Get on the Bus with Tim Ryerson, GOTB Founder, Ballistic United SC GM, and Ellicott City SC Founder

Phil: Welcome back to How Soccer Explains Leadership. Thanks again for being a part of the conversation. Thank you for your download. Thank you for taking the time to listen to me, Phil Darke. I'm your host, and Paul Jobson, as we get to have another great conversation today. And again, we get to do it together.

Hopefully this will be the entirety of season seven. As you know from the last episode we talked about we're we're now doing it every two weeks, so if last week you were wondering what the heck happened, how come my How Soccer Explains leadership episode was not there. Well, that's because we are now going every two weeks to give you more time to digest this great content that we're able to, to have, and today we have no exception to that.

But before we get to our guest, Paul, what's going on man? How you.

[00:00:45] Paul: Doing well, Phil. We're enjoying our first spot of rain here in Waco, Texas in a while. We gotta make up about 15 uh, inches of rain at some point. Hopefully that doesn't all fall today. Otherwise we'll be flooded out. But enjoying some rain, winding down some sports in the Jobson house, starting up some [00:01:00] new ones.

Winding down our last couple weeks of Warrior Way here in Waco as well. Got a big uh, end of the year fundraising event for Warrior Way gifts. Next week, finishing out the year hopefully you're in a really positive way there to springboard into 20 20, 23, which is crazy. But all as well, man.

How about things in Cali?

[00:01:19] Phil: Yeah, going really well though. Before we recorded, I heard you had the senior night last night with some of your, former players and, that's pretty cool that you were able to see that out uh, with some of those players.

How, how'd that feel kind of being on the other side of it and still being super proud of your players and your, your family and what, What'd that. Totally.

[00:01:39] Paul: First of all, really weird being on the other side of the field. I bet. You know, I bet. But uh, really cool to be back at Betty Lou Mays field at Baylor University and just to, to be there to support my former players and, and what was their, their final game of the season.

And especially those seniors, you know, these seniors were, you know, some of 'em are five, six year seniors because of Covid. But obviously, you know, how we manage our [00:02:00] program, they're like family. So to be there to hug their next one more time in a Baylor jersey was really special. And really a cool experience.

And I'm really proud of them and the, the young women they are, and the things that they're gonna go on to do are, are gonna be pretty special. Once again, that, that seems to be the case with our, our Baylor team, some really special young people and just really proud of them. So, a cool night for.

A little bittersweet in moments, but uh, reaffirming. I had my boys out there running around again, which was kind of cool to see them. And but a really cool experience. So, yeah. Pretty cool. That was

[00:02:28] Phil: great. That's good. That's good. And you know, I think the, the coaching staff had something to do with them being quality great people too.

I appreciate you for that. as for me, it's going well out here. You know, it's, it's Halloween week, so I'm doing my best coach beard impression with this, this big beard that I have. We're on video, but yeah, I've been noticing your beard, man. That's pretty impressive. It's, I know you could do that.

It's amazing what happens when you don't shave. And so, that, that's going on right now, Just got back from Hawaii with my wife, which is pretty awesome getaway that, that we were able to do that. And my, my [00:03:00] daughter's out there, so we were able to, to spend some good quality time with her. It's a two year uh, Delayed 20th anniversary uh, trip that we had, you know, 2020 anniversary.

I think a lot of people were in that same boat. So it was a great time. It was, definitely worth the wait. So that was good. All right. Well that's enough from us cuz we do have a great guest. We're gonna bring to you as we, as we normally do. We have Tim Ryerson, he is the founder of Get On the Bus, which we are going to talk about later in this show.

And it is such a cool thing. Definitely. you're definitely gonna wanna listen to that hear about that, maybe how you can bring it to your town if it's not already there, if it is there, how you can get involved. He also started up a club out in Maryland, Elcot City Soccer Club. He's the general manager and consultant at Ballistic United Soccer Club, which when I was a kid, that was like the only club we knew about in Northern California.

As far as we knew. That was the only place they played soccer in Northern California, was wherever ballistic was. And so that's, that's something that's, that's a little known fact. But if you were in SoCal, you know that fact. we have Tim Ryerson. Tim, how you doing man?

[00:03:59] Tim: [00:04:00] I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.

I really appreciate it, and appreciate the

[00:04:04] Phil: opportunity. Yeah, I'm, I'm so excited. We got to, we got to get to know each other a little bit earlier this week and, and I'm, I'm excited to kind of share what I learned and just the things that you're doing and it's so, so cool. Um, And the things that you're getting to do through a lot of other people around the country and the partnerships that you have too, which is a big part of my heart is collaborating.

So I, I love how you're doing that too. can you just do that for, you know, as we, we usually like to just start this show, but briefly sharing your story, how you developed your passion for soccer and leadership, how you got to be where you are today.

[00:04:34] Tim: Sure. Yeah. Thanks again for having me. It's great to be on listen to a few of your podcasts now and I enjoy them, so thanks for putting out that content for folks like me.

So basically youngest of five student athletes collegiate student athletes. And soccer was a big sport. Grew up in Maryland, had three older brothers that played, so we were always playing together. And basically soccer was, has been it since as long as I can [00:05:00] remember. If I knew I was gonna be six foot five I might have belt into other sports.

I did play basketball a little bit, but couldn't shoot. So, but anyways so soccer was our thing and, and was very fortunate to grow up with brothers that played and played at a high level. So I was always looking up to them and trying to follow in their footsteps, so to speak. And so, so yeah, I started playing at four and then next thing you know, fast forward played youth soccer in Maryland.

My dad had an opportunity to move to California my freshman year of high school, so I was able to play for a legendary coach in Northern California. And Hugh Kinnear, the Kinnear family is a big family in in the soccer rounds in Northern California. And so I was able to play for him. That sparked some PA more passion, wanted to play in college.

Wound up going to play at U N L V. And quite frankly, I wasn't good enough to play at U N N L V, so I transferred and I went to University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and it was a great fit for me, and I'll talk a little bit about that I think later [00:06:00] in the interview. But so I played at a, at at U M B C Division one school.

Had a great time, had a great coach and then basically started working after college and always was working during the day and coaching at night. So I was one of those, you know, coaching at night, kind of trying to supplement the income. Pretty much started right after college. Started in California coaching.

And then you know, I had an opportunity to be an associate head coach at a junior college at a young age, so that was a good experience as well down in Palm Desert. And basically from coaching, from coaching, I kind of got into the admin side of things so, You know, I think there's, that's my niche is the admin and kind of behind the scenes and making sure kids are able to play.

so basically one, one day I was, we were on vacation, actually, I was living in Southern California. I was working full time coaching at night. And I really felt a move to try something different. So we actually moved back to Maryland, my family, and I started a soccer club in [00:07:00] 2013 t City Soccer Club.

Uh, I just saw there was an opportunity for people to have maybe another option in the area, kind of where we, we spent some time playing soccer in and it was great. We did all basically open tryout. I didn't go and poach players or anything like that. Basically did grassroots marketing. And about 650 to 700 kids showed up for our open crowds.

We selected 30 teams and we're off and running. So, that's the elt City Soccer Club going into, its what I say, it's 10th year, seasonal year, maybe next year. So we're excited about that because it's had some sustainability in that area. And then also from that, I've, I've, I founded a program called Get on the Bus, which I know we're gonna get into in a little bit as well.

