SPEAKER_03 0:32

Welcome to the Pink and Ray Podcast, where we explore the rise of Vermont soccer through the lens of community, culture, and the game itself, featuring stories from Vermont Clover FC. Join us as we talk with players, coaches, and the people shaping the future of the game in Vermont. This is the Pink and Green Podcast. I am AJ Murray and you are Chris George. Chris, good to see you. It's been a while.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

Good to see you too, AJ. It certainly has, and I honestly don't know what I've been doing with myself. I mean, I've been doing stuff, but not the good stuff. This is the good stuff.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

To to the listener, it might it might be that you know you hear us every week if you're listening to all the episodes, but uh some time has elapsed since the last time we were behind the microphone.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

Yeah. One of the things I've actually been thinking about is how we often make very timely references to things like this game here or that game there, and this is gonna come on the air months later. It's like this episode is probably gonna go on. Actually, this episode's gonna go on probably right about when our preseason is starting, like middle of August. So that's it.

SPEAKER_03 1:47

So I've been thinking even later later than that. This is probably gonna hit end of August or early September.

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Yeah, so I've been just thinking about like how time's elastic, and that kind of it kind of warps my mind. It's I mean, there's every like and think about how much thought has gone into understanding how we experience the flow of time. Like, yes, there have been volumes and volumes and volumes written about this. What's going on with you today?

SPEAKER_03 2:11

Oh man, uh uh getting ready for some travel. My wife and I are going out of town for the weekend, so I'm excited to not be in Vermont for a little bit and watch some more World Cup this weekend.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Yeah, and just to be clear, the weekend he's going out of town for will have happened months in the past from when you listen to this. Dear Listen, true. Yeah, should we should we introduce our guest?

SPEAKER_03 2:32

Yes, we should. Our guest today is Rihanna Murray, she is a midfielder for the Vermont Clover Women's Team. Rihanna, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

I'm pretty excited to be in the presence of two Murrays here. This is cool.

SPEAKER_03 2:46

I know, I was just gonna say, as awesome as your last name is, I don't believe there's any relation. No, we probably know that by now.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Yes, yeah, we would have figured that out. So, one of the reasons, first of all, thanks for coming, and we're so happy to have you. And we're so happy to have you.

SPEAKER_04 3:01

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

And we're so happy to have you as a part of the Clover project. I thought it would be really cool to bring Rhe on to talk about her soccer journey because it's been a little bit like it's had its twists and turns, which I think is is actually more common than people want to think. We like to think of journeys as a just straight line from you know, little kid to success or whatever. And while it's been undoubtedly successful, it hasn't been quite so a straight line. And she's had to make a lot of like really cool decisions along the way. And I think that it would be really awesome for people to kind of hear about all that. So, do you want to give us the the quick rundown about where it all started?

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Yeah, um, I think you know, I've been playing soccer since like I could walk, like I've always been into it, and I actually almost like quit playing soccer when I was like 10. Um, I was like, I'm gonna start doing gymnastics, like that's this thing I'm gonna stay into. And my grandma, I think she saw like something in me like during soccer, and she was like, I'll do one more year of gymnastics if you stay in soccer. And I was like, Okay. And then that year really sparked something in soccer, and I quit gymnastics, and then I've been playing soccer ever since. And I started at Queen City, um, and I've I played there for like seven years, probably or longer. I don't even remember, lost lost track, but I played there for a while. Um, and then I I did that in my offseason, and then once I got into CVU, I continued to play it. Um at CVU, I was on JV software freshman and software year, and then finally moved RCD my junior year and played through the end. Um and then got to college, decided I wanted to play in college. Um had a little bit of a late um start to the recruiting process. Um and but I made it work. I got to a D3 college, um, UMass Dartmouth. I was there for a first semester, played the season, got some good stats, and then I realized it's just not where I wanted to be. Um, and entered the transfer portal, and now I'm down at Bear University in Florida. So all worked out.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

I have so many questions.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

Yeah, we're gonna unpack that whole thing. But first of all, thank goodness for grandma, because otherwise we would I mean, maybe you would have been exactly the best gymnast ever. Like that's possible too. But we're pretty we're pretty excited you're still playing soccer. So thank goodness for grandma.

SPEAKER_04 5:37

Yeah, me too.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

You thank her for us when you see her. Okay, well, so the Queen City thing, you started a little bit, they do little kids, but you still sound like you started a little bit later, maybe, maybe was it that year when grandma was like keep with soccer?

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Yeah, I think it was the year after. I don't I think I was just playing in some other leagues in my town. Um, and then I think my sister, she started there, um, but she quit after like two years. But then I guess I just kind of took over and I started there and I loved it. I loved all the coaches, and I went through all the years with like the same coaches, which I think was really helpful because it's like I got the familiar faces and I got to like stay with those familiar faces throughout like my entire time there. So I got to trust the coaches a lot and get to know them more than just like a coach, like as a friend and family, and it was yeah, such a great experience.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Who who are those coaches?

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Um, Aubrey, Shane, and Rich.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Oh, yeah. So all the cover echoes right there, huh? Yeah. Like can't get rid of them. So I really can't. So Aubrey was with you, so she must have picked you up your team when you were probably 11 or 12 and then gone all the way through when you were done at Queen City. That's cool.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Yeah. I've like throughout my time at Queen City, I was like switching. I think like maybe we'd switch like every year. We'd switch from like Aubrey to Rich to Shane to Rich to Aubrey, like it all kind of jumped around, but they were all in the same type of area anyway.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

So yeah, what is it about what is about what Aubrey and Rich and Shane do that you really like?

SPEAKER_00 7:24

I think they just make like such a comfortable environment for like everybody to succeed, and they like aren't like they yeah, they push you to like your limits, but they uh also like understand what it is like kind of being a player and understanding all the struggles we go through, but they make it such like a good environment for you to like to want to be there and they want you to push yourself to be a better player and everyone around you, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Yeah, that's awesome. And one of the things that we've talked about a little bit both on the podcast and when we were getting ready for the show here is how Queen City's always been a little bit of an underdog club. Yeah, how do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Yeah, I mean, I like when I joined it, I was like, oh whatever, it's just like a good club. And then I think as I got older, like the stigma around it and everyone's like, oh, like you're not as good as like these other teams or whatever, like it kind of got my doubts down, and I always was like, oh, maybe I'll go to another club or whatnot. But I think that's what the coaches really implemented into like their system is they created like such a tight environment with like all the kids you play with that it's like you don't really want to leave after because like you've built such a good like family with everyone. It's like, why would you want to leave? And it's like I love the coaching staff, so I'm like, I don't really see a need. And they help me with more than just like on the field, they help me with like college stuff and everything. Like I wouldn't be where I am without them, so I'm glad I stayed.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Yeah, that's uh but eventually you did you did leave eventually.

