Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast! (S14 E9)

                           Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast!  (S14 E9)

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 Jim Harte, one of the key proponents for the organization of a high school "Champions League". "Coaches Corner" features TJ Kostecky again as he discusses improving group field vision. "News and Analysis" will feature Giovanni Pacini with news from the AP and Ralph Ferrigno checks in with the European Soccer Report where he talks about Euro teams competing in the World Cup. The "American Soccer Revolution" features an audio clip from "Unfiltered Soccer" co-host Tim Howard where he describes youth soccer in the US "horrific". 

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_09 1:21

Well, hey there, everyone. Giovanni Piccini here, your host of the GP Soccer Podcast. Great to be with you once again, getting behind the microphone to talk about all things soccer, all things football. And if you're an Italian like me, all things calcio, all things calcio. Last week, um I talked about um who, if I were to create a Mount Rushmore of American soccer, who might those people be? Um and just if you didn't hear the last week's show, the people that I came up with, and there were a lot to choose from, a lot to choose from, um, and this is in no particular order of, you know, this is the best or not's the best, but I had Landon Donovan, I had Abby Wombach, I had Mia Ham, Clint Dempsey, I had Bruce Arena, and Dr. Joe Mocknick. Those are the people, if I had to create a Mount Rushmore of American soccer, those would be the people I'd put up there. Now you might be saying, well, hey uh Giovanni, don't you know your history? There's this four people on Mount Rushmore. Hey, this is my Mount Rushmore. I could put as many heads up there as I want, and I chose to uh put up six. Well, this kind of garnered some some really cool uh feedback from those of you uh who text me, email me uh with your thoughts. And I these are not terribly long, so I I think I'd share with you uh these three people who uh emailed me with their picks of the Mount Rushmore of American soccer. And they listen, each and every one of these uh Mount Rushmores are pretty good. Pretty good. I I just picked these three because I thought they were pretty much spot on, a little diverse. So let's see here. Hello, GP Soccer Podcast. Love the show. Well, thank you very much for that. My choices for the Mount Rushmore of American soccer would have to be Mia Hamm, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, and Abby Wombach. Each of them has made a huge impact on the sport in the United States, both on and off the field. Thanks for letting the fans share their opinions. Best Alex from Chicago, Illinois. Second one here, Hi GP Soccer Podcast team. Here's who I believe deserve a spot on Mount Rushmore. Brianna Scurry, Kobe Jones, Michelle Akers, and Brian McBride. That's a good foursome right there. Uh these legends helped up help put American soccer on the map and inspire countless young players. Can't wait to hear the other fans list. Well, that's what we're doing right now. Cheers, Jamie from Dallas, Texas. In the third one that I thought I would share with all of you, uh, Dear GP Soccer Podcast, if I could sculpt a Mount Rushmore for American soccer, I would choose Hope Solo, Tab Ramos, Julie Foudi, and Tony Miola. Each was a trailblazer in their era and made a lasting mark. Thanks for discussing this topic. It's fun to think about who belongs amongst the greatest. Sincerely, Sam from Boston, Massachusetts. Well, thanks for those submissions. It's always cool to get um some feedback here in the GP Soccer Podcast mailbag. I guess I'm gonna give it an official designation. Um, yeah, keep them coming. Keep them coming. I'm I'm super curious. Every single one of those, as I noted, um, you know, I worthy of a Mount Rush born of soccer. Our show today. It's a terrific show. A lot of great stuff that I know you're really gonna enjoy. In the conversation with the coach uh segment of the show, this is super, super intriguing. Our guest today will be Jim Hart. Um, and he's a one of the uh driving forces behind a high school champions league. Yeah, you heard that. A high school champions league. And when I first saw this and got some feedback on it, did some research on it, I had a little bit of skepticism as to how do you pull this off? Well, in our interview today, you're gonna see how uh they pull this off. This this is not only happening in one state, and Jim is down in Florida, this is something that uh is could go national, and I believe uh as we uh as you go through the conversation I have with Jim is could could potentially and will be potentially going uh in other states. So that's with Jim Hart. We'll be talking about the high school champions league and coach's corner with the great TJ Kistecki. It's gonna be the second in his series on vision training, uh improving group play field vision. TJ's terrific. Uh you've uh heard him on the show on numerous uh occasions. Soccer news and analysis with yours truly, the European Soccer Report, with the great Ralph Arrigno, and in the American Soccer Revolution. Yes, I'm chuckling because boy, uh I go on a rant. Uh, as well as as well as the folks from Unfiltered Soccer, Tim Howard and Lynn and Donovan, I kind of get on the uh on the on their uh tails, so to speak, and uh and rant to grave about uh, you know, how horrific, and that's Tim Howard's words, how horrific youth soccer is. You're gonna want to hold on to the American Soccer Le uh Revolution, which is the final block of the GP Soccer Podcast, where uh all of us chime in on all of that. Last week, last week, last week, checking boxes, checking boxes, checking boxes, uh I got a list from someone about the top 20 greatest Italian players of all time. And last week, uh I did the bottom, the bottom 10, and as a way of just real quick, and I'm not going to go through all the bios again. Uh at number 20, we had Alessandro Delpiero, number 19, Adolfo Balconcheri. Number 18, Marco Tardelli. Number 17, we had Silvio Piola. Number 16, we had Fabio Canavaro. Number 15, Alessandro Onesta. Number 14, Gigi Riva. I just love the name Gigi Riva. At number 13, Andrea Pirlo. At number 12, Francesco Dotti. And at number 11, we have the terrific goalkeeper in Dino Zoff. So now it's uh time to get to the top 10, as they say, the top 10. So here's we have at number 10. We have Gaetano Shirea. He's an elegant Juventus defender and sweeper back in those days when we had sweeperbacks. He was known for his composure and his sportsmanship. He was a World Cup winner in 1982, and he was central to Juventus' uh major successes in the late 1970s and 1980s, and is revered as a model defender. Number nine, Gianluigi Buffon, record-setting goalkeeper, widely regarded as the best ever. And I would make a play for that one. Yep, best ever. A 2006 World Cup winner and longtime Italy captain. He enjoyed a trophy-laden club career with Padma and Juventus, collecting numerous City titles and individual awards. Number eight, Sandro Mazzola, Inter, uh a great club player and a versatile attacker and playmaker, and it was central to Inter's uh successes in the 1960s. He was the winner of the Euro 1968 with Italy and runner-up at the 1970 World Cup, and mostly remembered for his pace, his work rate, and big game influence. At number seven, Jacinto Facchetti, Inter in Italy left back, who helped redefine the position with the attacking runs and goals. He was a key figure of the Grande Inter, where he won two European Cups and captioned, captained Italy to the Euro 1968, latest serving as Inter's chairman. At number six, Valentino Mazzola, captain and star of the legendary Grande Torino, a dominant post-war side that won five, count him, five, City Odd titles with him as the team's leader. An attacking midfielder and forward whose career ended tragically in the 1949 Superga air disaster. At number five, Franco Baresi, AC Milan captain and master organizer of defense. He was famous as a sweeper and center back, a World Cup winner with Italy in 1982. He won three European Cups Champions Leagues with Milan and is considered an all-time great defender. At number four, Gianni Rivera, AC Milan's golden boy and a classic number 10 playmaker, Ballon d'Or, winner in 1969. He helped Italy win the Euro in 1968 and reached the 1970 World Cup final, becoming an enduring symbol of Milan's golden era. At number three, Paolo Maldini, the one club legend with AC Milan and longtime Italy captain. He's renowned for his elite defending at left back and at center back. He won five European Cups, Championships Leagues, and seven City A titles, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders ever. At number two, Roberto Baggio, a creative striker, attacking midfielder. He was famous for his technique, his free kicks and vision, a Ballon d'Or and FIFA world player of the year 1993. He starred for clubs including Fiorentina, Juventus, and led Italy to the 1994 World Cup Final. Let's see here. And at number one, Giuseppe Miazza, Italy, an inter Milan Ford, who was the face of Italian football in the 1930s, a two-time World Cup winner in 1934, 1938. He is inters, historic icon, and the San City of Stadium is officially named after him. So there you have it, folks. The top 20 Italian players of all time. I didn't put this together. Someone sent this to me. I would agree with a lot of these. I think there's some players who might be missing, but it's fun to talk about. Much like our remote rushmore of American soccer. So if you're an Italian fan out there and you want to send me a list of your top 20 greatest Italian players of all time, just send it along to me. If you go to the show notes, the show script, no matter where you listen to the GP Soccer podcast, at the very top, you can see where you can kind of click on and connect with yours truly. In the upcoming World Cup, uh there are going to be some changes in rules. I want to kind of share with you some of the things that will be changed from what has transpired in years past. FIFA, they've approved several new rule changes ahead of the upcoming World Cup, which is, as I record this, I believe it's 44 days away. We're getting awful close. Now the goal uh of all these rule changes is uh reducing time wasting and improving decisions made on the field. And God knows it's it's been a bit of a debacle in terms of the time wasting from the from the ridiculous dives, the rolling around the ground like you just got shot, baloney, the when a whistle is blown, players immediately going after a referee and ranting and raving and arguing rather than staying involved in the game. It's just terrible. So here we have some rules. Um substituted players now have 10 seconds to leave the pitch. If they take longer, the replacement must wait one minute to enter. So, you know, in theory, this sounds great. Um, but when does the 10 seconds start? You know, uh two, three, four seconds might transpire before the referee starts to have the countdown. All of a sudden instead of 10 seconds, it's 13, 14, 15 seconds. Um I'd be curious to see how disciplined the referees are in terms of when they commence counting the 10 seconds to get a player off the pitch. Throw-ins and goal kicks will now have a five-second countdown. If the ball isn't in play, back in play in time, possession goes to the opponent. Love this. Um get the ball back into the game, back into uh, you know, between the white lines, so to speak, so we can kind of keep the game going. I like this rule a lot. Players who receive treatment on the pitch must leave the field and wait one minute after play restarts before returning. This is another part of the game that makes me crazy. You know, a player goes down for a foul, he for a foul, he rolls around on the ground. Like I said, he got shot. Um, he's deciding as he's falling down, oh, I'm gonna fake this. Should I grab my knee? Should I grab my ankle? Should I grab my thigh? What should I do? Oh my god, hit the ground. I think I'll grab my ankle. And before you know it, they've got the medical team flying out there with their multiple bags. It looks like they're getting on an airplane with all the all the bags and suitcases they have. They come out with the water, and uh, you know, they're performing uh all kinds of medical treatment there for a player who, 99 times out of 100, pops back up and all of a sudden starts playing like he never got fouled or hurt to begin with. You know, it's it's part of the game that's um is not the most attractive, shall we say. Last but not least, here, let's see here. We got VAR will now also be allowed to review second yellow cards and corner decisions if there's a clear mistake. Like this, particularly the corner decisions. Boy, you know, a referee has really got their hands. Well, as well as the AR, as well as the AR, uh, but mostly the referee, a lot of stuff goes on on a corner kick. There's a lot of bodies in there pushing, shoving, grabbing, elbowing, stomping, anything they can kind of get away with. It's very, very difficult uh to kind of sort out, you know, all the stuff that's going on when a corner kick uh you know is is being struck. Um what else we got here? Hydration breaks have become uh commercial breaks. So for the upcoming World Cup, people will introduce three-minute hydration breaks in the middle of each half. And I've commented on this in the past. This basically boils the game down into four quarters. It does. It's four quarters. We play the first quarter, blow the whistle. You have three-minute hydration break. Coaches can bring their players in, they can do an X's and O's, chalk talk, uh, those types of things. And then you get into the second quarter, and then it's halftime, and then you do the same thing in the second half. Not a big fan. Now, I'm not a big fan in the sense that this should be a rule for each and every match. Now, the upcoming World Cup, there's gonna be some venues where it's gonna be hot. It will be hot. For those venues where it is discernibly hot, yes, introduce, you know, have the three-minute hydration breaks. But if you're if the weather forecast is, you know, it's gonna be a nice day and it's not hot. It could, heck, it could be it could be cool, it could be rainy, where you don't need to have a hydration break. Well, you don't you don't have it then. And those are things that are, you know, should be sorted out before the before the kickoff. Um, but it's gonna be for every single one of these. So the game has, as I said, been broken down into four quarters. Broadcasters will be allowed to cut to commercials during these breaks. Oh my goodness, you gotta take care of the sponsors, got to take care of those corporate sponsors. So we so uh I thought we had reached a time where commercials did not corrupt watching uh you know a full half uh of soccer, first half, second half, but now we've got these breaks. We can cut to commercials and they can sell more stuff. This is a business. I'm not naive. Um so again, this effectively turns matches in something closer to four quarters, as I noted, and it's more commercials. Uh so the rules for the commercials, since I'm talking about commercials, ads cannot begin within 20 seconds of the referee signaling the break. And broadcasters must return to the match feed at least 30 seconds before play resumes, which is a good thing. You don't want to come back from a commercial break and the game has already started. Um so essentially, and they've done the research on this, this kind of leaves a two-minute, ten-second window for commercial, which is more than enough time to throw in some 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, and one minute blurbs to get in those commercials in that two-minute and 10-second window. Um, as you might expect, there's been some fan backlash. Uh many fans have reacted negatively. You there's no surprise with that. And they just see this as another step toward the Americanization of soccer broadcasts. I don't know if I would call it the Americanization of soccer broadcasts. Uh, it's the capitalization of soccer broadcast. They've now created ways by which uh they can bring in more corporate sponsors and generate more revenue for an organization, i.e. FIFA, that's already got a boatload of dough. A boatload of dough. So there you have it. Uh some rule changes that are coming up for the next World Cup. I'm going to end the uh opening block here with a little bit of trivia, some quick trivia. Um, these are real short ones, but they're kind of cool. Uh bang out three or four of these. What did each Uruguayan player receive from the government after winning the World Cup in 1930? Well, the Uruguayan players came home with came came home national heroes, as you might expect, and each was presented by the municipality of Montevideo with a plot of land and a new house. What a fantastic. Uh, why did the American trainer have to be carried off during the 1930 World Cup semifinal against Argentina? You're going to like this one. The American soccer trainer ran onto the pitch to attend an injured player, but he dropped his medicine case and broke a bottle of chloroform. When he tried to pick it up, he breathed in the fumes and fell to the ground unconscious. That was a good one. What was the first tied match in World Cup history? That was when Italy and Spain came out. 1-1 during the quarterfinals in Florence, Italy, on May 31st, 1934. The game was replayed on June 1st to a score of 1-0 for Italy, who eventually won the cup that year. And last but not least, what was the first World Cup match with extra time? Well, the first World Cup match with extra time was played in Torino in Italy between Austria and France on May 27th, 1934, to settle a 2-2 draw. Austria advanced to the quarterfinal. So there you go, folks. Some World Cup trivia. As I promised you a little while back, we would throw in some cool little trivia stuff given the fact that the World Cup is coming up in, again, as I said, I guess 44 days. So there you have it, folks. The opening block of the GP Soccer Podcast. I crammed a lot in there, but there's lots to talk about. We're going to take a commercial break, and on the other side, we'll re-engage with conversation with the coach with the great Jim Hart. We'll talk about the High School Champions League. Giovanni Pacini here, GP Soccer Podcast. Don't you dare go anywhere, because if you do, you know what happens? I will track you down. Youth soccer has changed. Expectations are higher, but systems haven't kept up. Coaches juggle endless tasks. Players chase progress 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 for 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. The founders of Zone 14 Coaching watched it all as some of the game's best tacticians and mentors spent every precious moment with a simple pen and paper, meticulously sketching, writing, and planning in a journal. It was a powerful and humbling sight. The foundation of great coaching was a commitment to preparation and a passion for player development. This simple observation sparked a question. What if we could give every coach, from the passionate parent at the recreation level to the club coaching director, access to the same level of structured, thoughtful planning? Zone 14 Coaching is the answer. Visit zone14coaching.com and use the promo code GP20 for 20% off. And if you want to outfit your entire organization or even just one team, contact Zone 14Coing at Zone14Coaching.com for bulk pricing. Zone 14 Coaching, where high-level soccer knowledge and structured planning is accessible and simple.

