SPEAKER_01 0:32

Welcome to Take Away Podcast when we explore the wide remote talking to the lines of community culture and the game itself and featuring stories from Vermont Clover FCH. Join us as we talk with players, coaches, and the people shaping the features of the team. I am AJ. Chris, how are you today?

SPEAKER_02 1:09

I'm doing great, AJ. I've been wanting to say this one specific thing. I've been just every time I see you, I want to call you Alan James Jr. That's it. So I've been thinking about that for like the last 15 minutes. And now I got to. So my world is complete.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Oh, hey. There you go. I'm glad I could be here for you.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

What's going on with you today?

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Um, I am, as you know, into 3D printing. And uh my wife found this really neat little project that I am printing right now. This is for a beach cornhole game. So you you screw this little thing into the sand, and then we've got instead of beanbags, they're just like little plastic pucks that you fill with sand, and then you can uh play cornhole on the beach because we're gonna be doing a little uh beach vacation coming up here for the fourth of July along weekend.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

That's awesome. I there's this is a thing that humans like to do is throw things at things and then keep core about it, right? Like right how many games are basically exactly the same: horseshoes, cornhole, quaits, watchers, just coob, like there's all sorts of like mild variations on let's throw things and then see how it is. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 2:13

And then I know you're very excited because USA World Cup, actually, not just you, I think we're all excited because USA World Cup is tonight.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And so this is a thing that's happened. I'm wearing my USA shirt right now. My full outfit isn't just not this, it's like an American flag tank top thing, which needs to be seen to be truly appreciated. It is awesome. But I get into it, man. Look, why not? If you can't get excited about the US team playing and winning and like if you can't live and die by that for two hours, like I don't know. What are we doing here?

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Is your family absolutely mental for the sticker book too?

SPEAKER_02 2:50

No, because I have girls and they're not nearly as excited about sticker collections for athletes as I mean they like stickers, especially Luna, but yeah, yeah not the Panini sticker book.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

This this Panini sticker book has somehow ignited some sort of like nostalgic thing in my wife, and she is absolutely crazy about getting stickers and and uh yeah, we've we've been having a fun time doing that. We we've probably spent way more money on buying stickers than we probably should have, but uh, you know, that's that's how we play the game, and we we usually go big on anything that we do, and we have a huge pile of stickers actually sitting on the printer behind me, uh, that we need to sort and get into that panini book. We're we're really looking for some blackboard ones because you know, those are those are money.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

Really? Okay. I don't maybe that's a whole different podcast because we should probably introduce our guest before we go down the rabbit hole of talking about panini sticker collection.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Well, I am very excited. Uh, today we are joined by Vermont Clover women's head coach Aubrey Owet. Aubrey has spent more than 13 years coaching soccer in Vermont and in New England, building a reputation as one of the state's premier developers of young players and successful teams. She currently serves as the director of girls coaching at Queen City FC, and she oversees player development and coaching curriculum while leading several of the club's premier girls' teams. At the high school level, Aubrey has been the head coach of the Rice Memorial Girls Varsity soccer team since 2017. During her tenure, she's guided the Green Knights to seven Vermont State Championship appearances, capturing state titles in 2019, 2021, and 2022, and most recently in 2025. Her success has earned multiple Coach of the Year honors and established Rice as one of Vermont's premier girls' soccer programs. Before Rice, Aubrey coached at Burlington High School and has also worked with Vermont Olympic Development Program, helping identify and develop some of the state's top young talent in soccer. As a player, Aubrey was a standout goalkeeper at Bedford High School in New Hampshire before continuing her collegiate career at St. Michael's College, where she was recognized for her leadership and commitment to the program. And now she's bringing that same passionate experience and winning culture to the inaugural Vermont Women's Clover or Vermont Clover Women's Team as we begin writing the next chapter of soccer in Vermont. Aubrey, welcome to the Pink and Green podcast.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Hey guys, happy to be here. Um, that was quite the introduction. Um, but I appreciate it. Um yeah, I'm excited to be here with you guys.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

Yeah, it's about time to wrap up after that, uh, after the whole list of a week. We've only got an hour here. And then for those for those who weren't taking notes at home, nine years she's been at Rice, eight of those nine years she's played in a final and won four of them. Did I get all that right? Seven, seven of the nine. Seven out of nine. And you won four of them and 96 wins currently. So you're I mean, unless the world ends, you're probably gonna hit 100 next year, which is unbelievable. That's incredible. Yeah, thank you. Stop hoping. Come on, it's gonna happen. Um, and you was your first coaching at when you started coming around Queen City when Shane was coaching for Wendy.

SPEAKER_00 6:07

Um, somewhat, yeah. So when I was at St. Mike's, I was helping out obviously with the summer camps there. Um, that was one of the highlights of my summer, just coming back to to St. Mike's and and coaching the kids. That's where I started coaching. Um, I would also go back to my high school and train the goalies over the summer. Um, I did some clinics at some local middle schools in New Hampshire as well. Um, and so that kind of sparked the interest. And then uh Wendy actually at St. Mike's helped me get connected with some of the local clubs. So I, you know, helped out at Fire Post for a year, um did a little bit with Nordic, and then I I met Shane and yeah, just started coaching at Queen City and um the rest is kind of history there.

