Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast! (S14 E5)

                              Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast!  (S14 E5)

Proud member of the Sports History Network and endorsed by the National                                                  Soccer Coaches Association of Canada.     

Host Giovanni Pacini welcomes his worldwide audience to yet another exciting show. Don't forget this season will feature World Cup "bonus content" throughout the season and beyond!

This week's "Conversation with the Coach" is with Nico Calabria, a member of the US Amputee Soccer Teram. "Coaches Corner" features Don Norton where he talks about the 10 tips for an effective training session. "News and Analysis" will feature Giovanni Pacini and Ralph Ferrigno checks in with the European Soccer Report where he talks about the European World Cup playoffs.  The "American Soccer Revolution" features an audio clip from Eric Wynalda's show, "Unleashed" where he asks the question- "Why doesn't the US develop creative players?"

The GP Soccer Podcast features new shows every Wednesday and can be found anywhere you listen to your podcasts. Listeners are encouraged to "Like" and "Subscribe" the GP Soccer Podcast and share the show amongst those within their social media network! Those interested in advertising on the show can contact host Giovanni Pacini at gp4soccer@yahoo.com. And be sure to check out the show website at www.gpsoccerpodcast.com. 

                    GP Soccer Podcast enjoys continued support from-
United Goalkeeping Alliance - Music Meets Sports - National Soccer Coaches Association of Canada - The Sports History Network - Feedspot.com - GP Voice Over Services - Zone 14 Coaching

GP Soccer Podcast welcomes a new sponsor- Zone 14 Coaching! Check it out at Zone14coaching.com. Use promo code GP20 for 20% off!

To purchase a signed copy of Dr. Joe Machnik's book- "From the Sandlots to the World Cup: 7 Decades of American Soccer", e-mail "Dr. Joe" at joemachnik@no1soccercamps.com. Be sure to mention the GP Soccer Podcast!

Enjoy the show!

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 1:21

Well, hey there, everyone. Giovanni Picini here, your host of the GP Soccer Podcast. Welcome to all of you, my global uh intergalactic audience. Uh great to be with you once again. Listen, listen, listen. Are you feeling it? Are you feeling it? I mean, we're what? Uh less than 100 days, less than 90 days, I think, to the World Cup. And I think every day that goes by, the anticipation, the excitement just kind of accelerates uh little by little by little. And I know that I'm feeling it. I'm definitely feeling it. And I think and I hope that uh all of you out there are feeling it as well. Uh and as you know, uh this uh this being season 14 of the GP Soccer Podcast, it will have a World Cup flair to it, a World Cup twist to it. Each and every show we'll uh we'll talk a little bit uh uh about the upcoming World Cup. But I'm I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it, and I'll I'll explain a little bit more in a minute or so why I'm really feeling it. But uh let's start with the uh opening here. You know, last week's show, we got we got a lot of great feedback, and I and I I'll say very modestly, really proud of this show, proud of uh where it has come uh these 14 seasons, and I get a lot of really nice feedback and uh knock on wood. I haven't had anything really negative come back, uh, but yeah, we'll wait and see. Um I share with you one email uh from last week's show. Uh hi, GP Soccer Podcast team. Well, let me just start right off the bat. There is no GP Soccer Podcast team. You're listening to them. I I I am the team. Um he goes on to say, I just wanted to reach out and let you know how much I enjoyed last week's episode. The interview with Dr. Joe Macknick was absolutely fascinating, especially the part where he talked about his latest book, From the Sand Launch to the World Cup inside seven decades of American Soccer. It was great to hear his highlight his uh insights and stories from his incredible career. Thank you for bringing such engaging and informative content to your listeners. I'm already looking forward to the next episode. Best regards, a proud fan. Well, thank you very much for that uh very nice, very kind uh email. Uh yes, indeed. Uh last week was a terrific, uh, terrific interview with Dr. Joe Macknick interview. And uh haven't checked that out, just go back uh to last week's show and definitely tune that in. Uh he makes a nice little offer about his book toward the end. That's gonna be a little bit of a teaser. A little bit of a teaser, uh, but uh certainly worth checking out. Um today's show, we've got another terrific show again today. Uh, with our conversation with the coach. This is just this is just such an inspirational uh story, such an inspirational interview. Uh our guest today uh on Conversation with the Coach segment will be with Nico Calabria. Uh he is a renowned American adaptive athlete. He's the member of the U.S. amputee soccer team and a player for the New England Revolution amputee soccer team as well. And uh and and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Uh that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm just gonna k offer you a little bit of a teaser there as well. It's such an inspirational story. I had the great pleasure, which I'll talk about uh during the interview, uh, of seeing uh Nico play as well as a number of other uh adapted athletes uh play uh list last summer, uh summer of twenty-five, over at Weymouth High School. Uh a fantastic tournament. And I was really and really inspired by uh the magnificent play and spirit of all the folks who were involved. So you're gonna really enjoy that. Conversation with the coach with Nico Calabria. Coach's corner is with the great Don Norton. He's gonna talk about the 10 tips for an effective training session. Soccer news and analysis uh with yours truly, uh the European Soccer Court with Ralph Rigno. He's gonna talk going to be talking about the European World Cup playoffs, because as of this recording, not all of the spots are filled uh for what will be the uh the the final uh the final teams that that will have made uh this this year's World Cup. In the American Soccer Revolution, one of my favorite shows, one of my favorite podcasts, uh, because he rants and raves like I do, is from uh Eric Ronaldo's show. It's called Unleashed with Eric Ronaldo. And the topic uh for his uh his show to with the segment I'm gonna share with you today, why doesn't the U.S. develop creative players? Now there's a loaded question. There's a big question. It's a question that I ask all the time. Not only do I ask the question, but I answer it uh quite a bit. And I'm gonna uh uh offer that uh my two cents when we get to that part of the uh the show today. The American Soccer Revolution. Checking boxes, checking boxes, checking boxes. I'm gonna focus in on um match day at Boston Stadium. I gotta I gotta kind of get in the habit of calling it Boston Stadium. We're so used to calling it Foxboro, you know, Foxboro Stadium where the Patriots play. But it's uh for the World Cup, it's going to be the generic uh city that's hosting. That will be Boston. Um I want to play with you, play for you a little bit of audio. I'm hoping, and when I did this, when I was in the stadium, I wanted to hope like I wanted to I said to myself, I hope when I play this for my my listening audience uh this week that they kind of get a feel for what was going on in the stadium. So this is just a minute or so. Check this out.

SPEAKER_15 6:16

Well, hey everyone, Jiovanica here of the GP Soccer Podcast. And uh, where am I right now? Well, I'm at Gillette Stadium, uh preparing for the Brazil twenty minutes, if you want to call it a friendly. And uh we talk about that uh when the time comes in the peace talking podcast. Brazil and France, I'll check with you guys later.

