NextPod Soccer Podcast: Season 2 - May 29

The boys return with a look at the League1 Ontario season and an interview with CanW17 coach Emma Humphries.

Episode Transcript

(00:19):
Welcome to Next Pod, your weeklylook at Canadian prospects with the One,
the Only, the Great, theWondrous James GROSSI also me Dwayne. I'm
Dwayne, and welcome, Welcome,Welcome. I'm feeling James Grossei's line there
with the welcome, welcome, Welcome. I'm Dwayne. We're back. It's

(00:41):
been a wild James. How youdoing, Dwayne. I'm doing all right,
man. We've we've missed quite abit. I got a little bit
of a rundown here of all thethings that have gone on since we last
talked back in the middle of February. It's been a busy time, you
know. Canada secured their spot inthe Kyle Kaffman's U twenty Championships CPOs kicked
off ML's Next Pros, and fullswing off for League one regions are underway.

(01:04):
League won on Tario Champs Simple CountyRovers face TFC League and Quebec Champs
Saint Laurent. After getting back toHalifax did the same TSS Rovers stepped in
for Victoria Highlanders as League one BCreps and gave Pacific a bit of a
scare, forcing that one to ashootout. We've got the generation to do
this cup, the Dallas Cup MLSnext fest or flex I always get those

(01:26):
two kind of mixed up. We'veseen some young guys head off to Europe,
which we'll touch on. We've seenAlessandro Biello make his first team debut
with CF Montreal. We learned thatthe white Caps FC girls elite as winners
of the twenty twenty one League oneCanada Interprovincial Championship, will represent Canada at
the inaugural Honk Cafe W champions Cup, where they will face it yet to

(01:49):
be determined El Salvadorian side in thepreliminary round this August, which is pretty
darn cool. And you know Canadalost to the US and a rainy finals.
She believes cup men qualified for CocoaAmerica. All three MLS sides got
off the good starts. Vancouver ofstate, SETI steady TFC might actually be
a challenger this season in Montreal.Well, they're going through a bit of

(02:13):
a rough patch at the moment,but I've got a lot of time for
a long court. Well, sotons of things going on, tons of
things that I'm sure I missed inthat little rundown. But how'll you been
i'd be good. You mentioned inCanada for Copa America, So yeah,
I learned about that waking up inDublin, Ireland. So that was a
bit of a unique situation for me. It's part of the reason why we

(02:35):
had a bit of a delay here. I had my first holiday since well
twenty eighteen. Basically I went toEurope, did Manchester South City play at
home, did a tour all aroundIreland, did a lot of hikes,
you know, climb Mount Snowden.Good good times we had. I'm also
you know, work got pretty busy, and that's the delay. I'm not
going to give excuses. We aregoing to commit to moving this thing forward

(02:59):
and leave focus in on League oneCanada. That's League one Ontario, League
one, Quebec League one BC andthis year James League one Prairies or albert
I should say, I think that'swhat they're they're labeling League one Alberta.
Praise will be in another year ortwo, but we'll get there. We'll
add them in when they come onand see exactly. So so that's gonna

(03:20):
be a big focus of our summertimeand we're excited to get back and start
talking about this stuff. You know, I wish I had a twelve hour
time of the day to record apodcast to really be deep on all of
that list that you listed. Wewill talk passing about some of that stuff
in the days ahead, but byand large, I guess you'll just have
to imagine the podcast that goes onsidemy head every moment of the day,

(03:42):
so that that's what you'll just haveto imagine you're listening to when you're thinking
about that stuff. James, We'vegot a good guest, one of our
favorites on this time right now today. That's Pierce Lang. Pierce is the
voice of League one Ontario. He'sgoing to join us after this quick break
to tell us wore things we're atwith this start of that season and welcome

(04:09):
back joining us on the line,the voice of the League one Ontario.
It's Pierce Lang, our friend,Pierce. How you doing. I am
absolutely fantastic, Dwayne. It's beena great start to the season here so
far, and I can't wait tosee what's coming down the pipe. And
it's great to be back and talkingto folks like you that care about the
development of the game in this countryso much. Let's chomp in the league's

(04:32):
just started up with men's and women'sside. I'm gonna start with women's side,
Pierson. And you know, NBCOntario was pretty strong throughout last year.
They're pretty strong again this year,four wins from four. But from
an outside perspective, it looks likemaybe the GAP's closing a little bit.
There you maybe summarize that a littlebit. Is the gap closing? Is

(04:53):
NBC still heading shoulders above most teamsor is there more parody now? Well,
the season's still young, so let'sgive them a chance. They've had
incredibly massive turnover would be another thingto consider. They're one of the teams
where they don't have a lot ofplayers coming back at the end of a

(05:15):
season, right because they age outof the program. So how do you
replace the Zoe Marcassini, for example, who was far and away one of
the best players that we saw inleguee last year, and I'm sure she'll
be someone that we see moving forwardgoing into a career with the national team,
just an absolutely dominant player. ButI think also one thing you have