SPEAKER_10 20:47

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SPEAKER_11 21:35

Hey, this is Frank Delappa of the Boston Globe, and you're listening to Giovanni Pacini's Soccer Podcast.

SPEAKER_08 22:00

Conversation with the coach.

SPEAKER_09 22:16

And welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast Conversation with the Coach. So looking forward to this segment or this guest today, Conversation with the Coach. So good. So I've been looking forward to this conversation so much that we're going to make it this into two segments. So with our guest today, who is by uh his name is Jim Hart, we're going to be chatting today about his efforts uh in establishing a high school uh champions league. And then he's gonna come back come back again next week, where we get into uh an area that is I am most passionate about, as you all know. That is uh the importance of uh unstructured free play and coaching uh with a street soccer mentality and uh getting involved in street soccer, that type of stuff. So but we'll start with the first a little bit of a bio of our good friend Jim Hart. Uh Jim was a physical education teacher down in Florida for 39 years. He's spent the last 43 years coaching. He's the founder of the Tampa Bay Top 10 U.S. High School Soccer Champions League, and he's the former U9 and U10 director for Tampa United and the West Florida Flames. Jim was a forward-thinking American soccer coach known for championing creativity, autonomy, and joy in player development. A long time high school and youth coach, Jim has built his reputation on integrating street soccer principles into the traditionally rigid scholastic environment. His coaching philosophy centers on the belief that the game's most impactful learning happens in unstructured player-led environments where imagination, problem solving, and spontaneity thrive. Beyond the training ground, Jim is known for his efforts to modernize the high school soccer landscape. His recent push to establish a high school champions league reflects his commitment to raising competitive standards, expanding meaningful matches, and giving top players a platform that mirrors the intensity and ambition of elite youth environments. Jim Hart, welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast Conversation with the coach. Thank you so much, Giovanni. I really appreciate that introduction. I'm really looking forward to this. Yeah, we've got lots to talk about. As I tease there a little bit at the opening there, we're gonna spend two episodes together uh on two very different topics. Uh today we'll focus primarily on your work uh establishing uh a high school champions league. And then next week we come back, uh, we'll get into uh this idea of street soccer on uh unrestricted free play and that type of thing. But here's where I like to st here's where I like to start, Jim, for my audience. Go way back in time. Let's go way back in time in Jim Hart's life. Um where did you grow up? Uh where did you go to school? Was soccer always a part of your life? Were there different sports involved? Did you always know you wanted to be a physical education teacher and a coach? Take us on that that that personal journey of yours.

