January 29, 2025 • 41 mins
What if the roots of a small town could shape the career of a remarkable coach? Alyssa Johnson, a distinguished coach and former soccer player, shares how her hometown of Easton, Pennsylvania, with its rich industrial history and vibrant sports culture, laid the foundation for her journey. From her early days at Lafayette College to her fervent support for Philadelphia's Eagles, Alyssa's story reveals a deep connection to her roots and an unwavering passion for coaching.
Listeners are in for a treat as Alyssa recounts her transition from being a student-athlete to a sought-after college coach. Her candid insights into finding her direction through unexpected challenges and opportunities, like those at Arcadia University and Seton Hill, offer a fascinating glimpse into the world of collegiate coaching. With her varied experiences and a master's degree bolstering her career, Alyssa discusses the significance of following one’s gut and how intuition led her to a fulfilling role at Case Western Reserve University.
Alyssa's reflections on a challenging yet rewarding soccer season at Case Western culminate in a story of growth, resilience, and community. With heartfelt gratitude, she highlights the pivotal role of a mental performance expert in transforming her team and offers a peek into the supportive environment that makes Case Western unique. As she playfully contrasts life in Ohio with her Pennsylvania roots, her passion for her craft and appreciation for the institutions that shaped her career shine through, promising more captivating stories in future episodes.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
This is your special guest,host Fiti, and today I have a
great guest for the Ride HomeRants show.
It's going to be a terrificshow with someone who I've known
for a long time.
She's a fantastic coach,fantastic person and, just
overall, just great human being.
(00:21):
So, without further ado, alyssaJohnson, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Thank you, thank you.
I'm excited to be here and lookforward to chatting a little
bit and, yeah, let's get started.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Absolutely so.
For the people that don't know,you kind of give a rundown on
where are you from originally.
I know all about you because weworked together and we've known
each other a long time.
But where did you grow uporiginally and like, go to high
school at?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, so originally I'm from Easton, Pennsylvania.
I went to Easton Area HighSchool, which is on basically
the Jersey border, so kind ofyou know East Coast, originally
big Philadelphia sports fan,especially the Eagles Go Birds.
So yeah, I really loved myhometown and the experience I
get there and got from highschool, so it's something I'm
(01:08):
really prideful of andpassionate about.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So was your high school like a big high school,
small high school, medium size?
I know sometimes those schoolson the eastern side of PA
relatively fall in the largerealm, but was your school the
same way?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, yeah, we were definitely like the one of the
larger schools, I would say inthe area.
Um, we definitely competed inlike the kind of the the big
school division, so like we werequad A or 6A whatever they kind
of do now, because I know it'sfluctuated depending on sports.
So, uh, yeah, pretty big highschool.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Now for the people that don't know where, like
easton, is that they may know,like philadelphia or york or
somewhere over there.
Where exactly are you close tothat area at all?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
yeah, so I'm about an hour and a half north of philly
.
I would say, uh, just right on,like the jersey border there.
So okay, okay, valley whatyou'd probably like call the
area.
So I went to Lafayette collegeUm, that's right where Easton is
and then Lehigh, which a lot ofpeople also kind of know is
about like 20 minutes in theBethlehem area near me.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, yeah, so that that definitely um makes sense.
So you're right off with, likethe interstate 80 corridor then
78 is like the main one, butprobably okay.
So if you're going over and up,okay, yeah, okay.
So you know it's always funnytoo.
People don't realize, um, whenyou talk about, like
(02:35):
pennsylvania, how historicpennsylvania is in like the
industrial revolution of theworld and especially that that
that mid middle part ofPennsylvania and East Eastern
side, people know Pittsburgh onthe West the.
Western part of the state butthey don't realize, like
Philadelphia and like theBethlehem area and Hershey and
(02:59):
we're like Ma Chunk was whereJim Thorpe is and York and all
those areas, they don't reallyrealize how historic uh that
part of of the the country is,especially in pennsylvania.
So it's, it's very unique whenyou talk to people from out
there because they know it'shistoric.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
We, we other people- who may not know, don't know
that yeah, bethlehem steel islike a pretty big thing you know
out that way.
Um, I think if you're talkingkind of back that time, you know
it was like one of the leadingsteel producing you know
companies at the time and kindof a random thing that like,
(03:36):
actually, when I first got toBethany I was reading some of
like the you know infrastructurethere, like some of the steel
poles that were kind of in thebuilding.
One of them literally saidBethlehem Steel Inc.
So that was kind of a you knowa random you know blast from the
past, kind of like hometownfeel that I got at a place I
didn't really expect it inLittle Bethany.
(03:57):
So, yeah, you kind of don'trealize that a lot of people
don't know the Crayola factoryis actually in Easton,
pennsylvania.
So that's another thing that Ihave told people like growing up
the the Crayola crayon maker,the thing where he used to put
the crayons in and it would meltand then make one crayon.
My neighbor had invented that.
(04:20):
So those are kind of some somerandom things that you don't
realize.
Go on there.
But, um, but yeah, and now thelike another thing is like the
Sam Adams, like one of theirbreweries, is actually in
Pennsylvania, so I pass it everytime on my way home.
But for a while Sam Adamsdidn't want people to know that
they actually brewed some oftheir beer in Pennsylvania,
because it doesn't fit thestereotype.
So, yeah, there's a lot thatgoes on out that way.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, it's just so interesting, interesting and you
just talk to people and likeyou talk about that and like
Hershey's chocolate was foundedin Pennsylvania and Hershey Park
and the theme park and all thecool things us people from
Pennsylvania know but not youknow, not not like super out
there with other people knownabout Hershey.
So yeah, pennsylvania, veryhistoric, uh, historic place.
(05:03):
So uh, and you gotta be happywith it.
With the Eagles, you know whenthis show airs they should
hopefully be, uh, getting readyto compete for the Super Bowl.
But oh, fingers crossed daysthey'll tell yeah, fingers will
be a stressful one, I'm sureyeah, you know, and all us
Italian people are cheering forthe Eagles if we don't like them
because of Nick Sirianni beinga fellow Italian.
(05:26):
So you kind of mentioned thatyou, you finish at Easton, you
know, or you finished highschool, grew up out there, you
know.
You go to Lafayette Collegewhere you had a really, really
good career as a soccer player.
So can you kind of talk aboutwhat your recruiting process was
like?
Why did you choose there, youknow?
(05:47):
And ultimately, you know whatwas that time like during your
collegiate athletics?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah, so I originally kind of wrote it off a little
bit just because I was likethat's kind of my backyard I
feel like you know, I don't wantto go that close to home, but I
was looking at a lot of likehigher academic institutions.
I kind of wanted that balanceof athletics and academics.
So one of my high school likevolunteer coaches actually he
(06:17):
volunteered at Lafayette as well, so he was kind of a liaison
for me a little bit in therecruitment process and had let
me know, you know the coacheswere interested, they had seen
me play at a tournament and,yeah, I I ended up going on a
visit there.
I went on a couple other visitsbut ended up really feeling
connected with the players.
(06:37):
I think you know that wassomething like times are a
little bit different.
So I remember them like aftermy visit, like writing on my I
think it was Facebook at thetime like writing on my wall,
like following up with, like howgreat of a visit it was, and
then, like randomly, would reachout to me being like, oh hey,
like I saw, you know I saw youscore a goal from your high
(06:58):
school.
Like somebody reached out to mebecause like the local you know
news like cover sports andobviously it's the same area and
they reached out to me then onetime and I just remember
feeling like I wanted highacademics Like I.
I thought the campus wasabsolutely beautiful.
You know, I thought I was goingto get a really great
experience from like the overallculture of the team and just
(07:18):
the players I felt super, superconnected with.
And I didn't necessarily feelthat connection on the other
visits I went on and so that'skind of like why I decided to go
there Overall.
It wasn't necessarily theexperience I was honestly hoping
for.
It had nothing to donecessarily with playing time
and things like that, but I kindof just felt like the
(07:40):
environment was not what Iexpected as far as like the
culture and maybe how thingswere led, and so honestly,
that's one of the biggestreasons I went into college
coaching as a profession.
I had coached in high school.
My high school coach actuallyhad kind of you know, ran a
local club, was the director ofone, and so he was able to get
(08:02):
me involved in that and kind ofdip my toes in that in that way
and really enjoyed coaching andI'm super, super competitive.