SPEAKER_06 7:51

So there you go. Uh hopefully that gave you a little bit of a taste of what it felt like to uh to be to be in the stadium. Uh it it was um it was a it was a terrific day all the way around. So, you know, some uh bits and pieces here. Um you know, getting to the stadium is a horror show. Uh that's just an accepted uh thing to do. If you're from the Boston area, you know this. If you're gonna go to a Patriots game, you're gonna go to a uh a big concert or something, traffic on Route 1 is just a given. And you you basically build in your time uh traveling to the venue, knowing full well that you're gonna be sitting in traffic on Route 1 for a great period of time. Uh parking, we did get parking. Um it dropped us, uh we dropped uh$80,$80. Uh as you got closer and closer, uh one was for a hundred dollars. Um and it was about a hundred yards away. It wasn't too bad. Um, you know, there was four of us, so it was 20 bucks apiece. And uh we we we walked the the very short distance, like maybe a hundred yards before you got into the uh into that the Fox Force State in area. Um the security, uh, which as you very well know by listening to the show, or if you're from the Boston area, you do know this. Uh there was definitely a security presence. You knew they were there. There were there was local, there was state, um, you know, there was there was a federal presence. You saw all the armaments uh that that will be in full display when the World Cup kicks off. You saw it on the ground, you saw it in the air, there were helicopters uh flying about. Um but this may sound weird, even though you you knew they were there, you see them there. They did a good job of kind of like uh you know staying off to the side or not really having a s uh uh a high profile. Now that might have something to do with the crowd. The crowd was terrific. I mean, per my own little purview, uh, you know, walking to and from. Uh in in in my you know, what I saw going back and forth, nothing crazy, no, no, nothing outrageous that would have warranted uh police action. And so I think it was an easy, uh, easy afternoon, easy evening for the uh for the uh security measures. Um and like I said, there there is an absolute presence. You you will feel very, very safe. And if uh everyone is well behaved, which we always hope will be the case, you won't see them because they won't be pressed into action. They will not be pressed into action. Uh conversely, I'm gonna go back in time a little bit. Conversely was my experience a couple of years ago. I went to the Copa Medica final uh 2024 down at the Hot Rock Stadium in Miami, uh, where Argentina won that game, one Ill over Columbia. That was the uh total opposite. The total opposite. Uh that was just absolute dangerous chaos. Um and if you recall, uh people were uh you know uh pushing down the gates and and climbing their way like spider men and spider women to to get into the stadium uh to the point where they had to st they had to uh put up fences again to stop uh the flow of people coming in, which only made matters even more chaotic. It was 90 degrees that night, and and people were wondering why we can't get into the stadium. Uh and when they did uh open up the gates again, the floodgates opened, and uh I personally, along with my friend, we I personally we got caught up in the flow of people where we had no choice but to be pushed up the stairs, and I was uh I won't say I was crushed against the wall, but I was pressed against the wall. And for the first time in my life, uh going to a soccer game, or heck, almost anywhere, I felt um, you know, my life was a little bit in danger. I don't think it was, you know, it was gonna leave the earth, that's what I'm saying, but uh, I felt I felt it was dangerous. Um that that is not was not the case uh with the match in Foxwood. I don't foresee anything like that happening, you know, going forward. Um the the uh security presence is absolutely absolutely uh spot on. Now the match itself, uh you know, France, as we know, France defeated uh defeated Brazil 2-1, and there was a crowd of 66,215. Um France was the better team. France was indeed the better team. Um they dominated the the jar of the match. And and I'll and I'll break it down for you for uh a couple of things here. Uh they're highly technical players, very technical players, very creative players, very athletic players, and they're big and they're strong. Uh we were impressed, myself and my my friends who were watching the match, and we were we had great seasons, we were very close. We were impressed by France's ability to withstand physical pressure, uh physical pressure, one-on-one, two-on-one pressure from Brazilian players, yet the French players were able to keep the ball close, they were able to maneuver the ball with amazing dexterity and finesse and creativity to uh to shake away from the the the pressure and play it to another to another person, who might be under pressure as well. The the physicality of the French team was uh on full display. You combine that with uh terrific terrific technique and creativity. You you've got a dangerous team. You've got a dangerous team. Um you know, Killian Mbappe scored in the 32nd minute minute, uh Hugo and T and TK uh scored in the 65th minute um and uh a terrific, terrific match. Uh and it was just clearly that uh you know France was indeed the the the better of the of the two teams. Uh Brazilian team were uh a bit of a y on the younger side. Uh it was great to see Killian Mbappe play. Um you know, as as we all know, he's uh on the verge of uh you know drawing closer to uh Olivier Giroux uh uh record for his country of 57 goals. Uh and he scored a beautiful chip shot uh over the Brazilian goalkeeper Addison, and he now has 56 goals, so he's just uh one goal away from tying and two goals away from breaking that record. And France will be here uh here in the Boston area, and uh the next time they will be returning to the state, uh they will be battling Norway in group one uh on June the 26th, kickoff at 3 p.m. So, all in all, ladies and gentlemen, uh a little bit of a snapshot. Granted, it was not a World Cup game, but you had all the ingredients of what the World Cup will look like on any given day, on any given venue here across our three countries that are hosting. And this was uh this was a good day. This was a good day in all aspects, in all aspects. So uh it only heightens the excitement that I spoke about at the spot at the start of the show. Giovanni Pacini here, GP Soccer Podcast. We're gonna break for a couple of commercial messages, and on the other side, my conversation with the terrific, and I do mean terrific, Nico Calabria. Don't you dare go anywhere. Youth soccer has changed. Expectations are higher, but the systems haven't kept up. Coaches juggle endless tasks, players chase progress that they can't measure, and clubs struggle to create consistency across teams. Zone 14 coaching was built for this moment. A company built by coaches for coaches, Zone 14 coaching next generation journals, coaches and players help plan every practice, reflect on what worked, and track progress all season long. Built on intentional coaching and backed by neuroscience, Zone 14 coaching brings structure and purpose to your training. 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SPEAKER_12 15:50

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SPEAKER_11 16:38

Hello, this is Hanson Dorrance. I'm the women's soccer coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And I am here on the GP Soccer Podcast with Giovanni Pacini.

SPEAKER_06 17:23

And welcome back to the GP Soccer Podcast, conversation with the coach. And as you all know, there are times when I had changed the conversation with the coach to conversation with the player, conversation with the athlete, educator, and this kind of fits uh all of those. Our guest today on the GP Soccer Podcast, Conversation with the Coach, is Nico Calabria. Now, this requires a little a little bit of setup. A little bit of setup. Last fall, around September, I'm in uh sitting in my den reading the paper as I normally do, my local Patriot ledger here in the Boston area. And I was reading about the third annual U.S. Amputee Soccer Cup that was being hosted by the American Amputee Soccer Association over at Weymouth High School. Now, Weymouth High School, or Weymouth, is one town over from where I live in Quincy. So let's just say I know the lay of the land pretty well. Well, I had to get on over there, which I did do. And I went over there and discovered an amazing event. This tournament, it featured six teams from all across uh you know the United States. There was an abundance of festivities, there was an opening ceremony, and uh that included performances by the Wayne with High School cheerleaders, um, the weekend saw vendors, a youth clinic, music, a variety of food trucks. I mean, all of which just kind of complemented just an amazing, an amazing competition. So I I knew that I I had to uh reach out and uh have someone to uh uh come on the GP Soccer Podcast and talk about all this. And uh, you know, the aforementioned Nico Calabria uh was the individual that I that I did uh reach out to and we had him on here today. And by way of a little bit of biography, Nico is an American amputee soccer player, athlete, educator, and a disability rights advocate, and widely recognized for his achievements in adaptive sports and his leadership in the growing amputee soccer here in the United States. Born in Santa Clara, California, without his right leg and part of his pelvis, Calabria was diagnosed with congenital hemipelvectomy at birth, and despite uh early medical predictions uh that he would face severe physical limitations, he developed into an elite, an elite multi-sport athlete and international competitor. So, Nico Calabria, with all that said, welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast Conversation with the coach.

SPEAKER_14 19:35

Thanks for having me, Gio. Great to be with you.

SPEAKER_06 19:38

Help me out with that uh the congenital. I want to make sure I get that one right.

SPEAKER_14 19:42

Yeah, that's a mouthful. Hand me pelbectomy.

SPEAKER_06 19:44

There you go. You said it much better than I did.

SPEAKER_14 19:46

So it means I was born without my all of my right leg and half of my right and half of my pelvis. There we go.

SPEAKER_06 19:52

So let's let's let's take a take a walk through your life here, because I want to get into the the tournament a little bit and uh your advocacy work. But kind of go back, you know, to your childhood. Share with my audience uh and describe kind of your your earliest moments in soccer and you know how it first became very meaningful to you and and uh obviously as a mechanism by which you could you could kind of showcase your athletic abilities.