Trying to identify kids that can't afford or get to training, so I had to solve that in my own hometown in Ellicott City. And so I started a program called Get on the Bus, which we'll talk about. I've done international travel [00:08:00] for since 2000. I've taken teams first team I took was Desert United in 2000.

To Sweden, Norway, and Denmark, which was awesome. We've been going almost every year since, except for Covid. So we've done the international travel thing, It's just, just something else, another opportunity for kids to, to see the world through soccer. And then also just started consulting. So in about 2018 you know, I was contacted by several different clubs about some of the things we were doing in t.

And because of those opportunities and things that I was doing, I was offered some positions in terms of consulting jobs for clubs to kind of help them specializing mostly in sponsorships you know, how to monetize programming things like that. So that's been great and ballistic. My wife is from Half Moon Bay, California, so she was ready to be back in California and ballistic offered kept, kept giving me more to do in terms of the consulting role.

And now I'm the general manager of Ballistic United Soccer Club. We have five programs. We [00:09:00] have an adult league of about 500 players co. We have MLS next we have a competitive group. We have foots saw, and then we have our recreational program. So, basically bottom to top you can play in Pleasanton from four to 44 and beyond.

And so right now I'm in Pleasanton, California. I'm running that club. So that's a little history. Probably a lot more than you, than than you wanted, but that's a little background.

[00:09:24] Phil: No, I love it because what it does is it is, it makes me feel better about doing so many things because you know, you're do you got, you're wearing a lot of hats and it's great and it in, and you're able to do it and you're able to have an impact in a lot of different places and, and it's super encouraging.

I I I do wish you would've gone up a little higher when you said 44. Cuz now that I'm above that, I feel like I'm just, it's made me feel even older than I already feel, but that's okay. That's okay. You didn't, that wasn't intentional. So it's, it's all right. But Yeah. You know, it's, it's just one of those things that I loved talking with you the other day about starting the club and, and this is something that we talk about [00:10:00] in leadership, and we've talked about it throughout the, the podcast talking about sweeping the sheds.

And one of the things you said in there reminded me of it when you said, when you were starting that club, you were literally lining the fields and you were doing everything. And I think in today's day and age, we forget about that work ethic that it takes to make something happen that's worth having.

It takes that, that extra effort from those leading it. Can you just talk a little bit about that, just that role you have and just really how you can encourage others that if they're looking to start something, if they're looking to do something, how this starting, this soccer club really can teach them about really every area of life?

[00:10:32] Tim: Yeah. Well, I wanna first say that I have great people that I work with. Mm-hmm. . I'm very fortunate to be surrounded by great people in all those. I would say silos or avenues or things that I'm doing. So it's not like I'm doing it all by myself. But when I started Ellicott City Soccer Club, I was doing it all by myself.

I actually took my wife's Lincoln Navigator. It was like a 2003 mind, This was 2013, and I wrapped it in a wrap. Put T City on there. I had [00:11:00] zero kids, right? So I was the marketing guy driving up and down Route 40 in T City, Maryland, stopping at the Starbucks, talking to anybody who would listen, putting out yard signs, doing all the grassroots marketing to try to figure out how to get this thing launched.

And I didn't know anything about 5 0 1 C three s, so I filled out all the 5 0 1 C three paperwork myself, you know, and, and had a couple people that I trusted to take a look at it before I sent it in. Going through that whole process and then trying to find people that would buy into it, right?

Kind of contacting the network of folks that we had. My brother was at a, another club in Potomac, Maryland at the time, and he's like, Hey man, good luck with that, You know, but you're on your own kind of thing. so yeah, he wasn't even involved when I started the club. He's with us now. Took him a couple years to, to see that it was gonna be fine.

But I had a guy, Carmen Giuliano, who is my number one hire. I I call him. You know, he's, he's been great. He's been involved since day one. I met him at the convention, which is coming up. It was actually ironically [00:12:00] in Philly when we met. And I, we sat on the floor and I sh shared with him my vision and he was on board from day one.

So again, I can't say enough about the, the, the people that helped me along the way you know, behind the scenes as well. But yeah, I mean, I had to buy goals. You know, I had to find out, you know, people were asking where we were gonna play. I had to find fields had to buy goals, had to put them together.

You know, I never put a goal together. I put nets on goals, but but then, you know, putting the base of the wheel, those quick goals on is something else. Let me tell you, , and then line it lining the fields, you know, which I took a lot of pride. We, we, we really you know, took pride in, in, in trying to make the, the, the fields look professional and things like that.

And, and all the things that going along with that, the hiring of the coaches and the staff and the directors and the marketing and everything behind the scenes. So what I would say to folks that are starting up is, And it's one thing that I learned through soccer is that I had to work harder than everybody else.

Like I wasn't naturally gifted [00:13:00] physically other than my size. You know, but I had to work harder than everyone else. And I didn't learn that actually until probably in college from my collegiate coach. And we could talk about that too. And we talk about the coaches that have influenced me.

But but basically I would encourage everyone to do it, but it takes action. You know, a lot of people talk about the things that they want to do, but they don't act on 'em. Mm-hmm. . And so for me it's like I'm really big into action. Like, how do we get it done? You know, there's gonna be hurdles, there's gonna be barriers that we have to overcome, but you have to take action even to, to get to those, and then you just do whatever you need to do to get it done.

Yeah. So with that mindset, which again, I learned through college soccer from a coach that helped me. Do these things and, and then it just kind of, once you, once you're successful, maybe at one venture or one, you know, it gives you confidence to try other things. And and my feeling, my feeling is everything's a risk, you know, so why not?

Why not jump in with both feet and just see what happens? So that's what basically I did in 2015. Yeah. I said, I'm going [00:14:00] full-time soccer.

[00:14:01] Phil: Yeah. That was cool. I just loved, I loved that story. But cuz you know, a lot of clubs start and fail and, and just, they just peter out. A lot of most small businesses fail after two years.

And so it's gonna be that hard work, it's gonna be that extra effort that really is gonna make it happen. Um, Alright. So, you know, with that, you know, I, I know that doing all this stuff isn't just on a whim, you know, so I I I'm assuming you have you know, kinda a personal why a life mission that keeps you going.

And, and I just wonder what, what, what is that and, and how are you living it out?

[00:14:29] Tim: Yeah. Well, I mean, I, I think it's definitely grounded in my faith as well. You know, But I think servant leadership is important especially in these times. I think things have kind of changed, right? Like the coaching I was getting and the leadership style back when I was young, compared to what it is now, it's totally, it's cha it's evolved.

So for me, servant leadership is important. So for me it's opportunities. It's like soccer's done so much for me and my family, so how, how can I share those opportunities? Like the abroad trips, [00:15:00]the reason we went was we just wanted to show them where we've been before. So the reason we went that first time to Scandinavia with that U 19 team was just to give them an opportunity to see the world.

They hadn't been out, A lot of those kids hadn't been on a plane in 2000 back then. So for them to be able to go out into the world and use soccer as the vehicle, So that was an opportunity with the club. It was an opportunity, It was an opportunity for, for a change if somebody, you know, if I, I just felt that there was a need for a, another organization in that area.