SPEAKER_02 6:57

So it's gotta be like 10 or 11 at Queen City at least, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:03

I think this was the 11th or 12th season with Queen City because I started helping Shane out my senior year of college. Uh I was training the goalies during the winter, and then I started assisting him. And um, yeah, he's given me a lot of opportunities uh just to have my own team pretty early on. And um yeah, it's it's opened the doors to a lot of things.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

So yeah, it's been really cool from my perspective, watching you grow from this person who's really interested in coaching to now this like really seasoned and highly successful coach. It's just really, really been cool. You know, even though I'm not there all the time. I remember when you first started coming around because we trained on I think you you guys were trained in teams that were like maybe on the same field or maybe right next to each other. So we spent a lot of time together in those first couple years on those bus trips too, which were absolutely legendary. Because you were on both of those, I think, weren't you? Were those your first two years with those teams?

SPEAKER_00 7:57

They were probably like my maybe like my third year. Um, but yeah, those bus trips were were a lot of fun. The first year I went just like along for the ride. The second year I had my own team. Um, but yeah, we would take bus trips. We went to Nashville one year, Myrtle Beach the other year. Uh, and we were just we were on a bus for hours during the day, and then we'd stop and play teams throughout the country on our trip down and visit a bunch of cool places. So um yeah, that was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Yeah, it was that was awesome. We would take them over April break, I think, right? Yeah, it was April break. We would take two teams down. So we'd load this bus up as like all kids, a few chaperones, and then like the coaching staff basically. The other Clover connection on that trip is like a kind of secondary connection. So one of the Clover women's players, Maddie Couture, her dad, Rich, who coaches, he's a longtime coach, he coaches with Aubrey in the club world for a long time and coached the Gentester in high school. He was a chaperone because his older daughter was on the, was on those trips with us. He she played on my team. So it's that's like kind of the other connection.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

There's probably more as we like dig into it, but it's fun to look back at at things like that and you know, see the people that were were there that I didn't really know at the time. And now they're just like regulars in my life. You know, Rich was just a parent back then when we did that trip. Now he's you know, coaching all the Queen City teams with me and and we're good friends. So it's it's fun to look back. You too, Chris. It was you know, I was just getting to know you at the time, and now you know, I'm around coaching your daughter and and doing this flover thing with you.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

So yeah, it's pretty wild. We knew right from the beginning when we got the women's team going that we wanted to have you as a part of it. Do you remember in the winter? I was just like, Hey, we might be doing this thing. What do you think? And you're like, Yes, I'm in.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Yeah, well, it was funny. So you told me it was this winter, it was like before practice one day, and you told me you were thinking about starting a woman's team, and you asked if I would be interested. And I was like, Yeah, sure. And then I went onto the field and I looked at Shane and I was like, You wouldn't believe what Chris just said. He wants to start a woman's team. I'll believe it when I see it. You know, I just kind of made a joke about it. And then here we are, like four months later. But I was like, here's Chris with another big idea, and you know, it actually came together, which is awesome.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

Yeah, if you listen to the Shane, if you for those of you listeners who've listened to the Shane episode, you'll find that as a common theme in the the Chris and Shane relationship. I appreciate that you get to see that too. Um they what has been from a coaching perspective, like why do you keep coming back? Why do you why do you do it?

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Honestly, the kids, I just have so much fun. Um, the team building, the culture building, that's a part that I love. Um, I love soccer too, obviously, but I think what brings me back is is just being part of the team and um being able to build those connections with the kids. I I really enjoy that piece of it.

SPEAKER_01 11:21

So Ari, for anybody uh listening to the podcast that's like meeting you for the first time, what what's your what's your soccer story? How did you kind of like fall in love with the game?

SPEAKER_00 11:30

Yeah, um, my soccer story. So it started off a little rocky. I actually like to tell this story to a lot of the kids that I coach. But um, when I was in middle school, I actually got cut from my middle school soccer team, um, which was was pretty embarrassing. But um I like to say that I'm someone that likes to be told I can't do something because it it actually motivates me a little bit more. So um yeah, I was I was cut from the middle school soccer team, and then you know, I was in I was in class that same year, and we were writing letters to our future selves, like so senior year of high school self. And I wrote in that letter that I wanted to, you know, keep playing soccer and playing college. And you know, I hoped that when I opened this my senior year of high school, I would be, you know, committed to go play college soccer. So this was right after I couldn't even make the middle school team. Um and so yeah, I I just I was never, I wouldn't say I was ever just the most naturally athletically gifted player, but I was worked really hard and um I set goals for myself. And um, you know, from from that point on, I was just I was really focused on what I wanted to get out of it. So it wasn't until high school that I, you know, started playing goal. I played on a competitive team and really, you know, took my my playing to the next level. But I think for me, the foundation was just a love for the game. I had so much fun, you know, playing when I was a kid, um, being part of this, you know, a team, um, having all these friends on the in the sport. Um, and it that that's what like got me really interested in it. Um and that's what I try to do for my kids too. Like, if I can just build a love for the sport from a young age, they will do whatever they want to do from there, right? If they want to take it to the next level and get really competitive and try to play in college, great. They they'll do that and they have this love for the sport and that's great. If they just want soccer to be part of their life, they want to play co-ed leagues, intramurals, um, that's fine too. But you know, it it all really starts at that young age where they build just a love for being there. Um it's supposed to be fun, especially for kids. So at the youth level, that's that's really my my main goal. Cause I think um that's that's how it started for me.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

So that's awesome. You have a history of building successful programs. So what does that look like behind the scenes? Like what goes on that people don't see that contributes to building some of that that success?

