another episode of the She Plays Flag Podcast. I'm your host, Matt Mashburn, and today we are speaking with Kelly Bindle, assistant coach of the Girls Flag program at Milton High School in Alfredta, Georgia. Kelly, thank you so much for joining. How are you today?

SPEAKER_03

I'm great. I'm excited to be here and talk with you.

SPEAKER_00

Good. And I know we uh we kind of went back and forth a little bit, and it took us a little bit to get here to get you on. And uh, I'm super excited just based on the the conversations that we've had in the past on the phone. I think this is gonna be gonna be really useful. So um let's just go ahead and jump right into it. Why don't you uh help the audience understand who you are? Give us some background.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I um come from a soccer background. So I started playing soccer at the age of six. I went on to play at the University of Central Florida um way back in the 80s, before really Title IX kind of took off, and all the colleges um kind of where we find ourselves right now with Flag, that there's a small number of colleges that are D1, and the sport continues to grow. So the parallels are are very, very similar in the sense that the girls that are graduating today and going to some of the colleges that are offering are pioneers in the sport. And I would say that's generally my background with soccer, is that there weren't a lot of um D1 programs. It was few and far between. Um, but I'm grateful that I had that opportunity and that was able to kind of spear ahead and be a part of, you know, the growth of girls' soccer, as you see now, like with the USA women's team and how youth soccer has taken off. Um I have three daughters. So for a long period of time, I was a stay-at-home mom, which was an amazing honor. And at some point, someone said, um, Milton High School needs a girls' soccer coach. And I happen to be driving in a minivan with friends to a tennis match, and they said, Oh my God, you're it. And I was like, no, no, no, I'm not it. But um, probably the best thing that happened was being able to get on the high school level and coach girls um, you know, in a sport that I actually love and am passionate about. So I did that for six years. And then when COVID hit, that was a kind of a natural time to step away at that point. My youngest daughter was playing softball at Georgia College. So it was an opportunity to have my springs open and be able to go and support her. Um, and then one day, Clark Nixon walked in and said he was starting this flag football program. My to go back, my youngest daughter played her senior year. Um flag football. Yes. And I was a parent in the stands. Um, the ball would hit the ground and I would scream, oh my God, get the ball. And then someone had to explain how there were no fumbles in flag football. So that's how new I was to the sport, knew nothing. I understood football itself, but not flag football and the rules around that. Um, she really enjoyed it. It was so much fun to watch. It was something that we had never done as a or experienced as a family. So the following year, uh, Clark came and was really looking more for um a female role model who had the kind of D1 in the athletic background that I matched. And um that kind of spoke to me because he was really looking more for understanding of female athletes as young women, understanding, you know, young women and the challenges that they're going through on the high school level and social media and relationships and all those types of things that actually interfere with, you know, girls' performance. Um, not all, but you know, a large percentage. So that was interesting to me, but I accepted and I'm really happy that I did. But I was brand new, didn't know anything other than being able to kind of talk about leadership and character, you know, building and integrity and hustle and grit and all those kind of things that I felt like I'm pretty strong in in terms of being able to translate that into their language and get that part out of them. And I let the X's and O's um be led at that point by Christy Vice and Clark Nixon, who was also new to the sport and he was learning. Um, but Christy was and I think um Coach Lewis had been a big part at that point. Um, he had been the coach that first year with Nixon, and then he was still kind of working along. Um, Christy, especially, is more, but just kind of a mentor um that she could lean on. So I just listened a lot and I watched a lot and kind of interjected where I needed to do about all the things that are the intangibles.

SPEAKER_00

That's really, really interesting. And and we actually had um Coach Nixon on an episode of the of the podcast a few weeks ago. And it really what I took away from that is and really you just kind of backed it up, uh, the where where Coach started was with getting the right people in place first, um, regardless of what that background was. I did and he did him talked about, look, I I needed someone like Kelly, not really concerned with the flag football experience and knowledge, but I needed a coach. Coach first, and then we'll figure out the sport after that. Right. That's uh that's just an interesting way to go about it. And I and I like that because I think it's you know, you I come I come from a uh a corporate background. I used to work in finance, and I used to tell tell young people all the time, you can learn finance from a dummy's book over a weekend. You can't learn from that dummy's book all the intangible things that you need to do to be effective in that. And I think it's similar in in coaching. You know, of course, coaching knowledge and in a a depth of knowledge of scheme and X's and O's is really, really important, but you got to be a coach first, I think.

SPEAKER_03

Right. Right. And I think it's like I think one of the things that's really important, um, especially on this level, coaching girls, Clark and I talk about it all the time, is as coaches, you really want you get into the X's and the O's and the wins and the losses. Um, and that is in fact your job, right? But at the same time, you have uh maybe a roster of 20 and they're people first. There, there's a young person standing in front of you, trusting you to take care of all of them. Like, you know, not just the physical aspect, but the mental and the spiritual and the emotional, to which they're all experiencing. So I think for me, the balance, whether I'm coaching soccer or whether I'm coaching flag, is that it's relationships first, that I need to get to know my players. And I have to know I was somebody who, if you screamed at me, that motivated me. I played harder. I I got mad, kind of like a I'll show you kind of mentality. But you can't, you can't assume that everybody on the field is built like you are, you know, that so we have many players where if you raise your voice, they crumble. And that's it. They're kind of done, done for the game or the practice. So I think it's really important that you kind of take time, you know, you don't have to delve deep into their background, but you know, know what's going on in their lives and what challenges they they have because it it they bring it to the field. They're they're teenagers. You know, that's there's a lot going on other than the practice. And I think sometimes as coaches, the practice and the games are the most important thing for us that day. And you make a lot of assumptions um that it means as much to them as it does to you, which is true, and yet you've got to find a way to make sure that you're bringing that out of each one of them.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and the the different approaches, you know, if you get yelled at that, you know, that uh that motivates you, I'll show you. But then, you know, the other, the other girl, the other athlete might they might that might shut them down. But that's not to say that that uh has any effect on the validity of that person as an athlete and their athletic ability.

SPEAKER_01

That's right, totally.