SPEAKER_14 20:16

I grew up in a soccer family, so it was just in the household. I remember distinctly watching, I think it was the 2002 World Cup uh with my family, and just started falling in love with the game, watching it be played at the highest level, and the amount of fandom and universality of soccer just stuck out to me. So, yeah, my older brother plays, my dad has played, he still plays in the over-the-hill league at age 68, so it's uh soccer household, and before I really knew I was doing anything different, I was just kicking the ball on my prosthetic leg when I was growing up, and basically took off once I got my first pair of crutches, which because I am missing my entire right leg, a prosthetic doesn't actually work so well. Uh it's super inefficient, it's heavy, it's uncomfortable, and doctors wanted me to like wear one so that I appeared non-disabled, or this is probably, you know, you walk on two legs, this is the best fit. Uh for my body, crutches was the gateway to being an athlete. And my parents actually called them my wings because it was like I left this prosthetic that was holding me back behind, and then started doing things on crutches. And little did I know at that point in time that MPT soccer was a game that was played all around the world, and I essentially started my training at age five and just played on club teams here in the New England area, played on FC Stars, played in uh Concord at the uh travel level, and then just kept going. I loved it and found that it that I was good at. And it's funny because it's you know the sports for legs and I'm missing one, so why did I pick that? Funnily enough, you know, you can really do it at a high level on crutches. So I played in the integrated setting against people with two legs all growing up and you know found my found my people, just loved competing, um, ended up being a solid player and worked really hard to to be a good player and be an asset on the field. I think it was uh tough. A lot of the time, you know, I was always making the on the cusp of making the A team. And I would be on the B team. And I think I had the soccer IQ and the touch and the the know-how to play at a higher level than I was, but the physicality of the game, the speed of the game was what was really difficult to keep up with. Like there was no there was nothing to do about that, right? Like I was always gonna be one of the slowest, if not the slowest person on the field. Um, I'd say my closing distance and like five five to ten yard coverage is pretty solid, but you know, I was ne no one was putting me on the wing and playing me through. Like that wasn't where I was gonna be effective. So what I developed was a really keen eye for distribution and really tight touch. So I played like a drop forward number 10 position with little defensive responsibility, and I led my teams in assists most years because I would get the ball and put it into dangerous areas and could do it quick in two touches. So that's how I played, and ended up being you know, an asset to my team, and then uh continued all the way up to the varsity level at CCHS and then um started playing amputee soccer for the US at age 16, which was a really relieving moment, I would say, because playing at a deficit for my whole life was really frustrating. You know, I wanted to be great at soccer, I knew it was gonna be really hard, and there were times where I was like, why don't I just pick something else? Like I wrestled in in high school, which is probably a much better sport uh for someone with one leg to compete with non-disabled people. Um so I was successful in wrestling, but soccer was my love, so I I kept going with it even though thought about quitting a few times. And then once I started playing amputee soccer, I realized that I, you know, I was really well positioned to be an elite athlete in that sport. I'd been training for it from a really young age, um, even though I didn't know it, and stepped foot on the on the amputee soccer field for the first time and had to code switch really, really significantly from being a distributor and uh you know a connector to being a star and suddenly being the one of, if not the fastest person on the field. Uh so switching my mind my mindset as to getting the ball off my foot to being like, go take people on and score goals. Um it was an awesome moment and didn't look back and have just been training and playing amputee soccer for the US ever since.

SPEAKER_06 24:58

Nico, share with my audience um the opponents. You know, you step on the field as a as a disabled athlete. Um and how how did how did your opponents you know deal with you? Did they did they get get stuck in? Were they, you know, a little bit hesitant of of of engaging with you, whether you know you had the ball or whether you didn't didn't have the ball? What was that dynamic like?

SPEAKER_14 25:19

Yeah, you named it pretty much. I think one of the reasons I love playing soccer was how I was treated after the game compared to before. So stepping off the bus to an away game, I think the entire team and their coach is looking at at me walking off the bus on crutches and being like, oh, isn't that awesome? What a feel-good story that that they're letting that kid play. And, you know, let's give him some space, nobody hurt him, let's, you know. It's a charity case, essentially. And then as the game gets going, they start to realize, like, for one, I'm trying to get stuck in. And two, if they don't get stuck in on me, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be dangerous. You know, you have to, you're gonna have to put a person on me, you're gonna have to play me tight, and if you don't, I'm gonna play dangerous balls. So I think after the game, people looked at me in a totally different light. They saw me as a competitor, as an athlete. Obviously, I was doing it in a different way, but I think the the competitive like the competition and the the drive that I show when I play, I play really physically. And I think they just saw me with a different level of respect after playing, which is for me was great because I just wanted to be seen as a competitor and an athlete and a tough guy, you know. I didn't want anyone's charity or sympathy. I wanted to be seen and respected. And soccer was the way that I did that.

SPEAKER_06 26:40

Does that give you a chip in your shoulder, Nico?

SPEAKER_14 26:43

Oh, big time. Yeah. I can't in every day of my life, there are interactions I have with other people that remind me of the chip that I have on my shoulder. And it's an interesting space to navigate. Like going to, you know, going anywhere in public, the amount of space that people give me on the sidewalk, um, the amount of um the urgency with which people open and hold doors for me. Um, all of that. It's just a reminder. It's like it's a reminder that I have a disability and that people think that I'm not capable of doing things. And it's also coming from a place of um sympathy and compassion, so it's not like people are trying to do anything wrong. It's just the way it impacts me is that I feel like I need to prove myself all the time. And I think as a kid, that was very much how I felt in every setting. Like, you know, you're growing up making your identity, and you want to prove people wrong that I can do this, don't hold the door for me, I've got it, etc. And as I've gotten older, you know, I've I can empathize with the people that are doing those things. They're trying to do a nice thing, and nowadays I'm just like, thanks for rolling the door, appreciate it. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:59

You know, it's it's um funny we kind of hit this point. I gotta I've I'll be honest with you, I'll be honest with my audience. When I first arrived at Wayneworth High School and and you know, witnessed what was going on, I had an internal conversation in my head as to how do I how do I approach these athletes? Because I'm gonna be talking to athletes, and I did. I'm gonna be talking to parents, which I did. How do I approach it? Do I approach it with okay, your your your son or daughter is is disabled, um or should I just talk to him as mom and dad, or just talk to him as an athlete? And I deferred on the ladder. I talked to I talked to him as an athlete. They're out there playing soccer. Um I had I interviewed a young man, um Daniel Gallagher, I think is his name was we had a wonderful conversation. I talked to him as a soccer player, I watched him play, and I used I pulled him aside, I told him who I was and what I was doing, and we had a nice chat. But I I have to be honest, I had I I had that internal conversation as well as to how do I appropriately, empathetically approach these these folks um without insulting them. And I I I hope I did the right thing. Um but uh it seemed that all worked out.

SPEAKER_14 29:04

Now you I want to just talk to speak to that because I think you know like that's first of all, you did the right thing. And I think the right thing is just taking a second to have that internal conversation. Everyone's having it, right? And there's nothing that that's powerful to name. Like, take a second and think. Like, how how should I interact with these people? And oftentimes folks um resort to sympathy, and that's really kind of an they're placing themselves at the center of the conversation. Like, I want to show this person that I feel bad for them so that they think that I've done something nice for them. And it's about you. And right, when you take a moment to reflect and be empathetic, it's like, how does this person want to be treated? That's the that shift is really powerful. And I think it's okay, it's we're all gonna have that experience. I had that experience when I was around people with disabilities for the first time. I didn't want to be around disability or be associated with disability when I was growing up. Because of those types of conversations, people, it's like I don't want to be sympathized with, I just want to be seen as a regular guy, and I want I want you to see my game. So once I I think you you handled it exactly right, and it's not you know, it's not necessarily easy to to start getting into those spaces because you don't want to say the wrong thing, you don't want to insult anybody. And just showing up and and taking a moment to think about treating these people like anybody else, and you know, if we're at a soccer tournament, so we're talking soccer, like that that's the way to handle it. So I think that's great. I think you did you did exactly the right the right thing.

SPEAKER_06 30:34

Yeah, and if I could put a uh an end to my my own personal experience there, it it allowed me freedom. I felt free. Uh I sound silly or not, I don't know, but I I felt free. I'm like, okay, this is how I'm gonna approach it. And I was able to go full with just watching uh a soccer event by you know uh being played by athletes, and it was a amazing sense of freedom to be able to you know have that internal conversation, do what I did, and uh allowed me to enjoy the event even more, even higher levels.

SPEAKER_14 31:04

Totally. Well, yeah, and in the case of Damon, it's like kids going through chemo, he lost his leg to cancer, and probably doesn't want to talk about that in every conversation he has with somebody new. You know? Like if he wants to talk about it, he'll bring it up. And I think a lot of times, like folks who aren't in the space of being around folks with disabilities or adaptive sports want to focus on the disability because that to them is the novel and new thing that's interesting. Um whereas to the athletes, it's like, yeah, I I get it. I have one leg. I do it every day. Um, and for me, I'm here to play soccer, and that's what I want to talk about.

SPEAKER_06 31:41

So you gained some some pretty high-level international attention. You scored a uh nothing short of a spectacular bicycle kick goal during a high school match. Share with my audience that that moment and uh that particular strike of the ball.

SPEAKER_13 31:56

Yeah, that was uh that was a worldie.

SPEAKER_14 31:59

It was a banger.

SPEAKER_13 32:01

It was.