SPEAKER_07 24:50

You bet. So thank you for that. And so I grew up in the Chicago area, and um but uh uh key uh physical education was always part of my life, although I didn't really know it. When I was a kid, I was always the one that was organizing games and making teams and and and doing all the things that got the rest of the kids going just to play pickup games of baseball, hockey, whatever sport we were playing. Uh, I never thought, oh, I'm gonna do this for a career. I just didn't think of it uh until a little bit later in my life. Soccer was not part of my upbringing because where I was in Chicago, there wasn't soccer. Uh, the only time we ever played was for a week at PE class, maybe every other year or something like that. But a key moment for me happened. It's like if you can go back to the first time you ever walked into Fenway Park or Wrigley Field, I say in Chicago, you first walk in there and you're like, oh my gosh, you've walked into something magical. Well, when I was a freshman in college, I went to Quincy College in Quincy, Illinois, and they had a great program there run by uh an amazing coach named Jack McKenzie. And the first time I ever walked into a Quincy College game my freshman year in college, I was just taken with the with the whole environment. They used to do a great game day uh thing there at Quincy. Quincy was a really good team. This was before all the college teams were ranked in different classifications like D1, D2, D3, NAIA. Quincy was an NAIA team. All college teams were ranked in the same classification, and Quincy was always in the top 10, uh, often uh in the top five. That's how good they were. And uh they recruited all their players out of the St. Louis area. The coach Jack McKenzie was from St. Louis and St. Louis University, SIU Edwardsville, Clemson, UCLA, Indiana. These are the types of teams that made their way on the Quincy schedule back in the day. And Quincy, little Quincy, a thousand kids, would battle with these kids, and the coach set up a uh sort of a culture within the team of, you know, it's us against the world, we're gonna, we're gonna do it right, we're gonna follow a certain protocol, a certain way of thinking, we're not gonna take shortcuts, we're gonna outwork our opponents, that this, that, and the other. It was really well followed by the local people in Quincy. Games, often over a thousand people there. And I walked into this environment and I was just captured by it, just captured. And so I became a fan of this team, started watching them, started getting to know some of the players, and by good fortune I got to know the coach. And uh, I went to work for the college radio station, started uh interviewing the coach for sports reports, and he, for some reason, even though I wasn't one of his players, he took me under his wing and I formed this bond with Coach McKenzie, and led to me really saying, I've got it, I've got to, I've I've fallen behind too late. I'm gonna teach myself how to play this game, I'm gonna get more involved in this game. And of course, Giovanni, this was uh in the mid-70s. And we remember that time as a time when soccer was coming into America. I was the good fortune, I had the good fortune of meeting Coach McKenzie and Quincy. And at the same time in 1975 in my hometown, the Tampa Bay Rowdies started their franchise. So I was coming home from Quincy uh on summers uh and going to Tampa Bay Rowdy's games all through, you know, like through the entire 1975, 76, 77, 78, and ASL seasons. I probably didn't miss a Rowdy's game. And of course, the Rowdies had a great marketing uh way of getting the game out there among the populace, and people loved it. Tampa Bay Rowdy's games were very well attended. Rowdy's and Cosmos had a big rivalry, and the Rowdies uh put a focus on spreading the game throughout the Tampa Bay community. And uh and so they were very friendly, sort of, to the fans, if you will. And I just got drawn into all this. And eventually I changed my major a few times at Quincy, and I said, you know what? I think I'm gonna try to be a soccer coach. And uh and I changed my major to physical education, graduated with a PE degree, and it's as it so happens, just about this very time, soccer was coming into the public schools here in the Tampa Bay area. Driven by the rowdies, driven by the clubs, soccer made its debut in the public schools right around the time I was graduating from high school or from college. So I knew they would need coaches. I knew they were looking, uh they were gonna, they were just gonna need somebody to take the team that wanted to take the team. So the timing was perfect, and I started coaching high school, actually in the 1979-80 season, and you know, ran into some really smart people who encouraged me to get my coaching licenses, which I did all through the 1980s. I got my my D, C, B, and A licenses, continued to come across great people in the game, both and also the NSCAA Advanced National Diploma. Uh, Dr. Tom Fleck uh was a big influence. And the next thing I know, I look up, ten years have gone by, and I'm a soccer coach. I never would have guessed that when I entered Quincy as a freshman. Soccer was the farthest thing from my mind. So that's kind of my my journey. I'm a late comer, but I've been in it since then.

SPEAKER_09 30:38

Better late than never, as they say, right? Um let's let's make a connection. We're gonna kind of deviate just for half a second, because as as we were talking about before I hit the record button, I was a physical education teacher myself uh in my hometown of Weymouth, Massachusetts. And uh I'm very, very thankful, as I'm sure you are, uh, over the fact that I did choose a path to becoming a physical education teacher. Um because a lot of what I did in the in the gym, you know, uh translated as into what I was doing on the field. Share with my audience your experience, your connection with that dynamic, the things that a physical education teacher does, because of the unique environment of which they operate, and as it connects and as it relates to to coaching the game of soccer, or coaching in general for that matter.

SPEAKER_07 31:22

Yes, I I think PE teachers are one of the most under overlooked and underappreciated people in in our society, really. And and I don't want to be hyperbolic, but these are people that get a hold of kids. Like I was an elementary uh school PE teacher. They get a hold of kids when they're kindergartners. And the kindergarten and the kindergartners are are just learning who they are and they're kind of wild. And and uh then you take them through to fifth grade, you're with them on a six-year journey, uh, you get to know them as people, and you get to know them, like you said, Giovanni, outside their structured classroom environment where the teacher is in charge and they're in. I mean, it's totally un you know, it's not an environment they would choose for themselves. Kids would not choose for themselves to go sit down and listen to an adult talk for 45 minutes. No, no kid ever chooses that. But what they would choose is to go out and play. And so you've got them at the place where their attention is greatest. They want to be with you, they want to play, and if you make uh if you take advantage, like I always thought my job as a PE teacher was to recreate the role, the place that I grew up with in Chicago, which was neighborhood kids getting the most out of playing games with no adults around to uh to do anything, to either make it better for them, organize it, but also to mess it up. I I just thought that was a great learning experience, and I think PE teachers f uh facilitate that opportunity for kids. Uh if they don't get too caught up in themselves as a person of the academy, and they remember where their classroom is, which is the outdoors, and where kids' hearts are, which is at play, and free play, if the PE teachers remember that, then they are at the fulcrum point of really getting a kid's attention and doing something with them and doing something for them. And if you think about free play, right, while you think about our game that we love so much, our game is free play. I mean, I mean, it's it's wide open green grass with a few lines and a few rules, but not too, too many. And you can go and do what you want, what you think is the right thing to do. You can use skill or not, but it's it's it's like recess in a lot of in a lot of ways. Our game that we love is. And uh and I and I thought, you know what? I'm at home here. I can really make a difference as a PE teacher, much more so than people appreciate. Many people will call us gym teachers, and then uh a thought comes in mind, you know, of a person who is isn't very intelligent and is kind of only focused on the jocks and you know, things like that. Nothing could be further from the truth, as you know, Giovanni. Nothing could be further from the truth. We love all the kids, and we want to help them all. We look at them all as athletes, even the ones that aren't athletes. I mean, they can become a little better at something, but they're all viable, important people in their natural element, outdoors or at free play. What better opportunity to to be engaged with kids than that? Uh so I just love it. I love being a PE teacher, and I love the connection between free play recess and our game that we love so much.

SPEAKER_09 34:55

Stuff that we'll tackle next week in the episode. But yeah, well, well put. Uh I I echo your sentiments, your echo your experience as a as a physical education teacher, um, yeah as as did I. So you you graduate from college, you get your degree, you've got your coaching licenses, and then it's off to you know, actually take them over a team. Share with my audience um your your first your first high school gig um and maybe some of the the uh high school jobs you might have taken after that. What was that experience like as a high school soccer coach?

SPEAKER_07 35:24

Amazing. I I was lucky enough to uh become a co-coach at St. Pete Catholic High School. Uh the head coach was the art teacher. It was a typical, you know, high school story of the art teacher is the head coach. And uh and he didn't really know anything about soccer. He didn't even, not that he disliked soccer, but it just wasn't a passion of his. But he was the head coach, and he was happy to have an eager guy like me come along and share responsibility with uh with me. And we had a really good team at St. Pete Catholic in 7980. Interestingly, one of the very first people I met in high school soccer was when we played our rival Jesuit High School, and into the locker room comes a young, eager Tom Fitzgerald, who later went on to great things in soccer, coaching the Columbus crew and you know, and and University of Tampa, and and Tom was this bright young Jesuit high school coach, like so many coaches. They start out in high school soccer. Uh, I met so many people, great people along the way. Our first team, St. Pete Catholic. We had really good teams, but we had a stumbling block, Clearwater Central Catholic, our main rival. Uh I later became the Clearwater Central Catholic High School coach in 1987. Uh, in between that, I was uh three years at Dixie Hollins High School, a public school. Uh, and then I was three years at Eckard College with Jim DeNoble from 85 to 87. I was thinking maybe that would be the path I would follow, is to, you know, sort of replicate what I learned from Jack McKenzie and from Jim DeNoble and Tim Carter, who was also there. But then uh fate intervened as it often does, and after in the in my third year at uh Eckard, we played a pick up or we played a practice game with a local high school team, Clarwana Central Catholic High School, and they came down and beat us five to four in an amaz in an unbelievable game. We had a good college team, but these kids were something else. And uh some of their parents said, hey, we're losing our our coach. Their coach at the time was Mike Connell. The Rowdy's great. And uh he's not going to be coaching next year. We need a coach. Are you interested in coming over and coaching with us? And uh that opened a door for me to start a 25-year career at CCC where we had great success, great players, uh, amazing players. We won six state championships, and we were the national champion in 1991. Uh I was so blessed, and of course, supported by great soccer clubs, Clearwater Chargers in the local area and others. Um, that led me to 2012, where I switched to Carroll Day School for the last six years of my coaching career. Uh, and then I stopped coaching in 2018. The last year of my career, my assistant coach was Neil Collins, who is now the head coach at uh Sacramento Republic. Great opportunity. I got a great open and a great close, and everything else was great in between. When I finished coaching high school, I'm thinking, you know what? In all this time, Giovanni, you're you're trying to explain to people the value of high school soccer, especially to club people. And uh club people, ironically, after pushing soccer into the public schools in 1980, slowly but surely have turned on high school soccer. And uh now they're getting their kids to not play high school soccer. And I didn't think that was right. And I continue to make the philosophical argument, and I got an idea in my head at some point. You know what? I'm tired of making this argument. Let's just do something special for high school soccer that makes the argument in its own on its own behalf, to where when you look at it, you say, wow, that is really cool. And that thinking led to the start of the high school champions league movement. So since then, since 2018, I've been focused on the high school champions league movement. First, getting it up and running in Tampa, uh, getting people involved like Dave Wilson, uh, who is uh, well, just uh without him, our Champions League movement wouldn't be happening. Uh, different people like that, and then getting the Tampa Bay Rowdies involved and behind it, the Rowdies have been with us since day one. Uh, and then little by little, you know, pulling in people like Perry Vanderbeck, who who pulled St. Louis in, uh, South Florida were in other places, but it's all been uh just like a dream. It feels like a day went by, 40 years. Feels like a day, 45 really now, now that I think about it. But you know how it is in this game. We love what we're doing, and we can't believe we have the good fortune to do it, right?

SPEAKER_09 40:09

So you you eloquently describe your journey there, your path from school to school. You enjoyed great success. Um, and you talked about the moment where you you kind of were convinced that a high school champions league, you know, was something you might want to get into. Did you ask yourself, or did you say to yourself, that you know, the proverbial uh internal conversation that we have on a lot of things, is this even possible? Is this even possible to do? Um did that did that part of the conversation cross your mind?

