October 30, 2025 • 6 mins
Today, we revisit a lively conversation with members of Ozark United FC’s youth program as they reflect on their recent tournament experiences. The players share what stood out most to them: the pace and physicality of the competition, the importance of communication on the field, and how small details—like warm-up routines and game-day habits—mirror what they’ve learned under their own coaches.
As they discuss what it takes to play at a higher level, listeners get an inside look at how young athletes absorb lessons about teamwork, preparation, and growth. The players talk openly about the challenges of facing bigger, faster opponents and how those moments drive them to improve both technically and mentally. Their reflections remind us that development in soccer is as much about mindset as it is about skill.
This Stoppage Time Segment captures the spirit of Pitch to Pro: passion, curiosity, and a love of the game that connects every level of play. Tune in, and be sure to catch the full episode for more stories.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:03):
Welcome to the Stoppage Time edition of the
Pitch to Pro podcast.
This is a highlight reel of someof 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_01 (00:19):
When you're on the pitch or on the field, like you
know it's game time, you lockedin, ready to rock, but water
breaks or you know, off thepitch, you guys are okay to have
goof off a little bit and bekids.
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
It's still important to have fun on the pitch,
though.
Right?
SPEAKER_02 (00:35):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
I don't think you guys would be playing if you
weren't having fun.
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
(00:58):
did you see anything from otherplayers that stood out to you
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?
(01:19):
Sorry?
SPEAKER_02 (01:20):
Oh well, I feel like like on Ozark, we just needed
like more like speed and fasterfootwork on the ball.
SPEAKER_01 (01:30):
Yeah.
The so the speed of the guysplaying not only just
physically, but speed of play aswell.
And then touches and how quickthey were.
SPEAKER_02 (01:40):
And we need to be like stronger too.
Because we were really smallcompared to them, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (01:45):
We're gonna hit our girls for maybe this year or
next year.
SPEAKER_01 (01:48):
Yeah.
Yeah, you I mean everybody,you're you guys are at that age.
It's it'll come.
SPEAKER_04 (01:53):
I think we're like one of the smallest teams, I
feel like.
SPEAKER_01 (01:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (01:56):
All the teams that we play have like giants and
good teams.
Louisiana.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:00):
Yeah, that Louisiana team, were they big?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:05):
They were on either she's you're only like five
eight inches.
Yeah.
One of our we have like a reallytall teammate though.
He's like 6'3.
What?
Yeah, one of our teammate.
He likes to giant.
He's tall.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
What position did he play?
SPEAKER_04 (02:19):
Defender.
He used to play center back.
SPEAKER_01 (02:21):
You see play center back?
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (02:22):
He used to play um striker, but.
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
What's his name?
SPEAKER_04 (02:24):
Devin Moody.
SPEAKER_01 (02:25):
Devin Moody.
SPEAKER_04 (02:28):
Moody.
Muddy.
SPEAKER_01 (02:29):
Muddy.
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 because you guys startto get level 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.
(02:53):
Cy.
So that's awesome.
Ethan, what about you, man?
SPEAKER_03 (02:56):
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_01 (03:06):
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_02 (03:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
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
(03:40):
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_04 (03:51):
I think that they were using their size wisely
bodying like at a smart way.
SPEAKER_01 (03:59):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (03:59):
Not just like full sending you to the ground.
SPEAKER_01 (04:02):
Yeah, not just like fouling you, but actually using
it to their advantage.
SPEAKER_04 (04:06):
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_01 (04:18):
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_02 (04:26):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
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?
(04:48):
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_02 (04:59):
Oh, just uh like warm-ups were like really
similar.
Yeah, they were similar.
SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
Okay, in what way?
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
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_01 (05:12):
Okay.
Like game day, game day routine.
So what do you guys do on a gameday routine?
SPEAKER_04 (05:17):
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 drill is like two touch,
and then one t one touch, andthen uh one twos.
SPEAKER_01 (05:38):
Okay.
So like a dynamic warm-up andthen get into some passing and
just getting a touch and feelfor the ball.
SPEAKER_03 (05:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:44):
Yeah.
Anything else, Ethan?
SPEAKER_03 (05:46):
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 the inside.
And then the person who playedit to the person who was
(06:09):
originally in the inside, theyfollow that pass and that person
passes it to them.
SPEAKER_00 (06:13):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (06:14):
That's awesome.
That I mean, it's good.
So I like experiencing newthings and new coaches.
I think is awesome and a hugepart of development.