SPEAKER_14 32:01

Uh only scored a handful of goals that can come close to that, and it was the only goal Yeah, it was the only goal I scored on on my varsity team where I didn't play that much, and you know, I went to CCHS, we had a really competitive state championship winning program most of the years that I was engaged. Um so it was frustrating to not get on the field that much, but I also uh shouldn't have been. Like the team was really, really good and I wasn't quite at the level. Um so yeah, I got out on the field and had a uh cross coming on a corner and went over the you know, the first clearance uh was missed, and I'm towards the back post, about ten yards out maybe, and just took the ball out of the air, a really high side volley, and just, you know, when you get completely perfect contact and the ball just bounces off your foot with no spin um and just buried it in the corner. So it was yeah, just one of those ones where you're like, ah, I just that's a special goal. I'll remember that for the rest of my life, and luckily it was caught on camera. So it uh it's a wild experience, honestly. I was going through a tough time personally when that was happening, and I remember my life kind of changing overnight. This was before social media, and my coach put it on YouTube, and it just went viral overnight. Like it went from got millions of views within a day or two, and people around the world were basically talking about and um reporting on this goal. So it was a really it was the first time I'd kind of experienced that level of stardom or um public attention. And it was yeah, it was it was hard to know even how to respond to it. Um I remember distinctly being being on Barstool and reading the comments, which is obviously a dangerous and bad thing to be doing, but just seeing the the way in which the internet reacted to it, and there's plenty of people who are like, wow, incredible goal, like round of applause, and there's other people that are you know trolling. And I I remember it was just like, wow, what an interesting landscape we live in, and um have learned not to read the comments because it's not gonna do anything good for me. But um, yeah, that goal ended up leading to um a Power Raid commercial. So, you know, the about six months later I got reached out to by Power Raid, who was doing a uh World Cup campaign uh for the Rio de Janeiro World Cup. And I ended up getting included in that commercial and got to meet Inyesta and do a free cook free kick clinic with him in Barcelona, and it just it really started this whole series of events that I would have never expected that that changed my life and kind of put me in the public eye and has been one of the reasons that I've been able to help grow amputee soccer as much as as I have. Um so it was uh it was an awesome experience for sure, and one I'll never forget.

SPEAKER_06 35:01

Yeah, interesting landscape. Um you're being kind, my friend. You're being You're being kind. Uh so at at just 16 years old, um, you made your debut for the United States men's national amputee soccer team. Share with my audience that experience. Well, how how did how did that uh all come about? And um like I said, share with my audience your your experiences uh uh at that level.

SPEAKER_14 35:23

Sure. It was um we played in Mazatlan, Mexico, and the only reason that I knew about amputee soccer or they knew about me is because I was in a newspaper article when I was six years old playing on crutches, and I think it was circulated to the the former president of our association, and he reached out to my family and just said, hey, when he turns 16, he can start playing for the US team. Um so I did, and uh prior to really 2020 about there there was no programming whatsoever for AFT Soccer other than a men's national team. So we would go, you know, a year, maybe two years without hearing anything about upcoming competitions. Um there was no grassroots development, there were no regional teams, there was no league, there was no youth program. So I just stepped out, and luckily my parents were able to buy me a ticket to go to fly to Mexico to try playing this game for the first time. And I, yeah, got down there, played in front of my first like big crowd, and was was the best player on the field, and it was a completely wild experience, like so different than anything I'd ever done before. Where, like I said earlier, I was always kind of playing on the back foot, and here it was like I had to step up on everyone. And the reason that was is because I had been training for this since I was five years old, which most people in ampute soccer, at least back then, were not doing. Um, folks would lose a leg later in life and then normally walk across aesthetic and then try out some crutches to play amputee soccer, and I had been playing the sport at a faster pace against two-legged people since I was really small. So I was it was kind of a perfect storm for me to be great at this game, and it was a really um exciting and relieving moment to finally feel like all that work had paid off and be on a level playing field with people, so that it was just about my game, my attitude, my my mindset, that was gonna set me apart. Um so I scored a goal, I got an assist, I had a bunch of you know breakaway chances that I didn't put away because that's almost never something I practiced prior to prior to playing amputee soccer. Um so it was it was epic. It was really, really cool. I remember signing, I was 16, and I was like all of these young women were coming up to me after the game asking me for autographs, and I was like signing someone's thigh with uh with a Sharpie, and I was like, wow, this um things have really kind of taken a turn that I wouldn't have expected. Um and it's funny now because I'm I'm 31 and now I'm watching all the kids on our team go do the same thing, and like I'm the old guy on the team, so um that's just how it goes.

SPEAKER_06 38:10

Not to be funny, d does the uh chip go away after all that experience and you giving autographs and that type of thing, does that chip diminish?

SPEAKER_13 38:19

What do you um I'm not sure if I have to do that?

SPEAKER_14 38:23

Oh, I'll no, I'll always have a chip on my shoulder. I I mean it's less about disability and more about like at this point I want to be the best soccer player that I can be.

SPEAKER_13 38:34

And I think my mindset is one of the things that um that helps me be great at this game.

SPEAKER_14 38:42

I I like, you know, I I take such inspiration from people who play their sport at the highest level. I watch a ton of tennis, I watch a lot of golf, I watch a lot of sports. Um like Novak Djokovic, he's 30, I don't say 39 and or 40, and he's he just wants to be great and he works at it all the time. So I have that that mindset, and I think now if the chip used to be having a disability, it's like it doesn't matter anymore. Um we all have disabilities. The chip is whether or not you want to be great, um, whether or not you want to leave a legacy, and old age is, you know, I'm I'm in my prime right now. I'm I'm not getting any faster, that's for sure. But I plan to keep playing and pushing pushing my limit. And, you know, these kids want my spot and it's not for them. They can come take it, but I'm not I'm not giving it up anytime soon. So um, yeah, I have uh I'm a competitive person and then I want to be great. So I think that's the chip.

SPEAKER_06 39:40

Now, beyond soccer, yeah, you're you're known for some pretty amazing accomplishments in mountaineering and endurance challenges. Uh, talk to my audience about those experiences and some of the things you've been able to accomplish outside of soccer.

SPEAKER_14 39:53

Sure. Uh in 2007, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro um to raise money for a nonprofit called the Free Wheelchair Mission. And that nonprofit basically provides low-cost wheelchairs to people with disabilities in the developing world. And I watched a documentary prior to going to do that um about a guy named Emmanuel Yaboa who worked with the same nonprofit and had one leg and rode his bike across Ghana to raise money. His documentary is narrated by Oprah, it's pretty cool. I ended up actually meeting him and playing soccer with him later on. Um but decided to do that because I had seen the level of inequality and oppression that people with disabilities, the same disability that I might have had, um, just born in a different place. So I went to Tanzania and it was just it was the first time I really reflected on my own privilege that like I had I lived in a community where I was accepted and I lived in a family that had the means to get me all of the technology that I would need to be successful and go play soccer and do all of these things, fly to Tanzania and climb a mountain. Um so it was an awesome experience to raise money and be able to get back and use the mountain as a you know a metaphor and uh you know something to overcome. So I think it was a cool um kind of publicity stunt. Um I at the time didn't love hiking that much and came to enjoy it much more as an adult. Um and have since climbed Kotapaxi and Kayambe, which are two 19,000 foot peaks in Ecuador. And I did that with a nonprofit called the Range of Motion Project, which does a similar type of work, but um, instead of wheelchairs, it's prosthetic care. And really it's it's making a statement that the we might think that disability is the thing that's preventing folks from being able to accomplish something like summiting one of these mountains. But really, what's in the way is our own perspectives on disability and the lack of access people have to the required technology. So, someone like me who's born in another country that can't get a prosthetic leg or can't get a pair of crutches that are going to be comfortable and durable, they won't be able to climb that mountain. And it's not because they have a disability, it's because they lack the resources necessary to do it. Um so the experiences of climbing for a cause are really powerful. And then just on the mountaineering side, as far as a my personal experience with it, I I just love the challenge. It's you, it's yourself versus the mountain, and you're having a 10-hour conversation with yourself when you climb some of these peaks, where you, you know, the summit is halfway. So you might be five hours into a climb and be utterly exhausted and have a significant push left to summit, and then knowing that you have to then come back down and get yourself off the mountain. I just love hearing myself talk to myself in those moments where the fear, the exhaustion, the anxiety of the of the moment is front of mind, and then deciding how to respond to it. And whether that's it's just empowering. It's empowering to the self, and there's no one else doing it, right? There's no team, like you're on a team climbing, and there's there's a team dynamic there, but it's really you versus yourself and versus the mountain. So I think that in those moments you're in somewhere that's absolutely spectacular, that not that many people have had the privilege to see, watching the sunrise when you're on a glacier, you know, 18,000 feet off the ground, seeing just a spectacular view, um, it's special. And I always just go back to my breath and thinking like I'm just gonna keep taking taking a taking deep breaths and taking the next step, and I can do that over and over again. So it's also great training for soccer, like you get climbing mountains on crutches, it's like you get s very strong doing that and it's uh it helps me on the soccer field too. Like I'm I I hold down the center midfield position and it's like don't this is my space on the field. If anyone wants to come into it, they're gonna have to they're gonna have to go through me. So I think that same type of mindset, um climbing mountains, doing endurance challenges, uh helps me on the field too. And just generally I think that's such an important part of being an athlete is is pulling from multiple sources. I see kids these days whose parents put them into hyper-focused tracks like my kid's going to be a college, a D1 college soccer player and their entire childhood and athletic career growing up is um tailored to meet that goal. And I think that we really lose some of these um the connections you can make across different sports. Like I play golf too. I play um like I wrestled I learned something different from each one of those things from mountain climbing and I apply all of them to the way that I play soccer and I think that it makes me a more well-rounded athlete and I approach things in a different way than someone who's strictly on that path. So yeah mountaineering is is an awesome experience. I think I I came down off of Code Apaxy my most recent climb and thought you know what I'm my nerves are fried. I don't really want to cross any more crevasses that was super scary. Um I I think I'm gonna hang up the hang up the boot and then you know got down and had a beer and then thought well maybe I do another one uh in a little bit once once my nerves recover.

