June 2, 2025 • 19 mins
⚽Inside the Mind of a College Coach: How Adam Galla Evaluates Recruits ⚽
In this Significant Recruiting bonus episode, Coach Matt Rogers sits down with Adam Galla, Head Men’s Soccer Coach at Central Methodist University, for a candid look at what really matters in the recruiting process.
Coach Galla shares how he identifies the athletes who fit his program—not just in terms of skill, but character, mindset, and academic commitment. From what stands out in an email to how families can maximize college visits, this episode is packed with practical advice for athletes and parents navigating today’s recruiting landscape.
Plus, Coach Rogers introduces the upcoming Softball Recruit’s Journal, launching in June—a game-changing guide filled with email and call templates, college visit strategies, and decision-making tools to help families take control of their recruiting journey.
🎧 Listen now and start building your path to college athletics with clarity and confidence.
🔗 Visit coachmattrogers.com for free resources and updates.
#SignificantRecruiting #CollegeRecruiting #NAIASoccer #CoachAdamGalla #AthleteDevelopment #CollegeVisitTips #SoftballRecruitJournal #CoachMattRogers
Learn more and connect with Matt Rogers here: https://linktr.ee/coachmattrogers
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:08):
Welcome to this significantrecruiting bonus episode.
I'm your host, coach MattRogers.
Today I'm joined by Coach AdamGala, head, men's soccer coach
at Central Methodist University.
Coach Gala has a proven trackrecord of building competitive
high character programs, and inthis episode he gives us a
behind the scenes look at how heevaluates recruits, what
(00:30):
impresses him early in theprocess, and what families
should be focused on from thestart.
Now, before we dive in.
Don't forget to check out coachmatt rogers.com for a full
library of free resources tohelp families take ownership of
the recruiting journey.
And coming this week, theSoftball Recruits Journal.
It's my new book.
It's the Ultimate Tour Guide toYour College recruitment.
(00:53):
Inside you're gonna findtemplates and scripts for
emailing and calling coaches.
I'm gonna give you step-by-stepdirections for setting up
college visits the right way,and I'm gonna help you make
decisions by giving you thetools to help you choose the
right school that fits yourstudent athlete the best.
I hope you'll check it out.
I really think you're gonna geta lot out of it.
(01:15):
Alright, let's get into it.
Here's my recruiting episodewith Coach Adam Gala.
Coach, thanks so much for beingon I'm so thrilled to talk
recruiting with you becausethere's so many parents that
really are lost.
They just don't know what to do.
They know their kid has a bigdream.
(01:36):
They know their kid has talent,and they don't know what college
coaches are looking for and theydon't understand the process.
So I want to get into that withyou if you're okay with it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Obviously it's a huge process.
And I think having the resourcesto point you in the right
direction and really help youthroughout that process is
vitally important.
Yeah.
So fire away here.
(01:56):
Alright let's start with the bigbanger.
What qualities do you look forin a recruit beyond the talent,
especially at a place like CMU?
Yeah I think for.
For us and I would highly advisethis for everyone out there you
wanna be in the right fit forthe overall community.
So what does it look like whenyou're in the classroom?
(02:17):
What does it look like whenyou're in the dining hall?
What does it look like on theweekend?
What does it look like after thegame or before the game?
I think that aspect is reallyimportant at the end of.
Here's the reality.
The reality is you're gonnaspend two to three hours with
me, which is awesome.
But you're gonna spend the other21 with everyone else and
everywhere else on campus.
(02:38):
So if you're not happy in thoseother places it's gonna be hap
you're gonna have a difficulttime transitioning that
happiness on the field or courtor whatever sport you may play.
So I, I think finding the rightfit for you as an individual is
so vitally important.
And there's just so many factorsthat go into it.
(02:59):
Big school, small schoolacademic, your GPA, te test
score to the major that youoffer to the campus activity
boards, intramural, you, every,there's every, view these things
as every little box.
And the more boxes you can checkoff the better.
You'll never truly know.
Until day one of campus when youshow up there.
(03:20):
But the more research you can doon your own, the more
information you can gather andthe more you can feel like this
is the right fit from acommunity side of things, you
have the better chance ofsuccess you'll have.
And the better experience you'llhave as well.
What does that look like for youwhen you know you've got a kid
that fits those things, thatfits your culture is gonna be
able to come in and acclimate?
(03:41):
Is, are there things that whenyou think about your present
roster now that you, this isyour three with your kids, when
you look at those kids and youjust know these are c cm youth
kids?