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Yeah, I think at Rice, what was really a focus of mine early on was building a culture. Um, I was really young when I took over the team. Uh, I was 24, only a couple years out of college. Um so while I knew what I wanted to be as a coach and the type of team that I wanted to coach, it definitely took a little bit of experience to accomplish that. And um, you know, there's obviously some bumps in the road, but um, the big thing for me was just building a culture of a team that, you know, made people want to be there and feel included. Um, so a lot of things that we do, um we've done like overnight trips, which I know has become more popular for for high schools. Um, we started that in 2021. It was after COVID. Um, it was just an opportunity. These kids were just craving, you know, interactions again. So um, so we do that. But we also we talk a lot about our identity as a team early on in preseason. So um we'll talk about our team goals, what we want to accomplish, um, who we are. Um, and then we also talk about that from an individual basis as well. Um, I try to meet with as many of the the kids as I can over the summer to uh talk to them about that, those goals as well. But um, you know, I think I think a lot goes into it from a team perspective. But at the end of the day, like it's player driven. Um, I can set up all these things, but at the end of the day, it's like you need the buy-in from the kids, from the players. Um, and I've been really lucky to have some pretty incredible kids and leaders um throughout my years, especially our race that um have helped me accomplish what you see. Um, you know, there was one season we weren't we weren't doing well at all. Um, it was just a really, really bad year. Uh it was in 2019. Um, and it was just a lot of kids that, you know, weren't didn't have a ton of experience. Um, you know, a lot of really strong athletes, but weren't necessarily soccer players. And there was one day that the the captains just sat me down and they were like, hey, this isn't going well. Like, we need to regroup on how we're approaching this um because we just want to have some fun. Um, and we want to enjoy the season. And right now they they just weren't having fun. Um and that that hit me. I, you know, I remember just being taken aback because I was like pushing them and pushing them. Um and ultimately it turned around our season. Like I adjusted how I was approaching things. I let those players really take the lead on um, you know, the the sentiment and the overall, you know, feel of the team. And um, we ended up being the ninth seed in the playoffs that year and winning our first state championship in 20 years. So um it's just it's really incredible what these kids and these players can accomplish when you just give them you know guidance and just let them go. Um they I think they're more intuitive with a lot of things and we give them credit for sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

So yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Yeah, I I wanna do first of all, that's incredible. And like to coach nerd out a second, you know, like where my head's on is is on all this stuff too, to be able to create an environment that's so psychologically safe, that your captains can be like, all right, coach, we need to have this real conversation and innate work and hear our suggestions. The level of trust that they have to have that you're not gonna react in a certain way that is gonna be worse for the team is incredible. So, like for all you coaches out there listening, like that's the thing. And like listen to what she said. She's always talking about like centering the players, like having it be their experience and keeping that in mind. And it's really easy for us to get caught up in our own things about how it should be that we stop to ask, right? So, like, that's incredible. Like that, that's incredible. How would you say you talked about it a little bit, but like how did you grow as a coach from that experience?

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Uh I learned a lot. I, you know, I also give a lot of credit to um this, you know, one of my mentors, Zaf Blutovich. Um, he has been around Vermont soccer for a very long time. And he um was a longtime athletic trainer and um associate director at at St. Michael's College. Um he was coaching with me at Rice, and he gave me a lot of really good advice through those early years when I was still trying to figure all of this out. Um, but he always told me he's like, if if things are hard, if if they're not doing well, if they're you know, if we're losing, like that's when you want to pull back a little bit and let them kind of breathe. Um, when they're winning, that's when you can really push them and press them. Uh and he just really helped me find that balance as a coach. So um I'll never take credit. I I, you know, just solely on my own, I don't come up with all these, you know, brilliant ideas or anything, but there's a lot of people around me that give me advice along the way. Um you know, I've always taken the approach that I I don't know everything as a coach. I'm I'm learning just as much as the players are. Um and you know, every year I I get better and better as a coach, uh, and I I take all of these experiences and I try to put them all together. Um, but I think any coach would probably be kidding themselves if if they said they they knew everything.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

So I I kind of asked uh Shane this question. I don't remember exactly how I ordered it, but what what's you know you you coach a variety of of ages between what your work at you know Queen City FC and uh rice and now with with Clover. So what what's kind of the biggest you know misconception or you know, what do you wish that parents knew about you know having an an athlete child and and that kind of like player development?

SPEAKER_00 20:17

Yeah, I think from my own experience, um one is it it's player first, like my priority is always the player, making sure that they're having a good experience. Um, and sometimes that's hard for for parents to understand when they have their own agendas of what they want, you know, their their own kid to accomplish or or get to. Um and I also think patience is really big. Um for me, again, I really didn't grow into an athlete um until high school. I mean, I I think, you know, I I really grew after, you know, an experience of getting cut from from my team, but um kids develop at different ages. Some will peak when they're really young and show all of this promise, and then you know, maybe they get burnt out or they kind of you know stay where they are and other kids catch up to them. Um I think there's just patience in in the player development piece. Um, you know, I think every every kid deserves an opportunity to to play the sport and to learn the sport, and we just have to have patience with them wherever they're at. Um you know, I I I just think that for girls in particular, there's been this um pressure on them that if they're not, you know, at the highest level, if they're not, you know, the best player, um they kind of shy away from the sport. And I don't want that. I want everyone to feel like they can play and be included and be part of the you know the experience. Um whether you know they're an all-star at 12 years old or they're you know gonna be better when they're 16 years old. Um you know, I I just think that we need to have a little bit more patience on on the player development piece.

