Keep The Game Beautiful

Maka Chikowero is 15 and from Madison WI. Today she shares information about MTC Educate A Girl. Maka is the founder and president of an organization that is bringing soccer and education to Zimbabwe. She also plays soccer for her high school and club with the intent of playing collegiately.

Shaun Soderling is the Women’s Coach at Brescia University. Each week you’ll hear his voice as the co-host of the Soccer Chat podcast. In this episode we talk about racism and Shaun shares not only his own stories and experiences, but also how Soccer Chat was able to have an honest and real conversation on the topic.

Saskia Webber was a goalkeeper for the US Women’s National Team from 1992 through 1999. She played professionally in Japan as well as for the Women’s United Soccer Association. She currently supports the UCLA Women’s Soccer program as the Goalkeeper coach and has coached GK’s at all levels of the game.

Dr. Erik Wessel has been involved with student contact for much of his career. He currently is the Director of the Office of Student Conflict Resolution at The University of Michigan. He previously worked in Student Conduct at Ferris State University and Penn State University. I wanted to talk to him about some of the changes to Title IX and about athlete safety and the work he does to protect students.

Haley Carter has had the opportunity to coach with the Afghanistan Women’s Soccer Team and Antigua and Barbuda. She spent three years with the Houston Dash, was a Goalkeeper for the US Naval Academy, and found a way to play the game while serving as a Marine Officer. She has earned recognition for her support of women’s equity and raising awareness of concerns in the game, including by FIFPro as the first female recipient of World Players Union Merit Award.

Candice Fabry works for Iowa Soccer as the Director of Member Relations. She has coached at a variety of levels and holds her B License and is a Coach Instructor. She has helped to build support for women through co-founding the Iowa Women In Soccer Alliance. She is also a tireless advocate for player safety and briefly discusses her own experience reporting misconduct from a prior coach.

Omar Zeenni is a Goalkeeper coach in Los Angeles. He had a stunning youth career, played four years at UC Davis, and almost pursued an opportunity to play professionally in the USL. Today he podcasts and generates a significant amount of goalkeeper training, interviews, and game analysis through Pro GK Academy and Inside The 18.

Carrie Taylor (CT) has had some incredible opportunities in soccer. Today she is the Assistant Coach to the San Diego Loyal, working closely with Landon Donovan as they build a USL Championship team in Southern California. As a young athlete she participated in sports programming in her hometown of Flint, MI. She would play collegiate club soccer before helping to build the first Women's Varsity Team at the University of Michigan. CT would coach at several youth and college levels over the years, including Mount St. Joseph where she was only one of five females to coach men in NCAA Soccer.

Tristin Stuteville is one of the cofounders of PS90 Soccer Camps. Recently she partnered with Soccer Girl Probs to help coordinate even more camp opportunities to female athletes. At KC Goalkeeping she worked to bring coaching to all athletes regardless of an ability to pay. Tristin is a member of the United Soccer Coaches 30 Under 30 program and has learned from coaches such as Tracy Noonan of Dynasty Goalkeeping and Tony DiCicco of SoccerPlus Camps. She played at Ball State University and Saint Louis University.

Don Tees is currently the Assistant Coach for Women’s Soccer at Mansfield University. He has also worked as a head coach and worked as an assistant prior. He has prior experience as a Sports Information Director and continues to support the role today as an Assistant.

Don is incredibly upbeat and positive. Even during the interview he was packing up his office to prepare to work from home. He had a lot of good advice and it is clear how much he cares for the people he works with.