SPEAKER_07 40:37

Well, no, it it kind of did, but here's the thing it started out like a lot of things do, smaller. Okay, so what what it what it was, it was it was I was at Carroll Wood Day School, it's a small private school, and we were trying to get recognized in Tampa because we had a pretty good team, but people didn't really know about us. So the first idea was something called the Tampa Bay Top 10. And what that was, was a coach's poll to on a weekly basis rate the top 10 teams in Tampa Bay according to the opinion of high school soccer coaches. And I knew that the coaches knew we were good, so I thought if we could start this poll, some of these coaches will vote for us, and then people will say, whoa, who's Caroline Day School? They that we got to take a look at them. So that was the beginning of it. It was just a way to get my team that I was coaching recognized. But then as we began to play out the possibilities of the future of Tampa Bay top 10, where it could lead, you know, I had one of these moments that we all have, which are kind of dream moments, and you started thinking about what you could do with it. And one of the ideas was a high school champions league. So that was written down and circulated, uh, but it really wasn't acted on right away. But at some point, uh it was like, okay, how do we get this started? And rather than send out a mass email to all the coaches and say, hey, I've got a great idea, everybody listen to this. What do you think? And waiting for somebody to be the first one to raise their hand, didn't approach it that way. Instead, talked to Dave Wilson first uh and said, What do you think? I knew he would like it, and uh he did. He liked it. Wiregrass Ranch High School, big school down here. Then I went to the next most likely person that I thought would like it, talked to them. So each new person that I talked to, I was able to say, Hey, we're gonna do this. Dave Wilson's behind it, uh, this person's behind it, that person's behind it, and it gathered. And each new conversation, it was growing momentum because one at a time, when people had a chance to think about it, they were like, Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. You can count me in. So as I talked to the next person, now I've got four people that are saying yes. Now I've got five people that are saying yes, now six. And each new person, it becomes a thing of, oh, I don't want to miss out. If all these people are in, I've got to be in. And so it slowly began to gather steam. And we were ready to launch in 2018, and uh and there it went. Off it went. And we had growing pains, but you know, Giovanni, one of the one of the biggest things was to make the high school champions league a part of each school's regular season schedule. So when people hear about the high school champions league, they think, okay, they have a picture of a bunch of teams gathering for a tournament on a weekend somewhere or something like that, a big complex. And it's not like that. It's it's working your regular season schedule games into the framework of the Champions League. And so that that made it easier. Once people understood that, once people understood, they weren't really inventing a new wheel, they were just doing what they're doing. What they normally do, which is make their normal regular season schedule, but agreeing with the other coaches in the Champions League, they were going to call these games Champions League games, and then they were going to keep track of the the table on the side, and the four teams that we we had 16 teams. Uh well, from the beginning we had 12, then quickly went to 16, and we kept tables of the results, and uh the team that was the best in the table advanced to a semifinal, and then the semifinalists, of course, went to the final. And all coaches had to do was before they made their schedule, they had to know who's in the Champions League and who's in my group. And let me make sure that I schedule those people on my regular season schedule. And that's all it takes is a little bit of pre-planning of knowing who's in and then getting them on your schedule. So you're not doing anything different than what you normally do. Therefore, the state association doesn't have to be part of it. It's not that you're hiding from them. The thing the state association doesn't do is tell you who to play in your regular season schedule. That's up to you. And so if you, you know, if you and I, Giovanni, had high school teams, and uh every time we played each other, we had an old beat-up trophy, and it was like a tradition between your team and my team, and we played whoever wins the game takes that trophy home till next year. There's nothing stopping anyone from doing that. People can do that if they want to. That's just coaches collaborating with each other. Well, what if a bunch of coaches collaborated around the idea that we're going to call these games Champions League games and we're gonna leave two open dates on our schedule in case we make it to the semifinals? Uh we're not gonna schedule a team. We're just gonna not, if if there's a limited number of games you can play according to the state association, let's say 25, which is what it is here in Florida, we're not gonna schedule, we're only gonna schedule 23 games. Because if we make it to the semi in the final, we don't want to have run out of games. And as long as is as that's how it works, then it works.

SPEAKER_09 46:07

So a couple of things come to mind as I as I hear this. One you already answered. I was curious as to what kind of feedback or pushback, support or non-support you you got from your your state high school association. It sounds like you didn't get any any negative pushback, is that correct?

SPEAKER_07 46:22

No negative pushback at all. Yeah, no, they they're they think it's great, actually.

SPEAKER_09 46:27

And as as is the case with all high school sports, there are time frames. And I I can speak here in Massachusetts. You know, the fall season starts the third week in August with preseason, and it's got to end um before that, that uh Monday before Thanksgiving, because that's where winter sports start. So it's a small window of opportunity. I'll just speak for Massachusetts. I'll be curious to see what happens in Florida, what how it works in Florida. You get a real tight window of opportunity to play your your regular season games, which are sometimes anywhere from the 18 to 19. And if you make the stake tournament, you know, you you could be playing every other night in accumulating twenty, twenty-two, twenty-three games in a very, very short period of time. Uh that's a long way of me asking, um, Jim, is there are you cramming in more games, um, particularly when you can get to a point where you're maybe there's a playoff or something, in a in a relatively tight period of time, or you find that there's enough time to get your league games in, your, you know, your regular regularly played games, regular season games in, and plugging in your your Champions League brackets and playoffs and that type of thing.

SPEAKER_07 47:31

Yes, there is enough time. And here's this is an important point that you're making about the state tournament. One of the reasons that the Florida State uh Association has no problem with what we're doing is because we don't threaten the state tournament. We don't threaten it in turn we're not trying to threaten it in terms of stature, and we're not threatening the calendar because our Champions League is wrapped up by the mid-season point of the regular season. So uh our our our games take place from the first week of November until district tournaments begin around the first week of February. This past year, our Champions League final was on December 13th. Uh so we were done before Christmas break. We so we don't threaten the state tournament, and we have plenty of time to play the games because they aren't extra games, and the reason for that is um they we we know the teams that are in the champions. The high school champions league is like the European Champions League. Entry into the Champions League is based on how you do the year before. So the year before, uh entry into the Tampa Bay Champions League involves how you do at the first level of the state tournament, which is districts. State tournament is districts, regionals, final four. If you win the district, you are therefore a district champion, thus you enter the Champions League. So it's really a gathering of district champions. Uh and we know who the district champions are as soon as districts are over. So we already know the district champions, and the previous season isn't even finished yet, because they're now going to regionals in the Final Four. So we issue the bids for the Champions League, and it is bids. People can turn it down if they want to. They don't have there's no obligation to be in the Champions League. Uh, some some coaches have 15 seniors, and they know they're not going to be any good the following year, and they don't think it would be in their interest to go in the Champions League. Most people, most people accept the bid, though, and so we know the field for the Champions League before the previous season is even completed with a state final. So therefore, you know, you you begin, and I don't know what kind of scheduling cycle there is in Massachusetts, but here there are no multiple-year scheduling cycles. There are conferences and districts where you're supposed to play the teams in your district, but those games aren't usually scheduled until after the state tournament is over. So we have our Champions League field set before the previous season is over, and then we do a Champions League draw, which is which is a big deal in its own right. We do our draw at a local sports pub, and the Tampa Bay Rowdies come out, the head coach and the president of the and some of the players, and they're the ones that pull the teams out of the hat to make the groups. We even have had our draw on live radio a couple times. So uh so now as the state tournament is winding down, caught up in all of the attention that goes along with following the state tournament is the fact that the high school champions league draw has just happened and it's kind of a a place setter for the next season. So nobody has made has scheduled a game yet. They now know the three teams that are in their group, and they work their those teams into their regular season schedule. They don't fit them into a schedule that's already made. They they're the first three teams, they're the first three names on the team sheet, so to speak, is those games. What we do down here is we have Champions League match days, match day one, match day two, match day three, and we pick um, you know, we pick uh uh those match days, and then we schedule the games on those days, uh, assuming that they can uh that they can be played on those days. Sometimes they're a day earlier, sometimes they're a day later. So coaches and athletic directors have a real good feel for how to work the Champions League into their regular season schedule. The FHSAA is not threatened because we're finished before Christmas break. And uh the Champions League is local, it's not a statewide thing, it's a local thing. So it doesn't threaten the state tournament. But what it does do is bring private schools together and public schools together, big and small schools that wouldn't normally play each other. But they're playing to answer the question who's got the best team in the Tampa Bay metro area? And uh the Rowdies are gonna host the final, and everybody loves it.

SPEAKER_09 52:11

See, Jeff, you just kind of touched upon and answered my next question. As you very well know, high school sports teams in terms of the in terms of who they compete against is all predicate on the size of the school. Um D Division One, I'll just use Massachusetts as an example once again. Division Ones are the biggest schools. Division two obviously working their way down. We go all the way down to Division Five, which are the the smallest of high schools. Um I thought I heard you mention there that all every division in Florida from Division I to Division, whatever your lowest division happens to be in terms of size, they all compete for the same Champions League. Is it is that correct?

SPEAKER_07 52:44

They're all invited.

SPEAKER_09 52:46

Well invited.

SPEAKER_07 52:46

But but they they don't have to accept the bid. We actually have seven classifications in Florida. And uh, but uh so like the 1A schools are typically the real small Christian schools that don't have that many kids and their teams, they just play each other. So they would get killed by playing some of the bigger schools. But but, you know, a couple things I'll say about that. Liechtenstein's that's their champion in the Champions League. Now they now they can, you know, they probably lose their first qualifier, but they're still part of it, they're still part of Europe. And so they so so if Europe, if if UEFA were to come out and say, okay, these ten countries are too small, we're not even including you in the Champions League, that might be logical, but you know, uh is it right? Is it right to say, okay, Gibraltar, you don't get to play with us, you know, just because you're Gibraltar. So, so now it Gibraltar can say no, thank you, we don't we don't want to get killed, but what if Gibraltar had a team that could hang in there for a while? You know, what if uh so we always issue invitations. A lot of the smaller schools don't take them. But some of our best uh teams are 2A, 3A, 4A private schools. Uh and as a matter of fact, we've had, let's see, we've had eight champions leagues, I think, in Tampa. And I think a big public school uh has uh has only one at three times, maybe. Uh the private schools tend to do really well. But you tend to get some amazing matchups, matchups that wouldn't otherwise happen. Uh the private schools tend to play their schedules, the public schools tend to play their schedules and never the twins shall meet. But if you're uh gonna if you're gonna ask a simple question, who's got the best high school team in Tampa Bay? Okay, well they'll have to meet if they want to get an answer to that question. Uh now there nobody's forcing them to. They can say, no, thank you. You know, we're we're not gonna be a part of that. But people can't resist it. And so the so the games that are played are amazing. I mean, you got Tampa, urban Tampa public schools playing preppy, you know, prep schools that have never even thought about playing each other, but they're thrown together in the same Champions League group. And it's it's really cool.