And so I wanted to create an opportunity for those kids if they want, if they wanted to choose to, to try something new that they would have an opportunity and get on the bus is the biggest opportunity, right? Yeah. These, these are kids that are in underserved communities and, and and were servicing them.

We're giving them the opportunity to participate that, and they would never have the opportunity to participate without the program. So for me, that's my why. When I think about it, it's, it's, it's [00:16:00] how do I share with others what soccer's been able to give to me? Yeah. And that's why I do it. Yeah. That's great.

[00:16:07] Paul: Yeah, I love that. You know, we'll get into the, to get on the bus and the Heco city club here in a few minutes. But before we dive in, I mean, just to kinda get a little bit more into your, your story and who you are and what kind of forms you, you know, you mentioned you know, Coach Kinnear being an influence I think at the youth stages.

And then uh, you mentioned a bit about your coach at ubc. Like talk about, you know, some of, some of your favorite coaches and, and what stood out about them to you that, that you'd say, Hey, these are, these are, these are guys that were big influences on me. And, and, and why?

[00:16:35] Tim: Yeah, sure. Well, first I gotta start with my dad, right?

Cause at the time, nobody was coaching soccer that Right. About anything with soccer, you know, unless they were somebody like the Kinnears that maybe had some background. So my, my dad was big influence when I was young, talking to me about work ethic, you know, and showing up, you know, I think that, and and so that was great.

Also, I had a coach about 12, which kind of ties into get on the bus as the youngest of [00:17:00] five. Us going in all different directions. I actually had a coach that picked me up and drove me to practice, drove me to practice, and it was about 20, 25 minutes. So after he worked the long day, he picked me up on the corner and he took me to practice.

Right. So that was very influential in my youth. You know, I spent a lot of time with him in the car. We talked about different things. Sometimes we just listened to the music that he had on. But at the end of the day, it was an opportunity that he gave me. If I, if he couldn't pick me up, I wasn't going to that.

Then when I moved to California, Hugh Kinnear, big time motivator Brother Dominic coached down in Houston and San Jose. Mm-hmm. my last level. Scottish family. Great. Had some heritage in terms of knowledge and, and just he would play with us. So that was another example, right. Here's a guy, he was just a few years young, a few years older than I was, you know, I was in high school, he was in his young twenties, and, and he would jump in and play with us, right?

So that was a different kind of leadership style. He would jump in and, you know, and, and we, and we learned a lot from him. Just from that, right? From [00:18:00] him jumping in and playing, you know, like two touch, keep away. I remember, you know, things, things back then, you know, that were kind of ahead of the time and.

And then really Barry Barto, who was at U N L V for a long time you know, and coached three of my brothers. So four of us went to U N L V. Three of 'em, three of 'em made it through, I transferred. But Barry Barto was a big influence at U N L V on our family. He was at Philadelphia, Textile, took the job in Vegas.

My parents had to look on a map to see where Vegas was at the time. I think they thought it was in California, . So, but oldest brother Rob went there. He went on to have a career in pro, you know, played playing pro. My brother Rich, same thing. And another brother Ken who played, I have a sister that also always gotta mention my sister.

She played basketball and volleyball at Loyola College in Maryland, so I gotta throw that in there. So she's probably the best athlete of all of us. But anyways, so, so yeah, so, then, then when I transferred from U N L V and Barry Barto was great, I went into his office and I'm sure. [00:19:00] You know, Paul, you've had these conversations where I felt like, Hey, I needed to, you know, play more, but, you know, quite frankly, I wasn't good enough.

So I had to do self assessment at that time and say, Hey, you know, I have to look at myself. And that was a big learning curve. Of course I wanted to play at U N L V, but I wasn't good enough, so I had to make a change and, and I wasn't fit enough. I wasn't doing the things that I needed to do. But back to the coaches.

So then I go to ubc, and I'll tell you one thing, Coach Caringi, Pete Caringi has been there. He's, he's in Baltimore legend. He's been there I think now 31 years. Coached, coached in the Pro League prior to mls and, and is a great influencer in Baltimore soccer. But you know, when I came in, to U N C from U N L V, that first year, which was his first year, mind knew he's been there now 31 years.

He's still there. And, and making an impact on kids' lives. But when I went in there, I wasn't in shape. I thought it'd be easy. I'd just show up, you know, and everything be fine. He's [00:20:00] like, Look, if you don't get in shape, you're not gonna play here either. So, So that was, that was like, that was, you know, that was when the life lessons really started for me.

It's like self assessment, looking within, not blaming others, things like that. Showing up on time. One time I went to go pick up a buddy. We were the starting midfield in my junior year at ubc. We were late coming back. We didn't, we didn't play in a game, you know, I mean, it was just simple, like very simple, straightforward leadership type of stuff that he taught.

But the biggest thing that I think that he taught me, When we, when we talk about influence, you know, coaches influencing lives and things like that, you know, that work ethic, like I talked about, was important. I did get in shape, you know, I, you know, I was, I, I was able to play. We, we won a lot of games together.

It was a lot of fun, but I remember those relationships. But the one thing that Caringi taught me was when you get knocked down to get back up, right? Which sounds so [00:21:00] old school in its way, but but really, I look back at times in my life where I had to face a challenge where like, you know, a big challenge.

For example, in June, I was, I was diagnosed with colon cancer and I had a surgery. And it's the hardest, hardest knock I've taken, right? Mm-hmm. in the middle of chemo right now. And basically, you know, his persistence on, on, in his leadership, on teaching me life skills through soccer have helped me with that.

So, I can't say enough about Caringi yeah. That,

[00:21:32] Paul: that, that's awesome. And, you know, I love that I was just having conversations with, you know, these seniors last night about how that transition might be hard. And I'm like, You have no idea. You're gonna look back one day and this is gonna be the easiest, hard thing you've ever done.

Because I think God puts things in your lives to prepare you for harder things. And I love your testament to that. I mean, I, you know, you know, obviously be praying for your, your recovery there through all that, that you're going through for [00:22:00] sure. But those life lessons from coaches, you know, I just turn courage coaches, you know, it can get frustrating and hard sometimes when you feel like you're beating your head against a wall with a player.

Like they're never gonna get it, never gonna get it. But you've just given a testimony to your coaches of like, Thank you. Right? Like, thanks for pouring in all those times and those lessons, there's life lessons that now you're using in your own life, but also passing on to the others that you're now influencing.

And just encouragement to coaches there from, from what you've said. And I, I appreciate you saying that for

[00:22:26] Phil: sure.

[00:22:27] Paul: and I'm laughing a little bit because you talked earlier about how your coaches were jumping in and I was flashing back to early in my college coaching days when, when me and Marcy and my, our assistant Chuck would jump into the sessions and play with us.

And then by the time we got to the end of our career, we're kinda like, I can serve some balls. Anybody want to go serve a couple balls into the box before my leg wears out? So I was laughing at

[00:22:48] Phil: that. Yeah. And I was laughing because I think I'm gonna need to, to bring you up to do some counseling sessions with my fifth kid because you know, he's getting, you know, he's the, he's the kid on the corner getting picked up by his [00:23:00] coach and I'm gonna show his coach and say, So you're, you're gonna be a guy he's gonna be talking about in 30 years.