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Yes, I leave. Um I left my I think it was this summer going into like college. Um I or the spring going into college, I was like realized that we weren't really gonna have that big of a team because some girls weren't looking to play after high school, which is okay. Like they chose their own path, and um, but that was the year I decided that I was like, I I still want to play after high school. So I made the decision for myself and I switched to Nordic. Um, I played there for a year and they were great. I love the coaching staff there as well. I played for Erin, um, and she was amazing. And yeah, I loved all the girls I played with, made a lot of new connections, and I still play with them now. I played against um some of them at their last game against Wild. And yeah, it's it's been a journey, but it's been good.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Yeah. So I think for young players out there, right? Like the ad I I guess my question is when and why. You mentioned a little bit about part of the decision was just like, yeah, you didn't think the team was gonna stick together, but what advice would you offer to a young player who's thinking about should I stay at this club that I'm at versus go to this other club?

SPEAKER_00 10:59

Um I mean, I think it depends like what you want. Because I think I just valued like the connection, because I think the connection was as strong as the team was because our team was good because of how strong like we all played together. So it's like I don't know. I guess it it just depends on what you want. I they had a good enough competitive level for it. Um, but I don't I don't know. I think it's I don't know, it's a hard decision. I thought about it for like two years and I was I don't know, I contemplated it a lot. Um but you just gotta go with your gut feeling, whatever feels right for you. And I think staying at the club that I was at was the right choice and staying with the people I was with. But if I wanted to, I could have gone for a more competitive level, maybe gone to far post or like earlier, gone to Nordic earlier, but then I feel like I wouldn't have been as strong because of all the connections I made with the coaches and players. So yeah, it's whatever's right for you, I feel like.

SPEAKER_02 12:11

And for everybody out there, she's saying for whatever is right for you, but she keeps falling back to like it's about the connections you make with the people over and over and over. It's about she keeps saying it's about the connections with the people. That's the most important thing, right? Like, I don't know. What do you think, AJ?

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Uh yeah, it's it sounds like it wasn't until some of those people that she had connected with had decided, like, oh, I'm kind of done here after high school. So, you know, after she starts losing those connections, it's like, okay, well, now seems as good a time as any to to move on and and do what you know you want to do, right? Like you you made that commitment to continue on with soccer after high school, where as you you said others hadn't. So, you know, go where your people are. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 12:51

When did you know I want to I want to keep going after high school? Was there a certain point that it happened or it just kind of was?

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Um, I like I think my junior year, I was like, I'm not sure if I want to play. Um, but I think it came when I was like applying to colleges. I think I started applying to schools and I was like, I'll just play club at like a school. Like I'm not sure like I really want to play soccer. And then I think I think it was like after my senior year season, I was like, wait, like, I don't want to stop playing like at this competitive level, like I love it, and I couldn't deny it, even if I wanted to. So I was like, then I that's why I kind of started the recruiting process so late because I like I wasn't sure. I was like, uh yeah, I didn't really want to until after our senior season, and I was like, I can't get this up yet. So then I started applying to some D3s around me and some schools down south, and yeah, ended up at UMS Darthmyth.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Yeah, so how so talk us through a little bit your recruiting process because most people the advice most people would tell young women are like you really need to start in like sophomore year, which is kind of bananas to ask a 15-year-old to start thinking about your future that's four years away. But so talk us through a little bit about your recruiting process.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

Yeah. Um I so yeah, I entered the um like reached out to coaches, um, and I think I reached out to all the coaches before I applied to schools, or I applied to schools and then reached out to the coaches afterwards. Um I think I applied to like 10 maybe D3 schools in the area that I was somewhat interested. I think I visited most of them. Um and I think I kind of just was in this spot where I was kind of stressed about the whole process because I was like, oh, I started too late. This isn't gonna be the right school for me. Um and I don't know if it was like a rash decision, but it was definitely like a fast decision I had to make for myself. But I was like everything happens for a reason. And I had the call with the UMass Dartmith coach, and he was like, We're starting up this new program. We're because he was a new coach, I think like two or three years ago, um, just coming in. So he's still like trying to build up a new team. Um and I was like, I kind of want to be a part of that process and see if I can help the uh soccer team grow. So gave it a chance and I went there and it wasn't a hundred percent right for me. Um and then that's when I realized at the end of the season of that semester, I was like, I don't want to be here for the rest of my college career. So I entered the transfer portal mid-November, which was also a little late. Um, but um I had like about 25 schools reach out to me for um like recruitment and I wasn't really interested in them. Um, so then I made a decision for myself to just reach out to schools that I want to go to, um, especially since I've been like wanting to go to South for like a little bit now. And I I got an email back from one of the coaches and we had a call, we connected really well, and now I'm down there.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

Yeah. How was the first so compare and contrast, I guess, like semester one to semester two, because you know, you didn't wait around for next year, you went in after it. So compare and contrast a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Yeah, I well, I wasn't even planning on like going down um the first semester because I was like texting all the coaches and everything through um through like my winter break. I was like, there's no way I have any time to like go to another school this next semester, like I have to wait till fall. But um, the coach that I'm with now, he's like, this is the time. He's like, if you're gonna come in the fall, you're just gonna be like an incoming freshman, like you're gonna have to like show yourself again. But he's like, if you come in the spring, then like you get to pre-show yourself and you get to show what you're made of, and then you can transfer that into the fall season. And I think that really pushed my decision to be like, okay, I'll show them what I can do, especially since it's like a D2 in like Florida, like that was very like scary for me. I was like, I've never like even thought of playing at this level, like whatnot. And it was my chance. I was like, I I think I just have to say yes and see where it takes me. So and it definitely was the best decision for me. I'm glad I went in the spring because it showed me like what I could do.

SPEAKER_02 17:47

So yeah, and how did you feel about the the level relative to kind of where you're at, or is the is the D2 level at Barrie a lot higher than the UMass Dartmouth level over average player?