I know we brought the right kidshere.
Yeah.
I.
It.
Part of it is, like I saidbefore, you never truly know
until you're here, even throughAustralia recruiting process
(04:03):
because I'm gonna see you play acouple times.
I'm gonna see you on campus acouple times, I'm gonna have a
phone call with you a coupletimes.
And while all that's nice, itgives me a good, snapshot of the
type of person and the type ofplayer you are, but you'll never
truly know until you're in thatenvironment.
And I think so I always.
I'm hesitant in terms of, I tryto take everything with a grain
(04:24):
of salt.
But in the recruiting process ifI do feel like there's,'cause
there are some kids that I thinkcheck a lot.
We check a lot of their boxeswhen I ask them questions and
it's just like every single oneis, yeah man, like we're a great
fit for'em.
I just try to.
Consistently emphasize the factthat I feel like we are I feel
like we're a great fit for youand here's why.
(04:44):
You fit our style of play.
You fit our academic, you fitall of these things.
When you asked this, when Iasked you this question about,
what you want most outta yourexperience, and these were the
three things you said, like wedo those three things.
Not well, but really well.
And so just having thatconversation with them.
But I always end everyconversation with this, and
everyone will tell you this,from my assistant coaches to my
(05:05):
current players, to my recruits,to everyone.
At the end of the day, you haveto make the best decision for
you and your family.
And I will always support that.
And I think the reason being isI don't want.
Anyone telling me what's bestfor my life for my wife and my
kids.
They can always gimme advice andthose type of things.
But at the end of the day,that's my decision, right?
(05:27):
And so there are times where youget somebody that checks all the
boxes and they don't commit, andit's really frustrating.
But there's also that flip sidecoin where there are guys that
check every box and, they docome and it's great.
And there are guys who maybe youdon't feel check all the boxes
and they get here and then itbecomes great.
Yeah.
It's a simple conversation youmight've had and all of a
(05:47):
sudden, yeah, that light bulbkind of switches and Oh yeah,
okay.
May, maybe this is better thanwhat I thought.
Or maybe it is different thanwhat I thought.
I think how, once they're here,I think a big one for me is.
I see the interaction that theyhave between them and that
community.
Whether that's the team, whetherthat's the professors, whether
(06:10):
that's in the cafeteria, whetherthat's with, intramurals.
We're a smaller campus for us,so I'm walking around.
I literally live right down thestreet from campus.
I can walk to work if I want tolove it.
So I constantly see guys and sowhen I see the interactions they
have with the community.
Again, whether that's our teamor somebody on the men's basket
or whatever that may be that'swhen I know they're the right
(06:33):
fit and that we're the place forthem and that we made the right
decision in recruiting them andthey made the right decision in
coming to us.
I was just about to ask youabout the boxes, and my question
was gonna be, are there boxesthat you need checked that maybe
would surprise a parent?
Is that one of them?
(06:54):
Of how the kid relates to thecommunity or is, or you can go a
different direction, but isthere a box that might surprise
mom and dad that, hey, this isimportant to us?
I don't think it's mom and dad.
I think it's more I.
The student athlete.
Okay.
Because I think for the mostpart, mom and dad's kind of, for
the most part, they get it.
Not always but they recognizethat they're dropping their son
(07:17):
or daughter off at theuniversity, and that you're
wiping your hands a little bit.
And so now it's up to, thesepeople here on our campus to
make sure that they take careof, their son or daughter in
terms of academics and whateverthey need, be successful, right?
The student athlete just thinksathlete side, and so they just
wanna focus on the two hoursthat they have at practice and
(07:39):
games and how.
They fail to take that step backand recognize, what are you
gonna do with the other 21 hoursof the day?
Yeah.
'Cause that is a lot of time,and not just that day, but
you're talking seven days a weekfor, six months here, six months
there type thing.
So I think it's more of asurprise for them than it is the
(08:01):
parent.
I'll say, I think the one thingthat does surprise people a
little bit when I say.
You need to make the bestdecision for you and your
family, and I'll support that.
I genuinely mean that.
I think that can come off, comeacross as like maybe like a used
car salesman type line.
But I legitimately mean it.
I was fortunate enough to playthe game at a good level and I
(08:22):
just love my experience as awhole and I.
Another thing that is maybesurprising a little bit when we
talk about the recruitingprocess and that I tell guys, I
even tell my current guys thissometimes this is something they
don't wanna hear, but it's true.
A as you get older the wins andlosses blend and fade a little
bit.