(05:38):
to consider is that there is thatparody that's been created because now there's only
five games a weekend in the topplay and bar a couple teams who are
really struggling right now, everyone's verygood, like Woodbridge, who were in
sixth place going into last weekend,dropped eleven on Blue Devils. So like

(06:02):
one through six are incredibly incredibly strongteams right now, and some of them
have been kind of sleeping right now, and like you got to look at
the fact that they didn't even winthe league last year either, right,
Oh why their name of aids menow I feel ridiculous. Yeah, together,

(06:26):
together, we're the actual winners ofthe whole thing, and they're sitting
not even close to the top rightnow because they've had the turnover that they've
had and they've had a slow startto their season, So anything goes right
now. I think a lot ofteams are just kind of feeling themselves out.
And you've got a couple of playerswho've been very, very impressive for

(06:49):
NBC this year. I think certainlyJada Collin continues to be absolutely fantastic right
back. Stephanie Sholey has been absolutelydominant on the left side. She kind
of started to come into her ownon the back line going into the end
of last season, and April Lantineup front on the top left is picking

(07:15):
up where she left off, andso were the Chuckloo sisters, the one
of them only one goal away frombreaking Christine Sinclair's use national team records.
So I think that once they getrolling here, as this season goes on,
you're going to see this team reallycome together and continue the pattern that
we've seen from them over the lastseveral years. But I don't think they've
ever just been absolutely blowing everyone outof the water. They've just been consistently

(07:39):
of a caliber that I think we'llget to later when we talk about TFC
rejoining the system here. What wesaw when TFC three was in leaguing talk
in the day, right, SoI think that's kind of where things probably
stand with NBC, is that they'rethey're rolling and they're just going to keep

(07:59):
doing what they do. Yeah appear. So we tracked Annabel's progress with the
U seventeens earlier this year, soshe's she's been scoring goals, so it's
good to see that that's continued inthis league one season. You know,
when I was when I was doingmy prep and caught my eye that FC
London are right up there with NBCOntario this season, three wins, one

(08:20):
loss, that loss coming to NBCOntario in their meeting, just what did
you start to see from London.Have you had a chance to have eyes
on them and what's what's working forthem at this point there? Yeah,
So I got to watch the Idid commentary for their game against Woodbridge and
I think what we're going to seefrom London is they ended up losing to

(08:41):
NDC in the semifinals last year andit was pretty close. It was pretty
tight for the most part. NDC, obviously the Cream Rises to the Top
took that one and the score linewasn't maybe as indicative of what the gameplay
was throughout that match. But you'vegot someone like Charlotte Cromack, who's probably

(09:05):
one of the top young players inLeague one Ontario and it's not me taking
much of a risk in saying that. And she's joined by Julia Bannati,
who's an absolutely phenomenal player anyone who'sbeen watching this league over the last several
years. She obviously went over toEurope last season or season before and came
back halfway through last season and hascontinued to be the player that we expect

(09:31):
her to be and they've kind ofretooled a little bit. They're coaching staff
made to switch a couple of yearsago, and they've been bringing in just
players from outside the province and givingchances to players who are maybe outside of
the London area to come in andplay in London. And they've done a
really good job recruiting. And it'skind of more of the same from what

(09:52):
we saw from them last year.Is they really started to turn it up
at the end of last season,and I expected as much from them this
year to be totally ho it's allto play for in the women's Premier Division.
It sounds like just just four roundsin and over the menu. Burlington

(10:13):
are off to a hot start withfour straight wings incleaving a wild ten goal
one against Alliance Alliance on Saturday andScrissopia won the finalists from last year the
losing finalists and Woodbridge are also unbeatenthrough four as well. Just what have
you seen on the men's side throughthese opening weeks of the season. I
think Burlington have surprised a lot ofpeople personally. That's a team that I

(10:41):
had called for to finish top fourthis year. Just their edition of Leaford
Allen Even who's i'm not an unfamiliarname to people who've been following this league
for a while. He went overto Europe two seasons ago and has come
back now and he's joining Augustus Oku, who's just being an absolute force.