SPEAKER_09 55:20

So costs, logistics, all those types of things have to come into play here. Interschool travel, I mean it's always a sticking point. You know, you gotta hire buses, uh you know, take kids to and from their their the the field of play. How are you approaching the the logistical and financial realities of of a statewide uh you know uh champions league? Or maybe maybe I'm getting a little bit too far ahead of myself. A regional competition. How did that sort itself out in terms of the logistics of travel and uh how are things being paid for?

SPEAKER_07 55:52

Great questions, great questions. Let's take the the regional or the geographic part first. So I I think this, Giovanni, I think one problem with club soccer is clubs swallowing up smaller clubs and therefore taking away local rivalries. Tempe Bay United, for example, uh is an amalgamation of maybe up to you know five or more local clubs. And these local clubs used to have great local derbies, you know, uh a couple clubs two, three miles away from each other. Now, instead of having their local rivalry, they're just all Tampa Bay United, everybody wearing the same uniform. You know, I'm just on the B team, C team, E team, D team, whatever. It's just all the same. So the local derby has been eaten up by the growth of big club soccer, okay? But high school soccer still has the local derby. And I'm a great believer that local derbies are where it's at. Uh it's where the passion is. It's where people, you know, it's where people like if I said to you, uh, hey Giovanni, my uh Tampa Bay United team is going to go across the state and we're gonna play a team from Melbourne, Florida, the best under 15 team, and we're gonna go play them. And and you might say, oh, Jim, that sounds like a great game. Good luck with it. Let me know how it turns out. But if I say to you, Giovanni, my Clearwater Central Catholic team, we're taking on uh Clearwater High School, the big public school team, and uh we're meeting each other in the Champions League, you might be like, oh my God, that is, I can't wait to hear how that turns out. People love local derbies, and people love school derbies. If you make the Champions League too big, you get away from both of those. So, and the other part, the transportation part, we keep the transport, we keep the geographic range in range of where teams already go when they play their games. So for Tampa Bay, we keep it in a three-county range. So teams from Pinellas County, where St. Petersburg is, the farthest they'd have to go on a bus ride is say 45 minutes for a game. Uh, that's not bad. That's doable. And uh nobody pushes back on that. So keeping it local really helps solve that problem. And it also plays into the local derby and the excitement of the local derby, and it plays into the excitement of the local high school rivalries. People that don't even know, that don't even follow soccer that much. But they when the two big schools uh play each other that have reputations, they're interested in that. They're interested in finding out how that turns out, especially when there's a big trophy on the line. Now, as far as the the money is concerned, okay, it turns out that a lot of people have come through soccer and uh credit soccer with their business success. Our major donor in Tampa Bay is a company called Loki Capital. It's a capital investment firm. Well, the CEO and the COO of Loki Capital played for me at Clearwater Central Catholic High School from 94 to 97. And in 96 and 97, we were lucky enough to win state championships with these people on the team and in the lineup. So they fondly remember what it meant to them, what high school soccer meant to them, how it helped shape their lives, and they want to give back. And they're in a position now as business people to give back. Some of our other uh donors are people that have had experience in high school soccer and understand that that experience is invaluable. It's almost incalculable to put a price on it. And so they, being successful in business, are happy to give back. The Tampa Bay Rowdies are big sponsors of ours. And what they do is they recognize, uh, and I think all pro teams should recognize this, by sponsoring, we don't ask the rowdies for any money, by the way. We don't need to ask them for money because our donors give us money. But the rowdies realize that by recognizing the high school champions league, they are recognizing all of high school soccer in Tampa Bay. Not that every high school in Tampa Bay is in the Champions League, but every one of them is eligible for the Champions League. They could be in it. And the Tampa Bay Rowdies will be there waiting for them. And so it's a really easy one to get people to jump up and say, wow, that's worthwhile. I'll support that, whether it's by writing a check or giving some kind of an in-kind donation. Select Sport America has become our national ball sponsor. Uh and uh they they provide game balls for every Champions League in America that's going on right now, of which there's five. And uh they uh also created a trophy for the best player in the final, the Virtuoso Award. So they're there, we find that this is a kind of an easy sell because people really love this idea that somebody's paying attention to high school soccer rather than running it down like it seems to be happening all the time. And they love the idea of local. They love the idea of local derbies, local rivers. People have their heart have a hard time wrapping their heads around a four-hour drive to go play a soccer game. And then you're playing a team that's no better than teams back home. Uh, or a plane ride, for gosh sakes. You know, people love the idea of okay, we're gonna drive over here, we'll stop at McDonald's on the way there or back, and we'll watch a great game, and we'll be home in time to put the kids in bed or whatever. People love this.

SPEAKER_09 1:01:50

So my my my brain's going a mile a minute. Having been in the in the public school system as as I was for these many years and knowing schools and how they're structured and how they're financed as well as I do, I'm I'm curious, how do you ensure that it's smaller or I guess more specifically, Jim, less resourced programs? Uh that they how do you ensure they have a fair pathway into this league without widening the existing gaps? Because as you know, not every school district has the well, let's put it out there. They don't they just don't have the money to put forth uh, you know, the the the the programs, the efforts, the legisti the uh uh the things that they want to do do for their for their students or their student athletes. What do you do to ensure that they that they don't get priced out of all this?

SPEAKER_07 1:02:31

Not every uh obstacle is insurmountable, but uh the the the uh the answer to your question is the money that we get from our sponsors has been used to pay for things like this. Uh let me give you the example of the city of Tampa, and Tampa's in Hillsborough County. The public schools in Hillsborough County are on a very tight budget, exactly like you described. Um they have a limited number of games they can play, and they don't have room for the high school champions league on their schedule. Now, one thing they do have uh is they allow their teams to play in quote unquote tournaments. Okay, so the high school champions league is posed to the Hillsborough County athletic director who makes a schedule for all the public school teams in Tampa, that this is a tournament that their team has been invited to. But unlike most tournaments that their team might go to, which might take place over a weekend, this is kind of a rolling tournament which takes place over several weeks, and uh and it's one game at a time. And the Hillsborough County, what they say to us is fine, they can be in a tournament. We just can't host any of them because we're not budgeted for that. And and uh so any Hillsborough County team that plays in the Champions League is always playing a road game. The other thing, what what happens if two Hillsborough County teams are in the same group? Well, we used to have that problem, and we had to set up third uh like neutral neutral places for those teams to play. So we've had to actually pay for security, pay for ticket takers, uh, and pay for transportation for games that are outside of their budget. Uh what we've decided on with Hillsborough County is we only accept four Hillsborough County teams because we have four groups, so we put one of those teams in each group and they play all their games on the road, so we don't have to have any more neutral site games. But it's just a matter of either having the fundraising to cover those expenses or having the limitations that those expenses do present. But whether it be playing all your games on the road or whether it be your fifth best Hillsborough County team might be better than some teams that got in the tournament. And sometimes that just has to be the way it is. But the way I look at it is you know, let's say the sixth best English Premier League team is probably better than a lot of teams that got in the Champions League from other places. So there is precedent for it. But uh there are limitations too.

SPEAKER_09 1:05:15

So we're kind of wrapping this up, I'm curious, and you don't have to mention names. We don't want to start any controversies here, or or high schools for that matter. Have you gotten any sniffs or you know, an email or a text from someone from another state? So, what are you guys doing on there? This looks kind of interesting. Have you had conversations with with other coaches from teams in different parts of the country?

SPEAKER_07 1:05:35

Actually, a good friend of yours, John Barada, uh over there in Boston. I know John very well. He we're talking. We've had a couple of conversations already. He's very interested in bringing this to United Soccer coaches. Uh I can I'll I'll run down for you right now, Giovanni, the num the uh metro areas that we're talking with. Just had a meeting with Brooklyn FC two weeks ago. They want to bring this to Brooklyn. We had Coach Jake, Martin Jacobson, great coach at Martin Luther King High School in Manhattan, was part of that meeting. Tom Beyer was part of that meeting. By the way, Tom is our national technical advisor, a big advocate of the high school champions league movement in America. We've had meet, we've we are in St. Louis. Atletico Dallas, which is an upcoming USL Champions League expansion franchise for 2027. They reached out to us. They've heard about this. They reached out to Perry Vanderbeck. Perry Vanderbeck is our national ambassador in the Champions League movement, and they wanted to know more. We've met with Atletico Dallas three times. They want to make the Champions League part of their profile when they start playing in 2027. We've met with people in Des Moines, Iowa, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh is a big area that's interested in this. We've had several meetings with them. We've even had uh some of our coaches. Uh our lead what one of our main coaches in our leadership team is Terry Mickler from St. Louis. He's a legendary guy. He's won over a thousand games. People know his name in high school soccer. Terry took a meeting with the Pittsburgh High School Soccer coaches on Zoom to direct them on how to how to move forward to get their Champions League going. So we do a lot of that. Um we've we've talked with people in Chicago, the east side of the river from St. Louis. I'm trying to think who else. Chattanooga, Tennessee. Um gosh, I'm I'm probably leaving uh Charlotte, North Carolina. Uh I believe it's Phoenix. Um there's others.