Yeah.
There's always some that you'llalways remember.
(08:44):
But.
The thing you never forget isthe overall experience that you
had and the character of thepeople that you were around with
during that time.
That's something that sticks outas clear as that, I can close my
eyes today and tell you the 10amazing moments I had with my
teammates, and it had nothing todo, whether it was win or loss
or nothing to do on the actualfield to play.
(09:06):
Yeah.
There's some games that stickout for sure.
But I think, having thatexperience is something that has
shaped me as a person and Iwanna make sure that I provide
that same experience to myplayers as well.
But I, to do that, they have towant to be a part of it.
Yeah, I love it.
What advice would you give ahigh school soccer player who
(09:29):
wants to stand out emailing ortalking with you for the first
time?
What advice would you give him?
I'll go one step back prior tothe email, so I think it's, man,
it's very overwhelming thiswhole process, right?
Yes.
It's a lot to think of.
And I think something thatreally helped me, and I think
(09:49):
something that really helped outstudent athletes.
I hear I don't know what I wannamajor in, or I don't know this,
or I don't know that.
And okay, there's gonna bethings that you don't know but
there are things that you doknow.
I knew that I didn't wanna sitin a desk and be a nine to five.
I couldn't do that.
There's no way.
I would drive myself crazy.
Me too.
I had to be moving, I had to bedoing something I could
(10:11):
eliminate this major, that,major that.
So I think it starts.
If you're just emailing randomcoaches for the hope of getting
it that, that's probably not thebest way to go about it.
And sometimes it can be assimple as how far away from home
do.
Okay, it's four hours.
All right, we'll draw, adopt,circle the map and start there.
And so if you can start withthat in the email, some
(10:34):
something in regards to, whatdraws you to that program,
whether it's the academics, thelocation something within that I
think is really important.
Two we realize that you're gonnabe emailing more than one coach,
but please make sure that whenyou do that, just have this mass
email.
Try to make it as personable asyou can.
The more personable it is, themore it's gonna stand out.
I get, I would say 30, 35, 40emails a day, and, but, 20 of
(11:00):
those are just mass generatedemails.
I can tell in the first.
Two sentences.
It's not that I don't look atthem, but I just don't look at
them quite as they don't jumpout.
What you said.
They don't grab my attention.
So the more personal informationyou can provide, the better.
And just the more informationthat you can provide in that
email, the better as well.
This kind of goes back to thecheck box, right?
If you are 2.0.
(11:21):
Unfortunately, man, hey, I can'tget you accepted here.
If you wanna come here, that'sfine, but you might have to go
to junior college first, raiseyour grades.
And take that route.
I'm looking in that email interms of the check boxes that I,
I think, Hey this person couldbe a really good fit for us.
So the more information you canprovide, the better and the more
personal information you canprovide in terms of why you
(11:42):
reached out, the better as well.
And they can always buy thisbook, significant recruiting and
it walks it through all thosespecifics too, coach.
So thank you for pinpointingthose.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, for sure.
That's great.
What recruiting mistakes do yousee most often?
And you've just talked about acouple of those that could be
avoided with just bettereducation and preparation.
(12:04):
And that could be the athlete orthe parents.
Yeah, I, I think.
For us in particular, soccer.
And I know I mentioned itbriefly previously as well, but
we are not football orbasketball.
The scholarship money that's inthere at the division one level
is incredible.
But we are not at that at thatpoint in time yet.
(12:26):
Yeah.
And so I think a bigmisconception is that there's
this massive amounts ofscholarship money out there on
the men's soccer side where theyknow one person, indirectly who
got a really good scholarship.
And so the.
My, my son and our daughtershould get that too.
There's not money in men'ssoccer like there is in other
sports.
I think coming into it with thismentality, you're gonna get a
ton of money from soccer.
(12:49):
I'm not saying it never happens,it's just incredibly rare.
It's so come in with an openmind in terms of that I think is
important.
I think that, the other thingthat's important as well is
don't rely on anybody else to beyour agent or whatever you wanna
call that.
(13:10):
Thank you.
I think I, I think the bestpiece of advice that I've ever
heard and I use it to this dayis and if you could take one
thing outta this whole thing,please take this.
You are your own best advocate.
Period.
No ifs, no ass.
You not your high school coach,not your club coach.
You can use them.
They're great resources to have,but you individually are your
(13:30):
own best advocate.
Start with how far away fromhome you wanna go.
Start with what you wanna majorin.
Start what your GPA is.
Do you wanna go to two yearschool, four year school?