Cuz you know, he, he took him to Stockton recently from Folsom and, and I go, How'd that your car ride go? He goes, It was great. Justin hopped in the car and he said, Hey coach, I like to talk in, in case. He said, Yeah, I know that, I know that I've known you since you were a baby. Cuz he is the fifth kid in that club.

And so they talked the entire ride and it was, but it's so. Those, to have those coaches as a parent, speaking as a parent is such a, such a gift to have them that you trust A and you know, with your kid and B, that they're willing to do it and he's like, anytime. And you know, to have that is, is massive.

So coaches, you know that that's something to, to, you know, respect that time and, and cherish that time that you get to have with those kids. Cuz you're gonna have people talking about 'em, like you're talking about your coach there. So. Super cool. Yeah.

[00:23:51] Paul: So before we move on, I wanna, I wanna step into, we're talking a little bit about life and leadership lessons and, and you segued really well into, into that, so I don't even have to ask the question.

You, you've hit [00:24:00] it. But you even said a little bit earlier, kind of in your introduction to yourself, you know, you learned that you needed to work harder than everyone else. And I wanna dive into that a little bit more. Cause I think that's one of the greatest life lessons that I think as a coach I've seen kind of faded away.

We're trying to make the path easier. For our players and for our kids. Then, then of course, we don't want things to be hard, but we're trying to make things so easy that we're losing that lesson of, I need to work harder than, than everyone else. Can you, can you attest to that? Can you dive into that maybe a little bit deeper through the lessons you learned, how you got to the point, Hey, if I'm gonna make anything on myself, I've gotta work harder than everybody else.

And how does that look differently now than maybe it did, you know, when we were, when we were kids or young adults?

[00:24:43] Tim: Yeah. I think, you know, now a lot of kids, you know, just show up. They've got the gear, you know, they've got everything that they need. The, the facilities are immaculate. You know, like you can't blame the grass per se.

Baylor's facility is [00:25:00] amazing, right? So yeah, like, it's almost like, a sense of entitlement in some ways. Right. And I think it's really important that, you know, that the coaches continue to press those kids. to try to do more. You know what I always ask parents when they come in and talk about playing time is like, what is your child doing when they're not with us?

Mm-hmm. , right? So like, Is he out back with the ball? Like, we've got great facilities here in Pleasanton, California. Sometimes I'd drive by on a Sunday in the afternoon and no one is on the field. I'm going, If I had those fields and I had access to a goal and there was a net in the goal and a net behind the goal, I'd be out there all day long.

You know, we used to have to kick the ball through the, through the goal to go get it, to come back and shoot again. Okay. So, I I would just say that, that the thing is, is like, what are they doing when they're not with us? Right? And, and, and how are we challenging them? And everything is, you know, the pick [00:26:00] the whole pickup piece of it too, right?

Like in competing maybe against some kids that are a little bit older in a pickup environment and being able to learn more and seeing more firsthand, you know, everything's very organized now in comparison. But I mean, I think the work ethic, ethic thing and, and the competitive edge, I. I just wonder sometimes if it's not something that you know, obviously you're born with, right?

And you can develop, right? But I mean, like, I, I, you know, I wanted to win at everything that I did, right? Ping pong, we playing ping pong, we're shooting free throws, you know, whatever the case may be. I wanted to win at everything that I did, so I was super competitive, probably to a fault, right? Where it got, where I got so emotionally attached to, to winning, you know, that, that it affected maybe how I played it sometimes.

So I got a little bit older. But, so I would, I would just a couple things on the work ethic is, We're not all naturally talented and believe me, I wish I had, [00:27:00] like I look at like, you know, Ibrahimovich is six foot five, right? He's built a little bit different than I am , right? But I just, so I was like, man, if I just had a, a little piece of those, of those kind of genetics that he has at six foot five, right?

But be able to run with pace and stuff like that. So, you know, some things are in your control and you know, I was doing like tric stuff to try to get quicker and things like that as well at, at the college level, you know. But I would just say it's like what are you doing to get better on your own?

And, and, and when Caringi said to me, Look, if you don't get fit, if you don't, if you don't do the work, you're not gonna play here either. I was like, Whoa. That was a big moment for me. Cuz I was like, I'm not losing any race. Like any, like we used to do full field shuttles. I had no business being in the front of that group.

Just mentally, it prepared me to be like, I'm not gonna lose this run. Like, you know, I'm not gonna lose this ball, I'm not gonna lose this tackle. I'm not gonna lose, you know, is like, I gotta work harder than everybody else. I don't, I [00:28:00] don't have the natural ability that they have. So I don't know if that helps with your question.

Yeah, I,

[00:28:05] Paul: no, I think it's great. I mean, as I, you know, we, I've developing programs for, you know, club players that are, you know, wanting to go play collegiately and just trying to put programs together to help get them where they need to be. And your point, I mean, I hope people go back and listen to this again.

I mean, I'm picking up, you know, what are plays do players doing when, when, when they're not with us, is what you said. What are they doing when no one's looking, you know, what are they control? The controllables, you know, the fitness thing, you know, I, It's gotta be important to you. You're not gonna get fit.

You're not gonna become the best player you can become just in a little bit of time. We have together as player coach, you're not gonna get to be the best that you can be. You're not gonna meet your full potential. It's what are you doing on your own? What are you taking hold of? And I think back to work harder than everyone else.

I think that's it. Hey, we can all show up for our hour and a half, two hour practices and do the same things. What separates those other players, the ones that are in the backyard, putting the ball against the wall or going out with a buddy or going, whatever it is, What extra [00:29:00] are they willing to do? Separates maybe the average from the.

From the great, And that don't even mean like talent wise, but just like meeting potential or

[00:29:08] Tim: exceeding it. Oh, absolutely. I mean, it's amazing what you can do if you do the work, right? That's the, I learned, right? Like I saw a transformation and a lot of it was also diet, right? And nutrition and things that, you know I wasn't thinking about prior.

And, and, and, you know, once I made those changes, and as you know, as a co former collegiate coach, you know, those kids are eating a lot, right? They're burning through calories, but they're still things that you can do to enhance your play through your nutrition and your diet as well. So that was a big thing for me at that time as well.

[00:29:43] Phil: Yeah. You know, there's, there's so much to this. We could go on and on and on with the, just digging into each of those lessons you talked about earlier and then have talked about in how you're using those lessons and how you've used those lessons in, in the game. That's why we love talking about it on this show.

We have a lot of other stuff we [00:30:00] wanna get to though. So we're, we are gonna, we are gonna do that. And you know, and, and as you're talking about all these different things, I'm thinking through like each of my kids and how they, you know, all have said at one point, Yeah, I wanna play at that next level.

And then to watch which ones are the ones going out to the park, which one of the ones going out to that, you know, kicking the ball against the wall for hours. The ones that are actually juggling, the ones that are going to the park and doing those things. You know, I have like little, you know, as I've talked about with a Petri dish, Case studies going on in my house with all this stuff, you know, as you were, you know, you were a family of five kids too, so you get this, you know, and you see the different things and, and just, you know, what does that take?

And, and, and what is it? And Paul and I are not six foot five. We're, we're we're, it's a little, I don't even know if Paul's five five. Are you even five? Five Paul? I mean, No. Yeah, no. Yeah. I'm five four. Yeah.

