Stoppage Time Special: Balancing Winning and Growth in Youth Soccer

Imagine witnessing a young athlete achieve their dreams and thinking, "If they can do it, so can I." This week on the Pitch to Pro podcast, we're joined by a former high-level player turned coach, who shares his compelling journey through the evolving soccer landscape in Northwest Arkansas. Ryan Williams breaks down the significance of intellectual engagement for young athletes, especially the 2012 age group, and how it shapes their understanding of soccer. Through his personal story, you'll hear about the triumphs and trials of nurturing talent from grassroots to greatness, providing a beacon of hope and possibility for aspiring players.

Our conversation unveils the delicate balance between the thirst for victory and the necessity of player development. Ryan goes beyond just sharing his experiences, offering a raw and honest look at the internal struggle coaches often face between winning and fostering growth. Whether you're a coach, player, or soccer enthusiast, you'll find this discussion both relatable and thought-provoking. We promise you'll leave with a deeper understanding of what it takes to cultivate talent and create clear pathways for young athletes in the ever-growing soccer communities of places like Northwest Arkansas and beyond.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Stoppage Time edition of the
Pitch to Pro podcast.
This is a highlight reel ofsome of the best moments from
the show so far, and every otherweek we will be bringing you a
special five to seven minutesegment featuring the best
stories, tales and moments ofthe podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
In Hawaii, when you're seeing players going and
you're seeing them doing goodstuff, wow, you're like, well,
if he can do it, I think I cando it.
And same thing here, when yousee players in northern Arkansas
start going places and they'redoing stuff and the community
gets smaller and smaller.
The soccer community getssmaller and smaller and you're

(00:41):
like, whoa, so-and-so did it.
But you have to know thatbecause that's inspiration,
right, like that, that's uh,it's motivating and it's, it's
almost, it's tangible, right,you're seeing it and you're like
I can get there too.
Um, and so, like that's whatkind of what I'm doing with the
2012s and the, the ozark united.
Um, it obviously looks differentat the different ages.

(01:03):
The 2012 group is a interestingage because you know, like you
said, it's it's huge in theirdevelopment, in the development
years, um, it's the for for what.
I think the, the engagement onthe, on the intellectual side of
the game, is very important,right, because that, like, how

(01:24):
they think through the game, now, it kind of shapes how they're
going to think to the game asthey get older.
And as they get older, it'sreally hard to kind of get out
of those ways, right, um, it'shard to, it's hard to learn, or
or um, your, your thoughtprocesses are really hard to
change, like right now.
It's, it's very malleable.
How did I say that right?

(01:47):
yeah, you can, you can reallymold those things um, yeah, so
you can really mold it now umand so yeah, we'll talk.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
I mean, you've, you've been in northwest
arkansas as a player, a collegestudent, um, and then now, you
know, gone off and then continueto play at a high level as a
pro and then come back and beenaround in the area for a while
now, started a family and now inthe coaching space, how is the

(02:16):
game like?

Speaker 2 (02:17):
talk about the growth of the game in the area and
what you've seen in yourexperience and then kind of tie
that into then what you're nowgetting to do with the u20 boys
and how that's kind ofculminating yeah, um, well, I
coached up to our jbu, who isfrom this area, and he was a top

(02:40):
, top player, actually did somereally good stuff like sets a
really set some really highrecords at jbu and, as I've
engaged even with the, the youthside of it, I there's talent,
there's talent here, you know,and I think what for me is is
really is really important is toum is to meet meet talent with

(03:03):
content, to push that.
I think the talents you're inas things get more tangible in
the pathway.
That helps.
But, like any education, youhave to meet people where they
are and be able to get them towhere they're going.