SPEAKER_09 1:07:45

It's it's safe to say that you've gotten a healthy response to all this.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:49

Healthy response. And and it what it takes is like a show like this, Giovanni, because people don't understand it. Like people, when we start talking about it, people keep waiting for us to say, and it's only going to cost you this much. And here's how much it is. And what people don't understand is nobody owns this. Anybody can do it. No, no, we don't have proprietary right to it. And anybody can uh, you know, can can make this into something special. But we have five main principles that we follow. And if you're going to be with our movement, these are the principles you have to adhere to. The first one is there's no admission fee to the Champions League. If a team earns their way in, they get in. Uh admission, money is paid for by sponsors. The second one is that inclusion in the Champions League is merit-based, based on objective metrics that are decided by local coaches ahead of time, and everybody knows what they are. So there's no protected corridor into the Champions League for any team. Uh one thing that people get crazy about in club soccer is a club decides they're going to bring 10 teams to a tournament. So all those 10 teams get in, whether they're any good or not, to this tournament. And then a small club with maybe one team and a small budget just can't seem to get in tournaments. Well, they're not bringing 10 teams to a tournament because that's a business deal. It's not a merit-based deal. Uh, this is about merit-based inclusion. The third one is it's a metro-based competition. So the metro-based, the metro basis has to be determined by the local high school coaches. It's not for me to come into Boston and tell you what the metro basis is, what a natural metro-based Champions League would look like. But John would know, and uh John and his colleagues would know how to set it up. Uh John Walsh, uh, another guy who's big in United Soccer coaches, he runs the South Florida Champions League. They include Palm Beach County, Broward County, Dave County, and Monroe County, all the way down to Key West. That's a six million population area. Tampa Bay is 3 million population. St. Louis Metro is about 2 million. Um Polk County, Florida is about 1 million. So it can fit uh metro areas. It has to fit that metro area. It has to be something like you had asked earlier. What about the logistics of traveling far? Well, the local coaches have to decide for themselves just how big is this going to be? And uh, so it's up to them to decide. The fourth principle is coach collaboration. We know about the problem in youth soccer of coaches stealing players from other teams and recruiting and poaching. There's no poaching in the Champions League. The coaches sit down at the table and work it all out. They're trying to tear each other's throats out during the game, but before and after the game, they're colleagues. And we find that parents like that. They appreciate that. They they respect the professionalism of that. The fifth principle is student athlete empowerment. And that comes to the question you asked before about what about what about schools that don't have budgets? What about a kid who's a really good player but can't afford expensive pay-to-play, but they do play for their high school? What about that kid? They should have a platform, and the Champions League can give them that platform. It doesn't catch every one of those kids, but it catches the ones that are good enough to get in the Champions League. So uh free-to-play, merit-based, metro-based, coach collaboration, student athlete empowerment. If you are interested in following those principles, then you're with us in our movement. And people like this. Uh we have a Zoom meeting six times a year. I'll get you, Giovanni, invitations to that from now on. Uh, content creators, podcast hosts come to this meeting. People from all over the country can tune into the Zoom meeting. We often have guest speakers. Tom Bayer was a guest speaker at one, Thomas Rongen's been a guest speaker at one. Perry Vanderbeck hosts these meetings. Uh, and uh we talk about the Champions League. There's a report, St. Louis gives a report, Tampa Bay gives a report, South Florida, everybody gives a report on how their Champions League's going. And then newcomers that are coming into these meetings can ask questions and get that professional collaboration from uh the people that are already doing it. So it's a really good setup. So to for us, we say do the Champions League if you want, but if you're going to charge money, you're not with us. That violates one of our principles. And we need you to come and show up at this Zoom meeting six times a year and just tell everybody how you're doing and help them, help other people do it too. So that's really what it's all about.

SPEAKER_09 1:12:32

Our guest today on GP Soccer Podcast, Conversation with the Coach, has been the terrific Jim Hart. And he and I have been talking about uh high school champions league. I've got to tell you, Jim, I've I've as much research as I did going into this uh conversation and into this interview, I've learned a whole whole heck of a lot. Um and I've got I've got good vibes going forward uh that this this could be something that that uh that that takes right off. Um so uh thank you very much for your time. I know you're you're super busy, and um and you'll be back next week. You'll be back next week. Uh our audience can get uh get to hear our conversation even more. So, Giovanni Pacini here, GP Soccer Podcast Conversation with the coach. We're gonna break for a commercial message. You know how all that works, and we'll reconvene on the other side. 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 Barrata 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 development of talented players and coaches. The Beautiful Games Soccer Academy believes that success on the soccer field breeds 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.beautifulgamesa.com.

SPEAKER_12 1:14:37

Hey, this is Brad Knight, the goalkeeper coach for the New England Revolution 2. And you're listening to the GP Soccer Podcast with your host, Giovanni Piccini.

SPEAKER_09 1:14:45

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. Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast, Coach's Corner. Today's coaches are TJ Kastecki and Len Billis. Their topic today is vision training in Group Play.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:09

Hi there, this is TJ Kastecki. I'm one of the directors of Vision Training Soccer along with Len Billis. Len's in HelloTalPA. I'm in Tivoli, New York. This is our third and final episode. It's our pleasure to be on the GP Soccer Podcast Coach's Corner. Today, our last episode on Vision Training, how to improve players field vision and decision making. We're going to introduce passing and receiving and play in group play and how we deal with pressure of defenders and combine and find defense. A quick review in our last session, our last episode that is, was the three S's, Shield, Scan, and Spin. We introduced pressure of a defender. How does a player manage and deal with the ball? And uh you remember some of the best in the world that shield, scan, and spin, Iniesta Javi, the two Spanish maestros De Broyne right now. And of course Messi is great at scanning, looking over his shoulder, protecting the ball, and spinning away. That was our last episode, so go back to that if you have not had a chance to watch it. Today we're gonna now change things and we're gonna talk about uh how we introduce passing and receiving um advanced vision training games. Len, um how would you do it individually, first of all? How would you build in the habit of scanning uh and passing on your own? Is there a way to do that?

SPEAKER_13 1:16:37

Oh, absolutely. TJ, uh when I was just learning to do this, I knew there was not gonna be anybody happy that spent hours with me so I could start to do this automatically. I want to do it enough times that I don't have to think about it when I'm playing. Because I have to think about it, it's already too late to do it. So find a nice wall and start hitting balls against the wall. But don't just focus on the ball. Focus on what's going on behind you when the ball hits the wall. That's pretending to be a pass coming from a teammate. The wall is your teammate, you're pretending that the ball is being released. As soon as it's released, you're scanning behind. The reason to do that is because you'll have the most time to scan as soon as the ball is released. If you wait and the ball's halfway there, it's again going to be too late. So that's the way to learn to do it on your own.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:43

So, coaches again that are listening to our podcast. I'm sure a lot of you have your players do wall ball, working on technique inside the foot passing, right foot, left foot volleys. Change the dynamics immediately and have players look over their shoulder. So as soon as your player hits the ball off the wall and it begins to come back, take a peek over the shoulder, right shoulder, left shoulder, and now that player becomes a at least 60 degree player. Let's move into let's move into passing uh with a partner. So now come out on the pitch, you got uh two players out there with a ball, the coach is collecting cones, putting them down, everybody's getting ready. What's a way that uh two players could work on this?

SPEAKER_13 1:18:27

Same idea, TJ, and uh I love how you tell players that hey, if you practice this without looking, you're practic practicing not to do it in a game. So when a teammate passes you the ball, take that quick scan behind you, notice what's going on around you before you make the pass back. So this is without building habits. If we don't do it every time, the habit is not getting better.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:00

So coaches, we've talked about dribbling in the first episode. The second episode we've talked about the three S's, shield scan and spin, uh with a medium pressure defender, and and now we're talking about how players off the ball are scanning and taking pictures. Taking pictures. So let's say let's move into Len uh under pressure of defenders, uh, but not yet. Let's move into a group set setting where players are possessing. We have a game we call Racetrack, where there's two teams that are 7v7 or up to 9v9, uh in a 40-50 yard grid. Each team has one soccer ball. There are no defenders right now. Each team has the ball and they're gonna be circulating the ball with their seven to nine players, depending on what you have in your training session. So no defenders right now. Like, can you describe that game what that looks like for our our audience?

SPEAKER_13 1:19:56

Sure. Uh DJ, it's important to uh make sure that the players understand that uh if they continue in once area of the field, they're not really going to be able to exploit the other side of the field. So one of the rules is no more than two or three passes uh around the ball, then the next pass has to be across the field to the furthest target away from the ball. And basically it's a race, a race to see who gets, say, twenty or twenty-five uh looks over the shoulder when the ball is being passed to them. So a point is awarded every time a player receiving a pass has a quick scan. It's called the uh critical scan, actually. And uh every time they do it, again, not under the pressure of an opponent, but in a game building up to that.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:51

So you're aware how we do that is we pick a player on each team, and that player is the counter. So he or she is responsible for counting every time a teammate looks over their shoulder before they receive the ball. If they don't look, they don't lose any points, they just don't get rewarded for the habit of scanning. Surveys clear. And the first team do let's say 30 scans, wins. Now it's time to play under full pressure land. So now we play same setting, 40 by 50 hard grid. Let's say it's 99. We add a neutral player, so now it's under pressure. What are some of the rewards? And what are players doing? How are we rewarding players to build a habit?

SPEAKER_13 1:21:35

So, first of all, uh anytime we do possession games, it's important to allow players to dribble. It's uh possession without dribbling becomes a very predictable game. So players need to continue to dribble, and because they know how to perform uh under pressure using the three S's to keep possession, keep the ball secure, uh then we do reward them for that uh in a possession game there. We also reward them for scanning behind them uh when they receive a pass. So anytime a player spins, dribbles out of pressure, we give them a point. Anytime a player scans behind them when the pass is coming, we give them a point.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:24

Thank you, Lynn. That's uh one of my favorite games. So, coaches, so you're aware, now you become the one that's uh recognizing every time they're looking. So in this 9v9 or 8v8 plus one, whatever your numbers are, you can even do plus two players if you feel you need to add a second neutral player. You're calling out the points. So if a player is doing the three S's, you just shout out, that's a point. Point. And have the players keep their own score. Usually we play this game for anywhere from five to ten minutes or two five minute games, but the players are keeping their own score, and after that time frame, you ask them who has three or more, five or more, or seven or more points. So now they're keeping track of their own progress, their own improvement, and most importantly, they're building the habits of scanning and decision making. And then the last game that we do, we do the four-goal game. Some of you have done this before, where you attack two goals and defend two goals, and usually they're small goals. It could be a six to eight yard goal. Um, and the idea is now we are looking to see where the best goal to attack, and how do we know that? By playing with our eyes up and attacking the goal that has the least amount of defenders. So that's a wrap. This is uh TJ Kastecki and Len Billis from Vision Training Soccer. If you'd like to learn more about how to build the habits, we have an online coaching course that was just launched on Vision. It's called soccervision training.com. Again, soccervision training.com. Take the course, VTS Level 1 Coaching Certification Course, and you'll learn how to implement these and more specific ideas on vision training. This has been TJ Kastecki and Lynn Villis. That's today's coaching tip here on GP Soccer Podcast Coach's corner. Thank you.