Start to narrow things down thatway, and then reach out to
coaches.
And see where things go.
Be open and honest about theconversations that you have.
If there's something in.
(13:50):
Present that ask the hardquestions.
I, I really enjoy when I bringstudent athletes up to campus
and they ask me hard questions.
I want that because then I knowthat they're an active
participant in their recruitingexperience.
That goes back to being your ownbest advocate.
If you think that I'm going toshow up at, francis Howell North
(14:10):
High School in St.
Louis at Saturday at 11:00 AMbehind on field number two to
watch you score.
A, a GSO man, you got a betterchance of winning the lottery.
Like you gotta tell me that,right?
You are your own best advocate.
In regards, regards to thisrecruiting process.
Don't pawn it off on mom or dad.
(14:31):
Don't pawn it off on your clubcoach.
They're there to help you.
They are there to be yourresources and please use them,
but at the end of the day, itstarts with you.
So that's number one.
And I'll say, sorry, one morething.
I could talk about this forhours.
But, another way to look at itas well, you might have this,
Hey, this is your number oneschool.
I I wanna go play at slu.
(14:52):
That might be great, but maybe sslew doesn't want you.
Then what's the next step?
And I think this idea that youget married to one thing is can
be frustrating.
Here's what I say, it only takesone person to say yes.
It's just like getting married.
It takes one person to say, yes,I can.
As 20 goes out, they all say no,but one says yes, that's how
(15:15):
this works.
And so you can fight thatprocess all you want.
Or I didn't know this or that,but I would say be open-minded
and recognize that.
Ask those hard questions.
You might not get the answersyou want, and that's okay.
It can be frustrating, but itonly takes one school to say
yes.
And keep that in the back ofyour head during that time.
Love it coach.
(15:35):
That's great advice.
And it hits the nail right onthe head.
Last question,'cause this issuch a big deal and I get asked
this so much.
You've got high school, you'vegot club, how much do you care
about where they're playing, whothey're playing for as much as
(15:55):
you care about what kind of kidand what kind of player they
are?
They can show it on film.
Does it matter if they'replaying Club one a 18 U at the
highest or does it matter to youat all?
The I'm a firm believer thatthere are great players
everywhere, and everywhere.
I don't care if you're a bigschool, small school, big
(16:18):
community, small community, bigcountry, small country, big
states.
Everywhere.
And while I don't care as muchabout that, I will say the one
benefit you have to playing at abigger school and playing for
(16:38):
maybe a bigger club is you'rejust a little bit more used to
like that competition day in,day out.
'Cause that's what's gonna haveto happen when you get to this
level.
You're gonna have to compete foryour spot literally every day.
And so there are times wheremaybe you get somebody from a
small high school or a smallclub that's just handed the
captaincy.
They're handed the story lineupand it's an adjustment for them
(16:58):
coming in.
But that isn't the end all, beall at the end of the day, I'm
looking for great players andgreat people.
So if you're a great player anda great person, I don't care if
you're from a town of.
5 million or 500.
You're a good player.
I'm gonna take you.
But I do think there is a slightmaybe a shorter transition
period for those players who didplay at a big high school or did
play at a bigger club, justbecause they're used to that
(17:20):
kind of competitive environment.
But I think at the end of theday, talent trumps all.
So if you're a good, if you're agood player and you're a good
person, man, you're gonna figureit out.
Love it, coach.
Coach, thank you so much.
You gave me such a great timetoday, and I know how valuable
your time is with your programand your family.
But the messaging you'reproviding and the advice and the
(17:42):
direction and the empathy thatyou do it with, I.
It warms my heart and I'm sothankful I've got to know you
and I'm, yeah.
I'm so thankful if you're up towork, to call you a friend.
Yeah, no, for sure.
No, I really appreciate youreaching out, man.
I think this is a great servicethat you're providing people.
It, it is a long, hard processwhether you're a young coach or
you're a student athlete,looking to play at the
(18:02):
collegiate level, the moreinformation you can give
yourself, the better.
And I really enjoyed ourconversation here today.
Thank so much, coach.
Good luck and we be cheering forthe Eagles.
Appreciate.
That's a wrap on today's bonusepisode with Coach Adam Gala.
From identifying coachableathletes to outlining how
recruits can make an impression,coach Gala gave us real
(18:25):
practical insight into howcollege coaches think and what
families can do to rise abovethe noise.
And you all know the noise I'mtalking about.
