October 23, 2025 • 26 mins
A scouting weekend can change how young players see the game, and our trip to the MLS Next Talent ID Invitational in Houston did exactly that. We sit down with three OZFC Academy players who were selected among the top 50 in the region to talk about the pressure, the pace, and the joy of competing against elite talent. From intense rondos and 2v2s to a 9v9 tournament win, they share the moments that stretched their decision-making, sharpened their first touch, and showed why constant communication and scanning separate good from great.
We dig into the details that matter: using size without fouling, protecting the ball in tight spaces, and keeping a head on a swivel to find the next pass. The boys compare coaching styles, describe how the top players keep the field loud with useful talk, and reflect on what aligns with our own OZFC routines, dynamic warm-ups, progressive passing, and game-speed reps. You’ll hear how travel bonds a team, why speed of play is the real jump at this level, and how small adjustments in spacing and shape, squeezing compactly, switching the point of attack, unlock chances against bigger, faster opponents.
If you care about youth development, MLS Next pathways, and what it takes to grow from academy to professional soccer, this conversation delivers practical insights with heart. We highlight upcoming matches, personal goals for stamina and strength, and the simple rule that powers everything we do in Northwest Arkansas: keep the game fun so improvement sticks. Subscribe, share with a soccer friend, and leave a review telling us the one skill you’d train first to raise your speed of play.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:04):
Pitch to Pro is the official podcast of Ozark United
FC.
This will be our platform totell our story about the club
and the special place that wecall home Northwest Arkansas.
This is a journey.
We want to bring you along forthe ride.
We'll share what's going onbehind the curtain, help educate
the community at large aboutsoccer, our league, and give
(00:25):
updates on the progress of theclub along the way.
Together we'll explore andunpack our journey to
professional soccer, the magicthat is NWA, our community, and
talk all things soccer from onthe pitch to behind the scenes,
telling the story of our club.
SPEAKER_02 (00:42):
Pitch2Pro Podcast is proudly sponsored by
Podcastvideos.com.
SPEAKER_03 (00:46):
Podcastvideos.com is Northwest Arkansas's premier
podcast recording studio.
SPEAKER_02 (00:51):
Equipped with industry-leading equipment, the
recording studio and servicessave you time, money, and
hassle.
They are dedicated to helpingyou create, record, and publish
high-quality podcasts for youraudience.
Be sure to check them out todayat podcastvideos.com.
SPEAKER_03 (01:07):
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Pitch
the Pro Podcast.
I'm your host, Wes Harris,managing director for Ozark
United FC, Northwest Arkansas'sprofessional soccer club playing
in the United Soccer League.
Guys, this episode is going tobe a really fun one.
We recently had some of our OZFCAcademy players participate in
(01:27):
MLS Next Talent ID Invitationalin Houston, Texas over the
weekend.
And here to tell us all about itare Ethan, Adrian, Sai.
Welcome to the show, gentlemen.
Thanks for joining me.
unknown (01:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (01:43):
All right.
It's okay.
You can say, you can say, hey,thanks for having me on the
show.
I'm just kidding.
You guys are welcome.
Uh, and we got a lot of goodstuff to talk about.
So let's get into it.
So, first and foremost, beforewe jump into the fun and
exciting weekend in Houston, Iwant everybody to kind of get to
know you guys a little bit.
(02:04):
So if you would, let's telleverybody a little bit about
yourself.
So I would love to hear yourfull name, your age, how old you
are, school you attend, andfavorite soccer player.
unknown (02:16):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (02:16):
You want to start with Adrian?
Let's go, bro.
SPEAKER_01 (02:19):
Um my favorite soccer player is Messi.
SPEAKER_03 (02:24):
Messi.
Okay.
Good one.
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
And I go to Kirksea Middle School.
SPEAKER_03 (02:29):
Kirksley Middle School?
Okay.
How old are you?
SPEAKER_01 (02:31):
I'm 13.
SPEAKER_03 (02:32):
Yeah.
Full name?
SPEAKER_01 (02:34):
Adrian Elliott.
SPEAKER_03 (02:36):
Awesome.
Let's go with you, Ethan.
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
Uh, I'm Ethan Kimbrough.
I'm 13 years old.
I go to go to Fulbright JuniorHigh School.
SPEAKER_03 (02:44):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
And my favorite soccer player is Messi.
SPEAKER_03 (02:46):
Messi.
Okay.
I see a theme here.
SPEAKER_00 (02:50):
I am 13 years old.
I go to Lincoln Junior High.
And my favorite player isChristiana Ronaldo.
SPEAKER_03 (02:57):
Breaking the mold there.
So you guys get the MessiRonaldo debate.
I feel like that's always.
Has anybody, do you know anybodywhose favorite player isn't one
of those two?
SPEAKER_01 (03:08):
Paolo's like insane about Ronaldo.
I'm like, I'm a little bit ofmessy fan, but I like Cole
Palmer too.
SPEAKER_03 (03:15):
Okay.
Cole Palmer.
More kind of recent contemporaryone.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
I mean, you've I like uh Hingman's son.
He played for Hospers.
But he's in LN.
SPEAKER_03 (03:25):
He's at LAFC now, yeah.
Okay.
Those are good ones.
Palmer's a little shifty.
He's a good player.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:32):
That was not there.
SPEAKER_03 (03:35):
All right, guys.
Well, uh let's tell people alittle bit more about the the
program.
So it was MLS next talent IDInvitational, and it was kind of
the best 50 kids from theregion, right?
In the Pioneer Conference, am Iright?
Where you guys got to go toHouston for a weekend and kind
of tell people what the programwas.
(03:56):
Anyone can jump in.
Go ahead, Ethan.
SPEAKER_01 (04:02):
It was um really intense and fun because you got
to meet new people and newcoaches, and there was a US
national youth scout there thatwas scouting all of us.
And you do these warmups tobegin with, a rondo for like the
second drill.
Yeah.
And then you do like 2v2,small-sided scrimmages, and then
a 9v9 tournament at the end.
SPEAKER_03 (04:24):
Oh, that's really cool.
That's awesome.
Well, tell us, tell us a littlebit, each of you, like Sai, how
did you feel when you learnedthat you were kind of selected
and got to be able toparticipate in this program?
SPEAKER_00 (04:37):
I felt good because like not a lot of people could
get like in it.
So I just felt good about it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:43):
Yeah, it was only 50 people in the whole conference,
right?
SPEAKER_00 (04:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (04:47):
I mean, that had to make you feel good, Adrian?
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Um, I think it felt really good to me because I
thought I was special and it waslike a good opportunity to
become always become to becomelike a next step to becoming
pro.
Yeah.
And it was fun because I canmake friends and like I can make
friends and play them in thefuture and when we're pla
(05:12):
playing pro.
SPEAKER_03 (05:13):
Yeah.
The soccer world is kind of asmall, like, especially when you
start getting to that level, itcan start to be a little bit
more like smaller circles,right?
And you start to like learn pdifferent kids from across the
country that keep showing up inkind of the same places, right?
And you know, you guys arestarting to get to experience
that, which is really cool.
(05:34):
So that's awesome.
Um, Ethan, what about you, man?