SPEAKER_00 17:59

Definitely a lot better. Um, I mean, it's a D3 and a D2, Massachusetts to like Florida. I mean they all have their stereotypes around what the levels like. Um I I mean we got to play, we had like five scrimmages in the spring. Um, and all the teams we played against were like insane. They were all really good, but I think my team is also really good. Like it's a lot of good players. Um, and the coaching staff is great. He's built it up a lot throughout the spring, so I'm excited to see that come into play in the fall. Um, and yeah, I mean, uh it's like just different levels, like everyone is great on both teams. The players are all great and coaches are all great, but it's just a different level, it's a higher level. So, but I love that. I like the more competitiveness, it'll make me work harder and want to win it more.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Yeah, I think the hallmark of all like good players, and I would dare to dare I say great players, is that like you just want to push yourself as much as you can. Like, can I do this? Yup, can I do this? Yup, can I do this? Yup. It's like, can I do this? I don't know, but I'm gonna try real hard. And you know, exactly. Eventually you find your limit if you keep pushing it, right? And that's a good thing. I think that's really cool that you haven't found your limit yet, or it doesn't seem so anyway. I don't know. What do you think, AJ?

SPEAKER_03 19:20

Um, I I want to ask, because I have no knowledge of this. You've mentioned the player portal as uh a father of a a young soccer player. What's the player portal?

SPEAKER_02 19:33

Yeah, it's uh so the NCAA a couple of years ago, they decided back in the day, like when we were going to school AJ, it was very difficult to transfer from college to college if you were an athlete. You had to sit out a year, you weren't really you had to you had to always make the first contact, and the coaches weren't allowed to contact you after that. And then a few years ago, I don't know how many now, a few years ago, they decided to do this thing called the transfer portal where a player could identify that they're open to transferring by entering this portal thing where all the coaches can search for it and they can, you know, they can bolster their roster by looking at people that want to transfer. And from a player perspective, it allows the coaches that might be interested in them to be able to get a look at like who's out there without having them like kind of like make the wrong fit contacts. Because so, like, let's say you're you messed Dartmouth and you're like, oh, what I really want to do is go to Harvard, and you reach out to the Harvard coaches are like, okay, well, maybe like they're they're not even gonna get back to you. But in the transfer portal, if the coach from Harvard is looking for players, it would allow them to find you, if that makes any sense. Um, it's a pretty good system, and coaches deal with players going into the transfer portal in different ways, right? And so some of them are okay with that, and some of them are like very much not okay with that, if that makes any sense. So, like maybe Rhee, you could tell us a little bit about your experience with like going into the portal and and how your coach at UMass Dartmouth kind of handled all that for you.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

Yeah, totally. Um, I think I think I had a really good coach. Um, he helped deal with like he was a very understanding coach about everything, and I think he really only just wanted all of his players to like succeed. Um, and I let him know, like around um maybe like a few weeks after the season ended. And I just let him know like it was on my mind, like I'm thinking about entering it. I'm not 100% sure yet. Um, but so then like when the time came, he wasn't like in shock. Um and he was very understanding and he was like, I just I want you to make the right choice. He's like, Of course, we want to have you here, like there's always gonna be a spot for you. But if that's the choice that you need to make, then you should make it. And I entered the transfer portal, and then once I found Barry, I was I was here in Vermont, so I didn't like get a face-to-face um talk with him about it. But I got to call him and we talked about it. And he was like, I'm happy for you. I'm glad you made this decision. Um, he's like a lot of people don't have the strength to like fully commit and make the decision because it's a it's a hard thing to make. Like it's hard to like leave a place knowing like you just made all these connections, now you have to go somewhere else and do it all over again. Um, but he's like, I'm glad you're making this for yourself. And he he just wants me to be happy and whatnot. So he was great about it.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

Yeah, that's good. Uh there are many coaches that are not nearly as supportive as that, where they're like, Oh, if you're in the portal, you're dead to us. Like that's a thing that they'll they'll actually say, seriously. I'm not joking, it's true. And and I'm some of your friends have probably experienced that if they tried to if they tried to transfer. And so then the player is stuck in a spot where, like, okay, if I don't come out of the portal, like how are they gonna feel about me? But if I stay in the portal and I don't find a new home, like now what?

SPEAKER_04 22:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

So it's really really kind of a fraught and difficult thing. Um, what other kind of AJ? More questions, bud? What do you got?

SPEAKER_03 23:05

Um, I just just some follow-up questions on the portal. So um that you said division uh NCAA. So it only applies when you're in college. Um what what kind of info is in there, right? Like does the does the attending college submit your stats and stuff like that so other call coaches can see that information? Or is it just you know you you saying I am interested in transferring?

SPEAKER_02 23:29

Yeah, that uh name okay, current place, years of eligibility remaining is the basic information and there's contact information as well. But so it's for some players, so Rihanna would be a really easy person to recruit, right? Because she played a bunch her freshman year. You can look at the UMass Dartmouth website and get all her stats and understand, okay, I know the relative level of the teams they're playing against. So you can have a real, like really and she plays in a position that has a lot of stats. Like, not only do you do you get stats, but like midfielders, you know, you want your midfielders to score a goal or two, you want them to play in games, you want them to have some assists, and you have that. So you can get an idea of the level forwards, they're the same thing, right? Gotcha. People that play in the back, it's a little bit harder sometimes. But also, it's really challenging as a an underclass player. Let's say you're a freshman who didn't play a whole lot your first year or at all. It's really hard for a coach to get an idea of like what the relative level of this person is, other than that, okay, I know the level of the school that they're at and they didn't play it at all. And there's a big difference between a person who plays for five minutes in a season who's player number 18 versus player number 28, if that makes any sense. There's there's always going to be a big difference there. So it's it's a challenging thing, I think. Um, and I think that that's really cool. And a lot of players do this, where if you notice the common theme in what Ree's been saying is it's like she's like, it's all about the connection. She talked about her connections with the coaches and her players, and she talked about it at that at Dartmouth, same thing. She talked about it at Barry, same thing. But there are a lot of players who go in and they're like, Okay, I really want to play D1, and how I'm gonna do that is I'm gonna go to D3 for a year, and then I'm gonna prove myself, and then I'm gonna go to D2 for a year, and I'll prove myself, and then I'm gonna because they're chasing this different sort of thing. Gotcha. Um, but that's not what Reese's chasing. Reese's chasing like the experience of being around good people, is what it sounds like, um, which I would argue is the right thing to be chasing, but you know, what do I know about things? Um what um you talked about how Rich and Aubrey have been really influential in your thing, and uh and Aubrey specifically, so she's the closest coach of the Clover now. How is that from a reunion perspective? Like, how is that to work with her again this summer?

SPEAKER_00 25:38

It's great. I honestly didn't know she was coaching it until like I got to the first practice when I was like, Aubrey, like what? Um, and it was great, it just like brought back so many like old times and like I already know like kind of her coaching style. So it's like I knew what she I know what she wants from me, I know like what she doesn't want from me. Like you show up to practice on time, you show up with energy, you show up to like want to play. Um, and so I was just just like go back to the connections again. Like it's just like it was not like um back when I was playing for Queen City, it was great.