I know anybody in athleticswill say that.
But I feel like if you were totalk my husband coaches, if you
were to talk to a lot of ourclose friends, they would
probably tell you I'm one of themost competitive people you'll
meet, which is both good and bad, but I kind of I knew I wanted
(08:24):
to be in sports, but then Ithink that overall experience is
what really made me feel like Iwanted to get into collegiate
coaching to kind of give backand hopefully be that coach and
create an environment that Ididn't feel like I had, but I
really, really had wanted out ofthose, out of those four years.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Okay, and what did you ultimately get your degree
in from?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
uh, your undergrad yeah, I majored in in psychology
, so I, I, you know, I hadalways had interest in like
understanding why, a little bit,why people are the way they are
.
I didn't necessarily pursuelike the clinical route or
anything like that, um, but I Iwasn't totally sure what I
wanted, but I thought it wassomething that could maybe be
(09:04):
like transferable and apply to acouple different things.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
So so yeah, and, if I'm not mistaken, is Lafayette
in the Patriot League.
Is that correct?
Yeah, ok, one of the higheracademic institutional
conferences.
If people don't know, in theUnited States.
A lot of great schools in there, a lot of history there, um,
and definitely a very, veryhistoric and high academic
(09:29):
caliber league.
That is for sure.
So you finish up your career,you graduate.
You know you're 22 years oldand you got to figure out what
you want to do for the rest ofyour life, and you mentioned
about coaching.
So what was that next step foryou after graduating?
You know, just a couple ofyears ago for yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Yeah, yeah, it doesn't seem like it was a
couple of years ago now, but, um, but yeah, I mean, I knew I
wanted to get into coaching butI still had a couple other like
things I was interested in.
As far as you know, I had aninternship with a sports
psychologist that I did, where Idid a little bit of graphic
design and things like that kindof a more creative outlet for
(10:09):
me.
I was coaching, like doingprivate sessions and things like
that and then coaching likeyouth a little bit.
And also I had like aninternship with Bethlehem Steel
FC, which is now like thePhiladelphia Union too, but I
had different things like thatbecause, again, I knew I wanted
to be in sports, I was set oncoaching, but I hadn't had that
(10:30):
opportunity yet.
So I was just kind of makingsure and putting feelers out
there that that's really what Iwanted to do.
And then I got the opportunity.
I started looking for jobs andthen my old club coach had
actually posted that he waslooking for, you know, a
part-time assistant, and so Ireached out, connected with him,
and it ended up kind of justfalling in place that I was able
(10:53):
to assist with him for a yearat Arcadia, which was a really,
really great experience.
I think he obviously him and Ihad a relationship before he was
a coach that we, you know, wereally connected and I got along
well with him and you know hewas, you know, kind of a big
part of my life then withhelping me get my feet
underneath me, dipping my toesin the collegiate world of
(11:15):
coaching, and it was a really,really great first experience.
And so then after that year Ikind of knew like I wanted to
get my master's.
I knew that would be importantlater on.
You know, I know there's somecoaching jobs that won't hire
you if you don't have yourmaster's, and so I knew I wanted
to do that and have that.
And so I was able to kind offind the graduate assistant
(11:37):
posting with Seton Hill.
It was kind of weird I I wasn'tlike too too familiar with
Pittsburgh, really in the area,but Newt was out that way and
you know I kind of just had aweird gut feeling when I saw
that posting and applied for it,that this I just kind of felt
like this was going to work outand I was going to get that
position.
Yeah, spent, spent, two, tworeally good years there too,
(12:04):
working um working under AndyMcNabb, and my coach at um
Arcadia was Rick Brownell, andboth of them, I think, were
really great influences in mylife and great people to to
learn under.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
So that's awesome.
Now did you get your MBA thenfrom Seton Hill?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
yeah, so I got my MBA with a concentration in
business management, so that wasa good experience.
I think it's obviouslysomething that kind of applies
you don't realize in coachinghow many background operations
and things like that that youend up doing in the office and
so it definitely applies alittle bit there and was just
(12:42):
good experience.
You know in that sense.
So you know a lot of.
I guess my degrees aren't likefull force being used right now,
but they're definitelytransferable to some degree.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
You know it's funny that you talk about degrees with
that.
And you know you and I haveboth worked in higher ed a long
time and it's funny when you'rean undergrad you always have
these ideas of you know what youthink you want to do and so
forth and such.
And I know you and I've hadconversations before and it
would be you know always notwhat do you want to major in,
right, what do you want to do?
(13:15):
And let's try to find a majorthat'll fit these different path
routes.
But I, but you and I both knowthat when you look at studies
that like seven out of tenpeople don't actually use their
undergraduate degree because alot of people go in and go I
want to major in this, and thenyou don't end up doing that.
(13:36):
But if you say, hey, what do youthink you want to do, then you
can kind of cater that, maybefind a major, your pathway, just
like you know know you want toget into coaching.
You know you think that youwant to stay involved in sports.
Well, psychology is a good wayto go, because you got to
understand how people work, youknow, with with their mental
health and and from a from apsychological standpoint.
(13:59):
So you know, kudos to you forfinding that pathway and finding
that degree that you know willensure that you're somewhat, or
using it to an extent, right.
So you go to Seton Hill.
You have, you know, your coupleyears there as a graduate
assistant.
From there then you begin youryour true, like non in school,
(14:20):
not GA, position.
Can you kind of walk us throughyour, your coaching journey
then?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
position.
Can you kind of walk us throughyour coaching journey then?
Yeah, so when I had finished upat Seton Hill I actually really
thought I was going to go onsomewhere to be an assistant.
At that point I think I wasstill teetering on the idea of
what level do I want to coach at?
Because obviously I had playeddivision one, I had coached at a
division three school and thenI had coached at a Division III
school and then I had coached ata Division II school, and so I
(14:47):
was still teetering on that andnot sure what I wanted.
So I definitely had feelers outthere for different positions.
I had actually gotten reachedout to about one position.
That was a head coaching role.
That I didn't expect and thatwas my first head coaching
interview.
And it was actually probably myfirst interview right after
finishing up with Seton Hill andknowing that like I have to
(15:08):
move on now I have to findsomething else.
Because the GA spot was doneand, um, I was a bit relieved.
I didn't get that job actually,because I just didn't think it
was going to be the right fitfor me.
But I kind of felt like if Igot it, I got to take it cause
it would help my career, um.
So I didn't end up getting thatone, but it ended up being kind
(15:33):
of a good thing for me.
And then I think it opened upmy eyes a little bit, though, to
being a head coach.
And so, you know, I was stillinterviewing, like I had a D1
assistant position I wasinterviewing with and was, you
know, a finalist for, and then Iended up one of my friends
actually texted me and was likehey, I saw Bethany was open,
which I had not really heard ofBethany too much before.
She knew about it because shehad played in the conference,
(15:55):
she had went to St Vincent.
And so she was like I know,bethany, it's in our conference,
like you should apply.
And I kind of was like, ah, Idon't know, it's West Virginia,
right, what everybody alwaysalways says, you know, first off
when they hear that.
And then maybe a day or twowent by and I was like, okay,
like I'm going to apply for it,let's just see what happens.
And then, um, you know, I endedup going to campus that was
(16:18):
kind of the same time as the D1position was reaching back out
to and I went to campus thereand I'm driving in and the GPS
took me the wrong route therefor one.
Now it's actually the routethat I would probably have taken
every time if I was coming fromPA, because I like it.
But my first time there I waslike all back roads and all of
that and I was like what isgoing on?
I'm not taking this job andthen I'm interviewing there.
(16:39):
I'm meeting people, obviouslymet Steve Thompson, obviously
met you.
You drove me around in the golfcart to tour campus and then I,
by the end of the day, I waslike gosh, I think if I get this
job, I'm going to take it LikeI just see opportunity here.
And so I remember going home tomy then at the time boyfriend,
(17:02):
who was also a coach, andtalking to him about it.
And he was like you know, threedays go by and he's like I
don't, I don't think you got thejob.
Like I think you would haveheard by now.
I was like I don't know, maybe.
And then you know I get the call, was offered the position.
You know took a day just tothink about it because you know
there were some other things andI just wanted to kind of figure
out is this really what I wantand then obviously accepted the
(17:24):
position and ended up at Bethany, you know, was there for five
years and you know, wow, Ilearned a lot for sure.