Did you what like what was itlike to hear that?
SPEAKER_01 (05:41):
I felt really surprised and excited because
when I heard only 50 people,it's like it's it's a huge
opportunity to like proveyourself and like show like
other people around the regionwhat you've got.
And if it's only 50 people, thenyou're the best of the best,
right?
SPEAKER_03 (05:59):
Yeah, yeah.
Absolutely, man.
I I'd like that's why it was sohuge.
You you know, and you guys haduh there was a U-13 player as
well that got to go.
Um, so to have like four OZFCplayers, I mean He didn't go.
Oh, he didn't end up making Hestayed for the tournament.
He did okay.
Well, even still to have fourselected, maybe one may not have
(06:21):
been able to go, but uh to havefour selected, it just speaks to
kind of what you guys alreadyknow, is that we've got a lot of
great talent here at NWA, don'twe?
You know, I mean you guys areevidence of that, right?
So I think that that speaksvolumes.
So just first off, like a hugecongratulations to you guys.
Like that's a you guys should beproud.
(06:43):
That's really something tocelebrate, and kudos to you
guys.
You know, you don't get therewithout putting in a lot of hard
work, have you?
It's taking a lot of work and alot of time, a lot of practice
to get to where you guys are at,right?
Yeah.
So kudos to you guys.
So I'd love to hear a little bitmore.
(07:04):
Like, let's kind of dive intothe weekend and some of the
drills you guys did, maybe someof the things I know you kind of
gave us a bit of a rundown,Ethan, but maybe what was like
your favorite thing that youguys did there, Adrian?
SPEAKER_01 (07:15):
Uh my favorite thing that we did there was the 9v9
scrimmage, and it was just funbecause we would just have fun
and play with the other kids.
Yeah.
And just have an opportunity toget scouted by that youth scout.
SPEAKER_03 (07:29):
Okay.
Well, I should have asked thisbefore uh in the tell me about
yourself, but what position doyou play?
SPEAKER_01 (07:35):
I play left mid.
SPEAKER_03 (07:37):
Left mid, okay.
And I guess did you get to playthat down in Houston or did you
have to play a differentposition?
SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
They let us pick.
SPEAKER_03 (07:46):
They let you pick?
Okay, that's nice.
All right.
Do you score any goals?
SPEAKER_01 (07:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (07:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (07:51):
Not in the scrimmage, but like overall,
when we were doing small sidedgames, I did.
SPEAKER_03 (07:55):
Yeah.
That's awesome.
Ethan, what about you?
What what position do you play?
SPEAKER_01 (07:59):
Uh this season I played right back, but last
season I mainly played wingerand um striker in midfield.
SPEAKER_03 (08:05):
Oh no.
So like all over You're all overthe place, man.
You're a bit of a utilityplayer.
That's great.
That's really valuable forcoaches and teams, I'm telling
you.
So that's cool.
What was your maybe yourfavorite drill from or whatever
activity it was that you guysdo?
SPEAKER_01 (08:21):
The 99.
SPEAKER_03 (08:22):
The 99, yeah.
It's always the scrimmages.
That's all.
SPEAKER_01 (08:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:25):
But I think it also speaks to you know, drills are
great, but people, kids justwant to play and want to play
the game, right?
So, coaches, don't get toobogged down in drills.
Sometimes you just gotta let thekids play.
Uh Cy, same thing, man.
What what position do you play?
And then tell me a little bitmore about your experience over
the week.
SPEAKER_00 (08:43):
I play right mid and right wing, and like my favorite
drill there was probably thescrimmage, the 9v9.
SPEAKER_03 (08:50):
Yeah, 9v9.
SPEAKER_00 (08:51):
Because we got like a lot of touches on the ball,
and we can score.
SPEAKER_03 (08:55):
That's cool.
Okay, I asked him, did you guysscore some goals?
SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:59):
Yeah?
SPEAKER_01 (09:00):
Yeah.
He scored a lot of goals in thisuh five-five against his team.
Yeah, against my team.
SPEAKER_03 (09:05):
Oh, scored like five goals.
Little little banter back andforth between you?
SPEAKER_01 (09:10):
But me and Sara were on the same team for the
tournament.
SPEAKER_03 (09:13):
Oh, okay.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (09:14):
Our team won too.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:16):
Oh, your team won the tournament?
Mm-hmm.
Oh, that's pretty cool.
So, all right.
Talk to me.
You guys, what was like thecoaching?
What were the coaching stafflike?
Like what what maybe was yourbig kind of takeaway from the
coaches?
Like, what was their style?
Did they give you guys any kindof good new nuggets for you guys
(09:41):
that you might take away andlearn and and put into practice?
SPEAKER_00 (09:44):
They didn't really like coaches in anything new,
but like they were like reallyintense about like our trails.
SPEAKER_01 (09:50):
But they were pretty nice, like when we were not
doing any drinkers.
Yeah, pretty fun.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:55):
They were nice guys, but they're intense, huh?
On the field.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:59):
Okay.
What were you gonna say, Ethan?
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_01 (10:01):
So whenever we got like our water break, yeah, we
start this guy came up to me.
He was like, if you can land itin the next the w uh the bottom
in the next three tries, um andthen the next two tries, I'll
get you like ice cream orsomething like that.
Okay.
And I landed it first try, andit was like, oh shoot.
He's like, if you can flip acoin and then land it, yeah,
(10:24):
I'll get you ice cream.
But I didn't have a coin, so Ijust flipped a bottle.
I I missed it.
They were just like super chill,nice, and intense, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (10:31):
Okay.
So intense when it came to theirsoccer, but off the field or in
the breaks, they made sure tohave some fun.
SPEAKER_01 (10:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (10:38):
Is that fair?
SPEAKER_01 (10:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (10:39):
Okay, good.
Well, maybe that's something,you know, I think you guys
probably do too, right?
You're when you're on the pitchor on the field, like you know
it's game time, you locked in,ready to rock, but water breaks
or you know, off the pitch, youguys are okay to have goof off a
little bit and be kids.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's still important to have funon the pitch stuff, right?
SPEAKER_00 (11:01):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (11:02):
I don't think you guys would be playing if you
weren't having fun.
unknown (11:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (11:06):
Right?
That's my that's my number onerule.
That's what I tell my players isyou gotta have fun.
If you're not having fun, thenI'm doing something wrong, or we
gotta have a chat.
So I guess did you guys learnanything different or new, or
did you see anything from otherplayers that stood out to you
(11:29):
over the weekend that maybe youhaven't seen or experienced
before, like a different versionof coaching or a different way
of thinking about things?
Did you learn anything over theweekend that kind of stood out
to you?
Sorry?
SPEAKER_00 (11:46):
Oh well, I feel like like on Ozark, we just needed
like more like speed and fasterfootwork on the ball.
SPEAKER_03 (11:56):
Yeah, the so the speed of the guys playing not
only just physically, but speedof play as well.
And then touches and how quickthey were.
SPEAKER_00 (12:06):
And we need to be like stronger too.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
Because we were really small compared to them.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (12:10):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (12:11):
We're gonna hit our girls for maybe this year or
next year.