SPEAKER_02 26:15

Is it a little different or is it like nah? It's actually the same. We're just picking up right where we left off.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

It's a little different, but I don't think the coaching style is different. Like I think she's she still expects the same, um, if not more. Um, but it's like the the players are different and it's a higher level, so it's like it's kind of more fun because I get to play more competitively with her.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

Yeah, it's fun to play with good players. It's really fun. And from a coaching perspective, it's fun to coach good players too. If you don't have to teach a person like, oh, make like how to pass it, then it kind of frees up to like, okay, what's the decision you're gonna make when you pass it? Like that's a different thing. Yeah. Um what um I got one. Yeah, go for it.

SPEAKER_03 27:03

Yeah, so uh as a midfielder, what what do you kind of um what what do you value the most or pride yourself on the most? Is it like you're passing, you're defending, you know, get getting up to the goal to score? What what what do you what do you what do you like the most?

SPEAKER_00 27:44

Um that's a hard one. I think I pride myself on just kind of everything. Like I pride because that's like kind of my job. I feel like I like yeah, I have the want to score goals, but for most of my life, my like my thought process was like I just want the team to win. So I would just like I think my assists were like a very like strong thing for me, like my through balls and everything. I think those were like my top tier moments that I loved. And once I got more confident at like shooting and everything, like, yeah, I love scoring goals, but overall it's just like the team effort. I just want the team to come out on top.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

Yeah. Um what do you think is like your the strongest part of your game? And I don't want to say weakest, but like what what do you think about working on the most?

SPEAKER_00 28:41

Um I think my strongest is like my integrity. Like I think I've gotten a lot more stronger um on the field and more confident, um just in general. Um and I think there's a lot for me to improve on. I mean I'm not perfect at everything. I mean, no one is. Um I think I still have I think I should I still want to improve on like my confidence shooting the ball. I think I always just like overthink it and I take too many, like I try to fake out them too many times or and then it just gets overturned um when I should just like take the shot. So because yeah, Aubrey told me you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

So very true. It's true. Shoot your shot. Well a thing that I appreciate about your game is that I think you have I think what you have elite level ability at is creating is is winning those one view on battles. It's not necessarily tackling or not tackling or getting tackled, it's like creating that little pocket of space to like make that pass you want. Like I think you are elite level at that, and that's really cool to watch you operate like that. The thing that jumps out at me about what you said, what your biggest quality was was integrity. It like those the first thing. And that's not necessarily a thing that like I can't point to integrity as a skill. So, like, what is it like what is having integrity as a player mean to you? Like, like what does that word mean for you?

SPEAKER_00 30:17

I think it just means like for myself, I like I just expect more of myself. Like I know what I'm capable of, and I want to keep myself at that level and keep pushing myself for it and just try to improve every practice every day, whatever I can do to improve.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

So, what happens when somebody tells you that, like, oh, maybe you're not good enough for this team, like when you get left off the varsity team as a sophomore or what have you? What happened? Like, how do you how do you respond and react to all that?

SPEAKER_00 30:52

Yeah, I think that honestly just like pushes me further, like it gives me more motivation. Um, like, yeah, I love when people are like, oh, like you're a great soccer player, but I kind of just like brush it off. I'm like, okay, like, but I can be better. Um, and I think like what happened at CDU when I like didn't make it my sophomore year, I was like, that was kind of just uh kick in the butt to like keep pushing myself. And I think that's what evidently like got me on the varsity team my junior year because I was like, I've pushed myself to the point where I feel like now I'm good enough to play on the varsity team and get minutes, and I think that's what it's been my whole life, and I think that's what it's gonna continue to be. Um, like we'll see what happens this fall, see how much playing time I get. But I've been pushing myself all summer and it'll continue into the fall. So just make myself better every day.

SPEAKER_02 31:46

Yeah, that's um if you're not getting playing time, we're just gonna give them the social media blitz to like show you the all the cool clips of for when you when you were up here. Um that's what we can do. I mean, it doesn't help having a media team, it doesn't hurt having a media team in your background, right? Um definitely not to talk a little bit about the CVU thing. So your senior year was the end of an era at CVU because Stan Williams, the longtime CVU coach and highly successful, that was your senior year, it was also his last year on the sidelines. Did you did you guys know? When did he tell you guys that that was the end? Did you know during the season?

SPEAKER_00 32:23

I mean, we didn't know. Um, I think there were some rumors about it, um, but I wasn't like 100% sure, and I wasn't like really too worried about it because I was like, I'm leaving anyway. Um, but I think he told us after season, if I'm remembering it right, I think he retired um once the season ended. Cause I and I think that was smart of him. So he it like didn't like stir up anything like in during the season. He just wanted to focus on like make it to the championship and win. So um I think that was good of him. And he was a great coach for when I played for him for the last two years. Um, I'm glad I got to play under him. But yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:06

Yeah, bazillion wins he has don't really happen by accident. You can have one good season almost by accident. You can have a great team, you can get your way through that. But like the the quality of teams at CVU on the girls' side and the boys' side has been very consistent for a very long time. It just doesn't happen by accident.

SPEAKER_00 33:24

Yeah, doesn't I think it's also like the pool of like players that CVU like gets from like the five towns that they they carry, so they get pretty lucky with the amount of players and good quality people to play for them. So that helps a lot.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

Yeah, that's true. But also because there has been such high level and sustained sustained success there, there's a certain level of pressure that comes at playing at CVU, right? Where for for you and you know the boys on the boys side, where anything less than a state title, like it's like not acceptable. It's a terrible season. If you like lose in the final, that's a terrible season. Whereas everybody else is like you get to a final. And so how does how do you as a young pla as a young person and young player, how do you deal with that pressure?

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Um I mean, um, I am gonna wrap it back around to like a community. I mean, I think we're all like just there to help each other get through the season. I mean, my junior year, we didn't even make it past the quarters. We lost in a quarters to Essex, and that was that was a really bad day for us. And um, I mean, I think that's what helped our team grow stronger and come back and win the championship the year after. But yeah, it's definitely a lot of pressure, but it's also like a fun, like for me at least, it's like such a fun environment to be around because it's like I love the pressure, like it makes me thrive, like it's great, so it makes me play better knowing that like all these people are leaning on you to like do great. And yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

Yeah, one of the things that they say is that pressure is a privilege, right? Because it means you're it means you're good enough that there's expectations individually and as a team, and like yeah, and I imagine that you're just kind of wired to do well on pressure because it's like, yeah, tell me I can't do it and I'll go show you, right? Which is kind of what pressure is. It's like pressure is like, oh, you're not gonna be able to do it or else, right? Like that's what it is.