If you're serious aboutnavigating this process with
confidence, head over to coachmatt rogers.com to access free
tools and more recruitingepisodes.
And don't forget the softballrecruits Journal launches this
(18:48):
June For all you families thathave a softball player in your
house that wants to play incollege, it's more than just a
planner.
It's more than just a journal.
It's your personal tour guide tocollege recruiting.
It's packed with templates forcommunicating with coaches.
Tips for making impactfulcollege visits and guidance on
how to make the right decisionwhen it counts.
(19:10):
Thanks for tuning in.
Subscribe today so you nevermiss a future episode.
And remember, in recruiting,don't just chase offers.
Pursue significance.
Welcome to this significantrecruiting bonus episode.
I'm your host, coach MattRogers.
Today I'm joined by Coach AdamGala, head, men's soccer coach
at Central Methodist University.
Coach Gala has a proven trackrecord of building competitive
high character programs, and inthis episode he gives us a
behind the scenes look at how heevaluates recruits, what
(00:30):
impresses him early in theprocess, and what families
should be focused on from thestart.
Now, before we dive in.
Don't forget to check out coachmatt rogers.com for a full
library of free resources tohelp families take ownership of
the recruiting journey.
And coming this week, theSoftball Recruits Journal.
It's my new book.
It's the Ultimate Tour Guide toYour College recruitment.
(00:53):
Inside you're gonna findtemplates and scripts for
emailing and calling coaches.
I'm gonna give you step-by-stepdirections for setting up
college visits the right way,and I'm gonna help you make
decisions by giving you thetools to help you choose the
right school that fits yourstudent athlete the best.
I hope you'll check it out.
I really think you're gonna geta lot out of it.
(01:15):
Alright, let's get into it.
Here's my recruiting episodewith Coach Adam Gala.
Coach, thanks so much for beingon I'm so thrilled to talk
recruiting with you becausethere's so many parents that
really are lost.
They just don't know what to do.
They know their kid has a bigdream.
(01:36):
They know their kid has talent,and they don't know what college
coaches are looking for and theydon't understand the process.
So I want to get into that withyou if you're okay with it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Obviously it's a huge process.
And I think having the resourcesto point you in the right
direction and really help youthroughout that process is
vitally important.
Yeah.
So fire away here.
(01:56):
Alright let's start with the bigbanger.
What qualities do you look forin a recruit beyond the talent,
especially at a place like CMU?
Yeah I think for.
For us and I would highly advisethis for everyone out there you
wanna be in the right fit forthe overall community.
So what does it look like whenyou're in the classroom?
(02:17):
What does it look like whenyou're in the dining hall?
What does it look like on theweekend?
What does it look like after thegame or before the game?
I think that aspect is reallyimportant at the end of.
Here's the reality.
The reality is you're gonnaspend two to three hours with
me, which is awesome.
But you're gonna spend the other21 with everyone else and
everywhere else on campus.
(02:38):
So if you're not happy in thoseother places it's gonna be hap
you're gonna have a difficulttime transitioning that
happiness on the field or courtor whatever sport you may play.
So I, I think finding the rightfit for you as an individual is
so vitally important.
And there's just so many factorsthat go into it.
(02:59):
Big school, small schoolacademic, your GPA, te test
score to the major that youoffer to the campus activity
boards, intramural, you, every,there's every, view these things
as every little box.
And the more boxes you can checkoff the better.
You'll never truly know.
Until day one of campus when youshow up there.
(03:20):
But the more research you can doon your own, the more
information you can gather andthe more you can feel like this
is the right fit from acommunity side of things, you
have the better chance ofsuccess you'll have.
And the better experience you'llhave as well.
What does that look like for youwhen you know you've got a kid
that fits those things, thatfits your culture is gonna be
able to come in and acclimate?
(03:41):
Is, are there things that whenyou think about your present
roster now that you, this isyour three with your kids, when
you look at those kids and youjust know these are c cm youth
kids?
I know we brought the right kidshere.
Yeah.
I.
It.
Part of it is, like I saidbefore, you never truly know
until you're here, even throughAustralia recruiting process
(04:03):
because I'm gonna see you play acouple times.
I'm gonna see you on campus acouple times, I'm gonna have a
phone call with you a coupletimes.
And while all that's nice, itgives me a good, snapshot of the
type of person and the type ofplayer you are, but you'll never
truly know until you're in thatenvironment.
And I think so I always.
I'm hesitant in terms of, I tryto take everything with a grain
(04:24):
of salt.
But in the recruiting process ifI do feel like there's,'cause
there are some kids that I thinkcheck a lot.