SPEAKER_03 (12:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
You I mean everybody, you're youguys are at that age.
It's it'll come.
SPEAKER_01 (12:19):
I think we're like one of the smallest teams, I
feel like.
SPEAKER_03 (12:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:22):
All the teams that we play have like giants on
their team.
Louisiana.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (12:26):
Yeah, that Louisiana team were they big.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:31):
They were on.
SPEAKER_01 (12:33):
You're only like five eight inches.
Yeah.
We have like a really tallteammate though.
He's like 6'3.
What?
Yeah, what of our teammate?
It's only one.
He's like the giant.
He's tall.
SPEAKER_03 (12:44):
What position does he play?
SPEAKER_01 (12:46):
Defender.
He used to play center back.
SPEAKER_03 (12:47):
Is he playing center back?
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (12:48):
He used to play um striker, but what's his name?
Devin.
SPEAKER_03 (12:52):
Devin Moody.
SPEAKER_01 (12:54):
Moody.
SPEAKER_03 (12:56):
Moody.
Okay, I'm sorry.
That's well, that's cool.
I th you know that's but that'simportant though.
Speed of play is huge, right?
I think as you guys start to getlevel by level, right?
That's one of the biggest thingsis speed of play.
And then what comes with that isdecision making up there, right?
Yeah.
And how much quicker you need tomake decisions.
And I think that that's a greatobservation there, Mr.
(13:19):
Psy.
So that's awesome.
Ethan, what about you, man?
SPEAKER_01 (13:22):
I noticed that they would like can constantly
communicate, even on and off theball, and they would utilize
their fakes and like feints alot.
SPEAKER_03 (13:32):
Okay.
I think that's a huge one.
Communications, like, if youguys, you guys have obviously
probably been to some pro gamesor college games or older boys,
it is never silent on the field,is it?
SPEAKER_00 (13:44):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (13:45):
It's like constant, right?
And I tell my boys too, uh,they're younger than you, but
they're one of your biggestthings that you can control is
your energy on the field.
And one of the biggest ways tolift your energy just naturally
is talking and communicating.
Because if you're talking andcommunicating, you're you're
(14:06):
locked in, you're clued intowhat's going on, and it lifts
your energy automatically.
So that's uh that's a huge partof the game.
So I'm glad to hear that.
What about you, Adrian?
SPEAKER_01 (14:17):
I think that they were using their size wisely,
you know, bodying, like at asmart way.
SPEAKER_03 (14:25):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (14:25):
Not just like full sending you to the ground.
SPEAKER_03 (14:28):
Yeah, not just like fouling you, but actually using
it to their advantage.
SPEAKER_01 (14:32):
Yeah.
And they were like looking up.
I don't think I saw a single onelooking down at the ball.
Unless you're like shooting orsomething, but they were just
like had their head up the wholetime.
SPEAKER_03 (14:45):
Yeah, having that ability, right, to just be that
comfortable and just know whereit's at.
We gotta have that ball on astring, right?
SPEAKER_00 (14:52):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (14:53):
Okay.
So is there anything that youguys experienced that you felt
like this actually is right inline like with what we've been
doing at OZFC with our coachingstaff and what we've been
learning and and trying to do?
Is there anything that likestood out to you there?
(15:15):
Like when you experienced it,you're like, man, this is I feel
like I'm at home right now.
Like this is this is stuff thatwe do.
This is stuff that coach tarpson, this is stuff that he
preaches.
Is there anything that you stoodout to you there?
SPEAKER_00 (15:25):
Oh, just uh like warmups were like really
similar.
Yeah, they were similar.
SPEAKER_03 (15:31):
Okay, in what way?
SPEAKER_00 (15:32):
Like like the stretches and like the passing
drills that we did.
Yeah, we usually they do likethe same thing we do on game
days.
SPEAKER_03 (15:39):
Okay.
Like game day, game day routine.
So what do you guys do on a gameday routine?
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
So first off, we do like our normal high knees, like
butt kicks, lunges, all thatsorts of stuff, and then after
that we get a like a little sipof water, and then we just pass
around like first the firstpassing drills, like two touch,
and then one touch, and then uhone twis.
SPEAKER_03 (16:05):
Okay.
So like a dynamic warm-up andthen get into some passing and
just getting a touch and feelfor the ball.
SPEAKER_01 (16:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (16:11):
Yeah.
Anything else, Ethan?
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
Sometimes we set up these like this square drill,
and there are players on eachside, and there's a person in
the middle.
Then you lay it off to thatperson and they do they could do
like a one-two with the personon the outside, or they play it
back on the outside, and thatperson plays it inside.
And then the person who playedit to the person who was
(16:35):
originally in the inside, theyfollow that pass and that person
passes it to them.
SPEAKER_03 (16:40):
Okay.
That's awesome.
That I mean, it's good.
So I like experiencing newthings and new coaches, I think
is awesome and a huge part ofdevelopment.
And then I also loveunderstanding like what are new
things that you may havelearned, right, that you're
gonna take away and likeimplement.
Is there anything is thereanything that you guys feel like
(17:00):
you're gonna do differently inyour kind of normal everyday
team or training or uh even evenoff the field, like even by
yourself?
Like, is there anything that youguys feel like you came away
from the weekend, you're like,man, I want to do this
differently?
Anything like that for you guys?
SPEAKER_00 (17:21):
Our sta like working on our stamina and like our
dribbling.
SPEAKER_03 (17:24):
Stamina and dribbling, okay.
Good.
Adrian, injury or anything?
SPEAKER_01 (17:30):
Um our ball security.
SPEAKER_03 (17:33):
Ball security, okay.
So your touches and just beingeven more confident on the ball.
SPEAKER_01 (17:37):
Our aggressiveness and like getting at a tackles.
SPEAKER_03 (17:40):
Oh, I like that.
So is physical.
SPEAKER_01 (17:43):
Not just our awareness of the field.
SPEAKER_03 (17:46):
Awareness of the field, I love that.
So what do you gotta do there?
SPEAKER_01 (17:49):
Scan scanning, turn your head off.
SPEAKER_03 (17:52):
That's right.
That's what's up, and I'm surecoaches have talked to you about
that, but like they they studythis stuff, right?
And some of the best players arethe ones that scan the most.
SPEAKER_01 (18:02):
I have to do that because I'm in the midfield.
It's like you you're likesurrounded by people.
SPEAKER_03 (18:08):
You got people on both sides of you all the time.
Head on a swivel.
That's good.
Yeah, it's not just how big theywere, right?
But you know, from Ethan, likeit's hard hitting.
It's you know, you got remindedthat soccer was a contact sport
down there, didn't you?
unknown (18:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (18:28):
No injuries, I hope though, right?
No, no, no knocks, no, all good,good.
Well, that's awesome, boys.
Listen, it sounds like it wasyou know a good experience,
would you say?
Yeah.
Overall.
Happy you guys went and thankfulthat you were able to go.
SPEAKER_01 (18:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (18:45):
No, that's awesome.
So let's transition a little bitinto like what has been kind of
the experience like?
Tell people what it's like to bean OZFC Academy player a little
bit from from kind of yourperspective.
What would you tell them if theyasked you what was it like?