(03:31):
As a coach it can be, and I kindof I wrestle with this stuff
because I'm fairly new.
I'm fairly new into coaching.
Um, I wrestle with man.
I want to win, I want to win, Iwant to win because that's how
I was as a player and everycoach is that way that
competitive drive.
Every parents that way, every.
I mean, if you're in acompetitive like environment,
you probably want to win, nodoubt.
Yeah, like no one plays, yeah,I don't know of anyone who plays
soccer or coaches soccer, andso I like losing you know, so

(03:56):
it's like you, you, you wrestlewith that pride a bit, but they
to win at the expense ofdevelopment, like I.
I don't know if that's very good.
It may be a good feeling, butfor development's sake the
player is not getting anything.
And I can only say this becauseI was this way as a player.

(04:18):
You see through people, you seethrough stuff, even if you're
winning, you see through it.
You see through stuff, even ifyou're winning, you see through
it and and so like it and beingable to, um, uh, being able to
like receive that content soimportant, because that if
you're being challenged andyou're you, you, you see your

(04:39):
learning going up and up and up,well, then your hope and your
dream almost seems to be a bitmore realized.
Right, like, if I feel like I'mbeing pushed and I'm being
taught better and this is thesame thing in school, like if
you're, if you're gettingcontent that's challenging and
you're being, um, engaged by aprofessor or a teacher that's,

(04:59):
you know, really pushing you andreally well, especially in the
college.
And I think in the collegeenvironment you have a professor
who's really pushing you andreally well, especially in the
college.
I think in the collegeenvironment.
If you have a professor who'sreally pushing you and engaging
with your own, say, papers oryour own work, and they're able
to get you to where you want togo, well, that's very actually
encouraging, right.
And so when that happens,you're like okay, well, I think

(05:23):
I can actually reach somethingthat I want to reach, but if I
can't, then we'll.
If I don't see that, that classis not a fun class, in other
words, that class is a joke.
You don't take that classseriously.
You don't take that teamseriously.
You don't take that seasonseriously.
Don't take that team seriously.

(05:48):
You don't take that seasonseriously, right?
So it's like I find that it isespecially at the higher levels
to you know that it's.
It's, uh, I guess important,but like, maybe there's a bit a
better word than important orvital it's vital that you get
content right, because thecontent is like it's it kind of
matches, that pathway, right,and so, yeah, at the one is like

(06:10):
the 2012s, the u13s, u14s, yeah, trying to shape how they see
the game is very important, butonce it's shaped, you've got to
be able to continue to push andpush um.

Speaker 1 (06:20):
So that's awesome.
Well, I mean, talk about youknow transition a little bit
here and let's talk about yourexperience.
Uh so far, right, uh stillongoing.
Uh with the u20 boys.
Uh academy program with uhozark united.

(06:41):
What did you see from theresponse to tryouts and the
level and then how this groupthat truly was a representation
of our community at large fromall corners and I'll let you
talk about it, but we hadplayers that were rivals for the

(07:05):
majority of their playingcareer now coming together and
getting the best talent in thesame place, under the same badge
and playing together andcompeting at really, really high
levels.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yeah, same thing for you the experience.
I don't really know where tostart Because there's a lot to
it.
Think so, I guess try out liketrials was man, the amount of
like players that showed up,that was that was really awesome
.
And it you're seeing all theseplayers and as a coaching staff

(07:40):
you're like, oh man, like well,we gotta sort through these
players you know, um, and thatwas a challenge in itself, but,
like just all those letterscoming out it, I think it showed
.
It showed something to thecommunity right about this,
almost this.
I want to be a part of this.
There's togetherness, so tospeak, um, and while they may

(08:00):
not think it at the time, likethese players that you were
saying, coming from differentclubs in this area, together and
they're playing, and not onlyjust playing together, but they
succeed together, right, andthat's shown in what we've done
in this fall season.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
Thank, you for joining us for this Stoppage
Time special of the Pitch to Propodcast.
If you've enjoyed theconversation, you can click
watch the full episode here.
Be sure to tune in nextThursday for a new episode of
the Pitch to Pro podcast, theofficial podcast of Ozark United
FC, Available on YouTube,Instagram and everywhere you get
your podcasts.