SPEAKER_01 22:07

And in thinking about that, what you know, what's what's something that you wish kind of younger players focused on more, right? Like uh is it is it some soft skills, is it technical skills?

SPEAKER_00 22:18

From a soccer perspective, I think a hundred percent they need to more technical skills, more work on the ball. And it's not just at practice, like we'll put on a session and we'll have you know 20 kids, and we may only have like four or five balls out there. So the amount of touches they're getting in a practice isn't anything compared to what they can do if they go home and get touches. Um, that was huge for me. I I worked a lot at home. I, you know, my parents would probably kill me, but I used to punt the ball at the house and have it bounce back at me, just working on my puns. Um, I had a rock wall I would hit like a reaction ball off of, I would. Literally take a ball and just walk around the block bouncing a ball in my hands. Um, it's just the work that you do outside of practice is almost more important than what you're doing in practice. Um, just because you you need to get those individual touches. Um I think so that's that's from like a soccer, you know, specific. I think from a mental piece, I think we really need to build confidence uh on the girl side. I think a lot of players don't have that confidence coming into playing. And if you look at the boys' side, the boys will come in with their confidence really high, and then you kind of have to bring them down a little bit. Uh girls are the opposite. They'll come in, they'll they're nervous, they're scared to make a mistake. Um, I just encourage them mistakes are okay. Go out there and play. And, you know, if you make a mistake, we'll talk about it later, but don't be afraid to just play with confidence and go out there and enjoy it. Um and don't hesitate.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

So yeah, it's it's a thing the kids don't realize is like practice is not where it's happening. Practice is for the team because the team is there and it's the however many hours you have a week for the team. And like you get better in that, but you're learning the game. But if you're not spending time on the ball by yourself, you're not actually gonna be able to learn the game, right? You're just not if you're thinking about what's this touch gonna do, you're not gonna be present in okay, this is the shape I need to be in or what have you. And the thing, again, you talk about your story, it's just hard work, like hard work, hard work, hard work compounded. And I think you're so right about the confidence piece, right? Like the it's about confidence and recognizing, look, it's a game of a million mistakes, it's gonna happen. And yep, people are gonna look at you and it's not gonna feel awesome. But if you're not making mistakes, you are you really trying hard enough, especially in practice? You have to be able to push yourself to make mistakes. And again, what I really appreciate about what you do with the younger kids is you create an environment where like it's encouraged, like mistakes aren't necessarily encouraged, but like it's totally okay. Nobody feels that their standing in the team changes because they make a mistake of judgment or they make a bad touch or whatever. It just is what it is, right? And that's I think so important for players to come in recognizing that. It's like it shouldn't kill my confidence if I try this thing and it doesn't come off. It just shouldn't.

SPEAKER_01 25:21

Yeah, I I want to echo what you said about you know the the practicing at home because I, you know, I've got a son, he he's in U-12 soccer, and he for a number of years has done like the local town rec league. Uh, and they'll get like maybe two weeks in to practice before their you know their season starts and they're playing other teams. And and so this year we enrolled them in a different program where um you know he did a lot more skill development. He had weekly homework, he was doing touches at home, you know, throughout the winter, and then the season started, and what a difference. Um, like like the the moves on the field, just you know, it weirdly his confidence level is like kind of taking a hit, and uh, and you know, that might be some of the team dynamic with some of the older boys. Um, but it it made a significantly noticeable difference, you know, starting the season, having had all those touches in uh before the season started. So yeah, absolutely. And more you can get in at home, uh it makes a difference.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

I've had kids come back after like a season off with you know club soccer, and they'll come back and they're out there and they're at a level that they weren't at before. And I've gone up to them and been like, what happened? They're like, Oh, I've just been working really hard at home. Like I've been trying to do a lot of touches or something like that. It's you can it's noticeable when when a kid is putting that work in. Um, it's it's definitely noticeable.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

So yeah, and it's important to also recognize where confidence comes from, right? It's like the same thing layered over and over and over until you can do it. Like if you try to kick a ball 20 yards and you can't put it in the same place, but then you go do it a thousand times, now you're gonna be confident in your ability to put the ball exactly where you want it, right? So it's how confidence gets built is by that that time spent as well. So you know what to expect of yourself to even push yourself more, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:08

And I learned a lot of that with with goalkeeping too, just because it was muscle memory over and over again. Um, I mean, that's key with goalkeeping is you have to make reactions so quickly that your muscles need to just automatically know what to do when it comes game time.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

So yeah, and so much of goalkeeper, so much of goalkeeper training is really about like the things you never do. Like you make five, six, eight saves in a game, and that's like kind of a lot. But 90% of your training is on, you know, that total of 30 seconds that happen in a 90-minute game or what have you. So it really is highlighted and magnified. What are what are some of the differences that you find working with the rice players versus now working with the clover players?

