Straight From The Training Ground

We discuss what makes a championship culture, the best soccer cities in the U.S. and the NFL playoffs! Finally, we continue our pursuit of our New Year's resolution to improve our Spanish!

Jonathan Carone joins us to discuss his new podcast "Healthy Sports Parents." He brings an amazing perspective for all parents who are trying to navigate the incredibly pressurized world of youth sports in our country. When is a good age to try travel sports? Should your child be in travel sports? Is it ok for your family to stay in the local recreational league even when everyone else is leaving for travel or club? Hear his educational advice on these difficult situations and more. Make sure to check out them out on social media and get his podcast at the link below!

LA Active Sports founder and CEO Howard Serpas explains the great work they are doing in the Los Angeles area to provide FREE soccer opportunities for kids in their community. With partners like LAFC, BMO, Adidas and the US Soccer Foundation they have helped over 6,000 kids in just a couple of years. They provide futsal leagues (Just Ball), clinics and most recently a summer tournament! Howard fills us in on their mission as an organization as well as their future plans for a tournament in El Salvador.

The Cleveland Soccer Group, founded in 2022, is making a serious push for both an MLS and an NWSL team in Cleveland. This past October (2023) they made their official bid for an NWSL team. Find out what Caitlin Clark and the NCAA Women’s Final Four have to do with their mission.

Ty Phillips from the Columbus Crew joins us to discuss the soccer culture in Columbus, Ohio and the excitement around town of hosting the upcoming MLS All-Star game! The Soccer Rebellion and Michael Dublis will also be in town as part of the build up to the All-Star game as they bring their summer street soccer tour to Dick's Sporting Goods at Easton Town Center. Learn more about the Columbus soccer culture as well as information regarding The Soccer Rebellion's street soccer tournament and youth clinic, registration is only &10 and includes a t-shirt and discount at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Adelaide Gay, professional goalkeeper with DC Power & co-founder of Duktig Brand FC joins us to discuss the new USL Super League, national championships at the University of North Carolina and more. Hear about her typical day as a professional player, her recent visit back to Chapel Hill for Anson Dorrance and the moment she and fellow co-founder Tiffany Weimer realized their company was onto something big! Use the link below to find great coaching products at Duktig Brand FC.

Unozero CEO & founder Sam Garzon joins us to discuss the motivation for leaving his career and starting his own company, as well as the many challenges he faced along the way. Hear about his childhood growing up in Venezuela and how it created his passion for the beautiful game from an early age. He shares the future goals for Unozero as well as a huge promotional event for Unozero called 'Unozero Day' (10/10.) Learn more about their great sales during Unozero Day as well as the free giveaways they will be providing to their customers with every purchase. Each year a portion of these sales are donated to an important cause and Sam announces that this year Unozero will be donating to The Soccer Neighborhood!

Niall McCabe joins us from USL Championship side Louisville City FC to discuss their excellence on and off the pitch. Lou City, currently top of the table in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship (second division of professional soccer in the U.S.) are trendsetters as an organization. They not only field a full men's professional team, but also Racing Louisville their women's professional team, in addition to a full youth academy on both sides. Lou City also has built their own state-of-the-art soccer specific stadium as well as world-class training facilities. As if that was not enough, Lou City sets the standard as an active member in their community with their foundation, scholarship programs for youth players and a transportation partnership with Toyota to help assist youth players and families with the travel required for academy teams, training and tournaments.

U.S. soccer legend Brian Maisonneuve has won the Hermann Trophy at Indiana University, played in the 1996 Olympics, was an inaugural member of MLS with the Columbus Crew and represented the USMNT in the 1998 World Cup! He joins us to discuss everything from falling in love with soccer at an early age in Detroit, Michigan to the honor of representing your country at a World Cup and everything in between.

David Copeland Smith, world-renowned soccer trainer to international soccer stars like Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach, Rachel Daly, Ali Riley, Kelly O'Hara and more shares his story of being an entrepreneur in a new country and starting Beast Mode Soccer. Hear his story of how he developed Beast Mode Soccer into a global success while house-sitting for Robbie Williams!