SPEAKER_01 (19:01):
Um it's it like sounds hard at first because
it's an MLS next.
Like once you start getting usedto the feel of the play, it's
not that bad.
SPEAKER_03 (19:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (19:14):
And it's just fun playing, it's just normal
soccer, but a little bit moreintense.
SPEAKER_03 (19:21):
Yeah.
Kind of that you take a littlebit of a step up from what
you're used to, but you know,once you can kind of understand
that you can play there, you gotselected for a reason, right?
And you get used to the level,good.
SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Ethan, it's really competitive, but overall, it's
really fun because yourteammates are there to support
you, even if you do likesomething wrong.
And you get to travel like allover the region.
And there's this tournamentthat's coming up.
It's uh MLS United Region.
SPEAKER_03 (19:58):
Is it the regional event?
SPEAKER_01 (19:59):
Yeah, I think the region's been next week.
SPEAKER_03 (20:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (20:03):
I think this week we have one in Tulsa, right?
I think I think that'sGreenwood.
SPEAKER_03 (20:07):
Yeah, Tulsa is this week, which at the time of the
episode that it'll come out, itwill be last weekend.
But yes, you guys at the time ofrecording have Tulsa, right?
So that should be a good one.
We had you that was like y'all'sfirst matchups, right?
SPEAKER_01 (20:21):
Here, yeah.
When you hung behind them, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:24):
You need some revenge on them.
SPEAKER_01 (20:25):
We can beat them, but because we're getting like
closer and closer to winning alot, yeah.
Yeah.
What one in what was it likethat were we in Dallas?
Dallas, yeah.
Yeah, you know.
We uh we only lost by one, whichis like our closest game yet.
Nice.
They just scored a runaway gill.
Uh you just like had their fastcard just triple up the field.
SPEAKER_03 (20:45):
Yeah.
You guys, I mean it's it takestime to gel, it takes time to
learn about each other, right?
So that's awesome.
I think and hold up before we goon, Cy, what would you tell
people?
What's it like playing in frontof the FC?
SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
Well, it's really just like more competitive and
like it's more faster and a lotof people like bigger than you.
So you have to like use yourabilities to make yourself
better than the other people.
SPEAKER_03 (21:12):
Yeah.
Okay.
You gotta think differently.
Yeah, and adapt.
Yeah.
What about the coaching staff?
You like coach?
SPEAKER_01 (21:22):
Yeah, I like coach.
They really do.
Coach Christian's funny.
SPEAKER_03 (21:27):
He's a good thing.
SPEAKER_01 (21:28):
He's a good coach.
SPEAKER_03 (21:29):
Yeah.
He won state coach of the yearfor high school last year.
SPEAKER_01 (21:32):
Yeah, the best coaches.
unknown (21:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:34):
Because we have Coach Kevin, who coached D1
soccer for Memphis, and thenCoach Christian, who was uh
coach for state yeah, FaradayState Champions.
SPEAKER_03 (21:46):
You guys have some great coaches, that's for sure.
We love our coaches.
Shout out to the coaches.
Appreciate you guys.
So all right.
What are you guys maybe as ateam, what would you say you're
working on right now?
What do you think?
What would you share with peopleif you said, hey, this is what
we're doing?
SPEAKER_01 (22:06):
Space on the field, because last practice, which is
yesterday, we all are gone.
Like um what was it called?
Finding open space.
Yeah.
And rotating the ball.
In like the what's that onecalled again?
Squeeze.
Squeeze.
It's like space.
Our goalkeeper tells us tosqueeze and we all like pinch in
to get a smaller because it'sgonna cunt the ball up.
But we still like have the sameshape.
(22:28):
Yeah, we still have to say thesame.
It's just like a mini formation.
SPEAKER_03 (22:31):
Yeah.
Like how do you how do you movearound the field but still
maintain some semblance ofshape.
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
Last week we just switched on uh switching the
point of attack, like wheneveryone's like crowded in this
area and someone could switchthe ball to like an open person
on the other side of the field,then we have a chance to score.
SPEAKER_03 (22:51):
Yeah.
It's it's interesting how someof the you know same stuff maybe
that you guys first startedlearning about maybe five, six,
seven years ago, but it's itchanges the way that you guys
are practicing it though, right?
And how it shows up on thisfield.
It's much faster, it's muchtougher, it's like constantly
(23:15):
changing and moving, right?
SPEAKER_01 (23:18):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (23:19):
So that's it's cool though.
You know, it's it's interesting.
You know, the game is the game,no matter what level you play it
at.
It's just the fundamental stuff,you know, makes a big difference
in the speed of play, like youguys said, and the touch it's
all right, bro.
Yeah, you all right over there,Mr.
Sod.
SPEAKER_01 (23:38):
It's because we said a meme.
SPEAKER_03 (23:41):
Oh, I did six seven.
Okay.
Okay, these kids, man, six,seven.
I get ya.
All right.
Oh, okay.
Like when you were six or sevenyears ago.
I got it.
Six, seven.
There it is.
Okay.
All right.
That shows my age here.
Um, all right, boys.
You guys have been awesomeguests.
What?
(24:01):
Let's go around the table.
What are you most lookingforward to coming up with the
Academy?
SPEAKER_01 (24:08):
Going to Houston on that charter bucks.
Okay.
It's like really fun.
And then I cooked this kid inFIFA and how yeah.
I cooked it in the airport.
We didn't even get to finish thegame, yeah, but I still cooked
you.
One-zero.
SPEAKER_03 (24:21):
There's a lot of fun bonding that you guys get to do,
right?
Yeah.
As a part of this, I think.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (24:27):
Rawl stars.
SPEAKER_03 (24:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (24:29):
Well, he was playing the whole time, bro.
Him and one of our teammates.
SPEAKER_03 (24:33):
Okay.
Ethan, what about you, man?
SPEAKER_01 (24:35):
Um, looking forward to winning games.
Yeah.
Winning's gonna be.
SPEAKER_03 (24:40):
You guys will get there.
You guys will get there.
It takes time.
Cy, what are you looking forwardto, mate?
SPEAKER_00 (24:45):
Uh, our games in Houston.
SPEAKER_03 (24:47):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:47):
Cause we get a skip Thursday and Friday.
Whoo, picture of you.
SPEAKER_03 (24:51):
All right, so two fall breaks, huh?
All right, guys, I love it.
Listen, thank you guys forcoming on to the show today and
sharing with us what you knowsounds like it was an amazing
experience.
And congrats again on yourselections to attend and for
being able to represent not onlyOZFC, uh, but more importantly,
(25:12):
Northwest Arkansas, guys.
Like, represent, show thepeople, right?
The NWA, we got some talenthere, right?
So listen, best of luck thisweekend in Tulsa and for the
rest of the season.
And uh we're with you guys,we're cheering for you guys.
So thank you guys for reppingOZFC and being class axe.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (25:31):
Thank you.
Thank you for having us.
SPEAKER_03 (25:33):
All right, guys, that's it for this episode of
Pitch the Pro.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Be sure to catch all of ourepisodes on pitchtopro.com or
look for Pitch the Pro onYouTube, Spotify, Apple, or
wherever you get your podcastfor more content.
