Soccer Talk presented by Kick It Forward

We love a doubleheader and we love the Ankeny soccer community, so naturally, we shot up north with our friend and Ankeny Fanatic Legend, Jacob Misel, to take in the Ankeny derby between the Hawks of Ankeny High School and the Jaguars of Ankeny Centennial High School at Northview Middle School. The girls' game showcased top-ranked Centennial against Ankeny, whereas the boys game featured a couple of squads outside the top ten, but both very much in the state tournament conversation. In addition to Misel commenting on the boys' game, we have Justin Vorster, who was on the call with Central Iowa Sports Network (CISN) for the girls' game, join us in the studio to chat about that match. All of the squads are strong and while the Centennial girls have a strong shot at the postseason, every other squad on showed on the evening that they have a shot at Cownie in early June!

Usually a classic Des Moines Public Schools' battle held under the lights on a Friday evening, this year's DMPS Classico took place on a quiet Tuesday afternoon at Cownie Soccer Complex. The atmosphere certainly did not rival those of the past, but it was still a good game of high school soccer that highlighted some strong players from both squads. With Lincoln putting out a young, attack-minded team, coach Jack Simons was positive about their ability to roll with the punches and always get back up to go again. Roosevelt's well-balanced squad, coached by first year Head Coach, Matt Ream, seems poised to improve upon their past few seasons as evidenced by their first win over Lincoln since 2017. Lincoln alum and Southside Schemer, Joe Sithonnorath, joins us in the studio to discuss the match!

The Game of the Week crew headed west again this week, but this time it was a more northerly route up Highway 141 to Perry. After light snow on Monday, this Tuesday game saw temperatures in the low 40s drop to the mid 30s by full time. Our inaugural Battle of the Blue Jays brought Class 2A's 6th-ranked Bondurant-Farrar out to play perennial powerhouse Perry. Perry, who is actually experiencing a tough start to the 2021 season, are winless through their first six games. Bondurant-Farrar, on the other hand, would be looking for it's first win over Perry since 2012. Needless to say, it was a classic high school matchup at a classic Iowa high school stadium pitting two tough teams against each other on a crisp spring evening.

The transformation of the Iowa Soccer League is now fully underway - the Club Development League has formed and several top clubs have left the Iowa Soccer Association. What comes of this change has yet to be determined, but for now, ISA is tasked with retaining their current membership and trying to create a league structure that not only encourages player development, but probably most importantly, provides players with a great experience. As many organizations do in times of turmoil, ISA has sought the guidance of an outsider - a consulting firm called The Collective based in Nashville, TN. Together, ISA and The Collective will effectively tear down the current system and re-build it from the ground up. Today we try to provide some clarity around what has happened and about the process moving forward.

No doubt that a Game of the Week got the Soccer Talk crew fired up - not since June of 2019 have we had a chance to cover a high school soccer game. So to kick off the 2021 season, we decided to take in a unique match pitting Dowling Catholic against Norwalk. Not only would this match signify Norwalk's first match as a member of Division 3A, but it would also be Dowling Catholic's head coach, Jackson Teeling's first official game in charge of his new squad. Ironically enough, Teeling's previous coaching gig was as an assistant to Norwalk's long-time head coach, Dustin Kralik. In a classic defensive battle, it was the Maroons with a defining moment that made the difference in the second half - the game eventually ended 1-0 in their favor - but both squads will be pleased with their start to the season and we'll expect to see both of them making noise during the sub-state tournament.

• Episode 85 of the podcast tried to provide a neutral overview of the differences between the CDL and the previously all-encompassing Iowa Soccer League (ISL).
• Episode 89 went in depth into the history of how this situation came about, and provided a good perspective from the leader of an ISL club.
• Episode 90 reviewed the standards of the different leagues and provided some solutions to potentially keep the ISL and CDL together under the ISA umbrella.
• Episode 91 was a wide-ranging conversation that provided a perspective that few have on the ISL, CDL and player development in the state of Iowa. We welcome the godfather himself, Iowa Soccer Association's Executive Director, Dan Cataldi to hear about the process to this point and hopefully, a way forward.

This is a big one. Michael Parkhurst's list of accomplishments is a long one - it's one that spans an excellent MLS career (New England Revolution, Columbus Crew, Atlanta United), includes time spent playing in Europe in Denmark's top flight (FC Nordsjaelland) and highlighted by a strong stint with the U.S. Men's National Team. But today, he joins us as a newly announced owner for USL Rhode Island and of course, as a supporter of our mini-pitch project in Central Falls, Rhode Island. We'll discuss all sorts of good stuff, including the lead up to his extensive professional career, which saw Parkhurst grow up playing in Rhode Island prior to leaving for Bradenton, FL for his high school years and eventually going on to play collegiately for Wake Forest University. Throughout the years, he has volunteered for Project GOAL and was even twice-named MLS Humanitarian of the Year.

As you know may remember, participation in Project GOAL is a common theme of our Rhode Island mini-pitch project, as other mentors of the program include Jeff Larentowicz, currently of Atlanta United and formerly of the New England Revolution and Brown University, Providence College star Julian Gressel, currently of D.C. United, plus other current New England Revolution mainstay, Scott Caldwell and hopefully soon, newcomer, Damian Rivera. As we connect with these players, you'll see that it really brings a project like this full circle and we are SUPER pumped about it.

Taking a little break from the Youth Soccer Discussion, we are introducing a new segment: The Player's Spotlight, which will give other young players an opportunity to hear from their local peers and role models.

Today's guest, Leroy Enzugusi, is living the dream. Born in Kenya, Leroy made it to Iowa via Memphis, Tennessee, landing in Marion as a preteen. One of the best parts of his story is how he was introduced to the game on a visit with his cousins back in Kenya - on the streets of Nairobi at age 11 playing chobowe (you'll have to listen) with a bunch of kids he barely knew.

Upon his return, Leroy's trajectory has been vertical. He quickly convinced his mother to sign him up for organized soccer and he was playing for the Cedar River Soccer Association shortly thereafter. After starring for Linn-Marr High School, helping them to their first ever state championship and garnering all the accolades (including Gatorade Player of the Year in 2016), Leroy took the leap to play for the Sporting Kansas City Academy before committing to Drake University. A prolific goal scorer and tricky winger with pace for days, Leroy is now heading back to Tennessee after being drafted by Major League Soccer's Nashville SC.

A modest, but confident young man, we'll chat with Leroy about building good habits, balancing school and soccer plus we'll have some great conversation surrounding a player's mentality and dealing with disappointment, setbacks and failure.