SPEAKER_04 35:33

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:35

So we've talked about this on the show before that you know, practices for the team. Um, what what do you do sort of on your own to to try to like work on those skills?

SPEAKER_00 36:13

Yeah. Um, I I'm just thinking back to this one time. It was, I think about my like third year at Queen City, and I was still under Aubrey's um coaching. And I remember I one summer, I think it was maybe it was COVID, or it was like one summer um after COVID, and I just like was training outside, like getting as many touches as I can, shooting in my my little net, and I came back and she was like, Who are you? Like, I was just a completely different person. Like, I just think the amount of touches you do in your own time, I think you just have to do it when no one's watching. Like, that's that's my motivation is like just don't do it for others. I kind of just do it for myself and to show myself I can just get better. So I try to get as many touches I can in my backyard and shooting, and then especially for like um my season coming up, I know it's gonna be really hot. So I've been like running in like the heat a lot to try to acclimate myself to the weather. But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Is that why you're in the sweatshirt? Because you're about to go for a run in 90 degree heat, try to get to that Florida hot.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

No, it's just cold in our house because we have the AC on, but I'm going for a run after.

SPEAKER_02 37:32

Yeah, how how intense is so? I assume you had a summer program in high school. What it and I assume you have one for Barry too, like relative levels of intensity. How much harder is the college program or not as hard?

SPEAKER_00 37:44

I mean, I think so. I did like CVU was definitely competitive. You knew you needed to show up in preseason, you need to, we had a gauntlet, so we had to run like um we did like two a days for maybe a week or a couple days. Um, but the one test we had to do, you had to run an 800 in a time, a 400 and a 200, and then do a 400 and an 800. And so you had to do that in like specific times, all like alternating with a different group. Um, and that was something that we all like kind of dreaded, but it made us like realize we need to like run and make sure we can do the times, or else you could potentially not make the team. Um, and so UMass Dartmouth, I worked a lot in the summer, but I wasn't like really prepared for what like our test was. I don't think we we didn't even really have like a test, like we kind of just like scrimmaged, and that was kind of like was like, oh, like this isn't like the level I'm really looking for. Um, but Barry, we're doing, I think we're doing the beep test, and so I'm like getting my sprints in as much as possible here and trying to prepare myself as much as I can for that test.

SPEAKER_02 39:03

Yeah, the good old beep test, man. It's a good time. It's a good time. We this will be in this will be the first year that I'm doing actual, like real on-the-timer fitness testing with my college team. So the current college team, it'll be the third year. Yeah, and I told them, I'm like, this is what we're doing. Like, so and and I build a summer program in such a way that like if you do this thing, you'll be ready to be successful. But yeah, the last couple of years have been like, we need to get fit and we need to do this, and like, you know, I'm just gonna trust you guys to do this, and then yeah, this year it's time to this year it's time to like actually do it. I I came from when I got there, it was like, oh, everybody run and be fit. Like that was the thing. And now I'm like, I'm like, and I'm taking this from like a program that's in the US CAA and whatever into like NCAA standards, if that makes any sense.

unknown 39:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:51

Which is different, right? And it's yeah, it's worked so far, but like the next evolution for these guys is like an actual fitness program that like we're gonna potentially not have guys playing much in preseason if what they need to do is get more fit, you know, and that's a big deal. That's a real big deal on campus for us. It's we'll see how it goes. It's either gonna make me a lot of friends or a lot of enemies, I think.

SPEAKER_04 40:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

I mean, soccer is a running game with occasional kicking, right? At the end of the day, like if you can't get the running part done, exactly, you're not gonna get the kicking part done. I know. As much fun as it not as it is not to go running without the ball.

SPEAKER_00 40:30

I know, I know. I like I can't. I'm like, I need a ball in front of me, like when I'm running.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

Yeah, there's this kind of easier. Oh, yeah, so much easier. And you can do we do a lot of our actual fitness, we do a lot of like with the ball stuff. We do a lot of like shuttle stuff, relay races, like yeah, like to get the heart rate up, like to get into zone two and and that sort of thing. And like we make them all relay races, it's fun, it's competitive, the guys love it. A lot of it's with the ball, which makes it seem fun and easy, but it's still a lot of running. Yeah, and and in the summertime, how many people are going for a five-mile run with a ball at their foot? Like, not a single person, even though you probably should do that. I don't I mean, people might judge you for taking a long run with the ball at your foot or just juggle.

SPEAKER_04 41:10

On the sidewalk.

SPEAKER_02 41:12

Yeah. There's there's a kid I went to high school with who lived like a mile from the school and he had to walk to and from school, and he would like juggle the ball the entire way back and forth. Oh my gosh, he wasn't a great player, but like, man, he had good touch.

SPEAKER_00 41:23

It's like that's a method.

SPEAKER_02 41:24

I it was a method.

SPEAKER_00 41:26

Try that out.

SPEAKER_02 41:28

Yeah, it was. You could juggle it at your hostess stand.

SPEAKER_00 41:31

Yeah. Take him to the table with the ball maybe.

SPEAKER_02 41:35

Yeah, I'm a player, it's okay.

SPEAKER_03 41:37

Yeah, I think they can only work at the slide in.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Oh my god. Yeah. Oh my gosh, that's awesome. Um, more questions, AJ. Now I'm just talking.

SPEAKER_03 41:47

Uh, let's see. Um what's uh what's your favorite pregame meal? Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:55

Okay. Um I would say if it was like a morning game, I would I think I'd just do like some avocado toasts with scrambled eggs.

SPEAKER_04 42:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:07

I not like I love my yogurt bowls, but I can't do dairy before games. Like I know so many people that are like, oh, I had a yogurt bowl, and I'm like, I dairy is just so bad. Especially if it's hot out, it's just not good. But I usually do that and then like probably some catering. So I drink.

SPEAKER_03 42:24

Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_00 42:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:26

Um, when you're getting ready for a game, like what what what do you what do you do? Do you have like a routine? Do you listen to some hype music? Do you just try to like focus? Like what what's what's what's going on in your head? What do you do?

SPEAKER_00 42:38

Um, yeah, I usually well, I remember I was uh we were at JP. We were doing um our preseason scrimmage, and I remember I was like walking out, we all stay in like the little condos. Um, I remember I was walking out and I like stood there and I had my bag on. I remember Stan was walking by and I was like standing there and I was like, because in my head, I always make sure before I leave for a game or at the game, I'm always like cleats, shingards, socks, shorts, jersey, and like go through to my head. And I was standing there, like doing it in my head, and Stan looks at me, he's like, Were you just doing like your like go-through routine? I was like, Yeah, I was. So I always just like stand there, take a moment to myself, make sure I have everything, make sure I've done everything that I need right for my body, drinking enough water. And then when I get to the game, I guess it depends. I usually like when I'm at school, like at college, I usually have like my headphones in and I'm like listening to my music. Um, like while I'm getting ready and getting prepared. Um, but then once like everyone has everything on, we get everyone kind of in the mood with the music, and then we all come together and it's it's great. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:48

What do you what do you like to listen to in your like as you're getting the pre-game music going?