Until next time, NorthwestArkansas, cheers.
SPEAKER_02 (25:48):
Thanks for joining us on this episode of the Pitch
the Pro podcast.
Be sure to tune in again in twoweeks for the next installment
and check out the stoppage timeseries for a recap of today's
episode.
Be sure to find us at Pitch thePro on YouTube, Instagram, and
everywhere you get yourpodcasts.
Until next time, NorthwestArkansas, cheers.
Pitch to Pro is the official podcast of Ozark United
FC.
This will be our platform totell our story about the club
and the special place that wecall home Northwest Arkansas.
This is a journey.
We want to bring you along forthe ride.
We'll share what's going onbehind the curtain, help educate
the community at large aboutsoccer, our league, and give
(00:25):
updates on the progress of theclub along the way.
Together we'll explore andunpack our journey to
professional soccer, the magicthat is NWA, our community, and
talk all things soccer from onthe pitch to behind the scenes,
telling the story of our club.
SPEAKER_02 (00:42):
Pitch2Pro Podcast is proudly sponsored by
Podcastvideos.com.
SPEAKER_03 (00:46):
Podcastvideos.com is Northwest Arkansas's premier
podcast recording studio.
SPEAKER_02 (00:51):
Equipped with industry-leading equipment, the
recording studio and servicessave you time, money, and
hassle.
They are dedicated to helpingyou create, record, and publish
high-quality podcasts for youraudience.
Be sure to check them out todayat podcastvideos.com.
SPEAKER_03 (01:07):
Hello, everybody, and welcome back to the Pitch
the Pro Podcast.
I'm your host, Wes Harris,managing director for Ozark
United FC, Northwest Arkansas'sprofessional soccer club playing
in the United Soccer League.
Guys, this episode is going tobe a really fun one.
We recently had some of our OZFCAcademy players participate in
(01:27):
MLS Next Talent ID Invitationalin Houston, Texas over the
weekend.
And here to tell us all about itare Ethan, Adrian, Sai.
Welcome to the show, gentlemen.
Thanks for joining me.
unknown (01:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (01:43):
All right.
It's okay.
You can say, you can say, hey,thanks for having me on the
show.
I'm just kidding.
You guys are welcome.
Uh, and we got a lot of goodstuff to talk about.
So let's get into it.
So, first and foremost, beforewe jump into the fun and
exciting weekend in Houston, Iwant everybody to kind of get to
know you guys a little bit.
(02:04):
So if you would, let's telleverybody a little bit about
yourself.
So I would love to hear yourfull name, your age, how old you
are, school you attend, andfavorite soccer player.
unknown (02:16):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (02:16):
You want to start with Adrian?
Let's go, bro.
SPEAKER_01 (02:19):
Um my favorite soccer player is Messi.
SPEAKER_03 (02:24):
Messi.
Okay.
Good one.
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
And I go to Kirksea Middle School.
SPEAKER_03 (02:29):
Kirksley Middle School?
Okay.
How old are you?
SPEAKER_01 (02:31):
I'm 13.
SPEAKER_03 (02:32):
Yeah.
Full name?
SPEAKER_01 (02:34):
Adrian Elliott.
SPEAKER_03 (02:36):
Awesome.
Let's go with you, Ethan.
SPEAKER_01 (02:38):
Uh, I'm Ethan Kimbrough.
I'm 13 years old.
I go to go to Fulbright JuniorHigh School.
SPEAKER_03 (02:44):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (02:44):
And my favorite soccer player is Messi.
SPEAKER_03 (02:46):
Messi.
Okay.
I see a theme here.
SPEAKER_00 (02:50):
I am 13 years old.
I go to Lincoln Junior High.
And my favorite player isChristiana Ronaldo.
SPEAKER_03 (02:57):
Breaking the mold there.
So you guys get the MessiRonaldo debate.
I feel like that's always.
Has anybody, do you know anybodywhose favorite player isn't one
of those two?
SPEAKER_01 (03:08):
Paolo's like insane about Ronaldo.
I'm like, I'm a little bit ofmessy fan, but I like Cole
Palmer too.
SPEAKER_03 (03:15):
Okay.
Cole Palmer.
More kind of recent contemporaryone.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
I mean, you've I like uh Hingman's son.
He played for Hospers.
But he's in LN.
SPEAKER_03 (03:25):
He's at LAFC now, yeah.
Okay.
Those are good ones.
Palmer's a little shifty.
He's a good player.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:32):
That was not there.
SPEAKER_03 (03:35):
All right, guys.
Well, uh let's tell people alittle bit more about the the
program.
So it was MLS next talent IDInvitational, and it was kind of
the best 50 kids from theregion, right?
In the Pioneer Conference, am Iright?
Where you guys got to go toHouston for a weekend and kind
of tell people what the programwas.
(03:56):
Anyone can jump in.
Go ahead, Ethan.
SPEAKER_01 (04:02):
It was um really intense and fun because you got
to meet new people and newcoaches, and there was a US
national youth scout there thatwas scouting all of us.
And you do these warmups tobegin with, a rondo for like the
second drill.
Yeah.
And then you do like 2v2,small-sided scrimmages, and then
a 9v9 tournament at the end.
SPEAKER_03 (04:24):
Oh, that's really cool.
That's awesome.
Well, tell us, tell us a littlebit, each of you, like Sai, how
did you feel when you learnedthat you were kind of selected
and got to be able toparticipate in this program?
SPEAKER_00 (04:37):
I felt good because like not a lot of people could
get like in it.
So I just felt good about it.
SPEAKER_03 (04:43):
Yeah, it was only 50 people in the whole conference,
right?
SPEAKER_00 (04:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (04:47):
I mean, that had to make you feel good, Adrian?
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Um, I think it felt really good to me because I
thought I was special and it waslike a good opportunity to
become always become to becomelike a next step to becoming
pro.
Yeah.
And it was fun because I canmake friends and like I can make
friends and play them in thefuture and when we're pla
(05:12):
playing pro.
SPEAKER_03 (05:13):
Yeah.
The soccer world is kind of asmall, like, especially when you
start getting to that level, itcan start to be a little bit
more like smaller circles,right?
And you start to like learn pdifferent kids from across the
country that keep showing up inkind of the same places, right?
And you know, you guys arestarting to get to experience
that, which is really cool.
(05:34):
So that's awesome.
Um, Ethan, what about you, man?
Did you what like what was itlike to hear that?
SPEAKER_01 (05:41):
I felt really surprised and excited because
when I heard only 50 people,it's like it's it's a huge
opportunity to like proveyourself and like show like
other people around the regionwhat you've got.
And if it's only 50 people, thenyou're the best of the best,
right?
SPEAKER_03 (05:59):
Yeah, yeah.
Absolutely, man.
I I'd like that's why it was sohuge.
You you know, and you guys haduh there was a U-13 player as
well that got to go.
Um, so to have like four OZFCplayers, I mean He didn't go.
Oh, he didn't end up making Hestayed for the tournament.
He did okay.