SPEAKER_00

Um and I and I think too, we coaches focus on on wins and losses and practice planning, I think a lot of times because that's those are the areas that have the most perceived control by us.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Obviously, we know we don't have control, total control over outcomes of games or whether it's a great practice or a terrible practice, but it's tangible. We know we've got a game to prepare for, we know we have a practice to plan and get right, and so that's where I'm gonna spend all my attention because I feel like I have control over that. Whereas when you're talking about sort of the mentality of athletes, that could be the Wild West. And you don't have as much control. And I think what that might do is is, you know, push coaches away from focusing on that, maybe because they're a little afraid of it.

SPEAKER_03

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. I mean, again, like Clark and I, you know, had to have a lot of discussions, you know, about the balancing of um, you know, getting them to hit that next level and pushing them to a point um for them to see how actually talented and great they can be, but also preserving self-worth and self-esteem and, you know, their confidence. And it's a it's a balancing act. I mean, it there are times, you know, where we all make coaching errors and um, you know, and you've got to go back and kind of make sure that they know that they're valued and they're important and they're special to this team and um, you know, reel them back in. Uh because playing time and and injuries and or getting yelled at or, you know, uh getting pulled from a game, you know, can it affects each one of them completely different.

SPEAKER_00

Um so which can then impact the team.

SPEAKER_03

Oh totally. Either positively or yeah. Absolutely. Definitely. It affects the team.

SPEAKER_00

So what I'm curious to know, uh, I've I've been a part of a lot of of uh teams of boys and uh male high school athletes, and I've just observed been an outside observer of of the girls' teams. Help me understand what what a what a culture looks like. And and you know, use Milton as the example since that's where you are. What what is that, you know, how how would you characterize the culture of the Milton girls flag team?

SPEAKER_03

I think we kind of had to develop it. You know, when we all started out, it really was just practicing, practicing and practicing. But you started to realize, and I knew this from, you know, again, my youngest daughter was a collegiate athlete, is the relationships amongst them really mattered to the culture of the team. When they felt bonded, when they felt close together, that they were sharing an experience, sharing a joke, whatever it is, um that they were more motivated to play for one another. Trust was being established, you know, a community was being established, a team. But so that kind of went from pregame meals to a couple of years ago. I think we've done three now, where we have gone to Rock Eagle um preseason, and they do an overnight. And they, so we do a lot of team building that Rock Eagle puts on um throughout the day, everything from canoeing to ropes courses and so forth. Um, and it's hilarious. I mean, but they they are kind of forced to get out of their friend groups that they fall into naturally and really interact as a team because you can't complete the task and the thing that they're presenting to you, the challenge, unless everybody is participating, which I think is kind of the bottom line of any successful team, you know, on the field and off the field. And then they go crazy at night. So they are having fun and they're playing games, and I kind of just separate myself a little bit. We did a big um campfire that they write um there to write one word um on a board. I stole this from Milton basketball. So if Alan Whitehart's watching this, I uh admired this process that he did. And I took that from them um because it was it was so significant and I think profound on many levels that they probably don't even recognize. But they get a board, they get like a piece of wood and they write down one word that they're gonna bring to the team this season. And it's everything from trust to hustle to, you know, communication, um, you know, faith, all those types of things. And we throw those into the campfire as one flame, one team. Um, and it resonated. And you started to see that the team after that Rock Eagle experience, that they would come back really different. Um, and you would see different friendships were being made that weren't there before. Um, you know, that they were, you know, crossing over into different groups. And at one point last year, you you wouldn't have known who was best friends with who. They were a really tight, tight group. And I would say it's a unique experience for me. I've coached a really long time in the last couple of years in Flag, and that dynamic amongst those girls um was really special. And I think that showed on the field and how they played and how they pushed each other and went to state.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah. And and that was a close one too, that that uh state game.

SPEAKER_03

Let's okay, that we're not talking about on this podcast. So nobody wants to hear what my opinion is on that. So let's just we'll just leave that one alone.

SPEAKER_00

I do want to hear it, and I'm gonna ask you when we're not recording.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, that's fine.

SPEAKER_00

I think that's such a great idea, the the Rock Eagle idea or anything like that, because it it takes you out of the context of the sport that connects you as a team and it forces you to make connections without that context. Right. Without that shared context of the sport. And so now you're thrown, you're thrown into a task and you don't have flag football tying you all together. You don't have your friend groups tying you all together because this is a team now. So now you have to work through that and and figure out where your own relationships lie. Uh how how effective can that be? Because it's you know it's extremely effective.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you and I think you miss some of that. You know, I think I think boys and girls bond differently. Um, and I think, you know, and it and it might s I m sound crazy, but like I think girls bond first and boys bond through play. And so when girls feel good on a team together and accepted and so forth, they they are very loyal and they want to play hard from one another and they and they want to hold their end up on, you know, on the field and what they're accountable for. And I think um that's a real diff that's a difference between, you know, boy sports and girls' sports is is girls want to bond first and and then and then it shows in their play. And I think boys bond over, you know, playing and and learning to respect each other and you know, the competition part of it. And neither one is right or wrong. They're just they're just different, you know.

SPEAKER_00

So Yeah, and we have to acknowledge we can't run away from that. I mean, there are differences. So let's not run from it. Let's let's take those differences and and make them you know strong points.

SPEAKER_03

And look that and I think it was an uncomfortable like it wasn't uncomfortable for Nixon. It was it just wasn't something he has young children, it's not something he had um experienced himself, you know, before playing basketball and football himself. Um, but it was definitely something that I was pushing about the team building. And we he's he embraced that. And we started doing team building once a week. So we would talk about um everything from what was our vision, you know, what's working, what's not working. Um, we would do anonymous uh surveys to get a temperature read of what's going well, what's not going well, what can we improve on. Um, the anonymous part was important. Um, you know, nobody wants to be the person who, you know, says something and then it comes back at them, right? Uh and we did everything from being honest about the coaching staff. What can we do different? What are we doing well? What are we not doing well? What can we improve upon? And then them as individuals and then them as a team, and kind of assessing, you know, that feedback and then kind of coming together as coaches to say, okay, so how are we gonna, how are we gonna address and what what things of this are we going to address and how can we make it better experience for them? Um and I think the buy-in of of you know, allowing that freedom to produce, you know, to have conversations with them and kind of try to get some of that out. Now we did fun days too, and then other times we talk about snapback words and you know, and and when the shoulders drop, when you drop a pass, uh when you miss a flag that results into a touchdown and your shoulders drop and you're down, you know, that that you see a lot of players out there do some motions or, you know, say something to themselves to mentally snap back, you know, and move on to the next play. And so we worked on that a lot of each one of them coming up either with a word or or some type of signal or motion or a combination of both where they could just be like, it's gonna be okay. It's all good. We're move on. And that's a hard one to do. I mean, that's a hard one for me to do on a daily basis. So uh we worked on that kind of so you know he, I I give a lot of credit to Nixon being open-minded um in things that maybe he wasn't, I wouldn't say not, I wouldn't say uncomfortable with, just unfamiliar with. Um, and for him to just trust that um mindfulness and team building and those types of things are very important when you're working with girls because the bonds matter, the relationships matter.