I met a lot of really, reallygreat people, some people that
are obviously, you know, likeyourself, I'm still very close
with and connected to and, to behonest, like, obviously Bethany
is a very different place thana lot of other places.
(17:45):
But I don't think I'd be thecoach I am today or be where I'm
at today without thoseexperiences and without those
maybe you know, struggles attimes and obviously some
successes, but years and youknow, was promoted at the time
(18:08):
so I had an assistant athleticdirector role by the time I
finished up there, but I kind ofknown, you know, as year four,
year five was coming around,that I think you know I need
something else that's going topush me further and be another
step up a little bit as far as,like, competition and some
things like that, and maybe putme closer, hopefully, to my now
(18:31):
husband's family or one of ourfamilies.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
You know you finished up thisrun at Bethany.
You know you're like one of thelast people, I think, still
there.
You know, after I left andSteve left for Bowen Wallace and
Coach Upton left.
And you know, after you know Ileft and Steve left for Bowen
Wallace and coach Upton left,and you know a lot of other
people left.
So, um, you know you, you thenare, are looking for a new job,
(18:55):
you know, and you ended up atCase Western Reserve University
here in Cleveland, ohio.
So, um, was there anywhere elseyou were looking at and
interviewing, or was really?
Is it like case or I'm going tostay here in West Virginia and
be wild and wonderful?
Yeah, like the slogan.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Yeah.
So I think over my time atBethany there were some
positions that reached out to meand expressed interest, but I
wasn't really applying for jobs.
My so during that time again,my now husband, he we were
dating at one point when I firstgot to Bethany.
He then accepted a job inNebraska.
(19:31):
So we were doing distance forabout a year and a half and
during that time we went fromdating to engaged and then the
men's basketball job actuallyended up opening at Bethany and
we were just saying all of ouryou know saying all of our
prayers and, you know, hopingthat worked out and he ended up
getting the job at Bethany.
I had applied for one jobduring that time.
(19:54):
That was in Ohio, but when heended up getting the job at
Bethany, I was like we haven'tbeen together and we just
literally got married.
He ended up getting the job inMarch.
We got married in June of 2023.
And so I kind of pulled out andwas like I need.
You know I'm always going toput my family first at the end
of the day, and so you know didthat and again it was like the
(20:15):
only thing that I really kind ofsought out.
And then case opened and I hadactually applied for the case
job um two years like the twoyears before when it had opened
and got an interview but it waslike a really really quick
timeline as far as you know.
They were moving pretty fastand so didn't didn't get an
on-campus or anything.
But I was kind of like it'sokay.
(20:36):
Like at that time I knew maybeI wasn't, I wasn't ready, you
know, for the, for the positionpotentially, but it ended up
working out really really well.
Cause that's then when I gotpromoted to assistant athletic
director and I learned a lot andthen I was scrolling because,
like I said, I was kind ofinterested in in taking the next
step and saw case had beenposted again and I remember
(21:00):
sending it to to Brad, myhusband, and being like I can't
believe this is open, you knowlike.
And he was like obviously yougot to go for it and I was like
a hundred percent, you know itwas a place that from the
outside, looking in right,really aligned with like what I
was kind of looking for.
I wanted to compete, you know,at at that point I had already
(21:20):
decided like I want to staydivision three.
This is the balance I like thisis kind of the players and the
impact that you can have on them, but honestly they have it on
you at this level I think wasjust awesome and what I was
really looking for.
And so when it was posted Iapplied and you know the first
phone call I kind of I had youknow I'm big on gut feelings and
(21:41):
that intuition a little bit,and I just had a really good
feeling about it and I kind of,you know I'm big on gut feelings
and that intuition a little bitand I just had a really good
feeling about it and I kind of,you know, I gave it my all and
you know it was a really, reallyhard decision to leave my team.
Honestly, that was the hardestpart.
Again, like there were a lot ofgreat people there I met and
things like that, but I kind ofhad come to terms that I knew it
(22:01):
was time to move on in thatdevelopment.
You know standpoint,professional standpoint.
But the players at Bethany,like you know I had recruited
them all and had gotten reallyclose with a lot of them.
That was that was definitelythe hardest part.
Um, but it is really nicebecause I I go back to Bethany
now for my husband's games andyou know I'm able to see some of
them and check in, which isawesome.
(22:21):
But but yeah, that when thecase opportunity came, came
around, it was, yeah, high,academic, highly driven, you
know individuals both on and offthe field, um, people that like
want to really like get betterin all aspects of life and just
want to be challenged in thatway and that competitive
environment, but also, whilelike uplifting each other has
(22:43):
just been, it's been awesome andI'm super, super grateful to be
here and you know it's been,it's been fun so far.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
No, that's definitely awesome and you know, I think
when you look at your playingcareer at Lafayette and then you
look at CWRU, playing in theUAA, you're going to find that
there's a lot of similaritiesthere High academic conferences,
very good athletics so you knowthere's a lot of similarities
of your playing days where youwent to your coaching days there
(23:14):
now.
So you know what was yourseason like this past year.
I know you guys had aphenomenal season and you know
what was your season like thispast year.
I know you guys had aphenomenal season and you know
everything, but can you kind oftell our listeners, uh, what
your your first?
year like was there.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, so it was overall pretty pretty good.
Um, we finished nine, five andfive, which was a little bit
different than the previous two,three years, I think, as far as
like record wise, if you werejust on the outside looking in.
You know there were some games,we had our struggles for sure,
but to be honest, I think allthe struggles that we went
(23:46):
through is only going to make usbetter moving forward.
I think you know we weredefinitely shifting some things
up from how things were ranpreviously.
Obviously, just being adifferent person, like things
are naturally going to be alittle bit different in
philosophy or whatever it is,and so I know that was an
adjustment for everybody.
You know it was hard for thoseplayers to go through a change.
You know, obviously throughoutthe summer it didn't allow for
(24:09):
us to really meet untilpreseason.
For the most part there weresome players on campus.
So that transition, definitelyyou know it's hard to do that in
the beginning of your seasonand not have a little bit of
kind of like that introductionphase.
You know the spring would havebeen, would have been nicer, but
that's not what the car, youknow the cards we were dealt,
and so we were getting to knoweach other, like I'm getting to
(24:30):
know them, they're getting toknow me, and so throughout that,
like I'm trying to learn andtrying to form these
relationships with each playerindividually and learn how do
they operate best.
Do they like a little toughlove?
Do they need more positivereinforcement?
Because every single player isdifferent, and then they're also
different depending on whattheir mood is like too.
(24:52):
And same with me, right, andboth my assistant Ross and I,
we're both kind of naturally alittle bit more upbeat in some
ways and our energy feeds offeach other sometimes, and so I
know that can be a shift forsome people, just depending,
because I think my whole life,like playing soccer, I'm super
(25:12):
competitive, I take it seriously, but I also think that I do my
best when I'm also having fun inbetween.
You know some of the best gamesI played with some of my best
friends, who are still my bestfriends today.
You know we would goof around alittle bit.
It's not that we weren't takingit seriously, but goof around
sometimes during warm-up or likein between breaks and stuff
like that, and I think you know.
(25:34):
But then we were able to flipthe switch and I absolutely love
that environment because, youknow.
But then we were able to flipthe switch and I absolutely love
that environment because, youknow, I don't think there's
anything wrong with, like,taking a drill super seriously
and being locked in but then,like during a water break, you
know, being able to crack a jokeor, you know, have that side
conversation and stuff like that.
But, um, you know, we ended uppulling it together and and I
(25:55):
think we had, you know, a littlebit in the midway through
season where we were strugglingto maybe get results, we tying
games that I think we shouldn'thave tied.
Um, and I think everybody wouldprobably agree with that, and I
know we had to build throughthat.
But we actually brought in umMegan who, you know, she, you
know, has that mentalperformance background.
(26:15):
She worked with both of us atBethany, is now at at Penn State
and we brought her in and hadher start working with the team
too and I think that wassomething that was really
impactful for us.
I know the team absolutely lovesher and so that was something I
think really, really helped ourteam and we were able to, you
know, make it to the NCAAtournament.
We won the first round game.
(26:36):
We ended up losing the secondround game to Messiah, who was a
top five team in the country attheir place and, you know, lost
in the last 70 seconds, whichwas pretty unfortunate.