And then I also loveunderstanding like what are new
things that you may havelearned, right, that you're
gonna take away and likeimplement.
SPEAKER_00 (06:30):
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 next Thursdayfor a new episode of the Pitch
to Pro Podcast, the officialpodcast of Ozark United FC.
Available on YouTube, Instagram,and everywhere you get your
podcasts.
Welcome to the Stoppage Time edition of the
Pitch to Pro podcast.
This is a highlight reel of someof 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_01 (00:19):
When you're on the pitch or on the field, like you
know it's game time, you lockedin, ready to rock, but water
breaks or you know, off thepitch, you guys are okay to have
goof off a little bit and bekids.
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (00:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (00:32):
It's still important to have fun on the pitch,
though.
Right?
SPEAKER_02 (00:35):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (00:36):
I don't think you guys would be playing if you
weren't having fun.
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
(00:58):
did you see anything from otherplayers that stood out to you
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?
(01:19):
Sorry?
SPEAKER_02 (01:20):
Oh well, I feel like like on Ozark, we just needed
like more like speed and fasterfootwork on the ball.
SPEAKER_01 (01:30):
Yeah.
The so the speed of the guysplaying not only just
physically, but speed of play aswell.
And then touches and how quickthey were.
SPEAKER_02 (01:40):
And we need to be like stronger too.
Because we were really smallcompared to them, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (01:44):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (01:45):
We're gonna hit our girls for maybe this year or
next year.
SPEAKER_01 (01:48):
Yeah.
Yeah, you I mean everybody,you're you guys are at that age.
It's it'll come.
SPEAKER_04 (01:53):
I think we're like one of the smallest teams, I
feel like.
SPEAKER_01 (01:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (01:56):
All the teams that we play have like giants and
good teams.
Louisiana.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (02:00):
Yeah, that Louisiana team, were they big?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:05):
They were on either she's you're only like five
eight inches.
Yeah.
One of our we have like a reallytall teammate though.
He's like 6'3.
What?
Yeah, one of our teammate.
He likes to giant.
He's tall.
SPEAKER_01 (02:18):
What position did he play?
SPEAKER_04 (02:19):
Defender.
He used to play center back.
SPEAKER_01 (02:21):
You see play center back?
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (02:22):
He used to play um striker, but.
SPEAKER_01 (02:24):
What's his name?
SPEAKER_04 (02:24):
Devin Moody.
SPEAKER_01 (02:25):
Devin Moody.
SPEAKER_04 (02:28):
Moody.
Muddy.
SPEAKER_01 (02:29):
Muddy.
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 because you guys startto get level 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.
(02:53):
Cy.
So that's awesome.
Ethan, what about you, man?
SPEAKER_03 (02:56):
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_01 (03:06):
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_02 (03:18):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (03:19):
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
(03:40):
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_04 (03:51):
I think that they were using their size wisely
bodying like at a smart way.
SPEAKER_01 (03:59):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (03:59):
Not just like full sending you to the ground.
SPEAKER_01 (04:02):
Yeah, not just like fouling you, but actually using
it to their advantage.
SPEAKER_04 (04:06):
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_01 (04:18):
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_02 (04:26):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
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?
(04:48):
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_02 (04:59):
Oh, just uh like warm-ups were like really
similar.
Yeah, they were similar.
SPEAKER_01 (05:04):
Okay, in what way?
SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
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_01 (05:12):
Okay.
Like game day, game day routine.
So what do you guys do on a gameday routine?
SPEAKER_04 (05:17):
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 drill is like two touch,
and then one t one touch, andthen uh one twos.
SPEAKER_01 (05:38):
Okay.
So like a dynamic warm-up andthen get into some passing and
just getting a touch and feelfor the ball.
SPEAKER_03 (05:44):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (05:44):
Yeah.
Anything else, Ethan?
SPEAKER_03 (05:46):
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 the inside.
And then the person who playedit to the person who was
(06:09):
originally in the inside, theyfollow that pass and that person
passes it to them.
SPEAKER_00 (06:13):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (06:14):
That's awesome.
That I mean, it's good.
So I like experiencing newthings and new coaches.
I think is awesome and a hugepart of development.
And then I also loveunderstanding like what are new
things that you may havelearned, right, that you're
gonna take away and likeimplement.
SPEAKER_00 (06:30):
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 next Thursdayfor a new episode of the Pitch
to Pro Podcast, the officialpodcast of Ozark United FC.
Available on YouTube, Instagram,and everywhere you get your
podcasts.
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