Friday Free Kick 1/17/25: Greg Garza and Beyond Goals Mentoring

What's the latest with that heading here into twenty twenty five.

it's just helping. It's helping players understand and not only what is expected of them within the league that they play in and represent what's expected of them living in the United States, but also just kind of helping each and every individual within every locker room understand where everyone comes from and understand their background, their culture, their ways of thinking, their views, whether it be political, whether it be religious, whether it be and just kind of trying

to find a common a common ground to meet in the middle, right. It's it's I think it's it's very hard to say that you can change someone. I think when somebody is really solidified into who they are, I'm not sure you can change them. But can you help them see things differently? And that's a that's a that's a big one.

and that you understand different cultures and ideals and everything. How many folks get it immediately and how many folks take a little work.

So just just having a familiar face, and especially when you have a lot of big guns that sit in a room and could probably give two craps of who you are, but you still have in the same room people that you know, people that you've played with, and people that you've been around. And I think having that kind of relationship with a lot of players allows allows me as the facilitator to kind of create a really

good vibe with the whole entire room. And they see me as them, right, They don't see me as a suited a student executive within the league coming and telling them, you know, what's what's what's needed to make this league successful. It's having a former player telling them, Hey, I've been in your shoes. We're all in this together. You know,

I'm on your guys side. But this is this is how we have to continue to help this league grow, continue to have it one of the most viewed leagues in the world, continue to make it one of the most diverse, which it is the most diverse league that has ever existed on planet Earth at any point in time, and just kind of continue to create those opportunities for so many people around the world. So I think it's

a very well accepted message there. There are some times where you do have a few you do have a few moments to where you have some kind of talking back or some I would say, kind of healthy arguments that you have to have because you have to try and find a middle ground in someone's views of maybe a certain word that can be said in another in another place that might not mean something as bad, but

here in the States it is something that is forbidden, right. So, I mean, I've been in locker rooms to where those things happen, and it's that it's a very fine line between the banter that you have in a sanctuary I call the locker room. It's a sanctuary. It is a sanctuary. Nobody's allowed in it. I was a veteran player to where even if an assistant coach came inside the locker room, I'd be like, get the hell out, because this is a player's locker room. This is our this is our

it's forbidden. It's our sanctuary. You know, whatever happens in there, it stays in there. Nobody knows what goes on in the locker room, but it's it's one of those things to where the banter is is is I love I missed the banter. I miss the banter. And there's certain ways that you can have types of banter, right, but there's a difference between a lot of banter and in

a moment to where that can turn into disrespect. And that's that's ultimately the kind of key key thing to these meetings is to help these players understand that, hey, there you are in a microscopical, you know, world to where people have a lot of eyes on you. There are a lot of views on what's happening around you.

So the role modelship that takes place and everything else of just understanding that, hey, when you're playing in the competitive stress that happens along with it, of wanting to win, you're fighting for money, you're fighting for positionings. You know that that that these things just cannot happen if we want to keep our league the on on the upward trend of what it is right now.

built around MEGGI. We have a very European base like team right now, and I feel that with Miggie, you have to play Meggie in a free role and so I it's I don't know, it's it's a lot of questionings that I have in that. But I can go deep into it and give my personal opinion on why I think the fight to bring Meggie back is real. But I think it's to put a lot of smiles on a lot of faces. That is. That is my personal opinion. But to build a championship team, I don't know.

built around Meggi. You're talking about one of the best players that has probably demolished this league in every way possible when he was here. I mean there was no

stopping him. I mean, I know Joseph had, Joseph had so much of the kingdom of just scoring so many goals, But I mean Meggi was Miggi was our Miggy was the player that if he was standing two feet away from me and I had the opening, I would give it to him because I know that he would create something much more, uh, you know, much more special than I could have ever done. So I see another one of the comments, Meggi was the man. Yeah, Biggy was the man when he was here in the MLS. I

truly think he was. So I think if you do bring him back, you have to think about even this number nine that comes in. Still, the game that you build within Atlanta United has to be built around someone like that who can change a game within seconds. And that is that is the that is like the key sauce to the league. Right, We've talked about that before.