But we battled and you know wewe battled through injuries this
year that kept some someplayers out and, you know, had
to shift things around andfigure things out and the team
was resilient in that and Ithink, in all honesty, the way
(26:58):
we ended, I think, was at areally, really good point to
build upon.
So, yeah, I'm excited for thatleft it left a little bit on the
table that we're like hungryfor more so absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
It gave you that taste of success.
Now you want the whole bite.
Yeah, sure so.
Um, you know you kind of talkedabout it.
You know the high academics andthe things, all the great
things going on with the programand all that.
But you know, if someone wasinterested, you know about Case
Western Reserve University.
You know they want to get ahold of you or just know more
(27:29):
about the score of the program.
You know where can they reachyou, where should they check out
?
Can you kind of go over thosethings with us?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah, of course you can easily go to our you know,
the athletic website for CaseWestern Reserve, you know, go to
the women's soccer page.
You can find my cell phonenumber, my office number, my
email on there.
That's probably the easiest way.
You know we have ID camps, wehave things like that.
So those are also ways to kindof get seen and get right in
(27:56):
front of us while also seeingcampus, you know.
So those are, those areprobably the easiest ways.
I apologize if I don't answeremails right away.
I'm sometimes bad at that.
So don't be, don't bediscouraged if that's the case.
But but yeah, shoot me an email, give me a call and we'll get
back to you.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
No, absolutely that's awesome.
So how do you like being incleveland now?
I know your husband's family isfrom there and everything but
how do you like, uh, living uphere, um, you know, in the, in
the great, the great city, onthe great lake?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
yeah, yeah, well, um, I never stopped hearing about
how much, uh, how flat thisstate is compared to
pennsylvania.
Br Brad loves to give me a hardtime about you know the
differences and he's very, verypassionate about Ohio in general
.
Big Browns fan, I'm obviouslyvery, very passionate about
where I'm from, so it makes forsome interesting conversations
(28:49):
sometimes, but I actually Ireally love it.
I know it's funny because Ifeel like sometimes there's this
outside stigma that, likeCleveland is like why Cleveland?
You know?
But I, being from the EastCoast, being, you know, very
close to both New York City andPhilly, like I love Philly, I
like visiting Philly.
I don't want to live in Philly.
(29:10):
I don't really enjoy visitingNew York City at all.
Actually I just do itoccasionally because I have, you
know, some close friends there.
But I really loved my time inPittsburgh.
I think Pittsburgh andCleveland and maybe some Brown
Steelers fans would not like mesaying this I think are very
similar cities in somecapacities, size-wise, kind of
(29:30):
what's there and things likethat, and so I really like it.
I think it's not as crazy Likeone of the biggest and weirdest
adjustments for me.
So my Brad's family is from theOlmstead Falls area, so west
side of Cleveland, and obviouslycases on the east side, and I'm
talking to them because Iactually stayed with them for
(29:51):
the first little bit until I wasable to get on my feet and find
an apartment, that kind of fit.
You know what I was looking for.
And so that commute to work.
I was stressed.
I was like, am I, how early amI going to have to leave in
order to get to work on time?
And they were like, oh, like,the commute was like maybe 35
minutes.
And they were like, oh, likeprobably 10, 15 extra minutes.
And I was like, are you serious?
(30:12):
You know like there's no waylike any other city, you're
maybe leaving I don't know anhour ahead of time.
But that is one of the biggestblessings for me because I am
not good in traffic, so I loveit.
I think there's a lot to dohere.
I live in Tremont right now andI love my apartment.
I'm able to, you know, see thecity when I, you know, make my
first turn off my street and atnighttime it's beautiful, and so
(30:35):
I think a lot of people maybedon't you know, throw some shade
on Cleveland, but I'll, I'llstand by it.
I like being here, so I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, I think it's.
It's a pretty unique city.
We did a show back in thesummer with some people from the
Cleveland area talking aboutall things Cleveland, the East
side, the West side, downtown,the restaurant.
So you know, it's a it a veryunique um place.
I think cleveland is one of themore unique places for food and
(31:05):
, like breweries and the winecountry that we have here on the
east side, I would say the onlyother place I've ever found
probably similar to cleveland asfar as the food scene would be.
Like we were down at Bethany,that at Bethany, like that
willing we're in, and likeSteubenville area with the
diversity.
So, um, cleveland has a lot ofcool, cool things going on.
(31:28):
You know we got the beaches uphere and stuff too, so that was
a wild discovery for me.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
It's just weird to me being on the east coast and
somebody telling me there's abeach in Cleveland like did not,
did not compute in my headuntil you know.
Even seeing it and driving by Iwas like wow.
So yeah, there's a little bitof everything here, honestly.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
There is and there's, you know, really, three
well-known beaches.
You know Edgewater Park andthen Mentor Headlands and then
Fairport Harbors Beach as well.
And for people that don't knowCleveland very well but that are
going to be seeing the upcomingSuperman movie when it comes
out, it was actually filmed hereover the summer and actually it
was filmed at Mentor HeadlandsBeach as well.
(32:09):
So there's all the people thatdon't know Cleveland's fun fact
about Cleveland so well, alyssa,we're getting down near the end
of the episode, but we alwaysfinish the segment with the Fast
, fitty Five.
It's five random questionsbrought to you by me.
You've known me a long time now.
You know whatever.
(32:29):
It's been seven years orwhatever.
So it's going to be fivequestions from me.
You can elaborate if you want,or you can just give the answer
and we can move on.
So, if you're, if you're ready,we'll we can get into it, let's
get it.
Okay, Question number one is itweird if people go to bed
wearing socks?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I don't love it.
I'll do it when it's really,really cold, so I'll leave it at
that.
I would say most of the time,yes, but cold.
So I'll leave it at that.
I would say most of the time?
Speaker 1 (32:59):
yes, Okay, Number two should people wash their hair
first in the shower or lastFirst?
Okay, Good answer.
Good answer.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Question number three what is the best time of the
day to take a nap?
Ooh like right after lunch,like I would say late afternoon
to early evening.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Hmm, okay, perfect.
Question number four If you hadto eat for a week straight
Chinese food or Chick-fil-A,which one do?
Speaker 2 (33:35):
you pick Chinese food .
I hate Chick-fil-A, everybodyknows that chinese food.
I hate chick-fil-a, everybodyknows that.
Oh okay well, I didn't knowthat.
Yeah, if you add sushi in theretoo, it's a it's it's easy.
Chinese food, japanese food,put it together okay.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Well now all the former guests know of the show
and all the listeners know now.
You, you hate chick-fil-a, andthat means alissa will eat
chinese food for a week straight.
All All right.
Question number five and whatkind of fun one on this who's
the person you admire the most?
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Probably my mom yeah, I don't know.
I think she she's one of thosepeople that works super, super
hard but doesn't, like youwouldn't always know it because
she doesn't, like you know, geta lot of attention.
I would say her Honestly it'sgoing to sound a little corny
maybe but also my husband,probably, because I see the
(34:29):
endless hours he puts into hisjob and obviously that
correlates a lot to my job.
So I appreciate that too, andhe's made me a better coach
because of that.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
I appreciate that too , and he's made me a better
coach because of that.
You know, and that's awesome.
And when you have a spouse,that's a coach as well.
You know, it's great when youcan have each other's back and,
you know, make each other better, not just as a coach, but you
know a husband and wife and youknow friends and everything with
that, so that's that'sdefinitely awesome.
So, alyssa, we are going tofinish up the show here, but we
give about 30 seconds to aminute for each guest.
(34:58):
If there's anything they wantto promote or a good message
they want to get out there.
I know you listed the contactinfo earlier, but if there's
anything else you want to getout about the program or CWRU,
or just leave a good message,we'll give you about 30 seconds
to a minute and the floor isyours.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, yeah, oof.
Well, I would like to thank youfirst for having me on the show
.
I will stand by my Chick-fil-Acomment, because their crispy
chicken sandwich isn't actuallycrispy and that's why I don't
like it.
I would also like to say I doadmire my dad, but it's hard to
say because we're so similarthat it's weird to say I kind of
(35:34):
admire myself, but also, ifanybody's interested in Case,
feel free to reach out.
It's an amazing place.
I'm very fortunate with a lotof amazing co-workers and
players, and so come check usout.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Awesome.
We always love when peopleleave us with a good message.
So, for all of our newlisteners and our old listeners,
thank you for tuning in.