(11:05):
He's doing things that I don't thinkwe saw from him last season, and
his team's really coming together. Theyadded Marrow Lully, who was stuck sitting
behind Thomas Scooblack at SCRISSAPI last year, not getting enough minutes to really shine,
and he's really come to the forehere this season. They've added a

(11:26):
couple of other players Luka Frankovic whowas with Scrissapi last year, who's once
the captain of Waterloo of Blue Devil'sproduct. They brought over Eric Hermans,
who was the captain or the goalkeeperat Blue Devils last season. So they've
retooled and I think they're going tobe very, very dangerous. Scrissapi are

(11:50):
just so deep that they've had sofew losses from their squad from last year
that they'll continue on with the successthat we saw from them last season.
I think probably the biggest surprise isSimco County, who kind of come out
of the gate. They had thatloss against TFC and then hadn't really found

(12:13):
their bearings this season, I think, surprising to some, but you have
to wonder what happens at a clubwhen they win the league and then let
go of their coach and then theysee a drop in success like this club
has this season so far. Butagain we're only four games deep, so

(12:37):
anything could happen. Really, oneof the other fantastic stories I think is
a good thing coming from a badthing, and we saw it on and
it's two sides of the same coin, really on the men's side and the
women's side, with Electric City leavingthe league in their place in the top

(12:58):
flight becoming available on the women's side, Blue Devils a FC moving up from
the championship, and then on themen's side, Woodbridge one of the classic
clubs here who had been sent downcoming back up and they really struggled last
season because they had so many youngplayers on their squad. But they they

(13:20):
struggled, but they were in alot of games and they were exciting to
watch, and they'd come out gunsblazing this year and they tied SCRISAPI on
the weekend and that's no small feat. Like they've really made a good account
for themselves and I'm expecting big thingsfrom them. And Peter Pinzota is a
coach who knows how to get thingsdown. He's hell, he was the

(13:41):
coach of the Montreal Impact back inthe USL. Like he's he's seen it
all and if anyone can get thisgroup under control, it's him, And
they're doing great things this season.Jacob s Basiri has been fantastic. I
think he's a guy I mentioned toyou guys last season who had a phenomenal

(14:03):
U Sports season And they're just ahard nosed club that are really really punching
above their weight right now. Andit's it's good to see from a neutral
perspective. Of course, you knowthe historic club in the in the area
as well. I wanted to drilldown a bit more in Simcoe County.

(14:24):
Their their tough start after the resultin the Canadian Championship. Do you think
that that results that Beamlefield hurt themin anyway or there's a hangover effect going
on here or is it just acase of you know, a club that
is trying to find it twice still? I think certainly they had a bit
of turnover in the off season,not just with the coaching staff, but

(14:46):
also they lost their captain who startingat left back his name escapes me suddenly
here played every single minute of lastseason. They've got a couple of guys
who have been coming off the benchthat were maybe more called upon last season.

(15:07):
I don't know what the answer is, to be honest with you,
but again, when you when youmake a change to your coaching staff after
winning the championship and find yourself inthe position, there's questions that beg for
answers. Mm hmm. I think. I think when you spend a big
chunk of your offseason sort of eyeen up. You know this, this

(15:31):
first opportunity to be on on thelarger national stage of the Canadian Championship.
As a way of I've sucking allthe area of the room, the room
as well, and we have tomention Julian de Gusman as well. Moving
on to the New York Red Bullsin the sporting director role there, that
surely is has changed a little bitof an equation at some co uh.
Some big matches coming up this weekend. In fact, Pierce Uh, I've

(15:54):
circled some Coke County versus Burlington onSaturday and Woodbridge versus bone On on the
men's side, and that Woodbridge Vaughnis a doubleheader. The women meet as
well on Sunday and then Vaughn inLondon mid week next week, so it's
funny of good action to a headfor League One Ontario, we're just getting
started as as you've mentioned, andthere's been a ton of changes to the

(16:15):
competition this year. The League Onewebsite put out some really solid bluffers guides
back in February that did a lotof heavy lifting for me. We've got
the top tiers separated into the Premierand Championship divisions. We've got no knockout
playoffs this year to the German champions, it'll be a straight table decision,
some automatic pro promotion and relegation spots, plus a few head to head matches

(16:37):
to determine those final ones. Andthe League One Cup is back after a
five year hiatus, so lots ofmoving pieces this year. But I want
to get your opinion on how promotionand relegation and the shrinking of the division
size and maybe hopefully tightening up thelevel of the competition on the field has
played out every weekend for you,certainly. I think I touched on it

(17:03):
a moment ago. You look atthe women's division and the top six teams
are very very good. You've gotAlliance North Toronto, Woodbridge, Vaughn NDC
in London, who are also likeWoodbridge sat there. They were, like
I said, they were in sixgoing into the weekend, with Samantha Murphy

(17:29):
and Jessica Lasi, who both playedat Memphis in their collegiate careers, starting
up front. And that's not anot a bad school to be at if
you're on scholarship as a young femalesoccer player and they're just rolling. I
think Murphy's got her second hat trickin three weeks and they're in sixth.

