September 4, 2025 • 8 mins
This Stoppage Time release features a powerful excerpt from our earlier conversation with Woody Watson. In this segment, we spotlight the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Soccer Tournament — an event that made history by hosting the first-ever Marshallese national team matches at Springdale High School.
You’ll hear how what began as a grassroots effort has grown into a community-driven movement, building long-term partnerships and laying the groundwork for sustainable development through sport. Organizers share their vision of positioning the annual Outrigger Cup alongside the excitement of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, bringing international soccer closer to fans in Northwest Arkansas.
At the heart of this story are moving accounts from Marshallese players receiving their first national team call-ups, and the community pride that follows. Beyond the matches, the initiative includes youth clinics, coaching development, and collaboration with the Islander Youth Athletic Outreach Program — all designed to open doors for the next generation.
Want to learn more or get involved? Visit rmi.soccer for schedules, streaming details, and ways to support this historic moment.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
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.
So talk a little bit about.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You know how does this tournament, how's it going
to impact?
You know NWA, other than youknow what we just talked about,
which was, you know, obviously,the impact for Springdale.
Uh, men's and women's highschool soccer.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, sure, um, so we're.
We're hoping that you know all.
What is it?
500,000 plus show up to thesegames probably won't happen, but
it would be really cool.
Um, what it means long term forour organization.
Uh, we will still have ourannual women's camp.
Uh, that's going to be, youknow, the next thing that we
(00:52):
plan out.
I think the last two years it'sbeen in february or so, so
that's what we'll start gettingon to next.
Um, if we want to talk about, uh, what we're doing with the kids
, we have coaching clinics thatare going on right now and
making sure that the people thatare local, that want to be
involved in coaching soccer areable to.
So we've got some traininginitiatives going on there.
And again, that feeds rightback in to working with some of
(01:15):
the kids.
And especially, we've workedwith Joe Mardale Pena.
He's part of the Islander YouthAthletic Outreach Program
that's based out of Springdaleand it works with all the
different kids that areMarshallese and other from all
the island nations.
So we've got that that's goingto be ongoing as well.
We're going to have trainingfor the kids to work together.
You know, grow up togetherplaying the great game, and then
(01:37):
it feeds in to.
What we're going to have is thethird annual Outrigger Cup.
There's this little startuptournament that's coming to the
United States next year.
It's called the FIFA World Cupand it's actually going to be a
startup.
So we're planning to have ourOutrigger Cup moved up a couple
(01:59):
months compared to where it isthis year and we hope to really
gather some of that energy thatpeople are feeling towards the
World Cup.
They're going to be feeding forsoccer and ready for it to
happen.
There's a lot of people thataren't going to be able to go to
the games.
It's a lottery just to gettickets.
Tickets are expensive, you haveto travel and a lot of these
(02:21):
things just aren't available toa lot of people, and so what we
want to do is make thisinternational football
accessible to everybody that'sin the region as well that may
not be able to go up to KansasCity, to Dallas, to St Louis,
wherever they're having thegames.
It just isn't possiblesometimes.
So two weeks give or takebefore the World Cup, we're
(02:43):
actually going to be doing thesame thing next year and on and
on, but we're really excited forthe opportunity of what this
year sets up in the future.
This isn't just a kind of oneand done where we're really kind
of positioning ourselves withdifferent organizations.
In Northwest Arkansas I'veexperienced Fayetteville, like
Swar Springdale, slim's Chickens, ones that have helped us out
already in a few different innorthwest Arkansas get
(03:04):
experience, pay a bill likeswore spring to else limbs
chickens, ones that have helpedus out already in a few
different ways, and We'vestarted these partnerships that
aren't just hey, can you helpout this year?
What can we do for catering?
Are you able to help us outwith marketing or merchandise?
These are conversations that wehave about two, three, five
(03:25):
years in the future.
They really see it as a biginvestment into the area as well
, and we're really excited thatit's not just a one and done.
As happy and tired as we areright now about about this year,
uh, it's, you know, going to bea week off maybe, and then we
start planning for the next one,yeah, um, and that's just kind
of how it rolls.
(03:46):
And so we really want to makesure that soccer is brought to
this area, um, and everybody hasaccess to it at any stage, not
just people that are playingrecord recreationally, not just
people that want, people thatwant to go and see a
semi-professional andprofessional match that's coming
soon too but keep internationalsoccer coming to Northwest
(04:06):
Arkansas because it just bringsso much more attention to the
area, to everything that's gotgoing on here and all those
other extracurriculars thathappen that not everybody gets
to know about, because we've gota good little corner in the
state here that we hope thateverybody can experience as well
.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think that's so well put and
I just love to watch you guyscontinue to grow and build what
you're doing and you know.
Again, I just want to say Icommend you guys for you know,
leaning in and being a part ofthe journey and just helping.
This is this, is the I alwaystell people.
(04:44):
You know that, why do you likeyour job and all of that and
it's you know the pro team whenit gets here, Great That'll be.