Make sure you peep all of thesponsors in the pre-roll and the
post-roll.
There's a lot of great smallbusiness owners in there that
are supportive of the show andwe want to make sure we support
them in their small businessendeavors.
(36:07):
As always, if you enjoyed theshow, be a friend and tell a
friend, and if you didn't likeit, tell them anyways, because I
bet they like it just becauseyou didn't.
This is Fitty signing off andwe will see you next week.
Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home
Rants podcast.
This is your special guest,host Fiti, and today I have a
great guest for the Ride HomeRants show.
It's going to be a terrificshow with someone who I've known
for a long time.
She's a fantastic coach,fantastic person and, just
overall, just great human being.
(00:21):
So, without further ado, alyssaJohnson, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Thank you, thank you.
I'm excited to be here and lookforward to chatting a little
bit and, yeah, let's get started.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Absolutely so.
For the people that don't know,you kind of give a rundown on
where are you from originally.
I know all about you because weworked together and we've known
each other a long time.
But where did you grow uporiginally and like, go to high
school at?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah, so originally I'm from Easton, Pennsylvania.
I went to Easton Area HighSchool, which is on basically
the Jersey border, so kind ofyou know East Coast, originally
big Philadelphia sports fan,especially the Eagles Go Birds.
So yeah, I really loved myhometown and the experience I
get there and got from highschool, so it's something I'm
(01:08):
really prideful of andpassionate about.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
So was your high school like a big high school,
small high school, medium size?
I know sometimes those schoolson the eastern side of PA
relatively fall in the largerealm, but was your school the
same way?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Yeah, yeah, we were definitely like the one of the
larger schools, I would say inthe area.
Um, we definitely competed inlike the kind of the the big
school division, so like we werequad A or 6A whatever they kind
of do now, because I know it'sfluctuated depending on sports.
So, uh, yeah, pretty big highschool.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Now for the people that don't know where, like
easton, is that they may know,like philadelphia or york or
somewhere over there.
Where exactly are you close tothat area at all?
Speaker 2 (01:54):
yeah, so I'm about an hour and a half north of philly
.
I would say, uh, just right on,like the jersey border there.
So okay, okay, valley whatyou'd probably like call the
area.
So I went to Lafayette collegeUm, that's right where Easton is
and then Lehigh, which a lot ofpeople also kind of know is
about like 20 minutes in theBethlehem area near me.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Okay, yeah, so that that definitely um makes sense.
So you're right off with, likethe interstate 80 corridor then
78 is like the main one, butprobably okay.
So if you're going over and up,okay, yeah, okay.
So you know it's always funnytoo.
People don't realize, um, whenyou talk about, like
(02:35):
pennsylvania, how historicpennsylvania is in like the
industrial revolution of theworld and especially that that
that mid middle part ofPennsylvania and East Eastern
side, people know Pittsburgh onthe West the.
Western part of the state butthey don't realize, like
Philadelphia and like theBethlehem area and Hershey and
(02:59):
we're like Ma Chunk was whereJim Thorpe is and York and all
those areas, they don't reallyrealize how historic uh that
part of of the the country is,especially in pennsylvania.
So it's, it's very unique whenyou talk to people from out
there because they know it'shistoric.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
We, we other people- who may not know, don't know
that yeah, bethlehem steel islike a pretty big thing you know
out that way.
Um, I think if you're talkingkind of back that time, you know
it was like one of the leadingsteel producing you know
companies at the time and kindof a random thing that like,
(03:36):
actually, when I first got toBethany I was reading some of
like the you know infrastructurethere, like some of the steel
poles that were kind of in thebuilding.
One of them literally saidBethlehem Steel Inc.
So that was kind of a you knowa random you know blast from the
past, kind of like hometownfeel that I got at a place I
didn't really expect it inLittle Bethany.
(03:57):
So, yeah, you kind of don'trealize that a lot of people
don't know the Crayola factoryis actually in Easton,
pennsylvania.
So that's another thing that Ihave told people like growing up
the the Crayola crayon maker,the thing where he used to put
the crayons in and it would meltand then make one crayon.
My neighbor had invented that.
(04:20):
So those are kind of some somerandom things that you don't
realize.
Go on there.
But, um, but yeah, and now thelike another thing is like the
Sam Adams, like one of theirbreweries, is actually in
Pennsylvania, so I pass it everytime on my way home.
But for a while Sam Adamsdidn't want people to know that
they actually brewed some oftheir beer in Pennsylvania,
because it doesn't fit thestereotype.
So, yeah, there's a lot thatgoes on out that way.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Yeah, it's just so interesting, interesting and you
just talk to people and likeyou talk about that and like
Hershey's chocolate was foundedin Pennsylvania and Hershey Park
and the theme park and all thecool things us people from
Pennsylvania know but not youknow, not not like super out
there with other people knownabout Hershey.
So yeah, pennsylvania, veryhistoric, uh, historic place.
(05:03):
So uh, and you gotta be happywith it.
With the Eagles, you know whenthis show airs they should
hopefully be, uh, getting readyto compete for the Super Bowl.
But oh, fingers crossed daysthey'll tell yeah, fingers will
be a stressful one, I'm sureyeah, you know, and all us
Italian people are cheering forthe Eagles if we don't like them
because of Nick Sirianni beinga fellow Italian.
(05:26):
So you kind of mentioned thatyou, you finish at Easton, you
know, or you finished highschool, grew up out there, you
know.
You go to Lafayette Collegewhere you had a really, really
good career as a soccer player.
So can you kind of talk aboutwhat your recruiting process was
like?
Why did you choose there, youknow?
(05:47):
And ultimately, you know whatwas that time like during your
collegiate athletics?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Yeah, so I originally kind of wrote it off a little
bit just because I was likethat's kind of my backyard I
feel like you know, I don't wantto go that close to home, but I
was looking at a lot of likehigher academic institutions.
I kind of wanted that balanceof athletics and academics.
So one of my high school likevolunteer coaches actually he
(06:17):
volunteered at Lafayette as well, so he was kind of a liaison
for me a little bit in therecruitment process and had let
me know, you know the coacheswere interested, they had seen
me play at a tournament and,yeah, I I ended up going on a
visit there.
I went on a couple other visitsbut ended up really feeling
connected with the players.
(06:37):
I think you know that wassomething like times are a
little bit different.
So I remember them like aftermy visit, like writing on my I
think it was Facebook at thetime like writing on my wall,
like following up with, like howgreat of a visit it was, and
then, like randomly, would reachout to me being like, oh hey,
like I saw, you know I saw youscore a goal from your high
(06:58):
school.
Like somebody reached out to mebecause like the local you know
news like cover sports andobviously it's the same area and
they reached out to me then onetime and I just remember
feeling like I wanted highacademics Like I.
I thought the campus wasabsolutely beautiful.
You know, I thought I was goingto get a really great
experience from like the overallculture of the team and just
(07:18):
the players I felt super, superconnected with.
And I didn't necessarily feelthat connection on the other
visits I went on and so that'skind of like why I decided to go
there Overall.
It wasn't necessarily theexperience I was honestly hoping
for.
It had nothing to donecessarily with playing time
and things like that, but I kindof just felt like the
(07:40):
environment was not what Iexpected as far as like the
culture and maybe how thingswere led, and so honestly,
that's one of the biggestreasons I went into college
coaching as a profession.
I had coached in high school.
My high school coach actuallyhad kind of you know, ran a
local club, was the director ofone, and so he was able to get
(08:02):
me involved in that and kind ofdip my toes in that in that way
and really enjoyed coaching andI'm super, super competitive.
I know anybody in athleticswill say that.
But I feel like if you were totalk my husband coaches, if you
were to talk to a lot of ourclose friends, they would
probably tell you I'm one of themost competitive people you'll
meet, which is both good and bad, but I kind of I knew I wanted
(08:24):
to be in sports, but then Ithink that overall experience is
what really made me feel like Iwanted to get into collegiate
coaching to kind of give backand hopefully be that coach and
create an environment that Ididn't feel like I had, but I
really, really had wanted out ofthose, out of those four years.
Speaker 1 (08:39):
Okay, and what did you ultimately get your degree
in from?
Speaker 2 (08:44):
uh, your undergrad yeah, I majored in in psychology
, so I, I, you know, I hadalways had interest in like
understanding why, a little bit,why people are the way they are
.