(17:52):
So you look at that and basicallyyou've broken it down to five games a
weekend. If you're having the bottomfour teams play against each other, in
those two games, you get twobad games, but it's less likely that
you're going to have that, soyou're going to probably have two good games.
I think the other thing that Ihad touched on with the Electric City

(18:15):
going down, Blue Devils are inthe complete opposite situation on the women's side,
then what Woodbridge's men are. Theywere a team that needed to go
down and they have really struggled.That Woodbridge side as fantastic as I've been
talking about, laid eleven on themon Sunday at a difficult game to watch

(18:38):
at Sheridan College, and it's hardon the blue levels that they had to
go up when they really were preparedto stay down and retool at that stage.
But again, like the beyond thatinstance, it has created a very
dynamic and very interesting situation because evenwith those bottom four teams, there's competition

(19:04):
amongst them because you can't sit backand go, okay, well we're down
a goal with fifteen minutes left,like we saw North Mississauga against NBC three
weeks ago, and they can justsit back and coast and relax, like
even if they're tired, they've gotto they've got to play it out because

(19:25):
every point is going to count thisentire season. So the promotion and relegations
really created a fantastic dynamic and it'llbe interesting to see which teams come up
or which team comes up, andthen which team goes into the playoffs against
the second from bottom. So that'dbe the second from top in the championship

(19:47):
to see who the two teams thatcome up are and it will create an
absolutely fascinating dynamic as the season goeson. But I think probably one of
the other fantastic changes is the therule for minutes to be played by you
nineteen players and you twenty three players, because for some of these teams that

(20:10):
rely very heavily on they're more matureplayers. The example on the women's side
being Woodbridge who have probably five playersover the age of twenty eight, maybe
even thirty, and then Scrissopi,who again have a ton of guys who
are over the age of twenty fivetwenty six. They're going to have to
start looking down that bench and seeingif Jimmy, Joe and Tommy can Well

(20:37):
Tommy's a bad example because they gotTommy starting up front. But you guys
know what I mean, Yeah,looking down the bench and going do you
guys have what it takes to keepus in this game and giving starts to
guys who may be unproven, Andlike I said, but Marl Louli going
to Burlington and doing as well ashe's done, he's a guy that probably
could have been called upon by ateam like Screwsopi and he's made his way

(21:02):
over to a different club and isabsolutely lighting it up. Yeah. I
mean, I agree that that olderplayers add value to these leagues. You
have to have the older guys thereto push the younger guys. But we
should never lose focus the development league. So it does. It is certainly
a good move to encourage that.It strongly encouraged the play and of younger

(21:23):
players. We shall say that's thethig of broad view. Here for my
final question, and that's you know, what kind of storylines are you looking
at it? What's the big picturestories that you're looking to the play out
over the next few months. Isthis League one Ontario season continues, Oh,
I think certainly. It would alltouch on really what I've spoken to

(21:47):
already. How are these teams goingto handle the age restrictions like it is
a massive, massive thing. Forsome of these teams, like where North
Toronto are kind of in that topsix right now, most of their players
are born in twenty or are underthe age of twenty one. I wanted

(22:12):
to say twenty one born, butthat would make them three That is very
young. But you get my pointhere. For them, they've got Ja
Kobachfitch, the League one, Ontario'sall time leading scorer, starting up top
for them, after having come backfrom injury and after she was unfortunately knocked

(22:37):
out at the beginning of last season, after her return from Europe, and
she's already got three four goals onthe season right now, and she's their
only player that they have to worryabout as far as age restriction at this
stage. And then you've got Ithink probably the concerns about relegation on both

(23:00):
sides are going to be massive.There's there's huge implications there for for these
clubs. Bit early to get intostorylines, if I'm honest with you,
because we are only really four weeksin, we kind of haven't really hashed
things out too too deep for forwhere everyone is. But I think pro

(23:22):
Stars are having got three points fromfour games, are doing pretty well better
than I would have expected. Andthen like Sigma are struggling hard, but
they're just an incredibly young team rightSo it's I think it's a bit I
don't mean to go about in along winded way here to say I don't

(23:44):
have an answer for you, whichI've basically done. But it's it's a
it's a bit early for me,jeez, Louise, the long winded answer.
That's this podcasts are all about.So so there you go, James,
I'll let you. I'll let youfinish this off. Yeah, no,
no, I long wind It isfascinating to me because I think it
touches on a lot of things thatwill probably be echoed throughout the rest of

(24:06):
the season. And you know,those those age restrictions are only set to
increase as as as each year progressesinto the future, so we're gonna see
a lot of clubs have to makea lot of different decisions in terms of
how they build themselves, how theyhow they build their squads, and then
you know, promotion relegation just addsthat extra pressure. It's that it's that
fire underneath the seat that means thatif you want to stay at the top,

(24:29):
you got to you got to winto be there. So yeah,
we'll be keeping an eye on that. Well, yeah, I think we'll
close with this because you mentioned them. You know, the TFC Academy are
back in the league on Ontario system. They said, atop the Championship Division
on the men's side, with fourwins through four rounds, they've scored their
opponents twenty to four, and abunch of familiar names there for me,
some guys who have made a numberof appearances with TFC two and MLS Next