We check a lot of their boxeswhen I ask them questions and
it's just like every single oneis, yeah man, like we're a great
fit for'em.
I just try to.
Consistently emphasize the factthat I feel like we are I feel
like we're a great fit for youand here's why.
(04:44):
You fit our style of play.
You fit our academic, you fitall of these things.
When you asked this, when Iasked you this question about,
what you want most outta yourexperience, and these were the
three things you said, like wedo those three things.
Not well, but really well.
And so just having thatconversation with them.
But I always end everyconversation with this, and
everyone will tell you this,from my assistant coaches to my
(05:05):
current players, to my recruits,to everyone.
At the end of the day, you haveto make the best decision for
you and your family.
And I will always support that.
And I think the reason being isI don't want.
Anyone telling me what's bestfor my life for my wife and my
kids.
They can always gimme advice andthose type of things.
But at the end of the day,that's my decision, right?
(05:27):
And so there are times where youget somebody that checks all the
boxes and they don't commit, andit's really frustrating.
But there's also that flip sidecoin where there are guys that
check every box and, they docome and it's great.
And there are guys who maybe youdon't feel check all the boxes
and they get here and then itbecomes great.
Yeah.
It's a simple conversation youmight've had and all of a
(05:47):
sudden, yeah, that light bulbkind of switches and Oh yeah,
okay.
May, maybe this is better thanwhat I thought.
Or maybe it is different thanwhat I thought.
I think how, once they're here,I think a big one for me is.
I see the interaction that theyhave between them and that
community.
Whether that's the team, whetherthat's the professors, whether
(06:10):
that's in the cafeteria, whetherthat's with, intramurals.
We're a smaller campus for us,so I'm walking around.
I literally live right down thestreet from campus.
I can walk to work if I want tolove it.
So I constantly see guys and sowhen I see the interactions they
have with the community.
Again, whether that's our teamor somebody on the men's basket
or whatever that may be that'swhen I know they're the right
(06:33):
fit and that we're the place forthem and that we made the right
decision in recruiting them andthey made the right decision in
coming to us.
I was just about to ask youabout the boxes, and my question
was gonna be, are there boxesthat you need checked that maybe
would surprise a parent?
Is that one of them?
(06:54):
Of how the kid relates to thecommunity or is, or you can go a
different direction, but isthere a box that might surprise
mom and dad that, hey, this isimportant to us?
I don't think it's mom and dad.
I think it's more I.
The student athlete.
Okay.
Because I think for the mostpart, mom and dad's kind of, for
the most part, they get it.
Not always but they recognizethat they're dropping their son
(07:17):
or daughter off at theuniversity, and that you're
wiping your hands a little bit.
And so now it's up to, thesepeople here on our campus to
make sure that they take careof, their son or daughter in
terms of academics and whateverthey need, be successful, right?
The student athlete just thinksathlete side, and so they just
wanna focus on the two hoursthat they have at practice and
(07:39):
games and how.
They fail to take that step backand recognize, what are you
gonna do with the other 21 hoursof the day?
Yeah.
'Cause that is a lot of time,and not just that day, but
you're talking seven days a weekfor, six months here, six months
there type thing.
So I think it's more of asurprise for them than it is the
(08:01):
parent.
I'll say, I think the one thingthat does surprise people a
little bit when I say.
You need to make the bestdecision for you and your
family, and I'll support that.
I genuinely mean that.
I think that can come off, comeacross as like maybe like a used
car salesman type line.
But I legitimately mean it.
I was fortunate enough to playthe game at a good level and I
(08:22):
just love my experience as awhole and I.
Another thing that is maybesurprising a little bit when we
talk about the recruitingprocess and that I tell guys, I
even tell my current guys thissometimes this is something they
don't wanna hear, but it's true.
A as you get older the wins andlosses blend and fade a little
bit.
Yeah.
There's always some that you'llalways remember.
(08:44):
But.
The thing you never forget isthe overall experience that you
had and the character of thepeople that you were around with
during that time.
That's something that sticks outas clear as that, I can close my
eyes today and tell you the 10amazing moments I had with my
teammates, and it had nothing todo, whether it was win or loss
or nothing to do on the actualfield to play.
(09:06):
Yeah.
There's some games that stickout for sure.
But I think, having thatexperience is something that has
shaped me as a person and Iwanna make sure that I provide
that same experience to myplayers as well.
But I, to do that, they have towant to be a part of it.
Yeah, I love it.