I didn't necessarily pursuelike the clinical route or
anything like that, um, but I Iwasn't totally sure what I
wanted, but I thought it wassomething that could maybe be
(09:04):
like transferable and apply to acouple different things.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
So so yeah, and, if I'm not mistaken, is Lafayette
in the Patriot League.
Is that correct?
Yeah, ok, one of the higheracademic institutional
conferences.
If people don't know, in theUnited States.
A lot of great schools in there, a lot of history there, um,
and definitely a very, veryhistoric and high academic
(09:29):
caliber league.
That is for sure.
So you finish up your career,you graduate.
You know you're 22 years oldand you got to figure out what
you want to do for the rest ofyour life, and you mentioned
about coaching.
So what was that next step foryou after graduating?
You know, just a couple ofyears ago for yourself.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Yeah, yeah, it doesn't seem like it was a
couple of years ago now, but, um, but yeah, I mean, I knew I
wanted to get into coaching butI still had a couple other like
things I was interested in.
As far as you know, I had aninternship with a sports
psychologist that I did, where Idid a little bit of graphic
design and things like that kindof a more creative outlet for
(10:09):
me.
I was coaching, like doingprivate sessions and things like
that and then coaching likeyouth a little bit.
And also I had like aninternship with Bethlehem Steel
FC, which is now like thePhiladelphia Union too, but I
had different things like thatbecause, again, I knew I wanted
to be in sports, I was set oncoaching, but I hadn't had that
(10:30):
opportunity yet.
So I was just kind of makingsure and putting feelers out
there that that's really what Iwanted to do.
And then I got the opportunity.
I started looking for jobs andthen my old club coach had
actually posted that he waslooking for, you know, a
part-time assistant, and so Ireached out, connected with him,
and it ended up kind of justfalling in place that I was able
(10:53):
to assist with him for a yearat Arcadia, which was a really,
really great experience.
I think he obviously him and Ihad a relationship before he was
a coach that we, you know, wereally connected and I got along
well with him and you know hewas, you know, kind of a big
part of my life then withhelping me get my feet
underneath me, dipping my toesin the collegiate world of
(11:15):
coaching, and it was a really,really great first experience.
And so then after that year Ikind of knew like I wanted to
get my master's.
I knew that would be importantlater on.
You know, I know there's somecoaching jobs that won't hire
you if you don't have yourmaster's, and so I knew I wanted
to do that and have that.
And so I was able to kind offind the graduate assistant
(11:37):
posting with Seton Hill.
It was kind of weird I I wasn'tlike too too familiar with
Pittsburgh, really in the area,but Newt was out that way and
you know I kind of just had aweird gut feeling when I saw
that posting and applied for it,that this I just kind of felt
like this was going to work outand I was going to get that
position.
Yeah, spent, spent, two, tworeally good years there too,
(12:04):
working um working under AndyMcNabb, and my coach at um
Arcadia was Rick Brownell, andboth of them, I think, were
really great influences in mylife and great people to to
learn under.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
So that's awesome.
Now did you get your MBA thenfrom Seton Hill?
Speaker 2 (12:21):
yeah, so I got my MBA with a concentration in
business management, so that wasa good experience.
I think it's obviouslysomething that kind of applies
you don't realize in coachinghow many background operations
and things like that that youend up doing in the office and
so it definitely applies alittle bit there and was just
(12:42):
good experience.
You know in that sense.
So you know a lot of.
I guess my degrees aren't likefull force being used right now,
but they're definitelytransferable to some degree.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
You know it's funny that you talk about degrees with
that.
And you know you and I haveboth worked in higher ed a long
time and it's funny when you'rean undergrad you always have
these ideas of you know what youthink you want to do and so
forth and such.
And I know you and I've hadconversations before and it
would be you know always notwhat do you want to major in,
right, what do you want to do?
(13:15):
And let's try to find a majorthat'll fit these different path
routes.
But I, but you and I both knowthat when you look at studies
that like seven out of tenpeople don't actually use their
undergraduate degree because alot of people go in and go I
want to major in this, and thenyou don't end up doing that.
(13:36):
But if you say, hey, what do youthink you want to do, then you
can kind of cater that, maybefind a major, your pathway, just
like you know know you want toget into coaching.
You know you think that youwant to stay involved in sports.
Well, psychology is a good wayto go, because you got to
understand how people work, youknow, with with their mental
health and and from a from apsychological standpoint.
(13:59):
So you know, kudos to you forfinding that pathway and finding
that degree that you know willensure that you're somewhat, or
using it to an extent, right.
So you go to Seton Hill.
You have, you know, your coupleyears there as a graduate
assistant.
From there then you begin youryour true, like non in school,
(14:20):
not GA, position.
Can you kind of walk us throughyour, your coaching journey
then?
Speaker 2 (14:26):
position.
Can you kind of walk us throughyour coaching journey then?
Yeah, so when I had finished upat Seton Hill I actually really
thought I was going to go onsomewhere to be an assistant.
At that point I think I wasstill teetering on the idea of
what level do I want to coach at?
Because obviously I had playeddivision one, I had coached at a
division three school and thenI had coached at a Division III
school and then I had coached ata Division II school, and so I
(14:47):
was still teetering on that andnot sure what I wanted.
So I definitely had feelers outthere for different positions.
I had actually gotten reachedout to about one position.
That was a head coaching role.
That I didn't expect and thatwas my first head coaching
interview.
And it was actually probably myfirst interview right after
finishing up with Seton Hill andknowing that like I have to
(15:08):
move on now I have to findsomething else.
Because the GA spot was doneand, um, I was a bit relieved.
I didn't get that job actually,because I just didn't think it
was going to be the right fitfor me.
But I kind of felt like if Igot it, I got to take it cause
it would help my career, um.
So I didn't end up getting thatone, but it ended up being kind
(15:33):
of a good thing for me.
And then I think it opened upmy eyes a little bit, though, to
being a head coach.
And so, you know, I was stillinterviewing, like I had a D1
assistant position I wasinterviewing with and was, you
know, a finalist for, and then Iended up one of my friends
actually texted me and was likehey, I saw Bethany was open,
which I had not really heard ofBethany too much before.
She knew about it because shehad played in the conference,
(15:55):
she had went to St Vincent.
And so she was like I know,bethany, it's in our conference,
like you should apply.
And I kind of was like, ah, Idon't know, it's West Virginia,
right, what everybody alwaysalways says, you know, first off
when they hear that.
And then maybe a day or twowent by and I was like, okay,
like I'm going to apply for it,let's just see what happens.
And then, um, you know, I endedup going to campus that was
(16:18):
kind of the same time as the D1position was reaching back out
to and I went to campus thereand I'm driving in and the GPS
took me the wrong route therefor one.
Now it's actually the routethat I would probably have taken
every time if I was coming fromPA, because I like it.
But my first time there I waslike all back roads and all of
that and I was like what isgoing on?
I'm not taking this job andthen I'm interviewing there.
(16:39):
I'm meeting people, obviouslymet Steve Thompson, obviously
met you.
You drove me around in the golfcart to tour campus and then I,
by the end of the day, I waslike gosh, I think if I get this
job, I'm going to take it LikeI just see opportunity here.
And so I remember going home tomy then at the time boyfriend,
(17:02):
who was also a coach, andtalking to him about it.
And he was like you know, threedays go by and he's like I
don't, I don't think you got thejob.
Like I think you would haveheard by now.
I was like I don't know, maybe.
And then you know I get the call, was offered the position.
You know took a day just tothink about it because you know
there were some other things andI just wanted to kind of figure
out is this really what I wantand then obviously accepted the
(17:24):
position and ended up at Bethany, you know, was there for five
years and you know, wow, Ilearned a lot for sure.
I met a lot of really, reallygreat people, some people that
are obviously, you know, likeyourself, I'm still very close
with and connected to and, to behonest, like, obviously Bethany
is a very different place thana lot of other places.
(17:45):
But I don't think I'd be thecoach I am today or be where I'm
at today without thoseexperiences and without those
maybe you know, struggles attimes and obviously some
successes, but years and youknow, was promoted at the time
(18:08):
so I had an assistant athleticdirector role by the time I
finished up there, but I kind ofknown, you know, as year four,
year five was coming around,that I think you know I need
something else that's going topush me further and be another
step up a little bit as far as,like, competition and some
things like that, and maybe putme closer, hopefully, to my now
(18:31):
husband's family or one of ourfamilies.