(24:53):
Pro as well. Maybe just we'llclose with your thoughts on them being back
in the mix and maybe what you'veseen of them or what the bugs around
the league has been about having aTFC back in love. You know,
if if I'm honest with you,I haven't heard a ton of conversation about
them being back. I had achance to watch basically this entire team play

(25:21):
in the TFC Showcase hosted by FtFin February, and they're a good team.
They're they're fantastically strong to watch.They ended up playing a couple of
really tight games against clubs like Woodbridgeand they've got some players who I know

(25:45):
we're going to see in the future. Certainly Noah to Blasts is a guy
that really stuck out for me.They're they're they're center back. But I
think if you guys recall when TFCthree were in league in Ontario, they
were very, very competitive. Theythey weren't a team that were out of

(26:14):
many games, and they had alot of really tough battles, and I
think probably the physicality that came fromplaying against these teams with grown ass men
on them really really benefited them,Because what would it have been twenty nineteen
or twenty eighteen where they left andthey went to the USDA and then won

(26:38):
it in their season. You haveto think a lot of that came from
the fact that those boys were outthere getting the competition that they got before
they went over there, And you'dhave to look at that and go,
well, if they got that levelof competition and came through with that much
quality and were that bad tested thatthey went south to the border and ran

(27:02):
rough shown on them, what's thesense in spending all that money to have
them included in that structure when you'vegot it based here at home. For
me, it does leave questions tobe answered about MLS's inclusion in this pyramid
now suddenly, and we've obviously seenthe impact or c F Montreal, I'll

(27:26):
never get that right. Involved inthe poor League one Quebec and they just
keep changing everything on my voice,and then certainly the white Caps over in
the C League one. It's interestingto me that that can of worms has

(27:47):
been opened, that the MLS clubsare at least getting initiated and involved at
the lower level in this division.So where does that leave them within the
entire structure. Really, It's alwaysan interesting question when it comes to that.
Yeah, I covered the FFC threethe first year that they were in
the league, and they were theywere dominant that year. Of course,

(28:08):
they had Mark Antney k and MobileBulli on that team, so you know,
it was quite the roster. Butnonetheless they didn't win. The other
years they were and they were competitive, and it'll be very interesting to see
how they play out against those topteams. I've always been an advocate of
them testing themselves against the older playersand that that would have drive them forward
a lot more than the USDF didwell. Direct me if I'm wrong.

(28:30):
I think they did win in twentyeighteen. No, perhaps, yeah,
the league and then had to bowout or no, I think it was
that they made the playoffs and thenhad to bow out because there would have
been no way for them to winthe league and then as a Canadian championship.

(28:51):
That's probably that checks out. Yeah, and they it was twenty thirty
League one's first season is it's TFCthree. I don't think. Yeah,
the mulbile Bulli or yeah, Markinkayactually wasn't that noticeable on that team.
But nonetheless, uh Dylan factor,Manto, good good rotter that team was.
Anyhow, they always had such goodteams. I remember that twenty seventeen

(29:14):
twenty eighteen team had Noble Acello startingat center back and it was just lights
out. And then you look acrossthe CPL and there are so many guys
who are on that side that camethrough. Yeah, or not chemic Cabado.
What the hell is his name withthe headband? Not going to get

(29:37):
to me in my head right now. But yeah, I mean, if
he's never had a problem finding thetalent, yeah gotta Luke. Yeah,
if he's never had a problem findingthe talent, it's been converting it to
the senior team. But that that, that's a conversation we could have in
the Shield later, James, nottoday. Maybe I can talk about League

(30:00):
on forever. So you're gonna haveto be the one watching the timer.
All right. Well, on thatnote, we well say goodbye for tonight,
Pierce. Well, we'll be backin a couple of weeks. Certainly
we're going to get the other theother leagues in there. I can't wait
to learn about Alberta too. Sowe're looking forward to book lots of these
things. Join us each week forfor a League one somewhere. Look moving
forward. Now that we're back atthis Pierce, always good to have you.

(30:22):
We'll talk soon. Thanks for havingme on boys, and welcome back.
Thanks again to Piers for joining us. H James, Uh, we'll
get another interview that you did.I'll let you set that up and then

(30:45):
I'm going to say goodbye and you'regoing to take the show up from here.
Yeah. One of the things thatsort of got left on the on
the cutting room floor as as weyou know, both got really busy with
the starts of seasons and with vacationsand with other work and everything, was
an interview that I did with EmmaHumphries as just after the Canadian U seventeen

(31:07):
team played their exciting experience down inMexico at the POKCAF Women's U seventeen Championship.
They felt a little bit short inthe end and missed out on those
valuable World Cup spots, but itwas still a really great showing from that
side, and it was good tosit down with Emma and sort of go
over that tournament and look at someof the takeaways and look at what's up
next for that group of girls.So here's that chat with Emma. Hello,