SPEAKER_00

So Yeah, and and I think Coach Nixon said when he was on the podcast, he uh and he attributed this to another coach, I can't remember who, but he said, um boys have to win to have fun, girls have to have fun to win. It sounds like you're saying a very, very similar concept.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, uh a hundred percent, totally. And you know, and I'm careful to what I say, because I don't want it to sound like it's some weakness on the female part, but I think, you know, all of us recognize that in this world that women tend to bond differently emotionally and than men do. And that's just that's how we're all made up, you know, whether you're playing sports or not.

SPEAKER_00

So Yeah, and and you know, look, we will talk about the difference between boys and girls on on the She Plays Flag podcast.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And and when I talk about that with guests, it's not, it's not for any other reason, but those differences do exist, so why not talk about it? Yeah. Um and I don't think that there's anything wrong with that. It's you know, people are different. We're all different. I'm different from you. Right, you know, so why wouldn't we talk about those differences and see how we can we can kind of um take what we know of boys and girls and translate that into better coaching? Yeah, I agree, agree.

SPEAKER_03

And you find that like with flag football, naturally the majority of the coaches are gonna be male because uh I myself didn't grow up in a football world. It wasn't it wasn't an option, you know. So that wasn't a sport that I was around other than going, you know, St. Pious Friday night, you know, cheering on my lions, but that's it. And so it's natural that the head coaches and the majority of the coaches do have an actual football background um and that they're male coaches. It's just you're you're coaching a different dynamic and they're motivated differently. And I think I think that's my clearest message is you have to embrace that, you know, um to get sick to be to be successful. You just have to embrace it. So it's like raising, you know, the difference between raising sons and daughters. It's if someone tells you they're the same, then they're not far along. They're not far along in the process yet.

SPEAKER_02

Their ages are young, is what I would say.

SPEAKER_00

And and when you and I talked uh a couple weeks ago, um, one of the things that really came out and really stood out to me was um you talked about the importance of having coaches for girls' teams, just as important it is to have coaches for boys' teams who understand the team, understand the individual, understand the collective. Um but again, on the girls' side, because they are they are kind of different personalities, different types of learning, different ways of learning, that sort of thing. It is important to have um, I think, a broad swath of coaches available. Um I do think it's really important to have female coaches coaching female athletes. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_03

I I'm a I'm a strong advocate of uh female coaches. And I think, you know, at least I'm a big proponent and I say it a lot, whether it be softball, soccer, whatever sport it is, that I think there's a needs to be a female on staff, whatever that role is. They don't necessarily have to be the head coach, but they need to be, they need to be a coach that's hands-on. And I think it's important to have female role models that show leadership, they show assertiveness, they show um an ability to, you know, not be judgmental and you know, trust, but push them when it needs to be pushed. I mean, I think if you interviewed the girls, they would say to you, she doesn't get mad often, but man when she does, you know, because because I I am definitely a coach that believes in 100% that, you know, if we're gonna be out here, we're gonna hustle, we're gonna, you know, I mean, all the things that are the intangibles. You're gonna show up on time, you're gonna communicate, you're gonna work hard, you're gonna hustle, you're gonna do those things. That's across the board, male or female. Um, but I have pretty much a no tolerance um for lazy, you know, play. So I'm really sensitive to a lot of the other things. You've had a fight with your parent on the way to school, you and your boyfriend broke up. You those things matter. They they matter. And, you know, you have to be again be able to have that type of trusting relationship with the players where they feel safe that they can come to you and that they can share those types of things that are happening. And sometimes they just don't feel good. Like just uh they fail to test. Uh, you know, it's just like so many little things that I think w when we're in the throes of it, we just don't really stop and think how those things affect um players, boys and girls, you know, on a day-to-day. And you're talking about an age group that's simply hasn't even, you know, they're working on their social identity and who they are. And right. And I think as coaches, we have a responsibility to make sure we're feeding into that and promoting them and letting them know that they matter, whether they play four minutes, whether they don't play at all, or whether they never come off the field. That each one of them brings something special to the team that is of value and that they are valuable and that they are worthy. And that that's a pretty strong message that comes for me a lot. But they will also tell you that when I I don't accept anything less than their best on most given days. Non-negotiable. Non-negotiable. It is non-negotiable. It is. Yeah. And, you know, and I will go back and kind of, you know, say, I've been here, I've done this. Like you're, I have, you know, they don't, I'll be like, are you kidding me? Like I played in college. If I told you some of the things that I've experienced, you wouldn't believe me, you know, but that was the 80s. You were allowed to do it. And now we're in a a little bit more um, I guess, sensitive, you know, uh, not to make that sound weak, but we're more aware of um the mental aspect of a game versus just the physical skill.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, that the athletes are are people and have uh complex lives and they have great things going on in their lives and terrible things going on in their lives. And the at the the the sport that they play is one part of that. And if we don't recognize that, then we're not doing the right by our athletes. And not to mention the importance of having a female coach for female athletes, you have to be able to deal with potential issues in a locker room. You can't do that unless you have a female coach.

SPEAKER_03

Right. Oh, absolutely. And I and I I again I really credit um, you know, Coach Nixon um for really seeing all that and having a vision for his program and how he wants that, you know, how he wanted that balance. Um, you know, he knew better than to like be like, oh, okay, so you're gonna run the defense when I'm like, huh? What? Like, well, what's the formations? You know, he knew why he knew a really good job of getting his personnel in place. Um, and the and like I said earlier, of embracing the team-building mentality and and the mindfulness and in the whole picture of the sport, you know, and what makes a successful team. Um, I give him a lot of credit for just being really open-minded because you talk to him. He he wants to practice 24-7. He doesn't really like days off. It it unnerves him completely. Um, but but he, you know, started to see the value and he started to see the relationships that were building on the team and all the laughter and so forth. Um, but then we also had a culture of when it's time to work, it's time to work. And we're, you know, when it's time to play, go do your thing. So um, you know, I I love it. It's a great program. Um, I've been I I wouldn't have guessed, you know, that it would have um added so much value to my life when I said yes that first day.