SPEAKER_00 43:53

I usually do either like I've been really into house music this last year, so I've been listening to a lot of um EDM and then, but I also like just like listening to raps, like kind of just like loud, kind of like hype music, even though I look like I'm like, I don't know, listening to like Bruno Mars or something, and I'm like listening to like this loud hype music just like I don't know, gets my brain moving.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

But yeah, yeah. I yeah, I I feel that it's funny how everybody has like different needs as far as what kind of music is concerned, right? I was listening to Landa Donovan, I was listening to Landon Donovan's podcast. You guys know who he is, and he was talking about how like if he ever listened to music, he had to listen to like the most chill, like whatever, because he was like so hyped to go, he's like he needed to calm down. And then there's other people they're like mellow and they need to get up and they're like listening to heavy metal, and it's yeah. I would love to do a thing where it's like where you're like watching a team warm up and it's like each is a little tile of like what they're doing, each individual person sets in their own music.

SPEAKER_03 44:52

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:53

That'd be fun.

SPEAKER_03 44:54

That'd be fun, like little social media gap.

SPEAKER_02 44:56

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it would. Yeah, that would that really would. It's just like click, click, click. Okay, best soccer moment ever.

SPEAKER_00 45:03

Oh, I was gonna ask that.

SPEAKER_02 45:05

Yeah, that's my question. Come on. Nice, nice.

SPEAKER_00 45:08

Um, I mean, uh, I I would have to say, like, I have it was just like two of my biggest moments from like CBU. It was when we were in, I think it was the semis. Um, oh no, it was the quarters, and it was like the second time going to quarters, and there was so much pressure on us. We were playing against BHS. Um, it was such a tough game, and we went into overtime, and it was like the last three minutes in overtime, and I scored the goal to like get us into semis, and everyone just like piled on top of me. It was insane. Um, or it was the championship goal and That one was I was talking to my teammates and my one of my friends, her name's Abby, and she was like, if you score, like we have to do like a celebration. I was like, Okay, she's like, I'm gonna lift you off my shoulders. And I was like, okay, like if I score, like whatever. And then I just like after I scored it, I just like ran straight to her and jumped up on her shoulders, and it was like such an incredible moment. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:18

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 46:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:20

The feeling of scoring a goal is amazing, especially in a big game, right? It's just like there's no that's just no feeling like it.

SPEAKER_00 46:27

No, it's insane. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

I've tried to describe it to people before, and it just like the words just fall short of it.

SPEAKER_00 46:35

You can't. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:37

There's a certain thing that happens, especially like when you know it, or like you hit this thing and it comes off your foot and it feels like a certain way. Like everything, like everything perfect in the whole world is just dumped into the end of your foot out into the ball, and then like and like you know it's going in. Like you didn't have to look, you know it's going in, and then it's like that's what it's just like wow. Yeah, and and like there's a pretty hard come down from that too. Yeah, when the game gets going again, and you're like, all right, you're gonna go.

SPEAKER_04 47:04

I'm like, wait, we have to go back.

SPEAKER_02 47:06

Do I have to come back to Earth? Um, so there's okay, that's cool. So you guys played BHS in that in that quarterfinal game. There's some other there's some women on the Clover team that actually played in that game. Yeah. BHS. Like, how has that been like kind of getting to know them a little bit?

SPEAKER_00 47:25

Yeah, I mean, it's always like you have the rival, like in high school, your teams are always like, Oh, like don't talk to them, like don't be friends with them, whatever. Cause like they're our rivals. But it's like in the real world, like we're all just like playing for the same thing, we're all just playing to win. And so I think that's where it really comes into clover. It's like we all just we still have the winning mentality we did a couple of years ago, just now we're all together.

SPEAKER_02 47:49

So yeah, high school soccer hits different, man. There's just something about high school soccer that's like it's like awesome and awful all at the same time, right? It's it's awesome because you're like playing for your town, you're playing for all your friends. Every game matters so much.

SPEAKER_00 48:07

So much, so much. Then when you walk into school the next day, it's like either they look at you good or they look at you bad.

SPEAKER_02 48:15

It's true, man. It's so funny. It's true. It's been a long time. I can see your I can see all the questions banging around in your mind right now.

SPEAKER_03 48:25

Um yeah, so this this one's maybe a little bit selfish, but um, what what advice would you give parents of of athletes, right? Like, is there something that that you know your your parents did that you're like, God, I wish you'd just like get off my back and let me do my own thing? Or is there something that like you're really grateful that they did that helped you you know get to where you are today?

SPEAKER_00 48:46

Yeah, I mean, I don't like think I'd be here without my family. They've been like such amazing supporters, like they're always at every game and uh they try to be. I mean, it's gonna be harder now that I'm all the way down the country, but um yeah, I think just I would say I mean just always be there for your daughter, son, or whoever you're supporting. It's like it really does matter if you show up. Like I remember always, always like looking for them like mid-game, like where are they standing so I can like wave to them or whatnot. Um so yeah, I think it really does matter just show up for your kid.

SPEAKER_02 49:27

Were you the kind of player that like when you get in the car on the way home from a game, like, did you want to talk about it or just like be left alone?

SPEAKER_00 49:33

I guess it depends on like how the game went. If it was a good game, like I'd always be like, Oh yeah, this happened, this happened. And my grandpa always made sure to get something out of me. He's always been like one of the biggest supporters throughout my soccer journey. Um, and he's always like when he was a good game, he'd always ask me every single question and every little detail, and could you have done this better? And I was like, Yeah, whatever. Um, but then if the game went bad, I was just like, I was so mad at myself or everyone around me. I just like kind of wanted to like shut myself off and just have a quiet car ride, and then he'd start asking questions, and I'm like, I don't want to talk about it right now. But yeah, he'd always get something out of me. But I usually like I try not to like shut down. I've been trying to do better not shutting down after games, but or after bad games, but yeah, that's just kind of how I cope with it.

SPEAKER_02 50:27

Yeah, so just taking that space. Do you find that um teammates you want to be around teammates or you don't want to be around teammates after a really tough game?