SPEAKER_06 45:35

Why not? So you're a human being and uh you know we're we all have our you know you're fragile like like all of us staying you know regarding your your uh accomplishments in uh in in mountaineering does the specter of quitting ever rear its head and if it does how do you deal with it is there a particular mechanism that you use that that uh allows that specter to go away does it require uh you know we talked about earlier the internal conversation when the specter of quitting shows its shows its face rears its head so to speak how do you deal with that I think first I have a mantra and my mantra is breath is power so when the going gets tough I just that's what I say to myself and I go back to a breath and I think that helps me reset and then continue.

SPEAKER_14 46:32

I think climbing for a cause is also an incredible amount of motivation because I think about the what it communicates to the world chip on the shoulder again um the amount of potentially more money it raises for people who who need it um yeah I don't know I I always go back to like my support system and my community and why I'm doing this my my cause my purpose so I have my my manka to reset and then I think about why it is that I'm doing this. And yeah I don't know it's there's there's also the right moment to quit particularly in mountaineering like this is dangerous and you don't want to be taking risks that are you know it's it's inherently risky so you want to mitigate the risk that you're taking so there is a right moment to say this is we should turn back um so you want to have some grace with that because you're risking your life while you're doing it. But yeah I like I like feeling the fear and it makes me feel very alive to know that it's just me and my own strength and my own will that's going to get me to the top and get me back off. And I'm doing it for myself to prove it to myself that I can do that I can do this and I'm proving it to the world that people with disabilities can do hard things and deserve respect. So it's all about the way that you frame it and framing it in your purpose I think is a is a really empowering way to keep going and you know defeat the fear.

SPEAKER_06 48:11

A wonderful lesson for all of us who face the specter of quitting no matter what you're doing, whether it's scaling Mount Kilmanjaur or just the daily grind so to speak. Let's shift gears just a little bit uh you have served as a board member and then director of development for the American amputee soccer association you also founded the New England Amputee Soccer Association in 2018. Share with my audience um you know uh your work um with those those two organizations sure like I mentioned earlier when I started playing amputee soccer there was no there wasn't a program it was just twelve guys around the country who may or may not be available may or may not be training um to go play an international game or play in a World Cup.

SPEAKER_14 48:57

So you know I recognized and we recognized at the association that we need to provide access to this sport for people. We need to get more people to play we need people to be playing regularly and within you know drivable distance which is a massive project. It's basically starting a sports program across the country um so having joined the the American Amp Soccer Association board that was kind of my big goal was to start regional teams um which I did here in New England you know started practicing with them and playing games against other teams as they developed um and we've we've like tripled in size in the last two years and before that we like doubled. So it it's not rocket science that we need to make these programs, we need to find kids who want to play we need to give people access to a program within driving distance. So that's been my major goal um which has really culminated in the US Amp Cup which I planned the first one in Columbus and then hosted the next two here in this coming year it'll be in New York which is like great where like it's expanding and moving out. So that's that's been the work really is just finding finding the funds to make that possible doing the work as a volunteer to organize people and engage with sponsors find field partners um yeah it's it's interesting my my training is you know I have a master's degree in education I love being a classroom teacher when I was doing that full time and suddenly I'm in like nonprofit and business development which I don't really have the skill set to do so it just because it the work has to get done and I want to leave the sport in a better place than when I came in and we're we're doing that. It's been successful. There's so much more to do um of course but I'm looking at this next generation of kids who are about my age when I started playing and the level of opportunity that they have is just so it's so much bigger than it was when I was coming in we've got a youth program we've got a U19 team that's developed we have sixteen different regions across the country that have a program of some kind we have multiple tournaments taking place per year. That's really my proudest accomplishment um is being a part of the the progress in that direction um and you know I would love to be a paid athlete and train full time and you know be the best soccer player that I can be. It's not it it wasn't in the cards for me just based on where we were at and I'm hoping that these kids who are coming through the program now if they want to make this a career they can. I made it a career sans salary. So I just like have done this and made made ends meet elsewhere. I'm extremely proud of of the amount of work that I put into it and that our association um like Danielle and and so many other people that's too many to name have worked just because they think it's a great sport. We know it's first of all really exciting and can be entertaining to people you know of all abilities. We think it has a high entertainment value and we also know that it's an avenue for rehabilitation for people who have lost legs or are struggling. We know that sport is empowering for people we know it generates community all the things that like why we want to keep kids playing sports kids with disabilities and people with disabilities are far less likely to participate in sport and we know that it's good for their mental and physical health. So um yeah it's profound.

SPEAKER_06 52:35

It feels like profound work yeah above and beyond you know your work in soccer and then and the progress that you've made you know it's it's it's made a uh taken a a a step um forward nationally um in my research for this this conversation um I pulled up an article here about um destination sports and how they are just increasingly accommodating adaptive sports and it was a recent study uh done by the uh temper Tempe Arizona uh tourism and they sponsored the what is called the annual adapted sport economic impact study and uh that was conducted by all in sports consulting to help raise awareness over the movement. My point here the 2024 report estimated the total economic impact of the adaptive sports industry at almost 164 million dollars an increase of 14% over 2023. So it goes above and beyond soccer which is phenomenal that um we see tremendous growth and economic impact is heck at the end of the day I hate to say it you know um a lot of times these things become a business but it it uh gets to uh a a greater good terrific when I share with you those numbers and and those types of things outside of soccer how does that make you feel relative to the work that you have done?

SPEAKER_13 53:54

Oh it makes me feel great.

SPEAKER_14 53:55

It's money makes the world go round. It it is a dollars and cents at the end of the day. And it this is an untapped market. I think that's like the framing things in that sense. Same with women's sports prior to you know maybe a decade ago five years ago this is a huge market opportunity that people are overlooking for their own pre-conciliate biases. You know if we if you come in and think like I don't want to watch if if that's your your framework then you're gonna miss out on that on that opportunity. If you think about it as this is elite sport, these are the people that are playing at the highest level in the world and there's high entertainment value here and we're gonna make superstars and champions and frame the narrative around this is elite sport, then there's a huge market for it. I think um adaptive sports are the next the next up so I think those numbers are really promising and this is a one in one in four people has a disability in the United States. Not all of them are are physical disabilities but this is a big market that has a huge potential for growth and I think that's that's a lot of the nonprofit work we do is trying to capitalize on on that fact and make sure that we have a product that we're ready to put on to entertain people and um really capture some of the you know capture more fans, capture more attention.

SPEAKER_06 55:14

Before we kind of put a uh a bow on this so to speak talk to my audience about um your work as a lead educator for the uh Bionic project yeah the Bionic Project is an awesome nonprofit um it started as a 5k in Harvard Square and that started in 2018.