SPEAKER_00

Do do your players, do the girls that play on your team, do they love football?

SPEAKER_03

It's that's interesting. Now, I mean, they all go to games and you know, all that kind of stuff, but I I don't really know, you know, what their background is. I I think flag is interesting because you had asked me a question in the outline, um, and now I don't remember what it was, but it's like, how do you identify, you know, someone who might be successful at flag football? And it's interesting because all three of my girls, you know, grew up that dad had a football at the beach. And every single one, all three of my girls can throw and catch a football because they just grew up, not necessarily sitting in front of a TV watching football, but just throwing a ball in the same way they'd throw a softball on the beach when they were all playing. Um, so sometimes those are some identifying factors, is you can almost immediately tell who has touched a football in their life and who has not. Um, you know, and that can be challenging because you got to kind of slow down and and really focus on the actual skill set and the mechanics um of how to catch a catch a football. I mean, that's kind of like the start, you know. So, and then there's those girls that will never really uh, you know, be great at catching, but they're tenacious on defense. And, you know, they are great flag pullers and and they are fast and they're, you know, aggressive. And so that's their spot. You know, they're not they're not the ones who are the Caroline Marshalls and the Alana Calhouns, you know. Um, and that brings tremendous value, you know, because defense is completely a different skill set than, you know, offense, especially in flag. So um, because they are two completely separate lines, you know.

SPEAKER_00

And I asked I asked the question, do the players love flag? Because it's it's it's just an interesting topic to me. If I look at boys, 90% of boys who play high school football love the game of football, grew up with it, played it since they could put a helmet on. And so 90% of them, that's why they're there. They love it, and maybe they see a path for them in the game, or maybe they just like to play it. Um and then you got the 10% who maybe they're there because they just want to be a part of a team. And this is their best opportunity to do that. Or, you know, the offensive line coach pulled the big boy out of lunch and said, You're playing with us too.

SPEAKER_02

We have some of them here where I'll go, because I can play, you know, just look on looks alone, you know.

SPEAKER_00

I've been around the Milton campus. Yeah, I know it's like. Yeah, there's some, yeah. There's some big people walking around, that's for sure. But I and and it's interesting to me because that that's I I have to think that's not the majority case in girls. Of course, girls grow up watching football with their with their families and their friends and that sort of thing. So certainly they can have a love for the game of football.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

But it feels like a little bit different dynamic in that this girls' flag football is a sport that they can play. Yeah. Boys' football is is like this monolith almost that's bigger than the game itself.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

And I think that that can potentially uh um result in different types of athletes playing the game that you might say see in the in the tackle football game. People who just girls who just want to come out and play something. Right. They're athletes, they want to play. It's a new thing to do.

SPEAKER_03

I think it's uh you know, I think one of the things that I find challenging right now in sports, high school sports, is, you know, back in my day, people just wanted to wear the jersey that represented their school. Um, it wasn't about state championships and, you know, NIL and, you know, um D1 scholarships and so forth. But there was that balance. You had players on the team that were and you had b players that you weren't. We've kind of gotten away from that a little bit. Um and so I think flag has pr has an opportunity that you can be a multi-sport athlete, or this may be your only sport. And there, and I think the way the positioning sets up, both offense and defense, that there really is a place for everybody, whether you be the snapper, whether you're, you know, the corner, rusher. I mean, you know, most kids can run. So, you know, it it it they bring value in some area of the field. And you just gotta figure out what that skill set is. But we have many girls that have come out um that say, I just want I just want to be on the a team and I just want to be with my friend, I want to share this with my friends. Um, and they may not get all the minutes, but they're but they're having a good time. And and that's not their goal. That's not their goal, right? And I think again, going back, like talking about the relationships, it's important to know what they're what each one of their goals is. So especially as Flag football is taking off and getting ready to really, you know, take a great position in D1 and D2 and D3 and all college levels, is there are going to be opportunities coming out and being able to, and we do the same thing with soccer, identify who's looking for those opportunities and making sure that they're, you know, getting the contacts they need, getting the looks that they need, you know, all the camps, all the different things, especially like the Falcons put on, you know, making sure that we're really active on promoting that for those players. Um, because, you know, a lot of them just love it. And it's interesting with the multi-sport athletes that it's we're so intense, you know, and there's a state championship on the line and a region state championship, but they're really having fun because it's not their um primary sport. It's not the sport that they want to go play in college. So they get to relax a little bit and all of a sudden they're incredible. I mean, you look at Braylon Swannick and Jesse DeGrud, I mean, they're just phenomenal lacrosse players, but they're also phenomenal fly football players because they just have a love of competition. They they love to compete. And, you know, they find a way to just be great. So um athletes are athletes. They're outstanding. Yeah, athletes are athletes. And I say it all, I'm like, you can't teach speed. I mean, that's you can teach a lot of things, you can't teach speed, and both of them bring a great amount of speed. So um it's nice.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well, I'm glad you brought you brought it up about um sort of the as as we go into this new era, as as the the game is growing and becoming legitimized via D1, D2, D3. NIL, you can go to school now and and play flag. So it's that's that feels like it's really the stepping off point. And uh I mean, I don't think anybody would disagree with that. Um what does that look like right now? So for for the girls on your team, freshmen, sophomore, juniors, seniors, that age group right now, at the precipice of sort of this flag explosion kicking off. What are you seeing in terms of what these girls are are there are their mindsets changing on they're realizing now potentially that there is something they can do in the future with this versus maybe a couple years ago they couldn't? And does that change their goals and their outlook and the way they view the game, the way they view practices, the way they do preparation, that sort of thing?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Um, I would say overwhelming excitement uh, really, that they're what started off maybe as playing it, playing a new sport, something that was a different type of competition and challenge, um, to a real opportunity. And so again, I go back to, you know, similarities of my own experience um to what, you know, the graduating seniors are experiencing. So you have Alana Calhoun and Aaliyah Holmes who are going to Wingate. Um, and that's amazing. But the girls that are freshmen this year, by the time they're seniors, yeah, most likely gonna kind of have their pick of where they want to go. And they're still gonna be in that window that the sport is new enough that recruiting is pretty heavy. And um, you know, Milton is definitely on the map of one of the better programs out there. So they'll definitely get the looks um, you know, that they need. I think the other thing too is high school flag um is kind of where flag is being played at the moment. So you don't have the youth programs and you're going to uh AAU tournaments or you're going to soccer showcases or softball showcases. That really doesn't have, you know, they have maybe some of those things in some other states, but right now high school kind of is the venue that um the the girls are being looked at. So I think for them, I mean, you you, you know, they you'll listen to Alana and Aliyah go, uh, you know, like it's gonna be so big when we leave and so forth, and I'll go, but you know, and I tell them all the time, I'll go, you'll be proud. One day you'll look back and go, I was a part of this. I was part of the movement for flag football to become on the map of a tremendous sport to play collegially, professionally, you know, in high school. Um But the I think it's an overwhelming excitement that there's a potential for a different opportunity that they didn't even think about when they joined the team.

