No Stress Midwest Podcast

Greetings and welcome back to The No Stress MidwestPodcast! In season 6 we are focused on talking with more of the front office side of football. On todays episode we are lucky enough to be joined by Brian Bliss of Sporting KC in the MLS. Brian is the Technical Director and VP of Player Personnel with Sporting KC and is involved with the scouting, signing, and various other activities that it takes to manage the players both current and future. Also serving a key role when it comes to bringing players within the org. (Sporting II & SKC Academy) to the first team. Listen to Brian explain everything it takes to get a player scouted, signed, and playing with the first team and so much more on Episode 4 of The No Stress Midwest Podcast: Front Office Edition! 

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Welcome to Season 6 of The No Stress Midwest Podcast,  in episode 3 we are lucky enough to be joined by Yael Averbuch-West the General Manager of Gotham FC located in NY/NJ in the NWSL! Yael and I met during her time as a player for FCKC (currently KC Current) when she was in Kansas City. Yael is a decorated professional player and has moved into the front office with Gotham FC at first with the interim tag but since that tag has been removed has gone on to most recently take the NWSL Championship crown during the 2023 season. Yael talks about her path to her current role as well as whats up next with Gotham FC. She also started the business TECHNE which is an online technical soccer training app that reaches youth players all around the world.  
We are excited for you to take a listen and hope you are enjoying our current season. See you next week!


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Thank You for joining us for Season 6 of The No Stress Midwest Podcast! Todays episode we are joined by Liam O'Connell of the USL. Liam serves as the Technical Director for the USL. Overseeing all technical development over the USL leagues (Championship, League 1, League 2, Super League, W League). Liam and I met back in his days at Sporting KC in Kansas City and have continued our relationship when he moved to the Tampa Bay as the USL Academy Director. Liam and I speak on everything thats happening with the USL on the men and women's side. With the Super League taking on division 1 status under US Soccer, possible promotion/relegation within the US game and everything in between; our conversation covers everything in between. Enjoy the listen!
 
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The only thing better than 5 seasons of The No Stress Midwest Podcast is 6, and luckily for you thats what we are on! This No Stress MidwestPodcast Season 6 theme will be "Front Office/Business" and we did not disappoint with guests! From the MLS to NWSL to USL and even Grassroots, we have something for everyone.
Our first episode brings Dean Linke of from North Carolina. He is an On-Air play-by-play announcer for the Big 10, North Carolina FC (USL Championship) and North Carolina Courage (NWSL). Dean shares his journey from college grad to the Women's National team to his current roles and everything in between! If youve ever had the pleasure of meeting Dean youll know why he was the season opener, this is what he does and he does it better than anyone in the game. Get your coffee/tea ready and lets kickoff Season 6!

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The time that you have all been waiting for! Not only is there the excitement of completing another season of our No Stress Midwest Podcast, but our guest may be one of the biggest ones that we have EVER had on the podcast! To wrap up Season 5 of The No Stress Midwest Podcast our special guest is Jim Curtin, the 2022 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year (Philadelphia Union)! Back in April of 2022 I was lucky enough to shadow the Philadelphia Union First team and U-17 Academy team (MLS Next Cup Champions). From 1st team down to academy, coaches, players and staff, everything about the organization was top class! Jim went above and beyond anything that I expected. From touring me around the facility, introducing me to the players/coaching staff and even letting me attend the team meetings before the training, Jim made me feel like I was on staff.
We were able to talk about some of his time as a player and a part of the Chicago Fire where he was coached by former USMNT coach Bob Bradley and quite a few of his teammates have taken Head Coach roles around the MLS and Europe. Jim shares his vey humble start as a coach with the Union and how he was able to work his way up the ranks to where he is now, with his team in the Eastern Conference Finals Back-2-Back.
Although there is a since of excitement when completing a season, there also is a sense of sadness. I want to thank all of our listeners and even some new ones we may have picked up along the way. Hope you enjoy the listen and are rooting on the Philadelphia Union Sunday in the MLS Eastern Conference Finals.


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It's almost time! The No Stress MidwestPodcast: Coaches Edition is in its final week with 2 episodes left! Episode 9 has another special guest , Dave Geyer joins us from New Jersey. Geyer was my High School coach Jr. & Sr. year way back when (2005 & 2006) so we have known each other for quite a while. When I was wanting to become a coach, I picked his brain a lot during my early years and like all good coaches, took a few things from him to apply to my teams. Since recording this episode Coach Geyer picked up his 200th win as a Head Coach so to be there for his first win and know him through his 200th is a pretty big honor!
Coach Geyer talks about his time as a Head Coach and drops some knowledge on his experiences coaching over the years and what he has learned/how he has adapted his coaching style over the years.
Hope youre as excited as I am for the release of this episode and stay tuned for our season finale Sunday with 2022 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year, Jim Curtin!

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We have another double header release week for you with The No Stress Midwest Podcast: Coaches Edition we have Debbie Pekel, assistant coach for Bob Jones University joining us for Episode 8. Debbie has coached at almost every level you can other than professionally (club, hs, college & semi pro) and explains how she was/is able to make a living in the coaching profession without coaching professional. Debbie talks about how she made a move across the country for her current position and the connection she had to the University, what being a United Soccer Coaches 30 under 30 member (2021/22)  entailed and what some of her ultimate coaching goals are! Enjoy episode 


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We are going into the final four episodes of season 5, with episode 7's guest Chris Sheppard. Coach Sheppard joins us from my home town, Williamstown NJ and is our podcasts first guest who is not in the soccer world. Shep is the varsity girls volleyball coach at Williamstown High School (my alma mater) and I was fortunate enough to be coached by Shep for my senior year of High School. Chris talks about the unlikely path that found him as a volleyball coach starting off as a teacher out of college. Chris also speaks on his 5 state titles and 1 Tournament of Champions title that saw him to over 500 wins and a recent New Jersey High School Hall of Fame Inductee in 2022. Regardless if you are a volleyball fan or not, Shep is dropping coaching gems left right up and down. Have a notepad ready for this one!

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We follow up episode 5 of The No Stress Midwest Podcast immediately with episode 6 with Morgan Ruhl, the assistant coach of Northwestern University. Morgan joins the many guests of ours where we have not met in person...yet. Morgan brings a lot of insight on how she transitioned her playing career into coaching as well as sharing feedback from mentors as well as some reflection on her personal coaching experience and some incidences that although she doesnt regret, would have possibly done different with the insight that she has now. Being a young coach and taking the  opportunities that are given to gain experience and multiple levels is one of the many things that Morgan speaks on this episode. 

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We are at Halftime in Season 5 of The No Stress Midwest Podcast: Coaches Edition, and this week we have not just 1 episode but 2 coming at you! Doug McLagan gets us started and if youve ever been connected to the KC soccer community in the last 30+ years, there is a very high probability that youve heard the name. From playing professionally for the indoor team (KC Comets), winning state cups on the club level, and adding a state title on the high school side, Doug has seen it all and done it all. You see why it was a no brainer to have him on the podcast and talk about his experience and how the landscape has changed over the years. For the better? You gotta listen and hear it from him.


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