SPEAKER_08 1:24:23

This is Soccer News and Analysis with Giovanni Pacini.

SPEAKER_09 1:24:35

From the Associated Press. Italian sports officials today, four-time champion Italy, is not interested in replacing Iran at the upcoming World Cup, following a suggestion to it to that effect by a Trump administration official. Iran has not withdrawn from the World Cup, and the team is preparing to play in the United States despite the war in the Middle East. FIFA has insisted its group stage games near Los Angeles and in Seattle will go ahead as planned in June. The Financial Times reported that Paolo Zampoli, the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Partnerships, has suggested the swap to President Trump and FIFA President Johnny Infantino. In a phone interview with the Associated Press, Zampoli emphasized that, quote, my gr my request is not a political request, end quote. The ask, which was made to Trump and Infantino this past Wednesday, was meant as a contingency plan in case Iran could not participate in the Stockton tournament in the last minute. Quote, I had a dream, Zampoli told the AP. My request was for the Italian people and the American Italian people. He said it in an interview that with four titles, the Italian national team's appearance in the World Cup would be justified. Italian officials pushed back hard at the suggestion with sports minister Andrea Aboti saying that, first of all, it is not possible. Secondly, it's not a good idea. Luciano Bonfiglio, the president of the Italian Olympic Committee, which oversees all sports in Italy, also dismissed the idea by saying, I would feel offended, Bonfiglio said, you need to deserve to go to the World Cup. Italy's finance minister Giancarlo Giorgetti called the suggestion swamp, swap, shameful. Saudi Arabia made its coaching change official by hiring Henry Renai and replacing him with Georgiano Donis less than two months before the start of the World Cup. Saudi Arabia opens Group H play at the World Cup against Uruguay on June 15th. The United States women's national team will play Brazil in a pair of matches in June at venues in Sao Paulo and Fortaleza that will host the Women's World Cup games in 2027. It is the first time the United States will play the Brazilians on their home soil since 2014. The teams will play at Sao Paulo's Neo Quimana Arena on June the 6th, and then at Fortaleza's Arena Castelao on June the 9th. The United States defeated Brazil 1-0 for the gold medal in the two 2024 Paris Olympics. Man City will play in a record fourth-straight cup final after surviving a scared-to-beat 2nd Division Southampton 2-1 at Wembley in London. Nico Gonzalez, its 87th minute winner, completed a comeback after going goal down in the second half. The victory kept up the city's bid for domestic treble of trophies, having won the English League Cup and being locked in a race with Arsenal for the Premier League title. Quote, no team has made four finals in a row. It's extraordinary, and hopefully we can arrive with a good momentum. City manager Pep Guadliolo told the BBC. Arsenal took advantage of a Manchester City's Cup commitment to move three points clear the top of the Premier League standings with a one nil victory over Newcastle. Ebareki Ez's brilliant first half strike helped Mikel Arteta's team bounce back after uh after defeat uh two city laps. At the bottom of the table, a first league win in 2026 wasn't enough to lift Tottenham out of the relegation zone. Spurs beat relegated Wolves 1-0 to Han Roberto di Zerbi his first victory as a coach. But Spurs remained in the drop zone, two points behind West Ham, which Clinced a 2-1 win against Everton through Kellum Wilson's stoppage time goal at London Stadium. Liverpool moved up to fourth on goal difference by beating Crystal Palace 3-1, the defending champions' leapfrog Aston Villa, which lost to Fulham 1-0. Enzo Fernandez, 23rd-minute header, secured Chelsea's 1-0 win of the leads at the FA Cup semifinals, setting up a meeting with Manchester City in the May 16th title match back at Wembley Stadium. Chelsea's run in the FA Cup is salvaging a campaign that has veered off the rails after humiliating exit from the Champions League, 8-2 on aggregate to Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16, and five straight losses in the Premier League that marks the team's worst run of league results in 114 years and led to the midweek dismissal of manager Liam Rossi Sr. Matthias Albert became the youngest Americans play in the Bundesliga when he made his debut for Borussia Dortmund on Sunday at the age of 16 years, 11 months, and 5 days. Albert, who is from Greenville, South Carolina, went on in the 88th minute of Dortmund's 4-0 German League victory over Freeburg and clinching a spot in next season's Champions League. Albert beat the record set by G. Arena, who made his Dortmund debut at 17 years, two months, and five days in 2020. That's uh soccer news and analysis. Next up, the European Report with Ralph Ferrigno. This is the GP Soccer Podcast, English Premier League, and European Soccer Report with your host, Ralph Ferrigno.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:24

Although I'll do it in four parts before the tournament kicks off. So to begin the process, I'm going to examine the chances of Scotland, the Netherlands, Croatia, and Norway this week. So let's start with Scotland, the number 43 ranked team in the world right now, and of the European teams which are in the World Cup, only Bosnia and Herzegovina are ranked lower. They'll be returning to the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998, having qualified as winners of Group C, edging out the highly fancied Danish team. So they're in Group C with Brazil, Morocco, both top ten teams in the world, and rank outside as Haiti. And the key challenge for the Scots is that in the many, many times that they have qualified over the years, they have never ever, in those eight previous appearances, made it out of the group stage. There's been a couple of times when they've been close and they've been eliminated on goal difference. The strength of the team is clearly in midfield. And Scott McTominay, who scored one of the goals of the year against Denmark, a quite uh remarkable overhead kick, uh was named the Serie A Footballer of the Year in Italy, so he is clearly a key man for the team. Add to that John McGinn of Aston Villa, Lewis Ferguson of Bologna, Ryan Christie of Bournemouth, and Billy Gilmour of Napoli, and the team does have strength and depth in the midfield. Really everywhere else, apart from maybe Andy Robertson, who captains the team at left back, and Kieran Tierney, uh the team is is weaker than in previous decades in central defence and in attack. And one of the hopes in attack is uh Ben Ganon Doke of Bournemouth, and unfortunately, he has missed most of the season through injury and uh Gannon Dokke's strength is his pace. Will he be ready for the tournament? We'll have to wait and see. So Steve Clark, the manager, you have to say he's done a remarkable job. Because Scotland have been in the international wilderness for many years, and as I say, he has limited options in central defence and also attack. And he has managed to get the team through to the last two Eurofinals where on both occasions they disappointed. And one thing that's been pointed as a weakness in him is sometimes he can be a little too loyal to his players. So just to give a simple example, uh there are three championship strikers. He always picks Lyndon Dykes, who's currently with Charlton Athletic. But yet Dykes in the same division is behind Ross Stewart of Southampton and Ollie McBurney of Hull City, who have been very much on form this season as both clubs are pushing for promotion to the Premier League. So overall the prospects I would classify them as touch and go to advance beyond the group stage. And the key game is actually going to be here in Boston when they play the Moroccans. But they have to get a result in that first game against Haiti to have any chance of moving on. So Andy Robertson is a Liverpool player, he captained Scotland and will move to the Netherlands, who are also captained by a Liverpool player in Virgil van Dijk. Now the Dutch are ranked seven in the world, and they were the unbeaten winners of Group G, and they are considered very strong contenders if they get through to the later rounds. They are in a group with Japan, Sweden, and Tunisia, so it'll be three tricky games that they have to face. They have one of the deepest defensive units in the world. I'd mentioned Van Dijk, but he's well supported by Mickey van de Ven, Jurian Timber, and Nathan Ake. So they're very, very strong at the back. They're also good in midfield with Frankie De Jong of Barcelona and Tianj Reinders of Manchester City, players who are good at controlling the midfield tempo. And up front they will be led by Memphis DePay, who is the primary goal threat and the leading goalscorer of all time. So overall, looking at the team as a group, I think it's fair to say that the Orange, as they like to call themselves, are stacked in defence and midfield, but perhaps not quite as strong in attack, and this might hold them back to some degree. We'll have to wait and see on that. So their prospects overall, favourites definitely to win their group, and perhaps a dark horse pick overall to go on and win the cup by many, many pundits. Next up we have Croatia. Croatia are ranked number 11 in the world right now. And they've been very, very competitive in tournaments over the years, despite the fact that they have an aging squad. So many would label them as a dangerous underdog. And they did finish runners up in 2018 and then third place in 2022 in the last two World Cups. So they've been consistently good, as well as some fine performances in the Euros. Now the group stage outlook for them is they're in Group L, along with the highly favoured English team, Ghana and Panama. And one of their great players is Luca Modric, who has moved over the past year from Real Madrid to AC Milan. And Modric, remarkably, is 40 years old, but he does remain the team's leader and a focal point, and this surely has to be his final World Cup. They do have one big injury concern, and that is Manchester City's Josco Bardiola, broke his leg in January playing for City, and he's in a big race against time to be fit for the summer. Will he make it or not? Again we will have to wait and see. So what are their prospects? They will be expected to fight for second place in their group with Ghana, as England are one of the favoured teams to maybe win the tournament. However, there is the issue, as I mentioned earlier, about an aging squad. As the Golden Generation Corps of Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Ivan Peresic, they are all getting on, so it may be very, very difficult for them to replicate the performances of the previous two World Cups. And that leads us on to the number 31 team in the world, Norway. And Norway had a very, very strong performance in the qualification rounds, uh, winning all their games in a group that's included Italy. And they were led by one of the guys who's ranked maybe the top striker in the world right now, Erling Haaland of Manchester City. And he set some records in the qualifying rounds, having scored 16 goals in the eight matches, so obviously averaging two goals per game. And it's a tally that only Robert Lewandowski of Poland has matched back in 2018 as an all-time record for goals scored in a single European World Cup qualifying campaign. He was very consistent as well, you have to say. Haaland did score in every match of the qualifying, and teams that are coming up against him, he's the guy that they're going to have to stop. So they do have a difficult task ahead of them. They're in a group with France, Senegal and Iraq. So so France are the number one ranked team in the world right now. Senegal, did they win the African Championships this year? Yeah, that's the that's a controversial um that's a controversial debate after what happened in the final. So I'm not going to get into that. So um with with Haaland leading them, they are very much a dark horse, uh very much capable of upsetting the major powers if their defence can hold up. And they do have a good defence in the eight matches. Uh, Christopher Ajahr of Brentford and Julian Ryerson of Borussia Dortmund provided some stability as they only gave up five goals. So can they hold up in defence? They certainly look powerful in attack. And again, we have a team that's playing two matches here in Boston. Uh they they will play the team that's maybe considered to be the wicking whipping boys of the group, Iraq, but then they have a highly anticipated matchup with France, the number one team, and it's being billed as Erling Haaland versus Killian Mbappe. And it's not just a question of who wins the game on the day, but who is the top striker in the world right now. So, in terms of their prospects, book bookmakers are giving them about 25% chance of winning their group. So they are rated behind F France, understandably. And another player that they will rely on heavily, uh, and a very creative midfielder is the Arsenal player Martin Odegaard. So with Odegaard supporting Haaland, I think that they could uh certainly make a good long run in this year's tournament. So there's the prospects of four teams. Next time around, I'll be looking at the tournament favourites and the number one ranked team, which are the French, along with Belgium, Austria, and Sweden. So, looking forward to that, and I will see you then. Take care.