Well, even still to have fourselected, maybe one may not have
(06:21):
been able to go, but uh to havefour selected, it just speaks to
kind of what you guys alreadyknow, is that we've got a lot of
great talent here at NWA, don'twe?
You know, I mean you guys areevidence of that, right?
So I think that that speaksvolumes.
So just first off, like a hugecongratulations to you guys.
Like that's a you guys should beproud.
(06:43):
That's really something tocelebrate, and kudos to you
guys.
You know, you don't get therewithout putting in a lot of hard
work, have you?
It's taking a lot of work and alot of time, a lot of practice
to get to where you guys are at,right?
Yeah.
So kudos to you guys.
So I'd love to hear a little bitmore.
(07:04):
Like, let's kind of dive intothe weekend and some of the
drills you guys did, maybe someof the things I know you kind of
gave us a bit of a rundown,Ethan, but maybe what was like
your favorite thing that youguys did there, Adrian?
SPEAKER_01 (07:15):
Uh my favorite thing that we did there was the 9v9
scrimmage, and it was just funbecause we would just have fun
and play with the other kids.
Yeah.
And just have an opportunity toget scouted by that youth scout.
SPEAKER_03 (07:29):
Okay.
Well, I should have asked thisbefore uh in the tell me about
yourself, but what position doyou play?
SPEAKER_01 (07:35):
I play left mid.
SPEAKER_03 (07:37):
Left mid, okay.
And I guess did you get to playthat down in Houston or did you
have to play a differentposition?
SPEAKER_01 (07:45):
They let us pick.
SPEAKER_03 (07:46):
They let you pick?
Okay, that's nice.
All right.
Do you score any goals?
SPEAKER_01 (07:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (07:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (07:51):
Not in the scrimmage, but like overall,
when we were doing small sidedgames, I did.
SPEAKER_03 (07:55):
Yeah.
That's awesome.
Ethan, what about you?
What what position do you play?
SPEAKER_01 (07:59):
Uh this season I played right back, but last
season I mainly played wingerand um striker in midfield.
SPEAKER_03 (08:05):
Oh no.
So like all over You're all overthe place, man.
You're a bit of a utilityplayer.
That's great.
That's really valuable forcoaches and teams, I'm telling
you.
So that's cool.
What was your maybe yourfavorite drill from or whatever
activity it was that you guysdo?
SPEAKER_01 (08:21):
The 99.
SPEAKER_03 (08:22):
The 99, yeah.
It's always the scrimmages.
That's all.
SPEAKER_01 (08:25):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:25):
But I think it also speaks to you know, drills are
great, but people, kids justwant to play and want to play
the game, right?
So, coaches, don't get toobogged down in drills.
Sometimes you just gotta let thekids play.
Uh Cy, same thing, man.
What what position do you play?
And then tell me a little bitmore about your experience over
the week.
SPEAKER_00 (08:43):
I play right mid and right wing, and like my favorite
drill there was probably thescrimmage, the 9v9.
SPEAKER_03 (08:50):
Yeah, 9v9.
SPEAKER_00 (08:51):
Because we got like a lot of touches on the ball,
and we can score.
SPEAKER_03 (08:55):
That's cool.
Okay, I asked him, did you guysscore some goals?
SPEAKER_01 (08:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:59):
Yeah?
SPEAKER_01 (09:00):
Yeah.
He scored a lot of goals in thisuh five-five against his team.
Yeah, against my team.
SPEAKER_03 (09:05):
Oh, scored like five goals.
Little little banter back andforth between you?
SPEAKER_01 (09:10):
But me and Sara were on the same team for the
tournament.
SPEAKER_03 (09:13):
Oh, okay.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (09:14):
Our team won too.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:16):
Oh, your team won the tournament?
Mm-hmm.
Oh, that's pretty cool.
So, all right.
Talk to me.
You guys, what was like thecoaching?
What were the coaching stafflike?
Like what what maybe was yourbig kind of takeaway from the
coaches?
Like, what was their style?
Did they give you guys any kindof good new nuggets for you guys
(09:41):
that you might take away andlearn and and put into practice?
SPEAKER_00 (09:44):
They didn't really like coaches in anything new,
but like they were like reallyintense about like our trails.
SPEAKER_01 (09:50):
But they were pretty nice, like when we were not
doing any drinkers.
Yeah, pretty fun.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:55):
They were nice guys, but they're intense, huh?
On the field.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (09:59):
Okay.
What were you gonna say, Ethan?
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_01 (10:01):
So whenever we got like our water break, yeah, we
start this guy came up to me.
He was like, if you can land itin the next the w uh the bottom
in the next three tries, um andthen the next two tries, I'll
get you like ice cream orsomething like that.
Okay.
And I landed it first try, andit was like, oh shoot.
He's like, if you can flip acoin and then land it, yeah,
(10:24):
I'll get you ice cream.
But I didn't have a coin, so Ijust flipped a bottle.
I I missed it.
They were just like super chill,nice, and intense, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (10:31):
Okay.
So intense when it came to theirsoccer, but off the field or in
the breaks, they made sure tohave some fun.
SPEAKER_01 (10:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (10:38):
Is that fair?
SPEAKER_01 (10:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (10:39):
Okay, good.
Well, maybe that's something,you know, I think you guys
probably do too, right?
You're when you're on the pitchor on the field, like you know
it's game time, you locked in,ready to rock, but water breaks
or you know, off the pitch, youguys are okay to have goof off a
little bit and be kids.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's still important to have funon the pitch stuff, right?
SPEAKER_00 (11:01):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (11:02):
I don't think you guys would be playing if you
weren't having fun.
unknown (11:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (11:06):
Right?
That's my that's my number onerule.
That's what I tell my players isyou gotta have fun.
If you're not having fun, thenI'm doing something wrong, or we
gotta have a chat.
So I guess did you guys learnanything different or new, or
did you see anything from otherplayers that stood out to you
(11:29):
over the weekend that maybe youhaven't seen or experienced
before, like a different versionof coaching or a different way
of thinking about things?
Did you learn anything over theweekend that kind of stood out
to you?
Sorry?
SPEAKER_00 (11:46):
Oh well, I feel like like on Ozark, we just needed
like more like speed and fasterfootwork on the ball.
SPEAKER_03 (11:56):
Yeah, the so the speed of the guys playing not
only just physically, but speedof play as well.
And then touches and how quickthey were.
SPEAKER_00 (12:06):
And we need to be like stronger too.
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
Because we were really small compared to them.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (12:10):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (12:11):
We're gonna hit our girls for maybe this year or
next year.
SPEAKER_03 (12:14):
Yeah.
Yeah.
You I mean everybody, you're youguys are at that age.
It's it'll come.
SPEAKER_01 (12:19):
I think we're like one of the smallest teams, I
feel like.
SPEAKER_03 (12:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (12:22):
All the teams that we play have like giants on
their team.
Louisiana.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (12:26):
Yeah, that Louisiana team were they big.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:31):
They were on.
SPEAKER_01 (12:33):
You're only like five eight inches.
Yeah.
We have like a really tallteammate though.
He's like 6'3.
What?
Yeah, what of our teammate?
It's only one.
He's like the giant.
He's tall.
SPEAKER_03 (12:44):
What position does he play?