(31:47):
Hello, and welcome back to nextspot. Really pleased to be joined
once again by Amma Humphries, thehead coach of the Canadian women's U seventeen
national team, fresh off their Mexicanadventure, and thank you so much for
joining us again. Yeah, thankyou for having me again too. I
just wanted to get you back onthe show, mostly to wrap up that
tournament and get your closing thoughts onthe matches. On the series of matches

(32:10):
the team played down into Luca,I thought there were some really strong outings
the match against Mexico and Haiti inparticular, but in the end, the
team doesn't achieve that goal and they'llmiss out on the U seventeen World Cup
later this year. Just your thoughtson the invent itself. Yeah, I
think it's it still hurts like it'syou know, you can't sit here and

(32:35):
go like it's you know, I'mabsolutely stone could not qualify and I think,
like the the reality is that wealways knew that, you know,
there's only two spots, which isincredible for Conku care, isn't it,
you know, when you've got threebig teams. I think, like you
know, on my end, Iabsolutely I absolutely would never have been that

(32:59):
person that's like, oh, wehaven't done it in twelve whatever years,
and it's like, oh, someoneelse can try it. Like I I
absolutely I don't care like two spotswhatever. It is, Like, I'm
proud that we went after them.I think, like, you know,
they're an absolute titan with the amountof resource that they have, Like you

(33:21):
only have to look at the backgroundof those oh those games to know how
much investment they get. And Ithink to go toe to toe and take
them, you know, like onehundred and twenty minutes, it's the closest
we've been in a long long time. Doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, you
know, Like I, I thinkthe emotions for the kids that are important,

(33:45):
you know, like it it's whywe play the game. Do that
grow that group grow up thinking theycan't beat Mexico? Absolutely not. They
know how close we are, andyou know you kind of go like like
in my shoes, you like,the biggest gap right now is meaningful competition.

(34:07):
I absolutely think we have the playersthat will go on and be professionals
and go on. There's many thatwill go on for that group to play
for Canada. By the way.It's a really exciting group. But meaningful
competition in the U space is sokey, and that that game will lament
a lot to them. It willhurt, but they'll be better for it.

(34:30):
And I absolutely think that that group, you know that that's a toss
of a coin which way that gamegoes, you know, and they believe
that they can do it, andI think, yeah, it's an exciting
group for the future. And sometimesthink in the journey of a professional athlete,
having a little bit of disappointment alongthe road isn't necessarily a bad thing

(34:52):
either. I wanted to talk toyou a little bit about the strategy that
you took through that group stage goinggoing into the semi final against Mexico,
I had no idea what your besteleven was. You were able to spread
those minutes out a lot, andI sort of felt a little bit like
you were you were hiding what thatbest eleven was. You wanted to go
into that game against Mexico without themhaving a bunch of tape. I thought.

(35:14):
I spotted some Mexican coaches taken inthe game against the US under a
tree there over at the side,just maybe tell us, tell us what
you were thinking with with your strategythrough those games. Yeah, I think
the factor is that you have toconsider altitude, like so way up in
the mountains there, it was justa significant impact on your physically one day

(35:37):
turnarounds between games and twelve o'clock kickoffs, so all mexicost kickoffs were like as
the sun's coming down. You know, we're a couple of those two to
be fair, but like we werealso chucked in the heat against US.
I think you you have the factorin the rotation of your squad. Like

(36:01):
some of my biggest learnings as acoach is keeping that team fresh. Culture
is important to for that US game, Like it's it's unrealistic to think you
can go after the US and thenone day later go after Mexico too.
Absolutely, Like I said that,you know they can be in the top

(36:21):
four of a World Cup those twoso one day turn around when Mexico doesn't
have to do that is impossible becausethey're seeded higher than us. So that's
that's why that occurs. We've beenthird in the rankings for quite a while
now, so that that will alwaysbe our reality in this tournament. So

(36:43):
you know, you do have torotate that game before a qualification spot to
a degree, and I think likeit also provides an opportunity for those that
haven't played a huge amount of minutes. It's like I said to the group,
come on, like, let's let'ssee. Like you know, I
think like it opens up, like, you know, bring what you're going
to bring now into this tournament.This is your moment to hit another level.

(37:06):
And you know, they were like, of course, it's it's hard
because you just want to go,here's my best eleven against the US because
arguably the best team in the world. But you just can't. You can't
do that and then expect to qualify. A bad match against Mexico was always

(37:27):
going to be the big one,that semifinal match. Take us inside the
room before that game. What wasyour message into the group and what was
the vibe and the team? Ithought the way they came out of the
gates in that camera was accellent.Yeah, messaging to the group. I
remember, I think like it's itwas just about like feet on the ground,

(37:51):
you're playing against the stadium. That'syou know, probably for our kids,
it was probably the first time playingin front of a big stadium like
that where you can't you can't heareach other on the field, like feet
on the ground, you know,winning every restart, thinking about you know,
the moments were in the game morethan an occasion because like for for

(38:13):
our kids, as much as Iwant to be like it was all you
know, qualified do you like,the reality is that can be overwhelming for
kids. They need to know they'regood enough, which they absolutely are.
They needed to know that they cango toe to toe and that individually,
like we need to be brave andbe better than the person in front of
us. And I thought they cameout with that mindset and they needed to

(38:36):
have belief. You know, Ithink those are the kind of the key
messages feet on the ground, butbelieve in yourselves. And yeah, I
think I think that group did that. You know, they gave everything out
there that they could have given.I think it was an early chance from
Annabel that went missing. They wouldhave really turned that game on his head.