[00:30:48] Paul: Yeah. So,

[00:30:49] Phil: yeah. And I'm 5 7 7. So basketball is

[00:30:51] Paul: just to put out their basketball was not my thing.

Yeah. Either so, Yeah. And it wasn't cause I couldn't shoot it. I, I couldn't, I couldn't, Yeah. In any way move on.

[00:30:59] Phil: [00:31:00] So you could, I mean, Mugsy Bugs did make it so don't use just the height as a, as a, Hey, fun web as a

[00:31:05] Paul: thing guy guys. Bud Web was my man. Yeah. You know, Mugsy Spud, I mean, Messi's not tall either.

I mean, kinda yours true. Point to. Like, man, what, where did I miss the boat With Messy. Oh yeah. I wasn't outside doing technical work 24 hours a day. That's why I didn't get

[00:31:19] Phil: there. So it's probably just that too. That's probably the only thing separating you from messy. That's that's probably only thing.

Yeah, only thing. But anyway. So we're gonna get to a couple other things I really wanna get to, and, and one of those things is, I just wanna talk, cause you've, you've experienced, you know, you've played at, at the college level, you've went through the youth ranks, you're taking kids around the world.

You've started a club, you're now GM of a club. You've, you are doing it on the bus. So what are, what are some things you really like about youth soccer in the United States right now? And, you know, and we'll get into some of the things that I think you'd change, but what are those, some of those things that you'd change as well?

About the current state of youth soccer?

[00:31:59] Tim: [00:32:00] Yeah. I mean, I think that was part of the reason we get on the bus started as well. You know, we didn't qualify for. You know, the World Cup, right? So it's like, how can we not qualify? So I'll, I'll dive into that a little bit. But you know, one thing that is important to me now that wasn't maybe as important, you know, five, 10 years ago was the recreational, grassroots side of things, right?

It's like, it's like that's the majority of the kids that are playing mm-hmm. , right? But they get probably the least amount of attention, Because it's not, it's, it's, it's the competitive, it's the high level players on things like that. I like what I've seen in some of the European countries is like, they don't really separate out the kids so early on.

So I think even like Haaland, you know, was playing just like in his local area with local kids of all levels until a certain age. . So for me, you know, [00:33:00] some of the things that I think that we could look at is, you know, do we need to separate these kids out at U eight, U nine? You know, put 'em in an environment where they're playing for a trophy and now, you know, the parents are all jazzed up about the fact that they won the trophy.

Right? And it could be in the second or third division of a tournament, Right? So for me, if we could get away a little bit from the emphasis on. that, winning at that age, which I know is very difficult here in the States, right? Like, I just think the mentality here is different. You know, and, and think about that development piece, which is a big part of ballistic, you know, we're into the development piece, thinking, Hey, if we develop these kids later, the winning will come.

But I mean, you know, that's the fine balance, right? Like for me, I, I wish we would just pay a little bit more attention to the grassroots side of things and how we're organizing that right now, and how we're getting kids opportunities to play that wouldn't have an opportunity [00:34:00] to play because we're pricing the kids out.

So those would be some things that, that I would look at in terms of you know, what I think we could do better. Things I like, I mean, I went, I went to that MLS next showcase in Norco, California last year, and it was amazing to see how far we've come. Like to see like pre MLS 1994 World Cup to where we are now.

I mean, it's amazing the evolution in such a relatively short time in the big scheme of things. So I think we're doing a lot of things well there as well. And then it's also great to see players, you know, playing at a high level and producing at a high level, playing in Champions League and things like that.

So, you know, I won't get in, I'm not gonna get into a month away from the World Cup much about our national team and stuff like that. But I think j I think we have such a big, we have so many people in this country, and if the right kids get the right opportunity, [00:35:00] then I think there's unlimited potential for us.

So I think it goes back to the grassroots and the rec to, to identify also kids.

[00:35:08] Phil: I thought we were gonna get into a World Cup preview show here. So I'm a little you know, we're not gonna, I, I, I mean, what, any prediction, like how, how far are we gonna get? What, what do you think you here to hear first

[00:35:20] Tim: type thing?

Oh man. I mean, I would, I would defer to Paul, you know. Yeah. He is the

[00:35:25] Phil: expert. That's what I've been telling everybody past,

[00:35:28] Paul: past the buck. You're, you're the guest to answer the questions. We're here to ask .

[00:35:34] Tim: I'm hopeful, right? That we get outta the group. I hope these guys show up and we get out of the group.

That would be amazing, right? That would be a win, I think, for where we're right now. But, you know, I was looking at some of the stats about a couple of the games that we played recently, and it's pretty, there's some pretty interesting stuff in terms of of giveaways, for example. Given the ball away. So, so that makes me nervous.

And I, and if we beat England, [00:36:00] I'm, I'm, That would be amazing. Right. So even that would be a small victory within the group. If we, we could somehow beat England and, and we didn't get out, that would, I would consider that success. Yeah. But I think getting outta the group is what we should be focused on.

Yeah. I that just

[00:36:16] Paul: for the record, I, I agree with you on that. And I think we have probably enough, probably just sheer talent to get out of the group, but do all of those things that need to come together, are we good, good enough in that way to really battle those, those other teams that we're gonna have to face to get through the group?

That'll be, It's the, the unknowns, of course, that are gonna either rise us up because we, you know, meet our potential, or we kind of miss it because we have too many giveaways or whatever it is, and we, we don't meet our potential. I think we have the potential to get out of the group. . But I think a lot of things really have to happen well on every one of those days to make that happen.

[00:36:54] Phil: Yeah, no, I agree. Totally. I agree with both of you. Which is the smart thing to do at this point because, you know, [00:37:00] you guys are, are big time and I'm, I'm just kind of the, the guy asking the questions, so, anyway, so one of the things too, you know, now we're gonna get into the kinda, and I say the meat, I mean, all this has been meat, but the, the things I'm, I'm really excited to talk with you about are some of these really innovative initiatives that, that are, are changing the game in, in a lot of places and, and our changing, I hope, our perspective on what's important to about this game as well.

And, and you talked about it, you, you, you alluded to it, talking about not only getting. People more access to the game, but also getting people who might not otherwise play the game to be able to play the game and learn these lessons that we're talking about and get these relationships that we've been talking about and not make it about trophies and, and you know, and then you talk about the different levels.

I mean, I've heard kids say, I won State Cup. And I'm like, Oh, that's amazing. And then it's like the sixth tier of State cup that they won that, you know, whatever. And you don't even, it loses its [00:38:00] meaning. Right? And, and it also puts the focus on the wrong things. And one of the things that you're doing, we're gonna get to get on the bus and we are, I trust me folks, we're gonna get to it cuz I wanna talk about it.

I know we've talked about it the whole time and haven't gotten there yet, but there's also this special needs program at Ellicott City that you started. And I want, I want to talk about that for a few minutes because this is a, you know, near dear to my heart as well as far as getting, you know, these are kids that never would, you know, see the field without programs like this.