SPEAKER_01 (12:46):
Defender.
He used to play center back.
SPEAKER_03 (12:47):
Is he playing center back?
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (12:48):
He used to play um striker, but what's his name?
Devin.
SPEAKER_03 (12:52):
Devin Moody.
SPEAKER_01 (12:54):
Moody.
SPEAKER_03 (12:56):
Moody.
Okay, I'm sorry.
That's well, that's cool.
I th you know that's but that'simportant though.
Speed of play is huge, right?
I think as you guys start to getlevel by level, right?
That's one of the biggest thingsis speed of play.
And then what comes with that isdecision making up there, right?
Yeah.
And how much quicker you need tomake decisions.
And I think that that's a greatobservation there, Mr.
(13:19):
Psy.
So that's awesome.
Ethan, what about you, man?
SPEAKER_01 (13:22):
I noticed that they would like can constantly
communicate, even on and off theball, and they would utilize
their fakes and like feints alot.
SPEAKER_03 (13:32):
Okay.
I think that's a huge one.
Communications, like, if youguys, you guys have obviously
probably been to some pro gamesor college games or older boys,
it is never silent on the field,is it?
SPEAKER_00 (13:44):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (13:45):
It's like constant, right?
And I tell my boys too, uh,they're younger than you, but
they're one of your biggestthings that you can control is
your energy on the field.
And one of the biggest ways tolift your energy just naturally
is talking and communicating.
Because if you're talking andcommunicating, you're you're
(14:06):
locked in, you're clued intowhat's going on, and it lifts
your energy automatically.
So that's uh that's a huge partof the game.
So I'm glad to hear that.
What about you, Adrian?
SPEAKER_01 (14:17):
I think that they were using their size wisely,
you know, bodying, like at asmart way.
SPEAKER_03 (14:25):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (14:25):
Not just like full sending you to the ground.
SPEAKER_03 (14:28):
Yeah, not just like fouling you, but actually using
it to their advantage.
SPEAKER_01 (14:32):
Yeah.
And they were like looking up.
I don't think I saw a single onelooking down at the ball.
Unless you're like shooting orsomething, but they were just
like had their head up the wholetime.
SPEAKER_03 (14:45):
Yeah, having that ability, right, to just be that
comfortable and just know whereit's at.
We gotta have that ball on astring, right?
SPEAKER_00 (14:52):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (14:53):
Okay.
So is there anything that youguys experienced that you felt
like this actually is right inline like with what we've been
doing at OZFC with our coachingstaff and what we've been
learning and and trying to do?
Is there anything that likestood out to you there?
(15:15):
Like when you experienced it,you're like, man, this is I feel
like I'm at home right now.
Like this is this is stuff thatwe do.
This is stuff that coach tarpson, this is stuff that he
preaches.
Is there anything that you stoodout to you there?
SPEAKER_00 (15:25):
Oh, just uh like warmups were like really
similar.
Yeah, they were similar.
SPEAKER_03 (15:31):
Okay, in what way?
SPEAKER_00 (15:32):
Like like the stretches and like the passing
drills that we did.
Yeah, we usually they do likethe same thing we do on game
days.
SPEAKER_03 (15:39):
Okay.
Like game day, game day routine.
So what do you guys do on a gameday routine?
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
So first off, we do like our normal high knees, like
butt kicks, lunges, all thatsorts of stuff, and then after
that we get a like a little sipof water, and then we just pass
around like first the firstpassing drills, like two touch,
and then one touch, and then uhone twis.
SPEAKER_03 (16:05):
Okay.
So like a dynamic warm-up andthen get into some passing and
just getting a touch and feelfor the ball.
SPEAKER_01 (16:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (16:11):
Yeah.
Anything else, Ethan?
SPEAKER_01 (16:13):
Sometimes we set up these like this square drill,
and there are players on eachside, and there's a person in
the middle.
Then you lay it off to thatperson and they do they could do
like a one-two with the personon the outside, or they play it
back on the outside, and thatperson plays it inside.
And then the person who playedit to the person who was
(16:35):
originally in the inside, theyfollow that pass and that person
passes it to them.
SPEAKER_03 (16:40):
Okay.
That's awesome.
That I mean, it's good.
So I like experiencing newthings and new coaches, I think
is awesome and a huge part ofdevelopment.
And then I also loveunderstanding like what are new
things that you may havelearned, right, that you're
gonna take away and likeimplement.
Is there anything is thereanything that you guys feel like
(17:00):
you're gonna do differently inyour kind of normal everyday
team or training or uh even evenoff the field, like even by
yourself?
Like, is there anything that youguys feel like you came away
from the weekend, you're like,man, I want to do this
differently?
Anything like that for you guys?
SPEAKER_00 (17:21):
Our sta like working on our stamina and like our
dribbling.
SPEAKER_03 (17:24):
Stamina and dribbling, okay.
Good.
Adrian, injury or anything?
SPEAKER_01 (17:30):
Um our ball security.
SPEAKER_03 (17:33):
Ball security, okay.
So your touches and just beingeven more confident on the ball.
SPEAKER_01 (17:37):
Our aggressiveness and like getting at a tackles.
SPEAKER_03 (17:40):
Oh, I like that.
So is physical.
SPEAKER_01 (17:43):
Not just our awareness of the field.
SPEAKER_03 (17:46):
Awareness of the field, I love that.
So what do you gotta do there?
SPEAKER_01 (17:49):
Scan scanning, turn your head off.
SPEAKER_03 (17:52):
That's right.
That's what's up, and I'm surecoaches have talked to you about
that, but like they they studythis stuff, right?
And some of the best players arethe ones that scan the most.
SPEAKER_01 (18:02):
I have to do that because I'm in the midfield.
It's like you you're likesurrounded by people.
SPEAKER_03 (18:08):
You got people on both sides of you all the time.
Head on a swivel.
That's good.
Yeah, it's not just how big theywere, right?
But you know, from Ethan, likeit's hard hitting.
It's you know, you got remindedthat soccer was a contact sport
down there, didn't you?
unknown (18:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (18:28):
No injuries, I hope though, right?
No, no, no knocks, no, all good,good.
Well, that's awesome, boys.
Listen, it sounds like it wasyou know a good experience,
would you say?
Yeah.
Overall.
Happy you guys went and thankfulthat you were able to go.
SPEAKER_01 (18:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (18:45):
No, that's awesome.
So let's transition a little bitinto like what has been kind of
the experience like?
Tell people what it's like to bean OZFC Academy player a little
bit from from kind of yourperspective.
What would you tell them if theyasked you what was it like?
SPEAKER_01 (19:01):
Um it's it like sounds hard at first because
it's an MLS next.
Like once you start getting usedto the feel of the play, it's
not that bad.
SPEAKER_03 (19:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (19:14):
And it's just fun playing, it's just normal
soccer, but a little bit moreintense.
SPEAKER_03 (19:21):
Yeah.
Kind of that you take a littlebit of a step up from what
you're used to, but you know,once you can kind of understand
that you can play there, you gotselected for a reason, right?
And you get used to the level,good.
SPEAKER_01 (19:36):
Ethan, it's really competitive, but overall, it's
really fun because yourteammates are there to support
you, even if you do likesomething wrong.