Speaker 1 (18:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
You know you finished up thisrun at Bethany.
You know you're like one of thelast people, I think, still
there.
You know, after I left andSteve left for Bowen Wallace and
Coach Upton left.
And you know, after you know Ileft and Steve left for Bowen
Wallace and coach Upton left,and you know a lot of other
people left.
So, um, you know you, you thenare, are looking for a new job,
(18:55):
you know, and you ended up atCase Western Reserve University
here in Cleveland, ohio.
So, um, was there anywhere elseyou were looking at and
interviewing, or was really?
Is it like case or I'm going tostay here in West Virginia and
be wild and wonderful?
Yeah, like the slogan.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
Yeah.
So I think over my time atBethany there were some
positions that reached out to meand expressed interest, but I
wasn't really applying for jobs.
My so during that time again,my now husband, he we were
dating at one point when I firstgot to Bethany.
He then accepted a job inNebraska.
(19:31):
So we were doing distance forabout a year and a half and
during that time we went fromdating to engaged and then the
men's basketball job actuallyended up opening at Bethany and
we were just saying all of ouryou know saying all of our
prayers and, you know, hopingthat worked out and he ended up
getting the job at Bethany.
I had applied for one jobduring that time.
(19:54):
That was in Ohio, but when heended up getting the job at
Bethany, I was like we haven'tbeen together and we just
literally got married.
He ended up getting the job inMarch.
We got married in June of 2023.
And so I kind of pulled out andwas like I need.
You know I'm always going toput my family first at the end
of the day, and so you know didthat and again it was like the
(20:15):
only thing that I really kind ofsought out.
And then case opened and I hadactually applied for the case
job um two years like the twoyears before when it had opened
and got an interview but it waslike a really really quick
timeline as far as you know.
They were moving pretty fastand so didn't didn't get an
on-campus or anything.
But I was kind of like it'sokay.
(20:36):
Like at that time I knew maybeI wasn't, I wasn't ready, you
know, for the, for the positionpotentially, but it ended up
working out really really well.
Cause that's then when I gotpromoted to assistant athletic
director and I learned a lot andthen I was scrolling because,
like I said, I was kind ofinterested in in taking the next
step and saw case had beenposted again and I remember
(21:00):
sending it to to Brad, myhusband, and being like I can't
believe this is open, you knowlike.
And he was like obviously yougot to go for it and I was like
a hundred percent, you know itwas a place that from the
outside, looking in right,really aligned with like what I
was kind of looking for.
I wanted to compete, you know,at at that point I had already
(21:20):
decided like I want to staydivision three.
This is the balance I like thisis kind of the players and the
impact that you can have on them, but honestly they have it on
you at this level I think wasjust awesome and what I was
really looking for.
And so when it was posted Iapplied and you know the first
phone call I kind of I had youknow I'm big on gut feelings and
(21:41):
that intuition a little bit,and I just had a really good
feeling about it and I kind of,you know I'm big on gut feelings
and that intuition a little bitand I just had a really good
feeling about it and I kind of,you know, I gave it my all and
you know it was a really, reallyhard decision to leave my team.
Honestly, that was the hardestpart.
Again, like there were a lot ofgreat people there I met and
things like that, but I kind ofhad come to terms that I knew it
(22:01):
was time to move on in thatdevelopment.
You know standpoint,professional standpoint.
But the players at Bethany,like you know I had recruited
them all and had gotten reallyclose with a lot of them.
That was that was definitelythe hardest part.
Um, but it is really nicebecause I I go back to Bethany
now for my husband's games andyou know I'm able to see some of
them and check in, which isawesome.
(22:21):
But but yeah, that when thecase opportunity came, came
around, it was, yeah, high,academic, highly driven, you
know individuals both on and offthe field, um, people that like
want to really like get betterin all aspects of life and just
want to be challenged in thatway and that competitive
environment, but also, whilelike uplifting each other has
(22:43):
just been, it's been awesome andI'm super, super grateful to be
here and you know it's been,it's been fun so far.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
No, that's definitely awesome and you know, I think
when you look at your playingcareer at Lafayette and then you
look at CWRU, playing in theUAA, you're going to find that
there's a lot of similaritiesthere High academic conferences,
very good athletics so you knowthere's a lot of similarities
of your playing days where youwent to your coaching days there
(23:14):
now.
So you know what was yourseason like this past year.
I know you guys had aphenomenal season and you know
what was your season like thispast year.
I know you guys had aphenomenal season and you know
everything, but can you kind oftell our listeners, uh, what
your your first?
year like was there.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah, so it was overall pretty pretty good.
Um, we finished nine, five andfive, which was a little bit
different than the previous two,three years, I think, as far as
like record wise, if you werejust on the outside looking in.
You know there were some games,we had our struggles for sure,
but to be honest, I think allthe struggles that we went
(23:46):
through is only going to make usbetter moving forward.
I think you know we weredefinitely shifting some things
up from how things were ranpreviously.
Obviously, just being adifferent person, like things
are naturally going to be alittle bit different in
philosophy or whatever it is,and so I know that was an
adjustment for everybody.
You know it was hard for thoseplayers to go through a change.
You know, obviously throughoutthe summer it didn't allow for
(24:09):
us to really meet untilpreseason.
For the most part there weresome players on campus.
So that transition, definitelyyou know it's hard to do that in
the beginning of your seasonand not have a little bit of
kind of like that introductionphase.
You know the spring would havebeen, would have been nicer, but
that's not what the car, youknow the cards we were dealt,
and so we were getting to knoweach other, like I'm getting to
(24:30):
know them, they're getting toknow me, and so throughout that,
like I'm trying to learn andtrying to form these
relationships with each playerindividually and learn how do
they operate best.
Do they like a little toughlove?
Do they need more positivereinforcement?
Because every single player isdifferent, and then they're also
different depending on whattheir mood is like too.
(24:52):
And same with me, right, andboth my assistant Ross and I,
we're both kind of naturally alittle bit more upbeat in some
ways and our energy feeds offeach other sometimes, and so I
know that can be a shift forsome people, just depending,
because I think my whole life,like playing soccer, I'm super
(25:12):
competitive, I take it seriously, but I also think that I do my
best when I'm also having fun inbetween.
You know some of the best gamesI played with some of my best
friends, who are still my bestfriends today.
You know we would goof around alittle bit.
It's not that we weren't takingit seriously, but goof around
sometimes during warm-up or likein between breaks and stuff
like that, and I think you know.
(25:34):
But then we were able to flipthe switch and I absolutely love
that environment because, youknow.
But then we were able to flipthe switch and I absolutely love
that environment because, youknow, I don't think there's
anything wrong with, like,taking a drill super seriously
and being locked in but then,like during a water break, you
know, being able to crack a jokeor, you know, have that side
conversation and stuff like that.
But, um, you know, we ended uppulling it together and and I
(25:55):
think we had, you know, a littlebit in the midway through
season where we were strugglingto maybe get results, we tying
games that I think we shouldn'thave tied.
Um, and I think everybody wouldprobably agree with that, and I
know we had to build throughthat.
But we actually brought in umMegan who, you know, she, you
know, has that mentalperformance background.
(26:15):
She worked with both of us atBethany, is now at at Penn State
and we brought her in and hadher start working with the team
too and I think that wassomething that was really
impactful for us.
I know the team absolutely lovesher and so that was something I
think really, really helped ourteam and we were able to, you
know, make it to the NCAAtournament.
We won the first round game.
(26:36):
We ended up losing the secondround game to Messiah, who was a
top five team in the country attheir place and, you know, lost
in the last 70 seconds, whichwas pretty unfortunate.
But we battled and you know wewe battled through injuries this
year that kept some someplayers out and, you know, had
to shift things around andfigure things out and the team
was resilient in that and Ithink, in all honesty, the way
(26:58):
we ended, I think, was at areally, really good point to
build upon.
So, yeah, I'm excited for thatleft it left a little bit on the
table that we're like hungryfor more so absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
It gave you that taste of success.
Now you want the whole bite.
Yeah, sure so.
Um, you know you kind of talkedabout it.
You know the high academics andthe things, all the great
things going on with the programand all that.
But you know, if someone wasinterested, you know about Case
Western Reserve University.
You know they want to get ahold of you or just know more
(27:29):
about the score of the program.