But to be able to be able to teach 'em, can you share about

[00:38:28] Tim: that? Yeah. You know, and I, I should have mentioned that earlier, but when I, when I started the club, we wanted to service all levels, right? Including special needs. So that's actually one of our core philosophies, like soccer, people serving soccer families, you know, servicing all levels was important as well, including special needs.

My mother was a special ed teacher. and I was with her for a couple years where I went to the school that she taught at, so that had an impact too. So I really started that program. We started [00:39:00]with about five kids and it was on a Friday night, and we did you know, just, we basically just threw, threw equipment out.

We had some of our older kids mentor those kids, so they were mentors. And that thing has grown. We had 70 kids. , and this is not like top soccer or like, uh mm-hmm. , program that's, you know, funded by anything. It's completely free. The program's free to kids of all abilities, like any, any needs, like, you know, and I think that's what kind of separates this program from the top soccer is like, I think there's some limited needs that, that top soccer can't service.

And we were like, we'll take whoever wants to show up. So over the years that thing has grown. The guy, Carmen Giuliano, who I spoke about, my employee number one, really took that by the horns. We get one to two mentors per child, per special needs player. And I'll tell you, the kids that [00:40:00] are participating as the special needs kids, they're getting a lot out of it.

But the mentors and the families of the people that are helping, those kids are getting more out of it. , Right? Because it's maybe the first opportunity that they're interacting with a kid with special. At that level, they get, it's basically 30 to 35 minutes, right? It's inside of a fenced in stadium.

Like a high school stadium where we can, The parents aren't allowed in, only the mentors are allowed in. And the kids that are participating, they check in at the gate, they check in, we get 'em a name tag, they check in at the gate, you know, we have a gatekeeper that kind of, you know, lets everybody in and out and we tell the parents, You wanna go get a coffee?

Go get a coffee, You wanna go have dinner, do that, whatever. We'll be here. Again, put the equipment out and just, it's just an amazing experience. I mean, I, I was remiss not to bring it up earlier. I'm glad you brought it up because I [00:41:00] mean, we're just serving, like I said, just up to 70 names that are registering for that program.

It's six weeks in the fall, six weeks in the spring, it's on Fridays, and then you get 140 people there to support it. and give up their Friday as mentors. So, I mean, and it's, and it's not club based, it's all the clubs. Mm-hmm. at a high school group, Howard High School that came out last, this last Friday.

They did like a Halloween event. They gave every kid a pumpkin and, you know, gave every kid a pumpkin and, and a bag to go home and, you know, that this, that and the other. But, but high school kids were, the high school teams were coming and being mentors, boys and girls, other clubs have come. Celtic Soccer Club in Baltimore's, a big club.

They sent a group of girls down and they participated. You know, the, the other local clubs sac, it's Soccer Association of Columbia and Maryland and Armor, you know, those are families that live in that community that are given their time on Fridays as well. So that's [00:42:00] our special needs program.

[00:42:02] Phil: There's so much about that. I love, I mean, I, I am. I, I'm just like thinking about, I, I'm thinking about how Paul and Warrior Way could incorporate some of that stuff into what they're doing if they haven't already. And you know, some of these other programs and some of the other clubs in the area, I know friend of mine does a, does camps and stuff with special needs.

This is something that, it's not rocket science. It it, it's not easy, but it's simple. Right. And, and and, and also you're giving the parents respite, like just to, you know, that's, that's an amazing, I I'm like, I'm, I'm, I'm loving that. Cuz that's a little bit more than I heard the other day too, even when we were talking.

So,

[00:42:46] Paul: Paul thoughts, man, it's a, it's a really cool thing. I love that we we're navigating kind of what direction to go with that. We, one of our programs is we actually are employing special needs. Folks to be coaches in our Warrior Way [00:43:00] program. So we hire two to four special needs folks and pay them to be coaches.

So it's a, it's kind of going the opposite way of bringing special needs people into our, our world, so to speak. We've gotta merge those things together. It shouldn't be, you know, separated but also giving them an opportunity to, to make money and provide for themselves. And it's the coolest thing in the world when you hand, you know, one of those young adults a paycheck and it's the first, one of the first paychecks they've ever gotten, but they're working, you know, they're providing a, a service to these young people.

And it's, it's really cool. But we'll have to catch up at some point, Tim, on a lot of these things, cuz there's a lot of overlap. But

[00:43:35] Tim: a hundred percent feel free anytime. And like I said, my, my man Carmen will help us as well. He's great. All right. We've

[00:43:43] Phil: teased it enough. We have, we have, Are we gonna talk about get on the bus?

I, I, I think we're there. I think we're there finally. There's just too much stuff. There's too much good stuff with Tim. It's like, it just keeps coming. It's like the goodness is just never ending, it seems so. But yeah, we, we, I do wanna talk about get [00:44:00] on the bus now. You know, the really just, again, you talked a little bit, you've alluded to this throughout, you know, the impetus for starting it and, and really what it is, how you're impacting lives of youth players using the beautiful

[00:44:11] Tim: game.

Yeah. So I can get through this one pretty quick. I mean, get on the bus is near and dear to my heart. You know, we didn't qualify for the World Cup. But also you know, I wasn't, I wasn't seeing players from different parts of my community in Ellicott City. Hmm. And so it's a very affluent area, but there are some underserved areas within that community.

And so I was wondering why, and comes to find out that, come to find out that when I got to a certain area, zip code within the area it was a trailer park area. I went in, talked to folks mostly Spanish dual speaking folks. And basically was asking, Hey, have you heard about the programs that we're doing and trying?

it was really important to me to figure out [00:45:00] how to have, how to serve that community. Well come to find out not only, you know, did, had they not heard about it, but they couldn't afford it and they back to a couple different barriers. One, the pay to play model, and two, the transp. Even my parents couldn't get me to practice.

So imagine working, you know, multiple jobs with multiple kids and trying to get everywhere where they need to go. So, so get on the bus was an idea that we piloted. Basically the idea was how do we bring these kids from the school, right? A title one school into our programming and make it all free.

We made teams, we gave them everything that they needed, but it's more than a soccer program. We actually start in the classroom right after school. We teach them a life skill, like drinking more water, putting on sunscreen, um, moving more. We feed 'em a healthy snack because for many of these kids, they, they're hungry right after school, like all of our kids are.

And so we feed [00:46:00] 'em a healthy snack. Uh, We help 'em with their home. Then they turn, they, they change into their uniforms and then we go and teach them the soccer side. And so basically that's what we piloted, Well, S y s A Maryland State Youth Soccer Association got a hold of that program and, and found out what we were doing and gave us a grassroots award, their first grassroots award for that program.

So that was awesome. US Soccer somehow saw that through social media, US soccer in Chicago and said, Wow, we had this Innovate to Grow Fund grant and the Innovate to Grow Fund grant was to, was again, because we didn't qualify for the World Cup, was. Trying to figure out ways to come up with how we serve underserved communities, how we identify kids, how we get them involved to play.

And so this program checked all the boxes for the Innovate to Grow Fund grant. So I applied for Nevada, the state of [00:47:00] Nevada, Nevada US Soccer Association in conjunction with them for this grant from US Soccer. And it was basically to serve a, a Title one school on the campus at U N L V. So my brother was the coach at U N L V and here was the school.