SPEAKER_00 50:35

I I don't know, like usually I remember at US Dartmouth, like if it was a bad game, I would just like some people like just want to be singing on the back of the bus ride, and I'm like, I just don't feel like celebrating after a loss, like that doesn't sit right in my mind. So I would always like sit on like the windows and just like put my AirPods in and just like think to myself and whatnot. And then yeah, but if we have like a good game, we win, I go and just celebrate with everyone and I feel good, but the game really determines how I'm gonna feel after.

SPEAKER_02 51:16

So yeah, I've always wondered about those people that want to do karaoke after like you've lost in the last like you've lost two to one in the last moment. No, me neither.

SPEAKER_00 51:24

I just think I'm like, I can't do that.

SPEAKER_02 51:27

I mean, maybe several hours later on the ride when everybody's like it's settled a little bit and like we don't hate each other anymore.

SPEAKER_00 51:34

Yeah, but I yeah, I can't do it.

SPEAKER_02 51:38

What's the what's the best part about college, best and worst part about like playing beyond high school and at the college level? What do you think?

SPEAKER_00 51:48

Um I would say I think the best is just like getting to like the continue discord that I've been playing like my entire life that I love. Um and like just have like that built-in community. Like it's I know I've said this a lot, but it's like actually insane how much it's needed. It's like I get there and I already have like this is that group of friends that like I get to carry on college with and deal with and I get to deal with a lot of stuff with them, so I get super close to them. Um I would say like the bad part is just like I would say bad is just like definitely a toll because like in high school it's like yeah, you have like soccer and school that you have to balance. Um but you have like one season of it and then you're like done and then you just worry about school. But it's definitely harder in college because you have to deal with like your 5 a.m. trainings and then like go to school and then do this, and then you're tired during school, and it's just like it's definitely like a hard balance to try to like figure it out. But once you get like a method going that worked out well, but it's definitely I'd say that was one of my biggest challenges going to Barrie because off season there's still run like a pretty tight schedule there, so but that's what I get for going to a higher level, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 53:22

The higher low level that you go, the less off-season you get. That's kind of how it goes. Yeah, and you gotta and the other challenge too, like at a small school, maybe it is more fall-focused, right? Like you have to make different social decisions in season than you make out of season, right? Like that's just a fact. And when your season goes all year, you have to make similar kind of social decisions because the world is littered with people that are like, you know what, soccer's okay, but I want to just go do this thing on a Friday night, and then we got a Saturday morning game. And it's like, well, that's isn't compatible with like the like I think a big challenge for all college athletes is it really throws into historical relief like the decisions you're making all the time, and like, is this decision getting me closer to whatever goal I have? And do I even have a hundred percent?

SPEAKER_00 54:06

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 54:08

It takes a lot of discipline to be good at anything, and I think it takes a lot even more discipline to be a college athlete. I really do. I I mean I did it myself, but I have a ton of admiration for all of you who are still grinding every day, you know. Yeah, I uh an old friend of mine who I coached with for a while also played in college, and we were lamenting one night, like, yeah, we'd make a lot of real bad decisions to just get one more, one more season, one more at 48 years old or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 54:38

Uh, I wanna kind of talk about how how did you land at Clover when you first heard of the Clover Women's team starting up? What was the kind of initial reaction and what's been your experience, you know, so far?

SPEAKER_00 54:53

Yeah. Um I well, I heard about it through Chris. Um, and I was very like happy to have it because I was kind of just coming back and I was like not really sure what my plan was. Um, I was like, I need to like play. Um I was like, I don't know what team to play for. Um and I was a little worried, but I was like, if anything, I just stick to solo training and do that like two or three times like a week. Like I'll figure it out and find some friends to play with every now and then. Um, but once I got the text, I was really excited about it and um it didn't interfere too much with like my work schedule or anything else. So it worked out perfectly. Um and yeah, I mean the experience has been great so far. Like I've met so many new people, like you said, like getting to rekindle some rival connections, but also some girls I used to play with. Um, it's been great just having all those connections and especially having Aubrey as my coach again. It's been just a great experience overall, and staying in shape and getting touches and yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:02

I'm really excited for next year when we can have a proper season and not just like training in a random game here and there. I agree. That's gonna be the real fun part because yeah, okay, training's good and you get a little better in training or whatever, but like when you're training against the same people every day, you already know like all the things, like you know how to beat this person, you know how this person is gonna beat you. Like, there's no like there's no creativity in training after a while, right? But then when you play a game, it's this 90-minute act of creation where you're trying to figure this woman out or that woman out, or like not your teammates, but the other teammates, and like how can I be the most effective? You get so much better from playing games, even if the level is a little below you, then you do just training every day. It's like and I I think as I look at the the women's landscape versus the men's landscape, we really need to keep pushing the level on the women's side so that like we can push UPSL to like do a women's premier division with like the best women's team. Because I think that our our women's player pool is really good, like especially at the top end, like you and your teammates are really, really good. Like our you know, first 15 or 16 players are yeah, you know, like top level. It's a good team. And there are some more players that maybe we'll be able to bring in next year with a real like when we have a real season that are gonna even help raise that level too. So like I'm just so excited for next spring with with the I am too.

SPEAKER_00 57:22

I think it'll be fun to like actually have games like consistently and figure it all out.

SPEAKER_02 57:28

So yeah, and AJ will be there because he's hooked.

SPEAKER_03 57:33

I'm very hooked.

SPEAKER_02 57:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 57:36

Speaking of games, what was that first game like? Uh, you know, back on July 3rd, you we had a friendly with with uh Vermont Wild. Uh I was not I was not there. Um, so I'm I'm curious, you know, from your perspective, how did that go?

SPEAKER_00 57:48

Yeah, um, I think well, I thought it was funny at first because uh Wild coaches Aaron and I played for her Nordic year. So it was good getting to see her again, and I got to see um Alex Loner play with her at CBU, um, and then Emma Kuhn played with her at CBU in Nordic. Um, so I got to now have some kind of do the opposite way. Girls I used to be um teammates with and now going rivals against. Um, it was definitely like a rough game for us. I think we held our own the first half. I think the heat definitely had a big factor in it. Um and I don't know if we got enough fresh legs as we should have. Like, I think we maybe should have done some more subbing. It was just unbearably hot out, but um I think we did a pretty good job considering that was our first time playing a game, and it was like a two-hour drive away, so it's like not everyone can make it, and that was understandable. Um, so it kind of threw off some of us, but and I think I don't know, I don't really do well on road trip games. Like if I'm sitting in the car for a while, it's like kind of hard for me to like kind of get my mindset back in it, and yeah, um yeah, so it was definitely um and I don't know, it was like a holiday, so everyone kind of had their mind everywhere, but it was it was good. I mean, I think we and we didn't have our goalkeeper, so we had to borrow Wilde's goalkeeper, so it was kind of all over the place, but I think I think we still like did pretty good no matter what the score was. I mean, we uh held our own, I think we had good possession, and we I think we played really well just to score. We didn't get to finish most of our shots, so yeah.