SPEAKER_09 1:41:10

Did you know there's a place where unforgettable sports stories come to life through music? Well, there is. Music Meets Sports was created by music producer Ronald Tigolliver, an experienced music producer and a lifelong sports fanatic. He created music meets sports to fuse the raw energy of athletics with the emotional depth of music. They create custom soundtracks that not only celebrate sports fandom, but also brings the personal stories of legendary athletes to life through deep research and creative storytelling. Music meets sports transforms the careers, the challenges, and triumphs of iconic sports figures into powerful music experiences. Every beat, lyric, and melody that is designed to reflect the heart, the hustle, and humanity behind the jersey. Now, whether you're a diehard fan or a casual sports lover, or simply someone moved by great stories, music meets sports at the hopes that our music connects with you and brings you even closer to the games and the heroes that you love. Be sure to check out MusicMeets Sports app at musicmeets.org. Music meets sports, where passion meets performance, and music brings the games to life. Hey there, Giovanni Piccini here, host of the GP Soccer Podcast. And I want to reach out to all of my great listeners who own pets, and even those who don't. Listen, your local animal rescue organization is on a mission to provide loving homes for pets in need, and they need your help. Whether through adoption, fostering, or financial contributions, every bit of support counts. Join me in making a positive impact. Visit your local shelter today and help give these wonderful animals the second chance they so deserve. Together, we can create a community where every animal is cared for and loved.

SPEAKER_01 1:43:03

Hey there, I'm Bobby Clark. I'm uh a former Scottish uh international soccer player and coach in all over the world. And uh I'm just so happy to be here with the the GP uh soccer podcast, and uh yeah, uh it's just great talking with Giovanni Pacini.

SPEAKER_09 1:44:03

And welcome to the final block of the GP soccer podcast known as the American Soccer Revolution, where we analyze, dump, throw out, blow up, dissect, rethink, and scrap all things having to do with American soccer. Um as you know, uh I'm I'm a big fan of a lot of soccer podcasts, a lot of soccer shows that are on YouTube. My favorite, and I will openly admit this, and I guess heck, they're a bit of my competition, but that's okay, uh, is Unfiltered Soccer with Tim Howard and Lennon Donovan. And uh, if you haven't checked out this show, you gotta do it. It's terrific. It's it's must-listen uh content each and every week that they they put out their show. I want to share with you a little bit of audio uh from Unfiltered Soccer. Um and it is about where Tim Howard rants about how horrific, quote unquote, horrific youth soccer is. Uh check this out, and uh you're gonna get more than my two cents on the other side of this. Check this out.

SPEAKER_06 1:45:02

Youth soccer in this country isn't bad. It's horrific. So get this. Why I said about Matt Crocker, like, go get that money. This isn't a Matt Crocker problem. This is U.S. soccer's problem. Hear me out. U.S. soccer, stop hiring anybody with an English accent, anybody who's worked for the Dutch FA, Belgium, or the Frothers.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:20

So yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:45:21

We have a systemic problem in America. Did everybody hear that? Our youth soccer is broken. You've literally hired somebody who comes from a country the size of Alabama. I looked it up. Matt Crocker could have the best ideas in the history of football. He comes from a country that implemented those ideas that is the size of Iowa or Alabama. So if he was in charge of the Alabama youth development program, I'd say Matt Crocker would knock it out of the park. This is our problem. Youth soccer in America is our problem. So we have, we have got to have the expertise in this country to figure out how to fix it. A foreigner can't fix it. Matt Crocker has never seen football issues this size. He has it with all due respect.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:58

No, no.

SPEAKER_06 1:45:59

He knows how to implement a youth development system and create a curriculum, but he doesn't know how to do it for the country the size of America. Football in England is this big, it's the size of Alabama. I mean, it's our problem to fix the way the Spanish and Spanish be and they they bring these kids through. That's amazing. That's never going to work in America because our system's so broken.

SPEAKER_09 1:46:18

And again, that's a little bit of an audio from Unfiltered Soccer, hosted by Tim Howard and Lennon Dunovan. Now look, I'm really pleased. I'm really pleased that Tim Howard and Landon Dunovan are using their celebrity to uh highlight and point out that indeed youth soccer in this country is indeed horrific, uh, as Tim Howard has noted, and terrible as Landon Dunovan has noted in uh in other broadcasts as well. So I'm glad that they're putting it out there. I just wish it's not a knock on their show, it's not a knock on either one of them, certainly not. I just wish that they would offer some solutions to the problems that they bring up. Now, I don't know if they're equipped to do it. Now, if you want to talk to someone who's played for the you know the U.S. Men's national team, those are guys I talk to. You want to talk to somebody who's represented our country, played in MLS, played overseas, these are the guys you talk to. And if you want to you want to talk to somebody who's gonna try to uh fix grassroots soccer, let's say, which is where this really needs to begin, I'm not gonna know, I don't know if I'm gonna go to Tim Howard and Lyndon Donovan, no disrespect. Now listen, I have been saying this for years. For years. Uh one of the biggest things that I have uh you know voiced my opinion on is this thing that I refer to as expert by accent. Expert by accent. And that is the misconception by people out there, particularly you know, uh paying parents who are putting their kids into a soccer club or youth soccer organization because uh, you know, the coaches there are from England or they're from Germany or they're from Belgium and they have an accent. Well, heck, they must be they must be experts. That's like saying, as you know, sending you know uh uh uh an American to France to coach baseball. Well, he's American, must know all about baseball. Well, not necessarily, not necessarily. Um this list is a mile long, and that's why I I dedicate the block of the show to the American Soccer Revolution to talk about these issues, because if I would do it in one sitting, I I'd be sitting here in my studio for days upon end talking about things. So little by little, piece by piece, um I do offer my two stance, and the two stance of other folks as well, just like Tim Howard and Lennon Donovan. Um, you know, checking off some boxes as to how we need to handle some of this, we need better teachers of the game. Now, notice how I didn't use the word coach. Better teachers of the game. People who are certified, qualified, and acknowledged as experts who know how to implement the appropriate methods, the appropriate approaches in order to teach the game. Think of your public school systems. What makes a great teacher? Well, you all know the all the qualities of a really good teacher. They're well trained, they've got mentors, they've they're well practiced, uh, they know the appropriate uh ways to teach the subject matter, whether you're dealing with a group of kindergarten kids or you're a high school teacher. Right? We have to have the same type of mentality here here in the United States of America. Grassroots, and I just mentioned this a second ago. This is where it has to begin. Our best coaches need to be at the grassroots level. But very few of our top coaches go with it, because you know why it ain't sexy. You know, they they want to go, a lot of these coaches, they will I want to coach a you know senior-level soccer, you know, leaving aside, so I can get my formations, my 4-4-2 and my 3-3-5, uh, 3-5-2 and my 4-2-3-1s, and I can think about tactics and strategy. Well, you know what? Those folks are a dime a dozen. I need people who understand that the most important area, the most important age groups is the grassroots. And we need people who know how to teach the game, and they know how to teach the game, hold on to this one, with a street soccer mentality. You have heard me talk about this over and over and over again. This idea. Coaching the game with a street soccer mentality. I have a book coming out, and over the next couple of episodes, I will make the formal announcement when it is available to all of you, where I talk about a specific method by which we can coach with a street soccer mentality and let the game be the teacher. The game be the teacher, not a game, the game. Now that's maybe a bit of semantics, but there's a lot to be said about that. Okay? So again, I could go on and on and on and on about all of this. But yes, uh, American youth soccer is indeed horrific, and yes, uh it is terrible, uh, as noted by Tim Howard and Landon Donovan. Um and yeah, you know, to re-emphasize um, you know, one of the points Tim made is we're gonna stop hiring people with accents and people who understand that the American sporting landscape is a very unique landscape. We've got football, basketball, baseball, hockey, lacrosse, rugby, all kinds of sports where that that the kids have a choice to choose from. It's not like in other countries where it's it's soccer or football and everything else. That's not the case here. Subsequently, since we have a different sporting landscape, our soccer landscape is different and we have to approach it in a different fashion and a different approach. And if you want to take the pool of players that are available to us in terms of our sport of soccer, then we better do a darn good job to ensure that we teach the game correctly so that over the course of a player's lifetime from grassroots five years old up to senior level soccer, they have had the best teachers of the game. Street soccer has been has been infused in terms of the DNA of how we teach this game. We see more creative players, more daring players, more high-profile players, more dynamic players. And instead of seeing a Christian Polisik once every generation, we're cranking those players out year in and year out. And until a lot of these things change, uh, we're not going anywhere. I've said this before in previous broadcasts, and I will say it again. Unless things change, the United States of America will never, never win a World Cup. And I'll go a step further on the women's side, the U.S. women may never win another Women's World Cup. So, you know, if if you're out there and you're involved in youth soccer, then you need to take a step back and take a really hard look at how how you teach the game, how your organization functions. Um start with, and I'll close with this, start with by stopping pay to play. Don't tell me you can't do it. It can be done. It can be done. There you go. Giovanni Pacini ranting and raving here again on the American Soccer Revolution. That's our show for today. Listen, if you like what you hear, please tell everyone. And remember, those likes matter, those, you know, subscribes matter, keep banging those buttons. Uh it really means a great deal. Um you can follow the GP Soccer Podcast, all of our social media, and new episodes are available every Wednesday morning. Don't forget, don't forget, don't forget to check out my website at gpsoccerpodcast.com. And if you're interested in advertising on this fantabulous show, then email me at GP4Soccer, and that's the number four, at yahoo.com. This is your host, Giovanni Bacini, and I will catch you later.