(38:57):
Mexico gets not a lucky goal,but goal that sort of wasn't crafted
per se. It was one ofthose ball pomps out. You guys pull
back into the game, looks likeyou score a goal winner. I'm not
going to ask you if that ballis out or not, but maybe just
give us your thoughts on the effortthere and take us inside that locker room
after the game. How are thegirls feeling? Yeah? Oh like that

(39:21):
that that game can go either waykind of, you know, like you
say, but I also I alsothink like like I say that, but
we're also not quite there yet.Like that's you know, until we until
we beat them. Let's not saywe're there. I think, like,
and then that's that's my job tomake sure we're getting better every cycle.

(39:42):
I think like I look at itand I go, are we better than
last time round? Absolutely? Ithink you can see in the style of
play, the amount of chances we'recreating, you know that and conceding as
well, and that we are better. We're getting better at what we do,
and the kids are you know,like able to showcase exactly what they

(40:04):
can bring do. I think that, you know, I look at the
gap, and I'm like, keymoments in games was what defined that for
me. And I haven't watched itback yet because it's still too soon.
Like you said, I can't watchwhether that balls out or not. But
it's it's actually irrelevant because key momentsin the game like lost us, that
game is like real like fine linesbetween winning and losing when you type any

(40:28):
old couple be like that. Anyyou know, title match that one day
these goes guys go on to tryand win will be like that for them
too. And I think learning tomanage those key games does come through key
moments, comes through experience, andthis will be one that does add to
them for sure, and it's onethat we as a staff will reflect on.

(40:51):
Like meaningful games like where there's alot on the line and and you're
having to scrap and fight for itis what this group needs more of,
whether it's at NDC's you know,whether it's at with the national team,
you know, whatever it is.We you know right now we have free
NDCs that win the league ones.That's not a great thing, you know,

(41:14):
Like like meaningful competition is what helpsyou with those key moments. And
I think you know when you lookahead. You're like, well, project
date will be massive for that thesekids will actually grow up with professional football,
and that is the part that I'mlike, I'm super excited to see.
You know that that keeper that yousay makes that safe, well,

(41:37):
she's a starting keeper for a Mexicanprotein, you know, like he understands
what big moments are and like whatthat does for the team. And it's
those fine margins that I think,you know, we can keep adding and
we will add and it's exciting what'sgoing to come within the group for this
next phase too. So probably knowthe retengent there, but hopefully it helps

(41:58):
with the in game stuff in termsof post match that absolutely devastated, you
know, stuff stuff that give everythingacross the country, Like we try our
best at innovate. We're not perfect, you know, we know that,
but we're getting better and we feelit. We're getting closer to them despite
resource, like we're being innovative.We are, you know, working together

(42:22):
as a country, which is reallycool. So you know, in my
shoes, like you should have feellike you let that group down that works
so hard across the country. ButI but I know when I have perspective
that we're getting better. The playersabsolutely devastating. That's heartbreaking to watch and

(42:45):
feel. You know, like AnnaBelle was completely inconsolable. You know,
she felt like she let everyone down. She didn't. She's a kid,
you know, like she's been unrealthat tournament. And like I know the
obviously the kidnam matey want the bestplayer, but for me, like Annabel
was an unreal talent and like Canadais super lucky to have it coming through

(43:10):
the system. And quite a fewof the others were in this group by
the way, so you know theyfeel that, and you know it's actually
not bad emotion for them to feel. It goes hand in hand with what
I'm saying here, you know,like they need more feelings within, you
know, when you play boys everyday, or you're playing League one games

(43:31):
that you're winning, like like youneed to feel these emotions. And you
know that as devastating as it wasfor the group, could be the reason
that this group go on to wina U twenty champions It could be the
reason they go on to win whateverit is that they're going to achieve in
their careers, which is super highpotential for the group. Ye Annabel was

(43:52):
fantastic she was one of the girlswho was sort of on the radar before
the turn was starting. I thoughtshe did herself fantastic in Mexico. So
I don't like to hear that she'sshe's carrying that, but I think that
sort of comes with the territory ofbeing the kind of athletes these the lady
are. It's always difficult, youknow, short turnarounds. As you mentioned,

(44:12):
you go into that third place matchagainst Haiti, Haiti scores first.
You always wonder how the players aregoing to react to those sort of disappointments.
It would have been easy to getright led there. What did you
see from the group in that explosion? And I have to go on behind
Oh yeah, and you got likeso, I mean when you're picturing the