SPEAKER_14 55:32

I actually went because not because I like road running which I don't but um neither do I it's like I'll I'll trail run but just the monotony on the road is not for me. But I went because I wanted to recruit athletes and this event has a focus on disability. Lots of folks with limb differences will go but so does the wider Boston running community. So I basically went, recruited some players and then just loved the event because more often than not my experience growing up and why I didn't want to go to these adaptive sporting events when I was a kid was that it felt segregated and it felt like there was this air of sympathy around the event. And the Bionic 5K is just everyone goes. There's a lot of folks with disabilities that go but there's this understanding that's like we're all coming to compete and it's the technology we use might look different but we all have you know our hearts all beat the same like we all have the same drive to want to go fast. So I loved that. And I stayed in touch with the founder who is an amputee. And then once I quit my full-time teaching job to pursue soccer full time they kind of reached out to me and said hey what do you think about helping us start our education program alongside so the three of us are all teachers and we launched our education program in in the last this is year three and we've worked with 7000 kids and sorry 3000 plus kids and 70 schools over the last three years and um our have a hub launching in San Francisco and it's a it's really growing and the impact is is great. It's we go into schools, we start conversations around disability which is regardless of where you fall politically like everyone is is knows people that are disabled and has it feels like a very um easy way to start conversations around equity. So we talk about like how are we all different what is disability all about how do we get people what they need um and like every school has kids with disabilities. It's front and center. You know it's like and it's been hidden for a long time and we're trying to kind of like just have a conversation about it. Start conversations at schools around how do we include people with disabilities how do we design a world that works for everybody and the um program culminates when we go into these schools um playing amputee soccer with the kids so we have these huge bags of crutches and we teach them the rules and they gotta play with one foot and it's a first of all it's pure comedy. Like it is so funny to watch happen. And it's also a cool like empathy building exercise for them because they they might have their notions about what this is like and then they've got two national team players who are teaching them how to play and then they're realizing that like this is really hard they think they're gonna be good at it and then they're like wow that's that is a challenge and we still had fun and we learned some stuff. But yeah the the impact of the program is fantastic and it's it's just going to continue to grow and for me it it makes my playing career and my advocacy career for amputee soccer possible with the schedule. So it's all aligned and um you know it pays my bills and it also fills my heart. So I feel really blessed to be working with the Bionic project and if any you know any listeners want us to come in and do a program with their their soccer team at their school if they know someone with a disability that's you know their community could benefit from that you know we work in all different you know K-12 through college professional sports teams um we do it all so I guess that's one of my shameless plugs there, Gio.

SPEAKER_06 58:57

There you go. Now you're a young man you're 31 but what you have accomplished Nico some people it takes a lifetime when you imagine the future both for yourself and for adaptive sports what kind of legacy do you hope to leave behind?

SPEAKER_14 59:18

Well as a as an athlete I want to yeah as an athlete I just want to be remembered as someone who played with my heart on my sleeve and gave everything for the sport and for my team for the sport of FT soccer as a whole I want it to be seen around the around the country around the world I want to see the athletes supported and when any people don't know about it. People still don't know about it. And it's my whole like it's such a big part of my life and it means so much to me and to so many people and we just want it to be seen and respected and supported. I don't want to have to fundraise to pay for my plane ticket to go represent the United States at an international competition. We want the tournaments to be streamed. We want to get you know they they put cornhole on TV like ampute soccer is more entertaining than cornhole. We can we can figure that out and that that's a goal. So leaving the sport of ampute soccer as a well-respected well-funded um well-viewed adaptive sport and a popular adaptive sport I think is a is a big goal. And then as an educator and an advocate and um I'm looking to build a world in which people with disabilities don't feel like they don't want to be disabled that they can embrace that part of their identity from a young age and that actually that work actually goes to the wider community. Instead of putting the onus entirely on a kid with a disability to be able to overcome the odds to play sports and fit in why can't we get it so that we understand that disability is a part of life and we build the programs to make people belong um that's the goal from from the bionic side and and then lastly I think like as a coach like I coach at Lexington High School and I'd love to pursue my career as a coach and I think I'll probably be doing that once I hang up the boots and you know soccer will be a part of my life for forever and right now it's as a player and later on it'll be as a an administrator and a coach. So it's been uh it's been a great journey and I just yeah I feel blessed to be able to do the work that I do and I just want to keep it going in the right direction.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:33

And if people wanted to learn more about heck almost everything we've talked about here from the amputee soccer association the American amputee soccer association all of it what is the best way to really get some more information and do a deeper dive into all the things you're involved with yeah look so looking up the American amputee soccer association or usampsoccer.org um you can find ways to get involved anywhere in the country that's probably our biggest thing is we we want people to just come and and support and whether that's just showing up to a tournament and being a fan and learning about the game or you want to become a coach or you know someone who might benefit from wanting to join one of our programs or you just want to volunteer we could use everybody like you know it's it takes the community and we don't want to feel like it's segregated.

SPEAKER_14 1:02:22

We want the wider soccer community to embrace this as a an exciting and important part of what we're all doing. So you can do that for Bionic Projects our website's uh bionicproject.org you can look up the programs we offer there and start conversations around disability and changing a deficit mindset to an asset mindset um at that website here in New England you know we've like we're looking for people to join our board of directors who want to help us grow you know I like I said I'm not a business guy I'm an educator um and right now I'm running I'm running a nonprofit so I could use some help you know someone who wants to like help us with a development plan to to take this to the next level to start hosting international tournaments with um clubs from around the world there's when we look at Europe and some of these other places they have these really robust leagues and they have Champions League and League of Nations and we want to do the same thing here. I can't do it all alone and there's there's people that are definitely helping but we could use uh we could use some support from the soccer community so if you want to join the board um you know reach out reach out to New England Amp Soccer uh you can follow us on social media and and check out our website so that yeah basically in all of the things more than anything you know a donation is uh always goes a long way it helps us grow more so than that is people who have the skill set and you know a little bit of time on their hands that want to help like see this vision grow to the next level um which I think is an exciting opportunity we want to see this on TV and if anyone wants to help with that project uh I'm all ears.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:56

There you go. Well Nico Calabria has been an absolute pleasure uh taking some time to chat with you about all of this uh I am so glad circling back to the opening part of our conversation I'm so glad I picked up my Patriot ledger that morning and discovered the tournament over at Weymouth High School uh that led to me uh learning all about this uh it is extraordinarily inspirational uh and I want to thank you for your time for coming on the GP Soccer Podcast Conversation with the coach. Thanks for having me Gio I appreciate you man Giovanni Bacchini here at GP Soccer Podcast Conversation with the coach. We're gonna break for a commercial message you know how that works. We'll re-engage on the other side so don't you dare go anywhere. Soccer is known around the world as both a sport and an art with players of all ages and abilities enjoying the game. Now the art of the game is only realized after hours of mastering ball skills, learning to communicate with your teammates and receiving support and instruction from the right coaches. With over 100 years of coaching experience director John Barata and the coaching staff at the Beautiful Games Soccer Academy are pleased to offer their expertise to players and their parents. Coach Barada is one of the most decorated and accomplished soccer coaches in the Northeast with a proven track record of developmentally talented players and coaches. The Beautiful Games Soccer Academy believes that success on the soccer field reads success elsewhere in a young adult's life. Players who attend learn the importance of forming good habits, attempting new challenges without the fear of failure and seeking out support and advice from others. The program fosters the creativity within each player and encourages them to experiment, improvise and problem solve on the fly at the Beautiful Game Soccer Academy every day starts with a smile on our face and a ball at our feet. To learn more about the Beautiful Game Soccer Academy visit www dot beautifulgamesa dot com.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:52

Hi this is the guy Eddie Bruce with the Soccer Parenting Association and you're listening to the GP Soccer podcast with your host

SPEAKER_06 1:06:02

And welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast, Coach's Corner, where you'll find great tips and advice on how to teach the great game of soccer. And welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast, Coach's Corner. Today's guest coach is Don Norton Jr., the assistant men's soccer coach at Rutgers University Camden. And today's topic is the top ten tips for an effective training session.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:26