And you get to travel like allover the region.
And there's this tournamentthat's coming up.
It's uh MLS United Region.
SPEAKER_03 (19:58):
Is it the regional event?
SPEAKER_01 (19:59):
Yeah, I think the region's been next week.
SPEAKER_03 (20:02):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (20:03):
I think this week we have one in Tulsa, right?
I think I think that'sGreenwood.
SPEAKER_03 (20:07):
Yeah, Tulsa is this week, which at the time of the
episode that it'll come out, itwill be last weekend.
But yes, you guys at the time ofrecording have Tulsa, right?
So that should be a good one.
We had you that was like y'all'sfirst matchups, right?
SPEAKER_01 (20:21):
Here, yeah.
When you hung behind them, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (20:24):
You need some revenge on them.
SPEAKER_01 (20:25):
We can beat them, but because we're getting like
closer and closer to winning alot, yeah.
Yeah.
What one in what was it likethat were we in Dallas?
Dallas, yeah.
Yeah, you know.
We uh we only lost by one, whichis like our closest game yet.
Nice.
They just scored a runaway gill.
Uh you just like had their fastcard just triple up the field.
SPEAKER_03 (20:45):
Yeah.
You guys, I mean it's it takestime to gel, it takes time to
learn about each other, right?
So that's awesome.
I think and hold up before we goon, Cy, what would you tell
people?
What's it like playing in frontof the FC?
SPEAKER_00 (21:00):
Well, it's really just like more competitive and
like it's more faster and a lotof people like bigger than you.
So you have to like use yourabilities to make yourself
better than the other people.
SPEAKER_03 (21:12):
Yeah.
Okay.
You gotta think differently.
Yeah, and adapt.
Yeah.
What about the coaching staff?
You like coach?
SPEAKER_01 (21:22):
Yeah, I like coach.
They really do.
Coach Christian's funny.
SPEAKER_03 (21:27):
He's a good thing.
SPEAKER_01 (21:28):
He's a good coach.
SPEAKER_03 (21:29):
Yeah.
He won state coach of the yearfor high school last year.
SPEAKER_01 (21:32):
Yeah, the best coaches.
unknown (21:34):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:34):
Because we have Coach Kevin, who coached D1
soccer for Memphis, and thenCoach Christian, who was uh
coach for state yeah, FaradayState Champions.
SPEAKER_03 (21:46):
You guys have some great coaches, that's for sure.
We love our coaches.
Shout out to the coaches.
Appreciate you guys.
So all right.
What are you guys maybe as ateam, what would you say you're
working on right now?
What do you think?
What would you share with peopleif you said, hey, this is what
we're doing?
SPEAKER_01 (22:06):
Space on the field, because last practice, which is
yesterday, we all are gone.
Like um what was it called?
Finding open space.
Yeah.
And rotating the ball.
In like the what's that onecalled again?
Squeeze.
Squeeze.
It's like space.
Our goalkeeper tells us tosqueeze and we all like pinch in
to get a smaller because it'sgonna cunt the ball up.
But we still like have the sameshape.
(22:28):
Yeah, we still have to say thesame.
It's just like a mini formation.
SPEAKER_03 (22:31):
Yeah.
Like how do you how do you movearound the field but still
maintain some semblance ofshape.
SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
Last week we just switched on uh switching the
point of attack, like wheneveryone's like crowded in this
area and someone could switchthe ball to like an open person
on the other side of the field,then we have a chance to score.
SPEAKER_03 (22:51):
Yeah.
It's it's interesting how someof the you know same stuff maybe
that you guys first startedlearning about maybe five, six,
seven years ago, but it's itchanges the way that you guys
are practicing it though, right?
And how it shows up on thisfield.
It's much faster, it's muchtougher, it's like constantly
(23:15):
changing and moving, right?
SPEAKER_01 (23:18):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (23:19):
So that's it's cool though.
You know, it's it's interesting.
You know, the game is the game,no matter what level you play it
at.
It's just the fundamental stuff,you know, makes a big difference
in the speed of play, like youguys said, and the touch it's
all right, bro.
Yeah, you all right over there,Mr.
Sod.
SPEAKER_01 (23:38):
It's because we said a meme.
SPEAKER_03 (23:41):
Oh, I did six seven.
Okay.
Okay, these kids, man, six,seven.
I get ya.
All right.
Oh, okay.
Like when you were six or sevenyears ago.
I got it.
Six, seven.
There it is.
Okay.
All right.
That shows my age here.
Um, all right, boys.
You guys have been awesomeguests.
What?
(24:01):
Let's go around the table.
What are you most lookingforward to coming up with the
Academy?
SPEAKER_01 (24:08):
Going to Houston on that charter bucks.
Okay.
It's like really fun.
And then I cooked this kid inFIFA and how yeah.
I cooked it in the airport.
We didn't even get to finish thegame, yeah, but I still cooked
you.
One-zero.
SPEAKER_03 (24:21):
There's a lot of fun bonding that you guys get to do,
right?
Yeah.
As a part of this, I think.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (24:27):
Rawl stars.
SPEAKER_03 (24:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (24:29):
Well, he was playing the whole time, bro.
Him and one of our teammates.
SPEAKER_03 (24:33):
Okay.
Ethan, what about you, man?
SPEAKER_01 (24:35):
Um, looking forward to winning games.
Yeah.
Winning's gonna be.
SPEAKER_03 (24:40):
You guys will get there.
You guys will get there.
It takes time.
Cy, what are you looking forwardto, mate?
SPEAKER_00 (24:45):
Uh, our games in Houston.
SPEAKER_03 (24:47):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (24:47):
Cause we get a skip Thursday and Friday.
Whoo, picture of you.
SPEAKER_03 (24:51):
All right, so two fall breaks, huh?
All right, guys, I love it.
Listen, thank you guys forcoming on to the show today and
sharing with us what you knowsounds like it was an amazing
experience.
And congrats again on yourselections to attend and for
being able to represent not onlyOZFC, uh, but more importantly,
(25:12):
Northwest Arkansas, guys.
Like, represent, show thepeople, right?
The NWA, we got some talenthere, right?
So listen, best of luck thisweekend in Tulsa and for the
rest of the season.
And uh we're with you guys,we're cheering for you guys.
So thank you guys for reppingOZFC and being class axe.
So thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (25:31):
Thank you.
Thank you for having us.
SPEAKER_03 (25:33):
All right, guys, that's it for this episode of
Pitch the Pro.
We hope you enjoyed it.
Be sure to catch all of ourepisodes on pitchtopro.com or
look for Pitch the Pro onYouTube, Spotify, Apple, or
wherever you get your podcastfor more content.
Until next time, NorthwestArkansas, cheers.
SPEAKER_02 (25:48):
Thanks for joining us on this episode of the Pitch
the Pro podcast.
Be sure to tune in again in twoweeks for the next installment
and check out the stoppage timeseries for a recap of today's
episode.
Be sure to find us at Pitch thePro on YouTube, Instagram, and
everywhere you get yourpodcasts.
Until next time, NorthwestArkansas, cheers.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!