SPEAKER_00

And and it's very real now to them. Very real. Very real. A real thing. It happens. Yeah. So Alana uh Calhoun, if for for people listening, and if you haven't heard her name, you should have heard it. She's one of the best. Yes.

SPEAKER_02

If you're a wild flag, you should have known her name. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. She played at the uh the NFL All-Star flag game, uh, one of the best, one of the best uh athletes in the country. She's playing flag at Wingate.

SPEAKER_03

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Going to Wingate.

SPEAKER_03

Um, and she it she's just a well-rounded kid. You know, I mean, I could go on for the next five minutes about Alana and just uh the growth that she's had coming in as a freshman. Um, and just she was natural and she looks natural on the field. You watch her and there's a smoothness in the way that she plays. She makes catching look effortless. Um, she has a vertical that, you know, when her timing is right, you're you're you're not beating her. And um, you know, Alana has a a different gear. You know, uh we talk about the X factor, and Alana has that. She she has that, my team needs me now, and it's time to step up, and she'll turn, you know, another gear comes on and gets better. Yeah, and she gets better. Right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um and you know, she's a special athlete. So what did it what does recruiting look like now? How do how are girls getting recruited? I know it's it's it's so new and so early, so it may there may not be really much of a critical mass of recruiting out there, but what does it look like? Are coaches, I know in the in the tackle world, they're gonna be.

SPEAKER_03

I think coaches are reaching out to Nixon um mainly through email, um, coming to some games, um, trying to get film, you know, on players. Um, because really they're working from the ground up. I mean, you know, you're you I I think maybe in point of fact, because I'm not familiar enough with it, I think there's been club teams, you know, um in college and so forth, which is, you know, more on the just fun, you know, fun club thing to do. Some are more competitive than not. And now those club teams are getting an opportunity to actually be um, you know, recognized with the NCAA, which is super exciting. But I think in terms of listening to Coach Nixon talk, it's you know, mainly he gets a lot of emails asking about players. So I think we're still just at that that point of emails and film. Um, and when they can come to a game, you know, you'll see you'll see some come every now and then, um, especially locally, you know, like the the colleges here in Georgia. Um but other than that, I'm not really well versed on um just what he has shared in that respect.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I and I have seen a lot of colleges are doing um more showcase type things where they're they're sort of the the either the sponsor or the you know the um the foundational partner or whatever in these in these showcase events. Um and I guess that's that's the best way to for you to see a volume of athletes at once uh in a in a a lane in the sport that doesn't really exist yet, right? The the recruiting lanes have not yet fully been built out on how this works. And so yeah, they put together a showcase and bring a bunch of schools out, bring a bunch of girls out, watch them, tag them, you know, give them a wristband, all that.

SPEAKER_03

Um I I don't know, you know, if you've ever spoken or familiar with Adam Clack. Um he's now he was the football coach here for a while at Milton, and now he's at Parkview.

SPEAKER_00

I actually I I coached on his staff at Parkview. You did, yeah. Uh the past season, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, that's terrific. Well, you know then he's tremendous um and inspiring just by being himself. But he worked a lot with our girls um before coming on with Parkview. And I find him to be really instrumental right now in the sport. I I would imagine um he can't devote as much time as he did at one time. But, you know, he was putting on a lot of different weekend um workouts and showcases and so forth uh with an incredible staff uh of you know, some of the best coaches around here. So um I give him a lot of credit because I feel like he started recognizing a lot of the talent in the state and trying to get those girls to come together um and making that list for you know for college coaches to um ask questions about. But you know, it I feel like if he puts his stamp on it, then you know it's good. So 100%.

SPEAKER_00

Huge fan. Uh oh, me too. Me too. Yeah, you know, and he's he's involved um with the flag factory organization here in Georgia. If if anybody out there's listened, take a look at Flag Factory. Um and and Adam and I, we we go back a little bit. We we coached, um, I coached on his staff in 2021. I coached the Milton Feeder program prior to that. And then he and I are involved in in the Adam Clack Football Academy. So we do a podcast, we do camps during the summer, skills camps, and that sort of thing for tackle football. Um and yeah, I when when he and I were working together, I really wasn't much into the flag space. It really kind of went on my radar. And through him is actually what what brought me to Flag and to become interested in it and just hearing him talk about it and seeing some of the things he did with uh training, and I was just it blew me away. And I thought that's it. Oh, me too.

SPEAKER_03

I would I would sit on the sidelines when he worked with the Milton girls and I would video because you had asked, How did I learn? And I would say a lot was what watching him, because what I really appreciated about his coaching style is the simplicity, the that everything was a first step, second step, third step, execution. And that's kind of how my mind works. Um, so when he coaches, it kind of resonates with me of that's how I, if I'm gonna communicate, you know, this, this is how I want to do it. And I would video drill after drill to the point that, and I could hear him talk so I could, you know, kind of emulate when it was my turn. Um, but I I think he's been a really big part of um giving a lot of girls a platform, you know, to show what they can do. Um, and his staff is uh, you know, a lot of, I know, like Coach Stromy and Coach Estes and you know, a lot of people from Milton and Jake, and you know, like so he's pulling really, you know, terrific coaches, whether they're on the football side or on the flag football side or both. Um, so you know, there's a lot of people playing a part of this, you know, sport underground kind of, you know, rising up. So, and he's definitely one of them.