Hello, my name is Don Norton Jr. I'm the men's assistant soccer coach at Rutgers University Camden. I'm also a New Jersey Youth Soccer Coaching School instructor, Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Coaching Instructor, and a U.S. Soccer grassroots instructor. I live here in Southern New Jersey, in Wollika Hill, New Jersey, and I'm very excited. It's my pleasure to be on the GP Soccer Podcast, Coach's Corner. And today my topic would be 10 tips for the well-organized soccer coach. In other words, presentation matters. Alright, so here are my 10 rules for every training session. First and foremost, as the coach, I always want to arrive 25 to 30 minutes before every session. I want to be well groomed, wearing appropriate soccer gear. Yes, I know I'm old school, and I want my players to arrive obviously before the scheduled time. So I always tell my players if you're on time, you're late. And they know what that means. They know you get to get to get the training before it's really scheduled. Obviously, I blow my whistle, and when the training starts, my players have already had their socks pulled up, their shin guards on, shirts tucked in, and we are ready to train. Having said all that, when I get there early, number two on my top 10, I want to check the field. I want to make sure the field is safe to train upon. I always walk around and check all areas of the field to make sure that the goals are properly secured. There's no safety risk at all, no holes in the net, no no uh, you know, no uh glass on the field or anything that could obviously harm my players. Their safety is my number one concern. Number three, I carefully empty the ball bag, put my bibs out, lay out all the cones for my day session. I don't want to waste time moving cones during the session so that we, you know, the players don't get a maximum touches on the ball. I want a smooth transition from one activity to another. It saves time and shows my commitment as the head coach to the session. I ask a lot for my players and I want to give back to them just as much. Being prepared for every session is a given. And yes, from time to time I will stop playing and quickly adjust the distance of the cones that I have laid out. That's important to me. I want them again to have a great session. Number four, when we begin the session, I welcome every player with a smile and a handshake. I'm the role model. The words I choose when speaking are important, and I want my players' experience and training in all the games to have a lasting impact on them. And also, my players, we have a little team role, whether it's my college team or my club team, my boys, my 2010 boys, is that you always have to greet not only the head coach but the assistant coach and greet every team as you arrive when you leave. Our culture is everything. Number five, again, I start every session on time, I bring my players together, and I always use the age old line. If I can't see your face, you're in the wrong place. Coach, as the coach, I take the sun, I position my players so there's no distractions, I give them an age-appropriate talk about the activities, and off we go. In other words, I want to make my openings talk to the players to get their attention, but I want it to be no more than 45 to 50 seconds. We don't want to waste time with me talking. They don't want they didn't come there to hear me talk. We want to get going. So again, I want to have a relaxed atmosphere for my session. Number six, have my training session written down on note cards. I carry with me because coaches at all levels, we do have our a little, I call it my cheat sheet, whatever, my my session. It lets my players know again that I prepared for the session so that I don't forget anything. Number seven, deliver coaching uh points to my players using the PIT method. Positive information positive. In other words, when I'm training my college guys or my club boys or whatever, I always say, quote, I an example would be, I loved your run down the flank, which is my positive. I give them the information. But don't forget to lock your ankle, get your hips square when shooting, or whatever the topic would be, and then positive, keep up the good work. So in other words, I always leave them on a positive note. But as as Alex Ferguson, uh the legendary coach in Man United once said, talking too much is a big danger for a coach. The words get lost in the wing. So I don't want to over talk uh during the session. I want the players on the ball as much as possible. The game is the great teacher. Number eight, Gwen, wherever I'm coaching, it's really important. I want my assistant to lead parts of every training session. In other words, I quote value my colleagues. Uh it's important to keep them involved. I don't want my assistant coaches just to be seen as coaches who move cones around. Their impact and their importance to the team is just as important as mine. So I always have some time at every training session to make sure that my assistants are involved. I always, as uh Craig Brown, uh the former national team coach of Scotland once said, he said, I never refer to my assistants as my assistants. They are my colleagues, which is a sign of respect. Number nine, I bring all my players together at the end of every training session, training session, and give them a brief summary of the key points about the session and make some housekeeping points if needed. But I all again I want to keep it short, concise, so if they leave that day with one key, at least one key theme of the day, because we're weaving a quilt. If they leave the session with that one point of the day, then that that's that's part of our quilt that we we leave, we weave, excuse me, for the entire season and our training session. And then most importantly, when I'm done as a coach, I am uh excuse me, when the session is done, I evaluate my session in my logbook later that day. I grade myself, and I'll talk about that later in another coach's session, about how how did I do it in my session? Did I achieve the objectives that I want? A lot of times as coaches, we'll get done a session and say, gee, that really went well, or that went poorly, and as we reflect upon it more, our our opinion may change. So again, from start to finish, I want to be organized, I want to greet my players, I want to have a professional atmosphere, I want to be in a safe environment, I want to always be positive with my players, and I want them to lead with a smile on their face. As a New Jersey uh coaching school instructor, one of our um legendary coaches, Spencer Rockman, he always has this saying, he said, is this an activity I would want to participate in as a youth player or even as an adult player? So if I see plenty of little smiles on my players' faces, given that it was within a competitive environment, hopefully I've achieved what I wanted for that session. Thank you very much. This is Don Norton, men's assistant soccer coach at Rutgers University Camden, and it's been a pleasure to be on the GC uh soccer podcast today in Coach's Corner. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:04

And that was today's edition of Coach's Corner. Next up, soccer news and analysis with Giovanni Pacini. This is Soccer News and Analysis with Giovanni Pacini. From the Associated Press. Declan Rice in Bukayosaka wanted desperately to play in this year's international break, English coach Thomas Tuchel said Monday, after the Arsenal Stars joined a list of players from the Premier League leader, citing injury issues. Ten Arsenal players in the past week either did not join their national team or left camp early, as Coach Mikel Arteta's team chases three trophies, including a first English title in 22 years. Tuchel said after of the fitness assessments for Rice and Soccer ahead of hosting Japan on Tuesday in a one-book game for the World Cup. Midfielder Rice and Winger Soccer are likely starters for England at the World Cup, and also key to Arsenal's quest for a first Premier League title under Arcteta after three straight run-about finishes. Quote, they were both clearly in discomfort, and we did the medical assessment, so it made absolutely no sense that they stayed, said Tuchel, adding that both wanted to be involved. The expansion, Denver Summit scoreless draw with the Washington Spirit, drew and announced 63,04 attendees to the Denver Broncos home stadium, easily topping the previous NWSL's league record of 40,091 who attended the Bay FC's match against the Spirit last season at Oracle Park in San Francisco. The match was the Summits' first at home in Colorado. The Boston Legacy drew 30,207 for their opener at Gillette Stadium on March 14th. The summit announced earlier this week they had closed on, they had closed on land for a future stadium, which the club hopes will be complete by the 2028 season. Tottenham chose to part ways with Igor Tudor just seven matches and 44 days into his spells as an interim coach of a team that has managed to plunge itself into rel in a into a relegation fight in the Premier League. Tudor's exit leaves Spurs without a head coach heading into the final seven games of the English premier season. With London Club just one place and one point above the relegation zone. The French national team will set its base camp for this summer's World Cup at Bentley University. The school announced choosing the Waltham School over Babson College. Belgium blew out the United States 5-2 on Saturday in a World Cup soccer warm-up in Atlanta that ended a five-game winning streak for the American men. Belgium rallied from the late first-half deficit on two goals by Dodi Luke Bacchio and one each from Zeno Debas, Amadon Onana, and Charles de Kedeliev. Weston McKenny put the U.S. ahead in the 39th minute with his first international goal in three years. But Dubas and Onana began Belgium's rally on a frustrating afternoon for Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner, the former American number one who hadn't played for the national team since June. East Hartford native Patrick Ajimon scored in the 87th for the United States, which was without right backs or junior desk, defenders Chris Richards, and Miles Robinson and midfielder Tyler Adams because of injuries. I want to offer uh just a little bit of analysis here on uh that that U.S. match. Uh if you watch the game, the first half was uh was pretty much back and forth. Uh it looked like the United States uh was going to be competitive with Belgium, and I think if you were either coach of the two teams going in at halftime, you probably wouldn't be happy uh with the way things had transpired. Second half was it was a totally different situation. Um I'm gonna focus in on the goalkeeping on Matt Turner. I have been listening with great interest a lot of the pundits out there that have been lambasting uh you know Matt Turner for being uh soft, if you will, or not rising to the occasion by allowing five goals. Uh I I can't fault Matt Turner for any of them. And I'm and I'm a former goalkeeper, goalkeeper coach. Uh, you know, I I I know the position. Um, you know, there's ten guys in front of them, and I always say the ball's got to get through ten before it gets through the last one. And the ten guys in front of them, particularly the three backs, uh I guess you call the three center backs as they play uh in such close proximity to each other, didn't do a whole heck of a lot of good. Uh so I I find it, you know, kind of kind of hard to uh you know lay blame with Matt Turner. If Matt Freeze is indeed the American number one, why wasn't he playing in the game? Uh we're what, at this particular point, uh under 90 days, under 80 days before the kickoff of the World Cup. You know he'll have a heck of a lot of games left to play as I record this. Tomorrow they'll be playing Portugal. I suspect Matt Freeze will be between the pipes for that match. Uh he should have been between the pipes for the game uh against Belgium, but he was not. Uh you have to question what he should put Chatino's mindset. Is he still up in the air relative to who will be the number one going into uh the World Cup uh uh in June? But at this particular point, uh, if you don't know that by now, then there's problems. It is arguably, ladies and gentlemen, the weakest part of the American side is the goalkeeping. Uh I would go so far to say, as I digress, but for a moment, uh the number nine position, the goal scorer, that that's a weakness as well. Who is it going to be and can that person produce? Um but it remains to be seen who the number one goalkeeper will be for the United States men's uh soccer team. Well, I think a great deal will be told uh when we see who is between the pipes literally uh in the match upcoming against Portugal. This is Giovanni Piccini, that's soccer news and analysis. Next up, the European Soccer Report with the great Ralph Ferrigno.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:08

This is the GP Soccer Podcast, English Premier League, and European Soccer Report with your host, Ralph Ferrigno.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:27