So like we had it all dialed in and so we were able to get a three year grant for Nevada. Well, that program went so well that we applied for the next year Innovate to Grow California and Connecticut, so North Cal, Connecticut, and then most recently Tennessee and Oregon. So from this small pilot program with my club, we're actually now in five states and we're soon to be in.

By 2023 Kentucky, Minnesota, Cal, South Washington you know, so I'm working with state associations on how to implement this program. Seed money is coming from the grants, but we found now that, you know, it needs to be sustainable. So [00:48:00] that comes back to, you know, how do we continue to get creative to raise funds for these programming, for this programming, for these programs.

So, essentially that's a little bit about get on the bus. It's, it's not just a soccer program, you know, I think it's important to touch base that it's also a program with after school. And we're, we're, we're, we're serving a lot of. We've actually, I made a note here. We've been funded or served over 1200 kids.

Our goal is 10,000 kids by the World Cup 2026. And we hope to be in Mexico and Canada cuz we're, we're hosting together. So we're gonna have a chapter in Mexico and a chapter in Canada. And so, you know, the next four years is get on the bus program is just, is just gonna take off. We've got so much interest.

So those are the states we're in for your listeners. And if, if people want to get involved in order for us to reach 10,000, we got, you know, we've got some work to do from the next four years.

[00:48:59] Phil: And what I love [00:49:00] about this is how I feel like this season is it, it wasn't intentional on our part as much as it seems like it, it was I wish it was intentional, but I don't think, you know, Paul and I are that smart.

Or, or we plan that much. Maybe we're that smart, but we don't plan that much. But to have like, Start out with Dan and Dan Williams and Jorge Vallejo in, in Atlanta, and talking to Jorge. He has, you know, program with a lot of underserved youth where they can't get to the, they can't get to the fields.

And so they're trying to figure out how do we get 'em there, What do we do? How, what does it look? And that's, we know that's a common problem. It's both the pay to play system and transportation. Cuz even if they can get scholarship, they can't get there. And, you know, there's only so many coaches that can go around the city to, to pick up and shuttle and it's just not gonna happen on a, on a regular basis.

And so it's such a, such a huge opportunity. So, you know, anyway, you were gonna say something, I

[00:49:56] Tim: was just gonna touch base on the bus piece, right? Cuz I really didn't. So depending on [00:50:00] the state, some kids in those schools train right there at the school. And then like for, for Nevada for example, they train at the school.

After we go through the after school portion. We bus them on Saturday mornings to the field. That's like 30 minutes away. So we get a school bus comes at eight o'clock, comes at five to eight, it leaves at eight o'clock, like right on the button. Again. Talk about life skills and life life lessons. If you miss the bus, you miss the bus.

The kids get on, they're usually there. I had, we had kids there at six 30 for the eight o'clock bus first year. Right? That's how anxious they were to get on the bus. But then we bus them to the facility and they play in a recreational league. We've also done it the other way, like in Maryland where we bus them to our practice facility.

They get the training at the practice facility. And so we bus them after school and after the after school part of the program. Obviously bus drivers are shortage right now coming outta covid and buses as well. You know, trying to contract buses and stuff like that. But [00:51:00] we solve the need, whether it's the practice or the games on getting the kids to the field with the busing.

And so I just wanted to make sure. Yeah,

[00:51:08] Phil: no, that's good. That's good. Cause I think there's gonna be a lot of questions that folks, you have. How can they, is there a website for it? How can they, how can people get get more information about

[00:51:17] Tim: it? Yeah, it's G otb soccer.org. G otb get on the bus, G otb soccer.org.

Okay. And uh, we need to do some of it updates because our state, our reach is bigger than what's on the website right now. But, but all the information is there on how to get involved or to donate. You know, we're, we're actively in the middle of a developmental campaign and it's going great with a group called coio.

They're a partner of ours. They'll be at the convention presenting as well. And we have a little, we have a, we will be there as well to kind of talk about, tell our story. But you know, the idea is, is whether it's the special needs program or something like the get on the bus or something that you're doing in [00:52:00] Texas, like, all this stuff needs funding.

Right. So you have to get creative on how to, how, how to figure out how to solve that problem. And what I feel is going World Cup now and going into the World Cup in 2026 is that a lot of people are gonna be wanting to spend their marketing dollars, their foundation dollars, their dollars in the sport of soccer.

So I think it's a real opportunity for us as leaders to go find funds to do programming for kids and give them opportunities.

[00:52:31] Phil: Totally agree with that. Totally agree with that. Are you, are you working with the uh, there's something we haven't talked about yet. I'm curious, are you working with the parents at all on this?

Are the parents able to come? Are the parents, Are there, is there any sort of trainings or anything for, for parents or, or just or any interaction with them?

[00:52:48] Tim: Yeah, I mean, we have some volunteers. We put 'em, we vet them the same way. Obviously everybody goes through background check, working with the kids, either the school or the.

The coaching staff, you know, we do all the safe [00:53:00] sport stuff that needs to be done on the coaching side. But some parents have said, Hey, can we, can we join as coaches? Yeah. Okay. Go through these grassroots courses, and then Absolutely. You know, you can participate as a coach or they volunteer at the school.

Maybe they help with the snack or the homework, or in some cases where language is a problem where they're you know, helping with that piece of it as well. So we do have the parents involved. The other thing that I forgot to say is we also identify kids. So in that first pilot program, there were twin brothers.

You know, they, they did great in the, in the rec program, the grassroots program. We put 'em on a comp team or a travel team. We paid for them to play, and now they're. The kids, so they're freshman in high school and they're coaching the kids on Saturdays, so that's how this thing can be sustainable.

[00:53:54] Phil: Yeah.

No, that's so good. That's so good. Mm-hmm. and as usual, you know, we could, we could talk for, for [00:54:00] hours about all the intricacies and details, but but we'll, we'll leave that to folks. If you want more information, you know, you can get ahold of Tim and you can check out the website. We will have all that on the show notes as well.

We'll have that link to get on the bus. We, and to be able to, to learn more about that. You can, you can go there and I'm sure Tim would be willing to, to hop on a call with you if you have any, if you have any questions, if you want to get it in your area. Like Tim said, they're looking to expand, you know, ideally get into every city in the country.

We can at some point, we can, we can do this, but that will take, to take people, It'll take resources, it'll take everything. But if we do it together, it's a, it's a whole lot easier. As I say, many hands makes light work. And so hopefully that's what we, I think we talk about this on the show so often, the need to include more and more kids in how do we, a.

You know, how can we make that accessible to more, And this is one of those answers to that question. And it's gonna take a whole lot more answers and a whole lot more places. But this is [00:55:00] one of 'em. And so how can we get behind it? How can we encourage, how can we collaborate to be able to, to make it, to make it work?

And and that's, that's, that's my heart. And I, I I love that that we got connected to be able to be able to talk about it. So we got a couple more questions. Ball's gonna kind of kinda bring it home here that we ask all our guests. But I, I appreciate what you're doing and, and I, and I I'm excited to see how it continues to grow.

Yeah, Tim,

[00:55:24] Paul: appreciate, appreciate your time and really, really appreciate what you're doing and how you're doing things. And definitely want to continue to catch up maybe offline, on, on a few things as well. And I hope other people will reach out to you too. Cause there's some really really great things that you guys, that you're doing, you guys are doing.