You know, I'm so excited foryou know what that'll mean and
going to the stadium and uh, toto matches and to be able to do
that and support it.
But what I love most is is howsoccer just brings people
(05:05):
together.
Um, and it's the universalhandshake is, uh, dropping a
ball at at our feet and justsaying, you know it's a nice
anything so simple too, exactly,and so it's.
It's just, um, doing goodthrough soccer and helping bring
people together and build acommunity.
So, and there's no betterexample of that that I can think
of right now than than what youguys are doing with the
(05:27):
Marshall Island soccer.
So, um, any, any last words forfolks in NWA and coming out
again, I think it's the datesjust remind people, and then
also can they watch it if theycan't make it out for whatever
reason.
And just where should people gofor more info?
That kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, so we're about two weeks out now.
First match is going to be onWednesday the 13th, taking place
Again all of these matches atSpringdale High School.
We're going to have the firstMarshallese game on Thursday,
august 14th.
We're going to have adoubleheader that day, as well
as a doubleheader again onSaturday where all four teams
are going to be playing OzarkUnited, united teams included.
(06:09):
If you're interested and have akid in the area that wants to
go to a free clinic, we have agroup that is going to be
starting on the Friday nightbetween those games at Sonora
middle school More details tocome about.
That is going to be for fifththrough eighth graders, divided
into two different sessions.
Yes, we do have links forpeople that are not local or
(06:30):
people that you know can't makeit out to the game.
We'll be able to drop that linkto make sure that that's
attached to this.
It will be streaming.
Again.
We have really good partners atSpeedio that are providing
cameras, helping us withsoftware and getting all that
set up Really great people thathave put in a lot to this
project as well.
That's great.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So remind folks on where they can go for more info.
You guys have a website.
You can get to social media.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Yeah, it's a really simple website, rmisoccer, and
you can go on there find any ofthe information.
There's a lot of differentmedia that's being added each
day.
We've just recently announcedour squad list.
We have people that got theirletters.
For the first time, we havevideo of them opening up saying
just what it means to beselected for the first team for
(07:13):
the first match.
It's just incredible, for thefirst match.
It's just incredible.
So, if you can go there, youcan find GoFundMe that we still
have.
We're taking donations of alltime, all kinds.
We are a charitableorganization.
If anybody wants to get intouch about working together
next year as well.
Like I said, this is an annualproject.
It's not going away.
It's really big to the area and, the most important thing,
(07:35):
thank you for supporting thegame, thank you for supporting
Northwest Arkansas, thank youfor supporting the Marshall East
community as we go into areally, really historical moment
thank you for joining us forthis stoppage time special of
the Pitch to Pro podcast.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
If you've enjoyed the conversation, you can click
watch the full episode here.
Be sure to tune in nextThursday for a new episode of
the P.
Sure to tune in next Thursdayfor a new episode of the Pitch
to Pro podcast, the officialpodcast of Ozark United FC,
available on YouTube, instagramand everywhere you get your
podcasts.
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.
So talk a little bit about.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You know how does this tournament, how's it going
to impact?
You know NWA, other than youknow what we just talked about,
which was, you know, obviously,the impact for Springdale.
Uh, men's and women's highschool soccer.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Yeah, sure, um, so we're.
We're hoping that you know all.
What is it?
500,000 plus show up to thesegames probably won't happen, but
it would be really cool.
Um, what it means long term forour organization.
Uh, we will still have ourannual women's camp.
Uh, that's going to be, youknow, the next thing that we
(00:52):
plan out.
I think the last two years it'sbeen in february or so, so
that's what we'll start gettingon to next.
Um, if we want to talk about, uh, what we're doing with the kids
, we have coaching clinics thatare going on right now and
making sure that the people thatare local, that want to be
involved in coaching soccer areable to.
So we've got some traininginitiatives going on there.
And again, that feeds rightback in to working with some of
(01:15):
the kids.
And especially, we've workedwith Joe Mardale Pena.
He's part of the Islander YouthAthletic Outreach Program
that's based out of Springdaleand it works with all the
different kids that areMarshallese and other from all
the island nations.
So we've got that that's goingto be ongoing as well.
We're going to have trainingfor the kids to work together.
You know, grow up togetherplaying the great game, and then
(01:37):
it feeds in to.
What we're going to have is thethird annual Outrigger Cup.
There's this little startuptournament that's coming to the
United States next year.
It's called the FIFA World Cupand it's actually going to be a
startup.
So we're planning to have ourOutrigger Cup moved up a couple
(01:59):
months compared to where it isthis year and we hope to really
gather some of that energy thatpeople are feeling towards the
World Cup.
They're going to be feeding forsoccer and ready for it to
happen.
There's a lot of people thataren't going to be able to go to
the games.
It's a lottery just to gettickets.
Tickets are expensive, you haveto travel and a lot of these
(02:21):
things just aren't available toa lot of people, and so what we
want to do is make thisinternational football
accessible to everybody that'sin the region as well that may
not be able to go up to KansasCity, to Dallas, to St Louis,
wherever they're having thegames.