What advice would you give ahigh school soccer player who
(09:29):
wants to stand out emailing ortalking with you for the first
time?
What advice would you give him?
I'll go one step back prior tothe email, so I think it's, man,
it's very overwhelming thiswhole process, right?
Yes.
It's a lot to think of.
And I think something thatreally helped me, and I think
(09:49):
something that really helped outstudent athletes.
I hear I don't know what I wannamajor in, or I don't know this,
or I don't know that.
And okay, there's gonna bethings that you don't know but
there are things that you doknow.
I knew that I didn't wanna sitin a desk and be a nine to five.
I couldn't do that.
There's no way.
I would drive myself crazy.
Me too.
I had to be moving, I had to bedoing something I could
(10:11):
eliminate this major, that,major that.
So I think it starts.
If you're just emailing randomcoaches for the hope of getting
it that, that's probably not thebest way to go about it.
And sometimes it can be assimple as how far away from home
do.
Okay, it's four hours.
All right, we'll draw, adopt,circle the map and start there.
And so if you can start withthat in the email, some
(10:34):
something in regards to, whatdraws you to that program,
whether it's the academics, thelocation something within that I
think is really important.
Two we realize that you're gonnabe emailing more than one coach,
but please make sure that whenyou do that, just have this mass
email.
Try to make it as personable asyou can.
The more personable it is, themore it's gonna stand out.
I get, I would say 30, 35, 40emails a day, and, but, 20 of
(11:00):
those are just mass generatedemails.
I can tell in the first.
Two sentences.
It's not that I don't look atthem, but I just don't look at
them quite as they don't jumpout.
What you said.
They don't grab my attention.
So the more personal informationyou can provide, the better.
And just the more informationthat you can provide in that
email, the better as well.
This kind of goes back to thecheck box, right?
If you are 2.0.
(11:21):
Unfortunately, man, hey, I can'tget you accepted here.
If you wanna come here, that'sfine, but you might have to go
to junior college first, raiseyour grades.
And take that route.
I'm looking in that email interms of the check boxes that I,
I think, Hey this person couldbe a really good fit for us.
So the more information you canprovide, the better and the more
personal information you canprovide in terms of why you
(11:42):
reached out, the better as well.
And they can always buy thisbook, significant recruiting and
it walks it through all thosespecifics too, coach.
So thank you for pinpointingthose.
I appreciate it.
Yeah, for sure.
That's great.
What recruiting mistakes do yousee most often?
And you've just talked about acouple of those that could be
avoided with just bettereducation and preparation.
(12:04):
And that could be the athlete orthe parents.
Yeah, I, I think.
For us in particular, soccer.
And I know I mentioned itbriefly previously as well, but
we are not football orbasketball.
The scholarship money that's inthere at the division one level
is incredible.
But we are not at that at thatpoint in time yet.
(12:26):
Yeah.
And so I think a bigmisconception is that there's
this massive amounts ofscholarship money out there on
the men's soccer side where theyknow one person, indirectly who
got a really good scholarship.
And so the.
My, my son and our daughtershould get that too.
There's not money in men'ssoccer like there is in other
sports.
I think coming into it with thismentality, you're gonna get a
ton of money from soccer.
(12:49):
I'm not saying it never happens,it's just incredibly rare.
It's so come in with an openmind in terms of that I think is
important.
I think that, the other thingthat's important as well is
don't rely on anybody else to beyour agent or whatever you wanna
call that.
(13:10):
Thank you.
I think I, I think the bestpiece of advice that I've ever
heard and I use it to this dayis and if you could take one
thing outta this whole thing,please take this.
You are your own best advocate.
Period.
No ifs, no ass.
You not your high school coach,not your club coach.
You can use them.
They're great resources to have,but you individually are your
(13:30):
own best advocate.
Start with how far away fromhome you wanna go.
Start with what you wanna majorin.
Start what your GPA is.
Do you wanna go to two yearschool, four year school?
Start to narrow things down thatway, and then reach out to
coaches.
And see where things go.
Be open and honest about theconversations that you have.
If there's something in.
(13:50):
Present that ask the hardquestions.
I, I really enjoy when I bringstudent athletes up to campus
and they ask me hard questions.
I want that because then I knowthat they're an active
participant in their recruitingexperience.
That goes back to being your ownbest advocate.
If you think that I'm going toshow up at, francis Howell North
(14:10):
High School in St.
Louis at Saturday at 11:00 AMbehind on field number two to
watch you score.
A, a GSO man, you got a betterchance of winning the lottery.