You have to have a few players who can change the game within a second, you know, a few seconds, and then you have to build guys that can be industrial players to work around them, and guys that are going to just work their absolute asses off every single day and put in a shift and know for a reason why you have those players. So can can can it be uh? Can it be convinced within that locker room? I would, I would hope so.

player around someone. You have to be very understanding of that. And that's that's uh, that's that's just my personal opinion. And so hopefully all these other guys can can can unders can understand something like that. And I mean, I

just see one of the comments. The next comment is Mironchuk, Right, yeah, can he be understanding that if they bring in Miggi, Well, Miggi's not Miranchuk and Mirnchuk is not megg and so can he be bought in to say, all right, man, I'll be the I'll be the Carlos Carmona of I'll put it in a shift and work my absolute tail off. Although I've been playing Atalanta and in Italy for the last twelve years. And Miggi, you've come from you know,

wherever you've come from before. But you're the guy and I'll make sure my work is put in for you. And that and that's that's the type of guys that you need. You need those type of guys that are going to be willing all though they might have a stature to where they've done really well for themselves. They can they put their egos aside and understand their role.

And that is a huge piece of conversation that I have with a lot of the mentees of understanding moments like that, because that's what makes great teams.

what it means to be more of a mentor. I think Parking and I would consistently grow each and every year and in in a good way and from business development way, and and and growing as a company and understanding the sales perspective, but and also the most important thing is just understanding kids more and seeing how how different they are, how unique they can all be, and just teaching them wonderful values to live by and and things that, you know, things that things that can ultimately

help them, not within the sport that bonds and that uniquely bonds us, but ultimately in life in general. And that's that's uh. And I think that's the coolest thing for me. It's UH. I was in Cali one day and I had a mom call me. Uh, I was, I was, I was, I was. I was selling one of my homes in California and and and and and on the Tijwana side. And I was over there and I was with my best friend who's as a mortgage consultant.

We're having breakfast before crossing over the border. And I had a mom like deliriously call me and just like crying and you know, something had happened with her son and you know, just going quite crazy with every I guess the whole situation. And I like I was able to calm her down and speak through things, and and and my friend looked at me, He's like, dude, like holy crap, Like you do this every day and I'm like pretty much every day all day, man, And he's like,

you're He's like, you're the You're the soccer therapist. And I was like, I was like, I guess, I guess so because you you you, I don't say deal, you you experience and you are able to be put in front of a lot of different personalities and ways that people. It's it's so cool because I get to use that training.

Like even in what I'm doing right now for the league, everybody is so different, but there is something that uniquely does bond us all I use and I think like even all these interviews from our new head coach and from our new GM and from you know, everybody or the new VP or everybody that's under Garth. Now what I think, what I think is missing, like from a couple of those interviews, is that Atlanta is Atlanta because the fan base has found a way to uniquely be

together from being all over you. If you go to an Atlanta United Stadium is the only stadium in the United States that fills up in a way to where you have these sections of just so many different colors and races and views and like nationalities. Not many people know this, but there are over eighty five different countries, over eighty five different countries that are represented, close to ninety countries that are represented within the league.

York doesn't. New York doesn't, you know, come together as much within the NYCF Stadium or the New York Red Bull which is not even in New York. But uh,

you know it's they don't come together as much. And whatever the special sauce or the the special dust that's been sprinkled upon Atlanta for some reason, it brings every culture and country together, so a lot of I guess just going back with what beyond goals is really learned this year is just I think for me, even being involved in a lot of these trainings and this initiative and this project has allowed me to kind of further further my insight on how to help better kids grow

and mature in the best ways possible and just give me new ideas. I think. I think ideas are amazing. You know, we're having new ideas and and and trying to apply them to what we know and to try and spark new things has been extremely beneficial for Parking and I this year.

takes picture. Everybody's so nice and and I mean, I still can't believe we still get the recognition that we do, which is insane and so humbling and so awesome. It's great, so gratifying. But I probably had over ten families come and ask me, Hey, what do you think about the new you know, the new prices for the season ticket

holders next year, like we're out, We're out. Like I had so many people come up to me, and it was like it was so surprising because that was the first time I think in the history of Atlanta and I had to where like I started to realize, man, like we need to we need to rebuild, like we need to do something here to kind of these are fans that have been here from the very get go, and these are a lot of fans that are I mean, they're upset. They're upset, not not just at prices, they're

just upset with what's going on behind the scenes. And I totally think this is an outstanding, amazing marketing move to get those people back into their seats and back to being season ticket holders, because he is someone that I think can do that.