And we can all obviously learn from each other as we're all kind of trying to do some of the same, same things right. In our communities for the right reasons. So I appreciate that. And, you know, getting to the questions that probably the reason people tune into this for these last questions, I'm sure.

So it's, you know, finally talk about get on the bus. Now we've teased out the, the final questions, but what, what have you learned directly from the game that you've used in, in [00:56:00] your marriage and parenting? So what are some, we talked about life lessons from the game to you use in your life, but how do they directly affect like maybe some things you've done as a, as a parent or as a,

[00:56:08] Tim: in, in your marriage?

Well, I, I would say from a parenting perspective, right? I, I try to instill some of those same things in, in my kids. I have a daughter and a son. I'm actually a grandfather as well. And so, you know, when I think about the parenting piece, like I feel like you almost need to let them fail.

Mm-hmm. . So like my experience that I talked about going from one university to another, to me and to some could be a failure, but it was the best thing that happened to me. . Cause I learned so much from that experience. If I just stayed and just got by, I could have done that. But, so from a parent perspective and parenting, I would say is, you know, I really tried to let my kids figure it out, Rather than kind of steer them in a direction or, and I think that's the new model in coaching, although I [00:57:00] haven't been, you know, brought up to my you know, my, my coaching courses. But, you know, it's kind of letting the kids figure it out on the field, right? and asking them kind of questions to engage them in the decision making that they're having.

So for me, in, in the parenting realm I would say that that's, that's something that I've, that I've used. They're grown now. My son's 23. Very proud of him. He's at Georgetown doing grad school, and I have a daughter who's married with Grand baby in Virginia. I get to see them next week. But but yeah, I, I basically said, Hey, you guys gotta figure this out.

Like, I'll help you when you need help. I'll be there. If you want my opinion, I'll let you know. But I pretty much let them make, make the decisions and then face the consequences of their decisions, right? Hey, you made this decision and now you gotta deal with the consequences of your decision. And I think that, that, that, I feel like that has helped them prepare them for life.[00:58:00]

I

[00:58:00] Paul: think that's huge, Tim. I'm a, I'm a huge fan of, of allowing kids to fail in a safe environment. You know, that you challenge them, let them make decisions in an area where they're safe, you know, and they can fail in a safe environment. They got somebody to pick 'em up so that when they have. Decisions and face challenges where there's not someone there to pick them up.

They've failed before and it's not their first time having failed. So I, I love that. What a great value that you've provided for, for your kids, and I hope that's a great takeaway for, for me, for sure. But for our listeners as well. And as we kind of wrap up these questions, what have you read, watched, or listened to that's informed your thinking on how soccer explains life and leadership?

It's a great, great way to share resources to, to our, well, selfishly to me and Phil, but to our listening

[00:58:41] Tim: community too. Yeah. I mean, I've had some good people that came to Ellicott City and, and spoke one John O. Sullivan. Changing the game project. I think he's got a lot of good stuff that I've been through.

He was great. You know, I met him, he came early on and, and what he's doing, he's making [00:59:00] some changes. Obviously the sideline project I think is important to also talk about Sky Eddie. Sky Eddie is talks about parental behavior in the sideline project and you can get a certificate now on how to be a parent on the sideline, which I think everybody should probably do.

And, and get that 15 minute,

[00:59:17] Paul: It's great that that's out there, but it's sad that we have

[00:59:19] Tim: to do that. . Yes. Yeah. And it's her life work. I mean, she put a lot of time into it and Great. I mean, we talk about the referees and the shortage and things like that. You know, in terms of leadership, obviously the servant leadership stuff is important to me.

So like, you know, leaders eat last. . And some of stuff that he has, Simon has, you know, and, and you know, about leadership, you know, is really about taking care of the people that are in our care. Kind of like, how do I serve those others in that we're in charge of? But those are some things and some takeaways that, you know, that are some soccer and some not soccer.

That, that I'm kind of have been into [01:00:00] and, and rely on. And then obviously I try to get in, in the, in, in my coach's bible every day. And that's through fca. And, and you know, I think, I think that's an important piece as well as in terms of trying to draw wisdom on a daily from that.

That's awesome. Big shout

[01:00:18] Paul: out to our, our FCA representatives across the country.

[01:00:22] Phil: Yep. Absolutely. Absolutely. I just you know, actually Sean Smithson with FCA is who connected us. Great guy. We're actually gonna get him on the show here pretty soon. Excited about that. Actually was just at my men's group this morning with a man who's FCA as well.

Very excited to see how how much FCA is doing in, in a lot of these actually accessibility as well. We talk about that FCA is creating some clubs and, and different teams and leagues and stuff, which is, which is really cool just to get more people to be able to use this game. And again, those life lessons we can teach and the different things we can teach through it.

So, love that actually leaders eat. Love that book. Simon [01:01:00] Sinek has a lot of good stuff, but I actually used that last night talking with some, or actually yesterday talking to some coaches about the serotonin idea that they talk about in that book where what we don't understand about that, the serotonin, the feel good chemical is not only do you get it when you encourage someone, you get it when you are encouraged, but you get it when you watch somebody else being encouraged.

And so as coaches, how are we encouraging people to share the encouragement and to see it and do that as a team so that we can actually you know, that that's a massive part of the team culture that I think we miss a lot of the time. So anyway great book. Love that book. And those other things that you're talking about in there.

So some really good, really, really good stuff. I actually just looked on the changing the Changing the game project the other day. So encourage you folks, check out those resources if you haven't already. Thanks, thanks again, Tim. Just thank you for, for who you are, what you're doing. Thanks for being part of the conversation, part of part of this show and for taking the time to do this with us today.

[01:01:55] Tim: Well, thanks for the opportunity. I really appreciate it. It's great to be able to share, you [01:02:00] know, my, my story. And so thanks for the platform and thanks for, like I said earlier, the content for folks to be able to hear what other people are doing. Cuz I, I, I, like I said, I listened to a couple of the shows already and have learned a few things as well.

That Upper 90 is an interesting. Podcast. So, but thank you for the opportunity and anybody can contact me at any time and I, I'd be happy to meet with them in a Zoom or at the convention in Philly.

[01:02:27] Phil: Yeah, fantastic. And folks on that note, convention is coming up in Philly. It's January 11th through the 15th.

Hopefully you're able to make it, if this is, if this is a soccer podcast at this podcast that you have been listening to is something that you do enjoy and you are, you are learning a lot from it. I guarantee that the convention in Philly will be a place that you will not only be able to learn, but be able to connect with a lot of people who are like-minded and really want to understand how we can do more through this game.

And so I'll be there and been excited. I'm to present on how we can retain our players [01:03:00] using using disc. Um, Again, if you want more information about that, you can go to the show notes if you want more information about Warrior Way j. Coaching the bigger game program that I have with Christian Dres and anything we talked about on the show today, get on the bus, the different things that, that Tim's doing.

You can find all that in the show notes. I encourage you to go there mostly as we always talk about on the show. I encourage you, I hope that everything that you're learning from this show you using it to help you be a better leader, to help you be a better parent, a better spouse, a better coach, better in every relationship that you have, and you're continually reminding yourself that soccer does explain life and leadership.

Thanks a lot. Have a great couple weeks.