Like you gotta tell me that,right?
You are your own best advocate.
In regards, regards to thisrecruiting process.
Don't pawn it off on mom or dad.
(14:31):
Don't pawn it off on your clubcoach.
They're there to help you.
They are there to be yourresources and please use them,
but at the end of the day, itstarts with you.
So that's number one.
And I'll say, sorry, one morething.
I could talk about this forhours.
But, another way to look at itas well, you might have this,
Hey, this is your number oneschool.
I I wanna go play at slu.
(14:52):
That might be great, but maybe sslew doesn't want you.
Then what's the next step?
And I think this idea that youget married to one thing is can
be frustrating.
Here's what I say, it only takesone person to say yes.
It's just like getting married.
It takes one person to say, yes,I can.
As 20 goes out, they all say no,but one says yes, that's how
(15:15):
this works.
And so you can fight thatprocess all you want.
Or I didn't know this or that,but I would say be open-minded
and recognize that.
Ask those hard questions.
You might not get the answersyou want, and that's okay.
It can be frustrating, but itonly takes one school to say
yes.
And keep that in the back ofyour head during that time.
Love it coach.
(15:35):
That's great advice.
And it hits the nail right onthe head.
Last question,'cause this issuch a big deal and I get asked
this so much.
You've got high school, you'vegot club, how much do you care
about where they're playing, whothey're playing for as much as
(15:55):
you care about what kind of kidand what kind of player they
are?
They can show it on film.
Does it matter if they'replaying Club one a 18 U at the
highest or does it matter to youat all?
The I'm a firm believer thatthere are great players
everywhere, and everywhere.
I don't care if you're a bigschool, small school, big
(16:18):
community, small community, bigcountry, small country, big
states.
Everywhere.
And while I don't care as muchabout that, I will say the one
benefit you have to playing at abigger school and playing for
(16:38):
maybe a bigger club is you'rejust a little bit more used to
like that competition day in,day out.
'Cause that's what's gonna haveto happen when you get to this
level.
You're gonna have to compete foryour spot literally every day.
And so there are times wheremaybe you get somebody from a
small high school or a smallclub that's just handed the
captaincy.
They're handed the story lineupand it's an adjustment for them
(16:58):
coming in.
But that isn't the end all, beall at the end of the day, I'm
looking for great players andgreat people.
So if you're a great player anda great person, I don't care if
you're from a town of.
5 million or 500.
You're a good player.
I'm gonna take you.
But I do think there is a slightmaybe a shorter transition
period for those players who didplay at a big high school or did
play at a bigger club, justbecause they're used to that
(17:20):
kind of competitive environment.
But I think at the end of theday, talent trumps all.
So if you're a good, if you're agood player and you're a good
person, man, you're gonna figureit out.
Love it, coach.
Coach, thank you so much.
You gave me such a great timetoday, and I know how valuable
your time is with your programand your family.
But the messaging you'reproviding and the advice and the
(17:42):
direction and the empathy thatyou do it with, I.
It warms my heart and I'm sothankful I've got to know you
and I'm, yeah.
I'm so thankful if you're up towork, to call you a friend.
Yeah, no, for sure.
No, I really appreciate youreaching out, man.
I think this is a great servicethat you're providing people.
It, it is a long, hard processwhether you're a young coach or
you're a student athlete,looking to play at the
(18:02):
collegiate level, the moreinformation you can give
yourself, the better.
And I really enjoyed ourconversation here today.
Thank so much, coach.
Good luck and we be cheering forthe Eagles.
Appreciate.
That's a wrap on today's bonusepisode with Coach Adam Gala.
From identifying coachableathletes to outlining how
recruits can make an impression,coach Gala gave us real
(18:25):
practical insight into howcollege coaches think and what
families can do to rise abovethe noise.
And you all know the noise I'mtalking about.
If you're serious aboutnavigating this process with
confidence, head over to coachmatt rogers.com to access free
tools and more recruitingepisodes.
And don't forget the softballrecruits Journal launches this
(18:48):
June For all you families thathave a softball player in your
house that wants to play incollege, it's more than just a
planner.
It's more than just a journal.
It's your personal tour guide tocollege recruiting.
It's packed with templates forcommunicating with coaches.
Tips for making impactfulcollege visits and guidance on
how to make the right decisionwhen it counts.
(19:10):
Thanks for tuning in.
Subscribe today so you nevermiss a future episode.
And remember, in recruiting,don't just chase offers.
Pursue significance.
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