(44:34):
game like that is the most possiblething that could happen. And the worst
part is it's like you don't wantto be the one that says told you
so with every club is like likeevery goal that can scores is like that,
like a big one from the goalkeeperand was almost on our eighteen yard
box. There was win by theway too, So like I'm like,

(44:54):
but I mean, like in termsof bounce back, like how'm more proud
can you be of a group likewe've been third for a long time,
but closing that gap is important forCanada. I remember the last time we
put Haiti away like that, youknow, and the belief within that group
of kids is pretty special, Likeyou know, I yeah, like we

(45:19):
were easily the better team in thatgame, and that's after playing one hundred
and twenty minutes against Mexico, atop, top international team. And then
you know the emotion of not qualifyingfor a World Cup, like how easy
that group could have crumbled and youknow we've ended up fourth. You know

(45:40):
in similar events that you've leveled inmoments for that reason because it's so difficult
to turn around. But the mentalstrength for these kids is so like it's
so powerful, and there's some likeI have no doubt you're going to see
some of those kids go on andplay for the senior team. Yeah I

(46:00):
could. I thought I saw itin every performance. I saw reasons why
why these girls were caught up tothe squad. I thought everybody did themselves
some justice and what they showed there, And you know, I could go
through everybody and ask your opinions ofthem. So maybe we'll just we'll just
I don't want to take up yourwhole afternoon talking about it. But were
there are a couple of players thatyou thought maybe gave you more than you

(46:22):
thought you would see from them goinginto this competition. Yeah, and there's
a couple still to come, likeIsabelle Chuck. We picked up an unfortunate
injury that on the first day camp. There's so much more to come from
that kid. Like I'm as excitedfor her future as I am, and

(46:44):
the Bells put it that way,like like, yeah, she's got a
super high ceiling and that unfortunately wedidn't get to see that in this tournament.
You know, you look at KayleeHunter and she's the only one actually
that hasn't been in a NDC environmentas much like she's been in and out
of the White Caps environment and BC, but she's still been living in Alberta.

(47:07):
So they say she can put onthese performances like that, and yeah,
she's still young, but she's gottwo Under twenty World Cups in her
because she's in No. Eight andyou're like, she's getting better and better
that kid. You know, she'son a pretty exciting pathway too. I
thought Noel Henning was was exceptional toothroughout the tournament. She's been injured for

(47:29):
a while heading in too, soyou know they're coming with that kind of
leadership and she's growing into that roleand she's got an exciting future ahead of
her as well. And then youkind of look at the like, I
know, I'm probably just rattling off, but Juliette in the midfield parole,

(47:49):
I'm sorry if my pronunciations not verygood, but I thought she was fantastic.
She was everywhere. She also pickedup in a concussion in the first
bet, so that's why you sawher later in the tournament. Quick turnarounds
mean that if you pick up injuries, you can be out for quite a
while, so well, not awhile, but for a couple of games.

(48:09):
And then you know, probably lastone for me is like I look
at Olivia Chishmoo's almost next cycle,and she was everywhere and in every game.
You know, she's that kind ofJesse or Julia sort of profile that
we need more of in them inCanada too. So it's a it's a

(48:30):
really exciting group and yeah, Ican't wait to see how this tournament kind
of projects them onto what comes next, Lovely Lovely, and last one and
then we'll let you go. What'snext for these players you mentioned in the
next cycle coming up? And what'snext for you? What is the rest
of the calendar near look like foryou? Yeah? Like, so with

(48:53):
the youth teams, it's not it'snot like you don't qualify for a World
Cup, you're done like that.For these kids, it's a journey.
You know, we're hoping to getmore games. We just look at the
calendar now obviously not not going toWorld up and and make sure that they're
still getting meaningful competition over this nextphase. I think it's really important for

(49:16):
their growth. Uh and for us, like, it's just like we always
do. We're just reassessing term asa massive country. You know, no
doubt we were to miss talent andsee who else has been working hard both
outside of our NDCs, which we'reconstantly re evaluating and we're in our NDC

(49:36):
structure too. So it's just likewe do it. After every camp,
we re look at it. Weyou know, we'll re look at our
game model too. What do weget right, what do we get wrong?
How do we close the gap further? And the same for us as
is, you know, player selectionsand kind of looking at what comes next
with them too excellent. Well,we can't wait to see it. Thank

(50:00):
you so much for joining us again, no problem, thank you, And
that's it for this week. We'llbe back. We'll be back soon with
another episode of Next Pod and we'relooking forward to covering the wide breadth of

(50:22):
soccer that this, this wonderful countryof ours has to offer. So thank
you for listening and we'll talk.Thanks for listening. To support the podcast,

(50:45):
go to Patreon dot com. Slashtwenty fourth minute