SPEAKER_00

Which, which is really fascinating because all those all those coaches you mentioned, those are all tackle guys. Yeah, right. So we we look at these as different sports, and they are very much different sports, they're still under that football umbrella. And so there can be some of that movement between the sports and some of that sharing of knowledge and best practices and that sort of thing. Um you had mentioned, and we talked a little bit about this, like how do you how do you learn flag football? You you step on the field day one, you're assistant coaching, uh, have a tremendous background in female athletics, playing, coaching, that sort of thing. But flag's new. So what like how can a new coach on day one, week one, month one contribute to a flag team?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Well, again, I go back to, you know, really um, you know, pressing the intangibles. I didn't, I read a lot, a lot. I mean, I would um, and and I would tell you social media was a huge help. All the people kind of coming out, yeah, um, you know, different platforms, and I would look at drills and, you know, listen and what are the things that I need to bring out. And I try to search for a lot of stuff on that. Um, like I said, I really watched, you know, Clack a lot. Um, and you know, a lot of the thing, a lot of coaching points, I think, whether it be soccer or basketball, kind of stay the same and they're streamlined across the sports. But I mean, I had to do, I had to listen and I and I had to watch film and I had to, you know, look at all kinds of social media coaching um and and just pay attention. But, you know, I would be remiss not to mention Christy Vice. I mean, she was uh the offensive coordinator my first year, and she really kind of helped me along, you know, talking me. And she would just, you know, kind of go over all the plays and so forth with me. Of explain why we're doing this and so forth. So once I kind of started seeing uh that, you know, in soccer we call them channels or lanes and so forth. And then all of a sudden that kind of presented itself the same in flag. So I was kind of like, okay, I'm starting to understand what we're doing here. Um now when they talk about the route tree, I was like a fish out of water. I was like, I don't know what a route tree is. So someone's gonna have to explain that. So I did a lot of printing, you know, and researching and looking and so forth. And I would still say I wasn't necessarily um speaking the language exactly. But, you know, I I definitely now, you know, I've learned it and um and it's really fun. I am not the person to draw plays. That's that's not my strength. But I would say defensively, um, and this sounds crazy, but like defense is defense. And that, you know, there there's a skill set, whether you're playing defense on in basketball, soccer, flag, football, and it, you know, so that's kind of my wheelhouse. Um, and I was happy to take that over. But when you talk, go to the X, you're the Y, you're the Z. I'm like, I don't, uh, you lost me there.

SPEAKER_00

So But but like you said, there are those, there are those aspects that are transferable probably across most sports. Totally. You know, if I'm if I'm talking to someone about how their movement under posture looks, uh and they got really bad posture as they're moving, what does that mean to me? That tells me that their knees are probably out over their toes. Right. Right? Their shoulders are probably out over their knees, just sort of a not a not a good athletic position. I don't care what sport you're playing. Right. That's you need to understand.

SPEAKER_03

Usually the same thing on the soccer field now this season, that if you're playing defense and you're backpedaling, your weight has to be distributed towards the inside of the field because you're gonna get beat, you know, or if you're all your weights on the outside, they're gonna beat you inside. If all your weights on the inside, they're beating you on the outside. And so some of those things, once I started figuring out, okay, wait, you you a lot of this stuff translates into what you already know. Um, I I was able to relax a little bit more too. And then I also were learned a ton. Um, and I coach with him now. Um, we took over the soccer program. That's Damian Bentley, and he played, he was a running back at Georgia Southern, and he's on the Milton football staff as well. And he's just a defense guru. So I really, I mean, he was a strong influence of just listening to him and his experience because he was a collegiate football player and what and he had a way of bringing out um an aggressive side of the girls and a tenacious side of the girls that, you know, had didn't really exist um prior to that. And so much of that was a balance between really, really driving hard work um and commitment to what we were trying to do, and then balancing that with a lot of fun. And he usually did that with a lot of, you know, fun celebrations and you know, crazy stuff in the end zone. And and they and they bought into it. So it was like, okay, I need to steal that too.

SPEAKER_00

So um That's what the best coaches are thieves.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah. Yeah, right, right. I mean, you've heard me say I took this from Alan Whitehart. I re I recorded Alan uh Adam Clack.

SPEAKER_03

I'm stealing from my coworker now. Like we now coach soccer together. So um, you know, he I we had a strong partnership. And, you know, all the people that I named are just great coaches and, you know, have had different levels of success in different sports. And so, um, you know, I'm not too proud to, you know, think that I know it all for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um one of the things that I really wanted to get out of this talk we have is given your background in athletics, but not flag, and and now uh just again, listening to Coach Nixon, an extremely integral part of the flag coaching staff at Milton. What I was really looking to do is I want to encourage more coaches. So my hypothesis is there are a lot of potential coaches out there who would be great in the flag game, but because they don't know the flag game, might be a little bit uh uh, you know, have a little bit of trepidation to jumping in and and and coaching. But you proved that you that's that's a that's a surmountable obstacle. Um how would you what would you say to encourage coaches to jump in? Like how would you encourage them to come in?