We have just over 70 days to go before the FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off June 11th in Mexico City. That day the host will be playing South Africa, but our interests are in Europe, and last Thursday we saw the semi-final round of the four remaining pathways for European countries to qualify for the tournament. In pathway A, Italy defeated a young Northern Ireland team 2-0 thanks to a breakthrough goal by Sandro Tonale. Meantime, Bosnia and Herzegovina went to Cardiff and defeated Wales on penalties after a 1-1 score. Wales had dominated the game, but Bosnia came into the game late in the day thanks to veteran striker Edin Jekko, who scored four minutes from time. So, moving on to next week, we have Italy playing at Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Italians typically try to control possession with a very structured build-up. They're always strong defensively, but they have struggled in recent games to finish their chances, and it took them a long time to break down the Northern Ireland team. Bosnia and Herzegovina, meanwhile, are much more direct. Long balls, they have quick transitions, and they're very dangerous on restarts, corner kicks, etc. and free kicks. So, overall, the battle here is going to be Italy's defense versus Bosnia's physical attacking play. And remember, Bosnia is at home and they are dangerous if they make the game into a physical scrappy game. Italy must be fancied to win as they are much more experienced and capable of controlling the tempo over 90 minutes. However, they are under very, very severe mental pressure due to the recent history of failure of qualifying for these tournaments and a very poor and disappointing qualifying group round. Pathway B saw Sweden defeat Ukraine thanks to a hat trick from Victor Jokeras, while Poland defeated Albania 2-1, with veteran striker Barcelona's Robin Robert Lewandowski netting the first goal. So that leaves a Sweden versus Poland final, and I think it's going to be a very, very tight match. Sweden tend to be organized, they are physical and they have strong wing play. The confidence is very much boosted after this win following a very disappointing campaign in the qualifiers, finishing bottom of their group, and they only qualified for the playoffs due to their UEFA Nations League ranking. Poland in the meantime are built around striker Robert Lewandowski, and in past years he's often proved clinical in tight games, and this is probably their greatest hope going into next Tuesday's match. So Sweden's defensive structure versus Robert Lewandowski's finishing. I'm not sure about predicting this game. Could it be a Poland win? Or will Sweden's home advantage be key? In my opinion it's going to be which world class striker Victor Jokeras or Robert Lewandowski who will decide the game. In pathway C, we saw Turkey defeat Romania 1 0 in a very tight, edgy contest. In contrast, the other game between Kosovo and Slovakia saw Kosovo win four three in a very very entertaining ding dong battle. So the final is Kosovo versus Turkey, Kosovo never having qualified for a World Cup finals before. The Turks who will be travelling away are very, very technically strong, comfortable in possession of the ball and much more experienced. As I said, Kosovo have never made finals before. Kosovo has prospered through the tournament. They have a fearless attacking mindset, but they do have defensive vulnerabilities, as they showed, conceding three goals in Slovakia. But they also show great character in winning that game as they were on the road. So the key battle here is going to be Turkey's midfield control versus Kosovo's attacking chaos. My prediction, as I said last week, is a Turkey win. Kosovo may well score, but Turkey just have too much overall quality and should prevail. And finally we come to pathway D. Denmark had a resounding 4-0 win over North Macedonia. But note, all the goals were scored in the second half. They really had to work to break down the Macedonians. Meantime, the Czech Republic beat the Republic of Ireland. The game was 2-2, but they won on penalty kicks. It was the Czechs' turn to show character here as they were down two goals early in the game to the Irish, but they did bring the game back. So, Denmark is travelling to the Czech Republic. This is how I see the game going. On the one hand you have Denmark, one of the most balanced teams in Europe, and I thought they were very impressive in the qualifying, but just ran into a Scottish team that on the day it was their day, and everything was going their way. The Danes are strong pressing and they have very good attacking depth. The Czechs meanwhile are resilient as they showed against Ireland and have a history of doing well in knockout games. Tactically they are very comfortable sitting deep and trying to counterattack. So the key battle is going to be Denmark's attacking pressure versus the Czechs' defensive discipline. My prediction though, even though it's in the Czech Republic, is a Denmark win. As for my money, out of all these teams, they have looked the most convincing team in the playoffs to date. So the final stage is set, eight European teams remain, with four World Cup spots available, and next Tuesday is going to be the day of decision. I think we can all expect many twists and turns as the four pathway finals are played out. And next week I will be covering the results.

SPEAKER_06 1:26:15

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SPEAKER_02 1:28:09

Hi, this is Paul Ozzie Osberg, and I'm the North American soccer consultant for the film Transforming the Beautiful Game, the Clyde Best Story, and you are listening to the GP Soccer Podcast with your host, Giovanni Pacini.

SPEAKER_06 1:28:32

You are listening to the GP Soccer Podcast. And welcome back. I want to play for you a little bit of audio from Eric Rinaldo's show. It's uh unleashed with Eric Winaldo. And he asks the question: why doesn't the United States develop creative players? Check this out.

SPEAKER_10 1:28:59

We lacked creativity on almost all levels of the game. I watched the way some of our coaches handle their teams. I watched a bunch of robots run around and trap and pass the ball. That's that's kind of what you get when we really are trying to figure out the developmental phase of this very crucial age. I mean, 16, 17 years old is crucial. These are most of the boys who are trying to showcase themselves to the colleges and possibly the professional level or to the academies. And when you really get to the crux of it and you really want to figure out, you know, what are we doing wrong? Man, it's coming from the sidelines. We do not have a player problem. We have a coaching problem in the United States. It's bad. Most of the time, it's because we have gone this route where we think that we need to teach the game. That's been my big thing. I've always said that. The game is the teacher. Anybody who's on the sidelines is a facilitator of learning. And the game will do the teaching if you let the kids have their opportunity to express themselves and to make mistakes and to not get all over them every time that they make a bad pass. They're trying to do things, they're learning about how the game works, but they're also trying to figure out who they are.

SPEAKER_06 1:30:17

So there you have a little bit of audio there from Eric's show. He is spot on uh with his uh the question and his his uh his answer as well. And uh the the the issue at hand, as he points out here, and I agree a hundred percent, it's not the players, it's the coaching. It is absolutely the coaching. Uh we have too many coaches out there. Now before I go on, not everybody is like this, so don't don't be you know hurling insults at me or you know, barrage me with emails that I'm talking about all of you. No, there's just too many out there, too many coaches out there that uh are what I refer to as coach centric. In other words, look at me, look at me, listen to me, uh listen to me, listen to me, listen to me, or I know everything, I know everything, I know everything. And it's the coach that wears uh you know the the training jacket that's got the oh I have the U-10 championship patch on my shoulder here, and um they look the part, but they aren't the part. Uh the game is indeed the ultimate teacher. That is not cliche, that is absolute soccer fact of life. Uh and we have too many coaches out there that that don't quite get that. And I'm gonna do a a uh absolutely uh shameful plug here. Uh I have a book coming out uh in the middle of next month in April called The Importance of Unstructured Free Play, Coaching with a Street Soccer Mentality, where I combine those two aspects into a method, into an approach where the DNA, the spirit of street soccer lives, but yet I show you ways in which you can alter environments that the game becomes the teacher. The game becomes the teacher. And in all of my years doing this, all of my years doing this, I don't see anyone doing it doing it with that type of mentality, that type of mentality. Um you know, soccer's a wonderful game, uh, it is an exciting game, it's a challenging game, and when you put all those elements together and then some and you immerse kids in into into the that environment and they're having fun, and there's been an infusion of joy by the coach, and there's been some quality teaching of the game by the coach, knowing the methodology, knowing the approach, uh not being coach-centric, but being player-centric, allowing the players to flourish, allowing the players to yes, make mistakes, and then learn from their mistakes, and being in an environment where coaches aren't yelling at them every time they make a mistake, um then we're kind of on the right track. We're kind of on the right track. Uh I could do a whole two-hour show on this after you write a book and you're you've been overwhelmed with uh so much research and so much analysis uh and data and outcomes, everything that I've I've digested, you you can go on for a couple of hours. You just get to buy the book. Uh it'll be uh it'll be out next month. Uh so I want to uh give kudos to Eric Winalda for bringing up that uh very, very important uh issue um regarding the our inability in this country to develop creative players. We ain't doing it, we don't have them. We just don't. That's our show for today. If you like what you hear, please tell everyone and remember those likes matter, hit those likes buttons. You can follow the GP Soccer Podcast all over social media, and new episodes are available every Wednesday morning. Like I always say, what a great way to start your Wednesday morning. Don't forget to check out my website at GPSoccerpodcast.com. And if you are interested in advertising on the show, well then email me at GP4Soccer, and that's the number four at yahoo.com. This is your host, Giovanni Pacini, and I will catch you later.