In Episode 87, Christian Devries, Paradise Valley CC Men’s and Women’s Soccer Head Coach, Member of University of Minnesota-Morris Hall of Fame, Founder of Athlete of Significance and Complete Player Pathway, and Co-Founder of Coaching the Bigger Game, talks with Phil about his passion for coaching and how he is using his 25 years of coaching experience to help the next generation of players and coaches flourish. Specifically, Christian discusses:

• His incredible story, how he developed his passion for soccer, leadership, and coaching, and how he is using soccer to teach life lessons to his players and many others (1:39)
• What he wishes he knew and did at the beginning of his coaching career 25 years ago (12:33)
• Changes he would make to our youth soccer programs to help our kids develop and flourish (21:31)
• The college recruiting process from a coach’s perspective (29:03)
• His thoughts on Arsene Wenger’s quote, “It’s better for an 8-12 year old child to have no coach than to have a bad coach,” and his thoughts on what makes a great coach (34:39)
• His Athlete of Significance, Complete Player Pathway, and Coaching the Bigger Game programs, and how you can get involved with them (41:52)
• How he is using lessons learned from soccer in his marriage and parenting (1:03:02)
• His recommendations (1:06:45)

Resources and Links from this Episode

• Athlete of Significance & Complete Player Pathway programs
• Coaching the Bigger Game Program
• Uncut Video of the Episode
• HSEL Facebook Group
• Warrior Way Soccer
• McFarland (film)
• Miracle (film)
• Remember the Titans (film)
• Coach Carter (film)
• Kicking and Screaming (film)