SPEAKER_03

I have always, like even like with my own girls, is uh I think there's something to be said about being inside the fence instead of outside the fence. And um being somebody who, you know, enjoys uh working with kids, um, someone who um, you know, wants to impart, you know, influence and wisdom and, you know, so forth, be a role model for young children um and young kids. I think the biggest thing is to get involved, like start off in the feeder programs. A lot of the schools now are having feeder programs. Um, surround yourself, you know, join somebody. I think almost everybody has started off as a parent volunteer or a parent coach, um, and they work with somebody who they start to learn from. There's workshops out there, you know. I know that there's lots of different coaching workshops coming along. I, you know, I think there's a lot of the biggest thing is that hurdle of just the desire to do it, because the truth of the matter is they don't know what you don't know. I mean, you you know, like they're like kids are responding to you um in your personality and you know, how you your demeanor. They size you up long before they know if you know what you're talking about or not. They've already made a lot of, you know, conclusions about who you are. Um, but I think being inside the fence is way, is way more fun. And and you have an opportunity um, you know, to join a sport that is just growing rapidly. Um, and they need people. They need people who are just willing and able. And the learning will come um based on who you're surrounding yourself. And like I said, there's just so much information now out there that I think a lot of coaches use you at nighttime, you're researching, you're looking for drills. We need to, you know, I I want to have a one-five-one on defense. How well how can I teach this? And it's out there and and you just got to look for it. But I think, you know, um, it's never comfortable not knowing because I like I go back to the soccer field. That's my passion, that's a sport I know. I can communicate that sport, I can teach that sport. Um, and flag, I know that I was like, when I would speak up, I was like, oh God, I hope I know what I'm talking about. Um, I know the feeling. You know, like it's just an uncomfortable feeling. But I think like anything else, none of no, you know, no one goes into um, you know, algebra knowing how to solve equations. I mean, you know, so you have to learn and you get information and you study it and you and then apply it. But, you know, I'm I'm a big proponent of get out there and just, you know, go for it. So um there's just so many great coaches here, just in our simple state of Georgia, you know, just surround yourself by and reach out to and, you know, come. I I encourage people to go watch. I mean, you know, like half the battle is go and watch and observe and see what, you know, see some of the great teams and what the girls are doing and um how successful they can be and find your way in there. I don't know if that's a great answer, but you know, it's just it is.

SPEAKER_00

It's just it's just gonna do it, right?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, it's just kind of I think we've all grown up with parent volunteer coaches. I mean, that and I think that is still the case. So nobody's walking out an expert, and you know, but um, you know, I've always been struck by sometimes um, and I'm a big, you know, I'm a strong female advocate. So I've always been struck by the parents that are in the stands, especially the moms. And then you talk to them and they go, oh, well, no, I played it so and so and I did this, you know, and you're like, okay, well, why are you up here? Like they need you out there, you know, whatever sport that is, is and in whatever role that is. Like I said, you know, Nixon identified something of a need for the team, and he saw that I could feel that. He wasn't looking for me to do something outside of my comfort zone. Um, but together we were able to find a balance that, you know, benefited everybody.

SPEAKER_00

Um exactly what I was what I was gonna say is if if a if a staff invites you in into the fence, then inherently you bring something to the table.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_00

It doesn't have to be the yeah, the the defensive mastermind. It can be someone who understands how to talk to athletes in an athletic setting. Right. That's something. And lean on that, and the other stuff comes, right? But take what you do really well and pour that into the girls.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And pour into them for sure.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And uh, you know, you'd mentioned some of the some of the ways that you can, you know, that the coaches out there can kind of get up to speed at at least initially, is there's there's no shortage of information out there. You just gotta find it. I mean um, and especially now with with the growth of it, there are more and more people putting information online and and you know, because they want to grow the sport, just consume it. Like you said, watch games. Uh go to YouTube, punch in uh US women's national team flag football, and watch those games. Oh my gosh, what you can pick up.

SPEAKER_03

We had a um, she only coached for a year and her name was Crystal. And now I can't, for the life of me, remember her last name. But she plays um professionally here in Georgia, and she has a twin sister. And I swear to you, I was like, you might be the best athlete I've ever uh I mean, she was just she was the whole package. And the girls really looked to her and were really inspired by her. Um, you know, just how comfortable she was in being what sometimes is uncomfortable roles for female to be in. And that's the assertiveness that's speaking up, that's being communicative, that's being aggressive, and you know, um, you know, that having that confidence to step outside of kind of what you've been told um, you know, female athletes are. And I mean, look at female athletes now. I think there was something out today talking about flag football being paired with, you know, wrestling, like girls getting into wrestling. And it's like, so, so these girl athletes now are strong and they are bold and they're confident and they're getting into sports that have never been um, you know, opportunities for them. And it's and it's exciting, you know, to watch. So um, you know, I love it. Uh every time I see them really take a risk or do something that's outside of their comfort zone, um, it's bigger than sports. You know, you're watching somebody grow as an actual person and um, you know, down the line to be successful.

SPEAKER_00

Uh when you see a a young athlete take a risk and and either either fail or succeed on that risk, but learn something from it and and then that informs what they do going forward. I say that's exponential because that's going to show up when they're adults.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, 100%.

SPEAKER_00

In a in a real way.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And we try really hard. You asked about the culture, is I think a lot of times, you know, we talk about those things about um practice starts at four, which means cleats are on and your toes are actually on the field. That doesn't mean you walk up at four, because when your boss later tells you that that project or that whatever it is, that assignment or job is due at 9.15, they didn't mean 918. They meant 915. In fact, they probably meant 910. So, you know, and we will we talk about so many of those things about tardies and absences. Like, what does that say for your teacher? That you're not, you know, that you you've got to commit to the classroom, that you're you're a student first, you are a student athlete. And and, you know, they look at you sometimes like, why do you care? And you're like, because it's the whole person, you know, like you can't say you're student athlete, not hold up both ends of the spectrum. Um and so I think, you know, Milton, I don't, you know, we as a program do a really good job of um, you know, kind of holding them accountable on a lot of different, you know, aspects that are all future life related. And and we hope, you know, but like you said earlier, not all of them, but a very small percentage of them go on to play on the collegiate level. But you hope that some way down later in their life that you've reiterated a message uh enough times where it resonates somewhere along the road and they don't know why they know it, they just know they know it. And, you know, that you've influenced them in that kind of positive way.

SPEAKER_00

Well, that's kind of what it's all about, right? I mean, to me, the the purpose of of high school scholastic athletics is not to go and win a hundred games over a course of a four-year career and put trophies on the wall. The purpose is to grow as a person. And because we're talking about high school athletes, those high school athletes need coaches to help them grow as a person.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um yeah, I mean, I I agree completely.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I usually um, you know, we have what we call the Meet the Eagles, and I I'm sure every program has their parent night. And I stand up every year, and I mean it's the same speech every year, and I lead in with the fact that I'm a parent first, that I have three girls, and and that's the job that I am absolutely 100% totally committed to uh first and foremost. And then I'm gonna be your daughter's coach coach. And I take that equally as important. So once they are a part of a part of my team, they're with me forever. Whether they play one year or whether they play all four years, um, that I take you under my wing. And my whole entire outlook has always been that I'm here to advocate for strong, confident young women that go out in the world and can suc can succeed and can face adversity with success. And that's kind of that's my why. And um and that hasn't changed for many, many years.