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Um, rice versus clover. Um rice is a little different because not all of the players coming into it are necessarily like quote, soccer players. Uh, sometimes we just get really strong athletes and we just help them get this experience out of soccer and and use some of their skills um on the field in creative ways. And uh I've seen, you know, one some of our most successful years were years that we had, you know, primarily basketball players on the team that were just really fast and one could play goal and it was great. Um I think the difference with Clover that I've noticed is that these girls, they're they're soccer players, they know what they're doing. So you put them in a drill, you tell them what to focus on, and they go and they do it. You don't necessarily have to walk them through a lot of those uh concepts quite as much because they already have that foundation. It's really more just continuing to hone in on those, on those skills or those concepts. Um, so that's been really fun change for me. I think, you know, there are some moments where I'll throw them in a drill thinking I have to, you know, do a bunch of coaching like I normally would with another team. And then they're just doing it. And I'm like, all right, well, you know, that's great. Keep going. You're doing exactly what I was looking for. So um, so it's been really fun and um it's it's been a unique experience just to like coach at at the college level. A lot of the girls, um, a lot of the girls that that are on the team I've actually coached against in high school. So it's funny to coach these girls that I, you know, a few years ago was coming up with strategies to defend and to shut down. And now it's like, no, I want you to do this. Like, this is great. Um so it's been really fun to me for me to to get to know some of these players. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:11

Do you find differences in the players, so the ones that are like, let's say college hopeful or about to go to college versus some of the ones that have a couple of seasons uh a couple of seasons experience playing at the college level?

SPEAKER_00 30:24

Definitely. I think there is a little bit um higher pace with the players that do have a little have college experience. Um, and there's a little bit of um the the understanding of the games at a higher level. So the positioning um and you know, the defending and everything, they just they kind of know that the shape they need to be in. They know um they're communicating a little bit more, they're a little bit more confident with their decisions. Um the players that you know are are still will just graduate high school going into college. I think this is an incredible experience for them because they're getting to play with kids that you know have that confidence and are playing at that level and it's pushing them and it's giving that them that um, you know, just knowledge base before they even get to to college, they're already gonna have this um base that they've established with with our team.

SPEAKER_02 31:23

So yeah, the pace is so much slower in high school than it is in college. So the few that like still have a high school year left, I'm sure that they're gonna go in and like the game is gonna be moving real slow for them. And that's a good thing, right? Because they're gonna be able to think through the game and play through the game at a much higher level. And that's that's part of the goal with it is to provide those opportunities for the kids that are on their way there, as much as are for the kids that are I say kids, but you know, young adults here, as much for the the young adults that are on their way there as it is for the adult, the those players that are kind of already there.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

Right. You you sort of uh touched on it a little bit, but um, you know, what what kind of opportunities is is this uh Vermont Clover women's team kind of creating that maybe didn't exist a few years ago?

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Yeah, I there's there's been different variations of trying to get um playing opportunities for college kids in Vermont for women specifically. Um none of them have really you know been consistent over the years. Um when I was a player, uh I stayed in in Burlington for for a summer, and we were playing in a league against high school students because that was really the only league that was available to us, and there weren't a lot of other college students there playing. Um so having an opportunity to play with other college students over the summer is something that is what or was and um is needed in Vermont. So um it's really cool to see how much the game has grown since I was in school, since I was a player to where it is now. And you know, the coaches that we've brought in, um, you know, Abby Turner is is helping me out as well. She played at St. Makes with me, but she was saying the same thing. She didn't have an opportunity to play over the summer. Um, and the game's grown so much. So, not just in Vermont with these opportunities, like um, but regionally with you know, all of the different leagues that have been created, especially on the women's side, it's it's grown a lot. Uh, I tell my kids all the time that they really should appreciate these women's teams and these opportunities to watch women's soccer because it's not something that was as available when I was a player or as a kid to look up to. So um, you know, if we can create create opportunities for these college kids to to play over the summer at a competitive level, and then also create, you know, these opportunities for younger kids to look look up to these players and to have something to aspire to, I think that's that means a lot um in Vermont and you know, I think in other states too that are are trying to grow the game.

SPEAKER_01 34:05

So that that's awesome. I I love that answer. Um what excites you most about coaching this inaugural team?

SPEAKER_00 34:13

I think it's the the potential of what it could be. Um, I mean, I I'm very excited about the opportunities that we have this summer, being able to, you know, go and play um the wild next week, um, you know, potential, you know, other skirmishes that we might be able to get together, um, just the training opportunities, all of that is uh a lot of fun. And bringing all these players together has been a lot of fun. Um, but I'm really excited for the potential of of what it could continue to grow to be. I think last night we were just watching the men's team practice and get ready for their finals for the UPSL New England um division, right? And the girls were just sitting there and and watching them. And for me, it was like this is what this is what we want you guys to grow to be in the future, is a team that's actually playing for something for, you know, a a championship opportunity um or a league or or anything, really. I mean, just the potential that that the team has to grow in the future, I think is huge. And like I said, you know, if if this is something that we can continue to to do summer after summer, it's it's gonna become something that younger kids will will look to aspire to to play for.

SPEAKER_02 35:31

So yeah, that is the plan. Uh the plan is to have an actual league next year and then be plan for be plan to win stuff at the end of it is kind of the kind of the host. We don't know exactly what that landing spot's gonna look like yet, but like that's really important to us. It's one thing to do one game, it's one thing to train for one summer, but it's another thing completely to use this. And I've been approaching it like this is the foundation for this incredible house we're gonna build for that women's team. And and we, you know, we kind of treat it all as one club, but to to a large degree, you are kind of doing your own thing over there. And I think that's really cool to I've tried to, you know, create that as an intentionally as like a women's space because I think that there just aren't enough of those. And we've got this men's space over here, which is like I mean, you watched it yesterday. It's a bunch of dudes doing mad things while they're playing, right? And to be able to be able to offer the same opportunities for for young women to be able to play, like that's what it's all about. It's not enough to just play some exhibition games, right? And there's a massive appetite for it. And even if nobody wanted to come watch, which they do, but even if they didn't, there's so many young girls out there. You know, I think about Posey and her friends, like some of them might be playing in this in a couple of years, right? And it needs to be there for them or for the girls a little bit younger than them, even. Well, so the game coming up, right? It's on we're recording this on Thursday, the something something of June. I don't know the date. Oh, yes, I do. The 25th, Thursday, the 25th of June. So next weekend we're playing this game. What are some of the things that you're looking forward to about the game and maybe some of the things that you're a little nervous about?