It just isn't possiblesometimes.
So two weeks give or takebefore the World Cup, we're
(02:43):
actually going to be doing thesame thing next year and on and
on, but we're really excited forthe opportunity of what this
year sets up in the future.
This isn't just a kind of oneand done where we're really kind
of positioning ourselves withdifferent organizations.
In Northwest Arkansas I'veexperienced Fayetteville, like
Swar Springdale, slim's Chickens, ones that have helped us out
already in a few different innorthwest Arkansas get
(03:04):
experience, pay a bill likeswore spring to else limbs
chickens, ones that have helpedus out already in a few
different ways, and We'vestarted these partnerships that
aren't just hey, can you helpout this year?
What can we do for catering?
Are you able to help us outwith marketing or merchandise?
These are conversations that wehave about two, three, five
(03:25):
years in the future.
They really see it as a biginvestment into the area as well
, and we're really excited thatit's not just a one and done.
As happy and tired as we areright now about about this year,
uh, it's, you know, going to bea week off maybe, and then we
start planning for the next one,yeah, um, and that's just kind
of how it rolls.
(03:46):
And so we really want to makesure that soccer is brought to
this area, um, and everybody hasaccess to it at any stage, not
just people that are playingrecord recreationally, not just
people that want, people thatwant to go and see a
semi-professional andprofessional match that's coming
soon too but keep internationalsoccer coming to Northwest
(04:06):
Arkansas because it just bringsso much more attention to the
area, to everything that's gotgoing on here and all those
other extracurriculars thathappen that not everybody gets
to know about, because we've gota good little corner in the
state here that we hope thateverybody can experience as well
.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, absolutely, and I think that's so well put and
I just love to watch you guyscontinue to grow and build what
you're doing and you know.
Again, I just want to say Icommend you guys for you know,
leaning in and being a part ofthe journey and just helping.
This is this, is the I alwaystell people.
(04:44):
You know that, why do you likeyour job and all of that and
it's you know the pro team whenit gets here, Great That'll be.
You know, I'm so excited foryou know what that'll mean and
going to the stadium and uh, toto matches and to be able to do
that and support it.
But what I love most is is howsoccer just brings people
(05:05):
together.
Um, and it's the universalhandshake is, uh, dropping a
ball at at our feet and justsaying, you know it's a nice
anything so simple too, exactly,and so it's.
It's just, um, doing goodthrough soccer and helping bring
people together and build acommunity.
So, and there's no betterexample of that that I can think
of right now than than what youguys are doing with the
(05:27):
Marshall Island soccer.
So, um, any, any last words forfolks in NWA and coming out
again, I think it's the datesjust remind people, and then
also can they watch it if theycan't make it out for whatever
reason.
And just where should people gofor more info?
That kind of thing.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, so we're about two weeks out now.
First match is going to be onWednesday the 13th, taking place
Again all of these matches atSpringdale High School.
We're going to have the firstMarshallese game on Thursday,
august 14th.
We're going to have adoubleheader that day, as well
as a doubleheader again onSaturday where all four teams
are going to be playing OzarkUnited, united teams included.
(06:09):
If you're interested and have akid in the area that wants to
go to a free clinic, we have agroup that is going to be
starting on the Friday nightbetween those games at Sonora
middle school More details tocome about.
That is going to be for fifththrough eighth graders, divided
into two different sessions.
Yes, we do have links forpeople that are not local or
(06:30):
people that you know can't makeit out to the game.
We'll be able to drop that linkto make sure that that's
attached to this.
It will be streaming.
Again.
We have really good partners atSpeedio that are providing
cameras, helping us withsoftware and getting all that
set up Really great people thathave put in a lot to this
project as well.
That's great.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
So remind folks on where they can go for more info.
You guys have a website.
You can get to social media.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Yeah, it's a really simple website, rmisoccer, and
you can go on there find any ofthe information.
There's a lot of differentmedia that's being added each
day.
We've just recently announcedour squad list.
We have people that got theirletters.
For the first time, we havevideo of them opening up saying
just what it means to beselected for the first team for
(07:13):
the first match.
It's just incredible, for thefirst match.
It's just incredible.
So, if you can go there, youcan find GoFundMe that we still
have.
We're taking donations of alltime, all kinds.
We are a charitableorganization.
If anybody wants to get intouch about working together
next year as well.
Like I said, this is an annualproject.
It's not going away.
It's really big to the area and, the most important thing,
(07:35):
thank you for supporting thegame, thank you for supporting
Northwest Arkansas, thank youfor supporting the Marshall East
community as we go into areally, really historical moment
thank you for joining us forthis stoppage time special of
the Pitch to Pro podcast.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
If you've enjoyed the conversation, you can click
watch the full episode here.
Be sure to tune in nextThursday for a new episode of
the P.
Sure to tune in next Thursdayfor a new episode of the Pitch
to Pro podcast, the officialpodcast of Ozark United FC,
available on YouTube, instagramand everywhere you get your
podcasts.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
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
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.