SPEAKER_00

I'm gonna give that a big hell yeah.

unknown

I love it.

SPEAKER_00

Me too. So um so you know, wrapping up here, I I want to be respectful of your time, but uh I know that there's when you and I talked, I just I came away from it with just kind of blown away that um some of the things you were talking about. Is there anything we didn't we didn't touch on or or you feel is important? Again, think about the audience out there. We're trying to get more coaches, more quality coaches, coaching for the right reason. What did we do we leave anything out?

SPEAKER_03

I don't think so. You know, again, I think my, you know, if I'm leaving any message is that um I think when you are people-centered coaching-wise, you're gonna find greater success. That when you don't just see them as um X's and O's and executors of your scheme, that you find that when you start to form those relationships with them, um, that you start getting a little bit more out of them. The more they trust you, the more they see that you're an advocate for them, that you're on their side, and so forth. Um, you you get different results um from them. And and you had mentioned earlier about, you know, how awesome it is when you see a kid take a risk. And I think oftentimes they're afraid to fail um because maybe they get pulled, maybe they get yelled at, you know, what embarrassed in front of their friends, their teammates. Um, and I think it's just important to sometimes pause and think about um how you would want to be treated in certain situations. And if somebody, you know, if it's if it's your child, would you want someone speaking to them in in that manner? Um, and I think that kind of keeps a lot of people grounded, if you bring that up when you coach, is that, you know, I I joked with Nixon one day. Uh uh, we had something at practice, and you know, he he he yelled um nothing terrible. And I walked over and I said, So tell me how that would have worked if you did that at home. And he's like, Oh my God, you know, whatever. And I said, right, me too, me too. Like it wouldn't have been I wouldn't have gotten the response I'm looking for. So I think sometimes you just has coaches, especially of young women, you need to pause and and really reorient yourself is what it what is the result you're looking for. And with that particular player, you know, how do I get the how do I get the absolute best from them? And I think that's a hard thing to do when you have a roster that's really big, but I think the payoff is uh is huge. And that that's kind of the ground I stand on is uh people first.

SPEAKER_00

Well, and you you you start off saying that at the very beginning of this. The the person, then the athlete.

SPEAKER_03

Right, definitely. And you'll find too that you you can actually then start pushing really hard and you can start is challenging them harder because they trust that you have their best interests and that you're looking out for them. Um, because and then you're getting better results, you know, because now you can kind of amp up your coaching also. You can you can get a little firmer, you can be a little more demanding, you can be a little more nitpicky about the small, finer things that are just gonna make them that much better. Um, but you just can't do that out out of the gate because you know, they're high like I said, I mean, I work in this high school and they size you up. They they know they they decide real quick who you are and and are you legit or not. And um, you know, so sometimes the pressure's on the coach to, you know, um versus the player.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and and you know, going back to to Coach Clack, he says this all the time. High school athletes are the most accurate BS detectors on the planet. Oh, they know when you're BSing them.

SPEAKER_03

And they will tell you that they feel free to tell you also. I mean, so um, you know, like I said, he uh just he's spot on, spot on uh with that. And you know, he had a real knack here at Milton of bringing out the best in those uh guys. And you could tell by the way when he was in the school building as an administrator, you know, how they um communicated with him and you know how excited they were when they did see him. But they worked their, you know what, they respected him and they worked their tails off to the first state championship here at the school. So um, you know, the proof is definitely in the pudding with him. So, like I said earlier, I take a lot from him.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Well, you know, it's it sounds to me the the message is pretty clear, right? Again, as we were going into this, the the goal here was to encourage more coaches to get involved and then sort of kind of give them some pointers and an idea of what it looks like to be involved when when you don't have the flag background. You're a group, perfect example of that. Um, a coach is a coach. Again, I go back to the example. I mean, I can probably learn flag football or any game or sport, you know, over the course of a couple weekends, you know, just by reading and and watching, you know, just to get the basics down.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Of course, can't become an expert in a in a couple of weekends, but I can learn enough to to go out there and uh help out. That's really all that takes. Uh the game just needs coaches. You you can learn the game, you know, just by doing it, just like we learned everything.

SPEAKER_03

And my husband coached my girls since I think my oldest one started playing softball at six, and my middle one was four. And so she played on the same team. He didn't know anything. I mean, he watched baseball, you know, right? I mean, he knew what softball was in baseball, but he wanted to be inside the fence. He wanted to be hands-on. Um, and you know, he read and he learned and he got out there and he surrounded himself again with other coaches that had more knowledge than him. And then years later, all of a sudden he's, you know, he's on the board of directors and he's, you know, leading uh, you know, opening day. And um and he's now people calling coaches. You know, now people are calling him asking for. So it's just everybody starts someplace and every sport at some point is unknown, and you just gotta, you know, take the leap and get out there and do it for all the right reasons because the information's out there. It's just a matter of learning.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And I would say that the only requirement is that that you care, that you give a damn.

SPEAKER_03

Right. Right. Yeah. And I think we live in a climate now where um the more positive people you can get out there, um, encouraging and, you know, um inspiring your kids um, you know, to overcome obstacles and adversity and so forth, you know, the better we're gonna be.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And and we we wanna we wanna make better adults in the future because one day we're all us coaches are gonna be old and sick. We want to be taken care of. We want to be taken care of by good human beings.

SPEAKER_02

And I want you to be on time and I want you to, you know, all those, all those life skills. Oh, I I want all that for them. So there you go.

SPEAKER_00

Their future is our future. Exactly. Exactly. Well, uh, Kelly, this has been this has been great. Yes, thank you. I've had such a such a great time here. It's been a a really great discussion. Um, and I just think it's important to I said this before, to not run away from the differences between boys and girls' sports, and we should talk about that. And I'll and I love talking about it with you since we did before. I know it's gonna be really helpful for uh for those out there listening. So I I do want to thank you again for coming here and and chatting today.

SPEAKER_03

Well, absolutely. It was my pleasure. Um I'm always happy to, you know, I'm passionate about it, so I I love talking about it. So I appreciate you giving me that opportunity.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I know all the listeners out there are going to appreciate that passion as well. So uh with that, let's get out of here and uh we'll see everyone on the next episode.