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Well, what I'm excited about is that it's bringing together two Vermont-based women's soccer teams, um, which the fact that there's three women's soccer teams going right now, uh including Culver, is really incredible. And I think it's gonna be a really fun day to just celebrate that fact um that these opportunities are here and that players are playing. Um, so I'm I'm really excited for the day and the celebration of it. Um, and obviously that the opportunity for us to just play a match, get out there and compete. Um, you know, training is is fun, but at the end of the day, competing is is why we we play, right? Um obviously Wild has been playing a full season already. Um, we have not. So I think that's probably the only area that I, you know, have some nerves or hesitation around. It's you know, we're we're playing a team that is, you know, has a little bit of chemistry that has been playing matches, that's been playing other teams at high levels. Um, and we've just just been training amongst ourselves. So uh it's really hard to replicate game situations and game intensity into training. And so that's where I think we are at a disadvantage going into the match. Uh, however, we've been talking about it's a challenge and challenges are opportunities, and we have to just go out there and take it. And that's a mentality that we have to have going into the match. Um, because again, this is it's an incredible opportunity to celebrate women's soccer in Vermont. Um everyone on the team has some kind of Vermont connection for Clover, uh, whether they grew up playing in Vermont, they play college in Vermont, uh, and the fact that they get to represent their state and represent, you know, women's soccer in Vermont is um just an incredible opportunity for everyone. So I'm excited about that. It's you know, for me, community is what makes soccer so special, and this is an incredible opportunity to bring that community together.

SPEAKER_02 39:23

Yeah. Have you found that the women are really the young women are really kind of like leaning into that community piece and like starting to build the relationships that maybe are new to them?

SPEAKER_00 39:32

I hope so. I you know last night we were joking about carpools, like and they were just discovering that people lived, you know, close to them or on their way to practice. And it was like, all right, we're making friends here, connections. Um, but I think for them it's the same, same idea as it as it has been for me that you know they've been playing against each other or around each other for years, and now they actually get to play together. So um, you know, it's it's taking a little bit of time, but I think it's been fun for them to get to know these players that maybe used to be enemies on the field. Um, so it's yeah, it's I think uh I think they're buying into that. And every practice, like last night, um, you know, it was the first time that we had the full group had already been to at least one session. So everyone actually knew each other. Um, there wasn't like a new new player joining the group. Uh, and you could already see from the first day to to last night, there were just stronger connections and team more team building. And um, I think it's only gonna get better as the summer goes on.

SPEAKER_02 40:37

Yeah, that's yeah, that's one of the things we see with the men's team too a lot. It's like like those guys are like, I think that if you ask them what the best part about it has been is they'll say that it's like meeting new people and like making new friends.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

Yeah, and I, you know, I was talking about the the match to uh Brian, the men's coach last night, and um Alfred, one of the the assistants for the men's, and they were saying very similar, you know, for them going into the first match, you know, they felt like they were still trying to get to know the team and you know, they were a little nervous just not having played a match yet. Um so kind of put me a little bit more at ease just knowing that they've been in the same scenarios, and it's been great just talking to Brian and getting his insight on the experience that the men have had uh and you know, comparing that to where we're at. So um, that's been been really powerful.

SPEAKER_02 41:30

But yeah, it's one of the things that I haven't talked a whole lot about, but one of the other intentions kind of in the background was that we would be able to create this community of coaches as well, right? There's between you know Brian and Al and all those guys, there's five of them, and then there's three of y'all, like there's eight coaches right there, right? Of all different in all different places in their coaching journey with like a whole bunch of different backgrounds, and it's really cool that you all have that kind of resource, the those resources out of each other. You know, and my hope is that you all are like sharing numbers and kind of getting a little more integrated and like that way, you know, Brian's got an idea, he can bounce it off you, or like you know, you might have the same thing for one of those guys too, is kind of the thing that I was hoping would happen like just as a consequence rather than me intentionally doing it. So maybe it's working a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 42:18

A little bit. I've got a coaching uh related question I can throw at both of you since you're you're both tenured coaches. Um, how how do you balance being uh demanding versus being you know supportive?

SPEAKER_00 42:29

That's that's a big question. Um I think it's also changed over the years. I think um generationally has changed a little bit. Um, and I actually was talking to Brian about this last night too. It's also tough with these teams because you know, you're only getting them a couple of days a week. So you kind of have to, you know, you want them to come, you want them to want to be there. So um you kind of have to balance how much you're you're pushing them with how much you're you know, encouraging them and supporting them. I think um that's that's probably the one of the hardest pieces of coaching is being able to to read your players and what motivates them and what drives them and you know how you need to approach um each player is a little bit different. So uh figuring that out, especially early on, can be a little bit tricky. But yeah, it's you know, again, you know, when things are going well, you can probably push a little bit more. And when things are, you know, maybe not going so so well, um, you know, maybe you have to give them a little bit more encouragement.