You know where can they reachyou, where should they check out
?
Can you kind of go over thosethings with us?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yeah, of course you can easily go to our you know,
the athletic website for CaseWestern Reserve, you know, go to
the women's soccer page.
You can find my cell phonenumber, my office number, my
email on there.
That's probably the easiest way.
You know we have ID camps, wehave things like that.
So those are also ways to kindof get seen and get right in
(27:56):
front of us while also seeingcampus, you know.
So those are, those areprobably the easiest ways.
I apologize if I don't answeremails right away.
I'm sometimes bad at that.
So don't be, don't bediscouraged if that's the case.
But but yeah, shoot me an email, give me a call and we'll get
back to you.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
No, absolutely that's awesome.
So how do you like being incleveland now?
I know your husband's family isfrom there and everything but
how do you like, uh, living uphere, um, you know, in the, in
the great, the great city, onthe great lake?
Speaker 2 (28:27):
yeah, yeah, well, um, I never stopped hearing about
how much, uh, how flat thisstate is compared to
pennsylvania.
Br Brad loves to give me a hardtime about you know the
differences and he's very, verypassionate about Ohio in general
.
Big Browns fan, I'm obviouslyvery, very passionate about
where I'm from, so it makes forsome interesting conversations
(28:49):
sometimes, but I actually Ireally love it.
I know it's funny because Ifeel like sometimes there's this
outside stigma that, likeCleveland is like why Cleveland?
You know?
But I, being from the EastCoast, being, you know, very
close to both New York City andPhilly, like I love Philly, I
like visiting Philly.
I don't want to live in Philly.
(29:10):
I don't really enjoy visitingNew York City at all.
Actually I just do itoccasionally because I have, you
know, some close friends there.
But I really loved my time inPittsburgh.
I think Pittsburgh andCleveland and maybe some Brown
Steelers fans would not like mesaying this I think are very
similar cities in somecapacities, size-wise, kind of
(29:30):
what's there and things likethat, and so I really like it.
I think it's not as crazy Likeone of the biggest and weirdest
adjustments for me.
So my Brad's family is from theOlmstead Falls area, so west
side of Cleveland, and obviouslycases on the east side, and I'm
talking to them because Iactually stayed with them for
(29:51):
the first little bit until I wasable to get on my feet and find
an apartment, that kind of fit.
You know what I was looking for.
And so that commute to work.
I was stressed.
I was like, am I, how early amI going to have to leave in
order to get to work on time?
And they were like, oh, like,the commute was like maybe 35
minutes.
And they were like, oh, likeprobably 10, 15 extra minutes.
And I was like, are you serious?
(30:12):
You know like there's no waylike any other city, you're
maybe leaving I don't know anhour ahead of time.
But that is one of the biggestblessings for me because I am
not good in traffic, so I loveit.
I think there's a lot to dohere.
I live in Tremont right now andI love my apartment.
I'm able to, you know, see thecity when I, you know, make my
first turn off my street and atnighttime it's beautiful, and so
(30:35):
I think a lot of people maybedon't you know, throw some shade
on Cleveland, but I'll, I'llstand by it.
I like being here, so I'm happy.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, I think it's.
It's a pretty unique city.
We did a show back in thesummer with some people from the
Cleveland area talking aboutall things Cleveland, the East
side, the West side, downtown,the restaurant.
So you know, it's a it a veryunique um place.
I think cleveland is one of themore unique places for food and
(31:05):
, like breweries and the winecountry that we have here on the
east side, I would say the onlyother place I've ever found
probably similar to cleveland asfar as the food scene would be.
Like we were down at Bethany,that at Bethany, like that
willing we're in, and likeSteubenville area with the
diversity.
So, um, cleveland has a lot ofcool, cool things going on.
(31:28):
You know we got the beaches uphere and stuff too, so that was
a wild discovery for me.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
It's just weird to me being on the east coast and
somebody telling me there's abeach in Cleveland like did not,
did not compute in my headuntil you know.
Even seeing it and driving by Iwas like wow.
So yeah, there's a little bitof everything here, honestly.
Speaker 1 (31:48):
There is and there's, you know, really, three
well-known beaches.
You know Edgewater Park andthen Mentor Headlands and then
Fairport Harbors Beach as well.
And for people that don't knowCleveland very well but that are
going to be seeing the upcomingSuperman movie when it comes
out, it was actually filmed hereover the summer and actually it
was filmed at Mentor HeadlandsBeach as well.
(32:09):
So there's all the people thatdon't know Cleveland's fun fact
about Cleveland so well, alyssa,we're getting down near the end
of the episode, but we alwaysfinish the segment with the Fast
, fitty Five.
It's five random questionsbrought to you by me.
You've known me a long time now.
You know whatever.
(32:29):
It's been seven years orwhatever.
So it's going to be fivequestions from me.
You can elaborate if you want,or you can just give the answer
and we can move on.
So, if you're, if you're ready,we'll we can get into it, let's
get it.
Okay, Question number one is itweird if people go to bed
wearing socks?
Speaker 2 (32:51):
I don't love it.
I'll do it when it's really,really cold, so I'll leave it at
that.
I would say most of the time,yes, but cold.
So I'll leave it at that.
I would say most of the time?
Speaker 1 (32:59):
yes, Okay, Number two should people wash their hair
first in the shower or lastFirst?
Okay, Good answer.
Good answer.
Speaker 2 (33:17):
Question number three what is the best time of the
day to take a nap?
Ooh like right after lunch,like I would say late afternoon
to early evening.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Hmm, okay, perfect.
Question number four If you hadto eat for a week straight
Chinese food or Chick-fil-A,which one do?
Speaker 2 (33:35):
you pick Chinese food .
I hate Chick-fil-A, everybodyknows that chinese food.
I hate chick-fil-a, everybodyknows that.
Oh okay well, I didn't knowthat.
Yeah, if you add sushi in theretoo, it's a it's it's easy.
Chinese food, japanese food,put it together okay.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
Well now all the former guests know of the show
and all the listeners know now.
You, you hate chick-fil-a, andthat means alissa will eat
chinese food for a week straight.
All All right.
Question number five and whatkind of fun one on this who's
the person you admire the most?
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Probably my mom yeah, I don't know.
I think she she's one of thosepeople that works super, super
hard but doesn't, like youwouldn't always know it because
she doesn't, like you know, geta lot of attention.
I would say her Honestly it'sgoing to sound a little corny
maybe but also my husband,probably, because I see the
(34:29):
endless hours he puts into hisjob and obviously that
correlates a lot to my job.
So I appreciate that too, andhe's made me a better coach
because of that.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
I appreciate that too , and he's made me a better
coach because of that.
You know, and that's awesome.
And when you have a spouse,that's a coach as well.
You know, it's great when youcan have each other's back and,
you know, make each other better, not just as a coach, but you
know a husband and wife and youknow friends and everything with
that, so that's that'sdefinitely awesome.
So, alyssa, we are going tofinish up the show here, but we
give about 30 seconds to aminute for each guest.
(34:58):
If there's anything they wantto promote or a good message
they want to get out there.
I know you listed the contactinfo earlier, but if there's
anything else you want to getout about the program or CWRU,
or just leave a good message,we'll give you about 30 seconds
to a minute and the floor isyours.
Speaker 2 (35:12):
Yeah, yeah, oof.
Well, I would like to thank youfirst for having me on the show
.
I will stand by my Chick-fil-Acomment, because their crispy
chicken sandwich isn't actuallycrispy and that's why I don't
like it.
I would also like to say I doadmire my dad, but it's hard to
say because we're so similarthat it's weird to say I kind of
(35:34):
admire myself, but also, ifanybody's interested in Case,
feel free to reach out.
It's an amazing place.
I'm very fortunate with a lotof amazing co-workers and
players, and so come check usout.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Awesome.
We always love when peopleleave us with a good message.
So, for all of our newlisteners and our old listeners,
thank you for tuning in.
Make sure you peep all of thesponsors in the pre-roll and the
post-roll.
There's a lot of great smallbusiness owners in there that
are supportive of the show andwe want to make sure we support
them in their small businessendeavors.
(36:07):
As always, if you enjoyed theshow, be a friend and tell a
friend, and if you didn't likeit, tell them anyways, because I
bet they like it just becauseyou didn't.
This is Fitty signing off andwe will see you next week.
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