SPEAKER_02 59:40

Yeah, it was fun to watch. For I mean, by and large, it's not fun to lose necessarily, but it was it was fun to watch. It was fun to watch y'all like do the thing, and I think that the you're absolutely spot on, you know. For until they scored the second goal, I I think we were head one-zero, right? We were head one-zero. Yeah, and then when they scored the second goal to go ahead two to one, then it was like okay, but like through that point into what like until it was one to one, we were real really had gone toe-to-toe with them. Yeah, but we were doing pretty good, yeah. And that's how the game and they and the goals they scored their second and third goal were very late, like you know, 86th or 87th minute, and then like an extra time for the last one.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:16

Yeah, and they were very like the third goal, was so lucky, like the none of us were expecting that to go in, and then I think after that, we kind of just like I know we shouldn't have we kind of just like put our heads down and just like you're like okay, it's like the final minutes, and we were all just kind of like dying and hot.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:33

Yeah, there's a this is a thing that you described. I sometimes AJ, you won't look my experience, but there are certain times in games, and there are certain games and certain points in games when you're just like, let's just get out of here. Like there's a point when maybe you're ahead to nothing, uh, or you're down to nothing, or you know, whatever the situation is. And like all 22 players on the field are just all looking around like this is fine, like let's just get out of here. Like it's like a silent agreement, like it's hot. Let's like, let's just yeah, and and everybody kind of plays like that too, which is really funny too. And the coaches, of course, on the sideline are like, What's wrong with you guys? And it's like, no, actually, we just decided we're good with this, and let's get out of here.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:08

Yeah, that was that was what July 3rd. So that was uh like mid-90s, feels like was you know hundreds or whatever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:16

Oh, it was Florida hot because it was like the humidity was like in the shower. It was a gazillion degrees. The sun, you know, so they played first, y'all played first, and then the men played second, and the sun was still very much up for most of that game. It like didn't kind of go below the didn't kind of go below the stands until the until like very late in the second half, and it was just like it was it was it was punishingly hot. Brutal.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:41

Yeah, my family was like, I'm they were like, Oh my god, I was so hot, I was sweating. I was like, how do you think I fell?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:48

Yeah, we're running around.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:50

God, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:51

Have you had you ever played at Applejack before?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:54

Um, I have, I think, for Queen City, but we played not on the field, we played on the first field on the right. Yeah, I don't know if it's turf or not, but we used to play on that like a couple of times.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:04

So yeah, the one in the the one that's like inside the track when you first come in the facility. Yeah, that's pretty nice. Uh Applejack is it's a pretty cool stadium.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:12

Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:13

It's it's pretty good grass, and they have like the the bleachers are wooden, so it's like it's got this like old-timey baseball movie feel. It's awesome. It's a really cool stadium. I can't wait to see it. I can't wait. Yeah, it's a really cool stadium. I wish we had a cool stadium like that, but you know, St. Mike's that'll get the job done.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:33

What else? Uh, I mean, we're about to the point we've been on here for quite some time.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:37

Yeah, we're we're coming up on an hour.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:39

What are the what are our last burning, what are our last burning questions here? What do we got?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:44

Well, I want to take a moment to remind listeners that if they're enjoying what they're listening to, they better subscribe in their favorite podcatcher. Also, check out our YouTube channel for video versions of the podcast. That's right. You can see all of our wonderful faces on uh YouTube. And watching those YouTube uh versions really helps us out, you know, the watch hours and everything that that adds up over time. Eventually, maybe we can monetize the YouTube channel and all that fun stuff. Um, Rihanna, next year, when we have a proper season going, we're gonna get you out in front of uh some folks here in Vermont. You're gonna have some young athletes looking up to you. What kind of uh message would you give to these uh young Vermont athletes?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:31

I think my biggest thing that's gotten me through and that I give to most people is just like don't give up. Like you just you gotta keep going if it's what you really want and you think you can make something out of it. You just you can't give up, you gotta just keep trying and use like what I do. I just I use the pressure as motivation or use people looking down on you as more motivation to show them and do better. Um yeah, never let anyone think that you can't do what you know you can. So yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:11

What what's what's the long-term soccer plan for you? Right? Like you're gonna play through the rest of college. What what do you think you're gonna do with with soccer after that?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:21

Yeah, I mean, I'm hoping to not have to transfer again. So I'm hoping I just get to stay at Barrie for the next three years. Um I am my major's business management, so I think I will see if I do a grad year. Um, if I do, then I'll maybe take a fifth year for soccer. Um I want to do soccer as long as possible because why not? I don't think I'm really going anywhere after college for that. Um, but yeah, we'll see what happens.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:00

Yeah, well, you can keep playing at Clover until forever. So I mean forever until you really start slowing down, you know. That's part of that's part of the deal. It's not just about college, it's not just about college players, it's about like building something that you know, like you could play for another like six, seven, eight years, like as long as as long as you can do it, right? And that's part of the deal. And do you think when you when you graduate with your business degree, do you think you want to try to like stay in sport with that or do you think you want to try to, you know, go run a business of your own?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

Yeah, I mean, I've definitely thought about like switching to sports management um and whatnot, but I'm also like, I know everyone's like, oh, you'd make like a great coach or whatever, but I'm like, I don't know what kind of path I want to lead with that. Um, I mean, I feel like there's a lot of paths I can take. I think I'm looking more like into international business because I really love traveling and kind of just want to get out there. Um, I feel like maybe after college, I might take a year off to just travel and enjoy life before I start really walking down on jobs, but I don't know. We'll see what happens throughout the next couple of years.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:10

Yeah, having an idea is good. Having a real plan sometimes isn't so good. So having the idea of like, let's figure I could I think you I think your head's in the right spot with all of it. There's there's this cool stuff I want to do. We're gonna go do that and we're just gonna see what comes. That's cool. That's a great place to be in, I think.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:26

Yeah, I agree. Awesome. Well, Rihanna, thank you so much for joining us today. This has been a really fun conversation. I hope you enjoyed your time here.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:36

Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:37

Any uh any parting shots before we let you go?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:40

I don't think so. We cover most of it.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:43

Yeah, I think we did too. Awesome. Well, for the Pink and Green Podcast, I'm AJ.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:48

I am still Chris every morning.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:50

We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:52

See you next time.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:53

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 and Green 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.