SPEAKER_02 43:28

So yeah, I don't think the idea of I don't think the idea of like pushing and oh how did you phrase it?

SPEAKER_01 43:36

Um being like demanding versus supporting.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

Demanding versus supportive. I don't think that those two do that those two things are intention. I think if players know that you care about them, right? And I've used this acronym before, but the river, if they feel relevant, important, valued, empowered, and respected, they're gonna they're gonna they're gonna feel important and they're gonna feel valued and they're gonna know that you care about them. It all kind of springs from a place of of love, right? Like if you love the kids that play for you and they feel that they're loved, you can ask them to do anything that's within reason, of course, like you know, on the field. And they're gonna do that happily because they know that you're coming from the right place. And when you center the players in that environment, they know that what you want is the best experience for them. So there's a lot of it's kind of like you gotta build the trust as you're as you're doing it. The other thing that I do with my teams is especially my college team, again, because we see each other every day, right? Like it it can be however you want it to be before you show up. But once we step inside the lines, like and we use the circle, we get in the circle before the circle, you do whatever, like you're talking about girlfriends and your car and whatever you want to. But once we get to that circle, our focus needs to be on the people inside the circle and the things that we're gonna do as members of this circle that exists inside the white lines. Now we're gonna go out there and take chunks out of each other's shins all day long because that's gonna help us get better. And if we all approach it with my job here today is to make everybody around me better. We all have different roles in it, but that's my job today. We break the circle, we train, we end with the circle most of the time. And then once a circle is released, off you go. So to draw that clear distinction between I can be like now during practice, except in truly exceptional circumstances, is not the time I'm like I need to be your confidant of. A thing right now. I may put my arm around you and say, Hey, like I understand you're having a bad day today. Here's a little attaboy, go get them, right? That happens sometimes. Yeah. Right. But the time for uh like the confidant piece of what we do or the mentorship piece of what we do is not when we're out there like doing the soccer. It's like all the rest of it. So being able to draw that clear distinction and recognize that, you know, you say things sometimes, and just probably less with women and more with men, they'll look at you and they like you can see the wheels working in their head and they're just like, swear word you, you know, go swear yourself, right? And like recognizing that like to let them have that space in the moment and not necessarily have to deal with it, right? And then afterward, hey, it seemed like you weren't so into what we were what we had going on over there. Is that something we gotta talk about or not? And if you've got the right relationship with them, they're like, Yeah, no, we're fine. Or yeah, it is, and here's why. Right. And and being able to be vulnerable in that, in that way. I see my own role not as above them, right? But with them. We're just all we're just all doing this shoulder to shoulder. I have a special role in the team. You know, I set overall direction, I'm picking the lineups, whatever, planning the travel. That's just my role. It's no different. It's a different role, but the responsibility of it is no different than the person that scores goals or the person that saves goals or the person that's got to make passes or do the throw-in or kick the free kicks or whatever. These are all just different roles that we assume. So I just don't think that the things are intention or are in any time I said intention, but I meant intention, like the pull. I don't think that the things are at odds at all. I think you can do both and all of it at the same time. And what I find is that the players that we work with, they want to be pushed. Like they want to feel like you're out there pushing them to the extent that you can push them. But like you said, there are certain times in the season where everybody just needs to be reminded that this is fun. Right? Yeah, like it like this is fun. Guys, remember that this is fun. You know, sometimes it's on that 35 degree and pouring day in the middle of October coming up into a playoff game. Guys, you remember this is fun? All right, today every time we score a goal, we're gonna do the best celebration ever, and it's the silliest thing ever, and everybody has a good time. And nobody keeps playing because they hate it. They keep playing because it's fun. Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 47:44

True. Very true. What what's the what's the women's season or summer look like? Are there more friendly games scheduled? Is it is I I know we you know we kind of discussed lately in the past that UPSL has like two sort of seasons. It you know, is is that when the women's season is gonna start? What's that look like?

SPEAKER_02 48:02

Uh one game now, trying to add a couple of more in July, but that depends on you know, all the things that those sorts of things depend on, you know, teams to do it. And we're talking to a couple of teams. It's just about schedule, kinda. Um and schedule also influenced influenced by our ability to you know have a location. Because there's a lot of people that want to get on fields. Okay, yeah. And there's a lot of fields reserved and things like that. And then we won't play in the fall. Like that's just not gonna happen because of our player pool. Yeah, and and the plan is to launch the team full time in the spring. Okay, is you know, so that schedule is like May to July or something like that. Okay so that's that's the that's the longer term plan. But for this summer, which was the actual question, is trying to get a couple more games because like Aubrey said earlier, training's great and all, but playing games is fun.

SPEAKER_01 48:50

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Um, Aubrey, you have coached a large range of uh ages. Uh just just a fun question. Do you do you have a uh preferred age range that you like to to coach, or or does that kind of like fluctuate with personalities and and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_00 49:11

Um I would say every age group is different. I wouldn't say that one is necessarily better or I enjoy more than the other. I think what I've found is I love the high school season, the competition of it, the intensity of it, um, the team building, all of that stuff. But then, you know, I go to club soccer and I coach, you know, middle school or younger, or even you know, the high school girls there. And it's just a different type of environment. Obviously, it's a little bit more on the technical training side. Um, and I think I just I enjoy the balance, honestly, of having those two different things um throughout this the year. Um, very different. I middle school, I love how they're just learning to be really competitive and to play soccer at you know a higher level or to you know feel like they're competing for something a little bit more. Um, but they also have there's they're still young, so they're also just having a lot of fun while they're doing it. And I really like that balance. Um, high school obviously, you know, it's a little bit more intense and you're competing for something, and you know, the the kids just want to, you know, play harder and and compete. And um I think that that's a lot of fun too, because I get to be a part of that. Um, so I every age group's a little bit different. The young kids you can just run around and play games with and hoof around, and that's also a blast. So um yeah, I've enjoyed working with really all age groups at different for different reasons.

SPEAKER_01 50:51

So yeah, that's awesome. Um to the you know, female athlete listening to this podcast that's interested in in joining the clover team, what's what's that process like? Where should they go if they want to learn more info or uh you know submitted application?

SPEAKER_02 51:11

Oh, that's for me. Chris, um anyone just get in touch. Um go to Chris. Yeah, go to me. I work with the coaching staff to kind of intentionally build the roster. We we learned a lot of lessons from how we built the men's roster that are really starting to pay dividends with the women's roster because you know, for better or for worse, there are a lot of men, right? And when we started the thing, we weren't sure there was going to be as much interest as there was. So we kind of were like, you know, everybody show up and we'll figure it out from there. But with the women, how we've approached it is kind of in a more intentional way. We're having different kind of conversations with coaches and players and you know, kind of actually building a roster in in an intentional way. And the way we've got the way we built it now is it's a little bit, excuse, a little bit younger than the men's team. Now, the men's team is pretty young for the UPSL, right? We only have a few players that are kind of 21 plus. The women's team is intentionally a little bit a little bit younger because we're start we're really thinking about we want the women that are with us now to kind of be the core of that team that we carry forward to next year, if we can be. You know, okay, it's 25, and and maybe the real number on that rust are something like 30 or 35, but we want to be really intentional about the people that are involved.

SPEAKER_01 52:27

Gotcha. Okay. Um, as we kind of wrap up the episode here, Aubrey, is there anything that we didn't ask you that we should have asked you? Is there anything that you want to talk about before we close the episode?

SPEAKER_00 52:42

Um, no, I don't think so. I think, you know, again, I really want to stress the amount of opportunity that we've created here with with Clover and the Vermont base players. I mean, you know, it's not just kids that I've competed against. I'm coaching kids that, you know, I coached when they were U-12s, and I'm getting to see them, you know, continue to love playing soccer and to have a place to play. And uh, I'm really grateful to be able to be part of that and that Chris, you know, helped get this organized. Um I I just think that we're creating more opportunities for for kids to play soccer. And um, you know, again, we want to create as many opportunities as we can, um, whether you want to play at the highest, highest level or you just want to enjoy the sport and watch the sport and be part of it. Um, I think that it's been really incredible to watch Vermont grow from where it was when I came to Vermont to the soccer state that it is now. Um, and this is just one piece um of what what's growing here in Vermont. Um, so it's exciting to be part of.

SPEAKER_01 53:51

Awesome. Well, if folks want to learn more, the Vermont Clover Women's Team has their very own Instagram account. You can follow them at Vermont CloverFCW. You can also follow the regular Vermont Clover team at Vermont CloverFC. And don't forget to follow the podcast. We are the Pink and Green Podcast at Pink and Green Podcast, all one word on Instagram as well. And make sure you're subscribing to us wherever you get your podcast. And we do have a YouTube channel, so you can see our smiling faces as we do these interviews. Uh, so make sure you go subscribe, smash that bell icon, get notified of all of our future episodes. All that does really good mojo for the podcast and the show. Uh, Aubrey, thank you so much for joining us today. This was a fun interview. Chris, any parting words?

SPEAKER_02 54:41

As Bob Barker would say, spay and new to your pets, ladies and gentlemen. Actually, no, my parting shot is that for those who know this, know this. The absolute best Christmas cards on my refrigerator every year are from Aubrey.

SPEAKER_00 54:56

Oh no. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 54:58

Aubrey does a nice little. Yeah, we are. Uh Aubrey does an incredible photo shoot with her cat, Tommy the Cat. And they are every year, I'm like, there's no way she's gonna outdo herself, and then next year she does. So that's what I'm thinking about too.

SPEAKER_00 55:13

And I send it to all my players, give it to all my players. Uh-huh. If hey, you put a smile on people's faces, it's it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 55:20

It's the only ones who leave up all year. I think I remember one one of the one of your your players brought it up at the in the circle the last time I was at practice.

SPEAKER_00 55:29

I'm sure. I'm sure. They it's become a tradition and everyone looks forward to it. So um yeah, it started as a joke and it's just kept going, and here we are. Like eight years later, I'm still doing them. So it's oh my god, it's fun.

SPEAKER_01 55:43

That's more animal.

SPEAKER_00 55:44

Yeah, for poor Tommy.

unknown 55:47

It's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 55:49

Awesome. Well, thank you again, and we'll see you next time on the Pink and Green Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 55:55

See you later, folks.

SPEAKER_01 55:57

That's gonna do it for today's episode of the Pink and Green Podcast. A huge thank you to our guests for joining us and sharing their story. If you enjoyed today's conversation, be sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcast and leave us a review. It helps more people discover the growing soccer community here in Vermont. You can follow Vermont Clover FC and the Pink Free Podcast on social media for updates, match coverage, and behind-the-scenes content throughout the season. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time. Until then, keep supporting local soccer and keep the game growing.