I know other people that feel the same way. They're like, oh my god, all of a sudden, it's December tenth, and I feel like Thanksgiving just ended, and I haven't finished Christmas shopping or started it.
No, So how much Christmas shopping are you recommending for your friends at Rhode Island FC. I believe that would be the perfect place to do your Christmas shopping.
Yet, that's right, obviously we have some things available and some you know, Eastern Conference champion T shirts available and things.
See there you go, yeah.
For sure. I mean we as a club went Christmas shopping early and went out and bought or not bought, but got in free agency the best free agent available in the league, so from Maxi Rodriguez from Detroit. So that was a nice, nice gift to the club.
I was gonna ask you about Maxie Rodriguez because literally the two releases came out at the same time. It's like Detroit City's release comes out, Maxi Rodriguez is leaving the club, and then instantaneously the release comes out from Rhode Island FC. Maxie Rodriguez joins Rhode Island FC. It's like whoa yeah, I mean, with all the scoring that you had. You're bringing everybody practically back, and then you add Maxi Rodriguez.
Y'all ain't messing around.
No, not messing around, John. We got one extra game to win next year, and you know, things just get tougher. You know, as expectations rise, you get a little target on your back. Opening up a new stadium is a little added pressure. So, yeah, I need to have a good team. So we're definitely looking to be better than we were last year.
When you deal with men tees, and there's always the expectation of the self, you know, the you. You want to be the best version of you that you can.
And you don't reach your goals, your self imposed goals, and know that there's still stuff that you have to chase after or if you even got to all the goals that you had marked off, but then getting to that next level, what are the conversations like with your mentees about going to the next level, Whether you've accomplished one hundred percent of what you set out to do or you felt just short.
Yeah, those are equally as important, right whether you've accomplished them or not accomplished and still finding the motivation the next season, The next year to recreate goals, adjust them, or just continue to strive towards them, because you know, the worst thing that we can have is some sort of complacency or this thought that Okay, oh I did it,
I'm done, you know so. And I've seen that in professional athletes, especially younger professional athletes, where they think, oh, or even guys that have committed to college, oh, I did it, I got it, I got the scholarship, I got to the program I wanted to. But little do they know, like the toughest work has just started. Same thing, you know for young players that sign pro like, yes, it's a great accomplishment to get there, and it goes down the line. It could be the same thing for
making your high school team. Right, any any thing that you accomplish in, any new step you take, right, it's great that you got there, but it's just going to be tougher to have success at that level if the motivation doesn't stay high.
When it comes to understanding that that next level or that next goal might be difficult to achieve, or how patient are your mentees these days, or how patient are younger student athletes these days when it comes to goal aspirations? Checking things off of lists. Are are your mentees patient or is it still that you know that fast food mentality? Got to get there, got to get there, got to get there, got to go one hundred and twenty miles an hour to get there. How patient are your mentees.
It's a mixed bag, But I'm oxy surprised at the patients of most of them. I think that they grasp that you know that there's bigger goals, and then you know there's steps and ladders to these bigger goals, and those are very important, and that's what we talk about a lot.
Right.
It's easy to make these resolutions or goals for these for the future, right where do I want to be at the end of twenty twenty five or where do I want to be at the end of the season, Which is great, right, But we do need things to check off the list between now and then to keep the motivation high and to just give ourselves a pat on the back to say, hey, we're headed in the right direction, especially in the event that we don't reach that final like at least we took these steps, we
hit these things, and we just came up a little bit short. That doesn't mean it was a failure. So you know, that's what we really focus on. And I think that kids really grasp out they understand that, so that that's been really cool to see.
Actually, how patient are the adults around the younger at when it comes to goals and aspirations and you know, it's like the list is there. How patient are the adults these days?
Less less so? And I'm assuming you're talking about the adults for the kids, yes, yes, yeah, less so? Right, it's hey, kids not starting in two straight games, or you know, has a bad week or whatever, and it's like, you know, houses on fire, things are things are not going well right, and I feel like I need to show them the success ladder of you know, it's not
this linear pathway up. It's you know, we're going to have these jagged edges and as long as we continue to get higher and higher, right, we're going to have these setbacks every now and then, and they're important for growth. It's just like the stock market, and it doesn't go straight up over time. Yeah, if you zoom out far enough, it looks like it goes straight up, but we know it doesn't, you know, So they're they're definitely less patient.
Though, when it comes to how often do you have to have conversations with adults about.
The uh, the family.
And the younger student athletes that are a part of their family. Do you do you have to pull parents and adults off to the side more often than not these days.
I probably should do it more than I do, but I try and just while I'm talking to the kid, talk to the parent.
Okay, how do you how do you how do you pull that off? Because you want the parent to kind of be there. You want you're you're talking to the student athlete, but the parent or the adults, the overseeing adult is there.
Uh. Are you hoping.
That the adults getting the clues that you're dropping in or you're hoping that they're actually listening instead of just kind of you know, their their faces glossing over.
What what's that?
What's that like in that room or in that setting where you're talking to the student athlete, you're talking to your man t and you hope that God the adult is listening.
Yeah, to that point, right, we're just talking about that the pathway and hey, these setbacks are part of the journey, and it's okay, and it's necessary in order to have these right, And yeah, I'm hoping that the parent is listening for sure, and I don't know if they are all the time. And this is the minority the majority of parents, and I think this is a good thing overall.
They let the kid talk to us by themselves, okay, which is which is nice, I think, because the kid sometimes opens up about things, and they're usually a little bit better to work with and they're not just leaning on mom and dad to answer the questions. They're looking at mom and dad when they answer or things like that. So it's usually better when the mom or dad is not around for the meetings outside of the first one. Usually we'd like to have the first one with the
mom or dad. But yeah, there's definitely times where I'm hoping that the parent is picking up on the hint as well.
And when you get to see I guess the evolution of a parent. You know, for me, it's like, Okay, my message is getting through on more than one level, and it's it's I would think that that is just as satisfying, if not more satisfying. Where you're reaching you're getting the two for one deal or the three for one deal, or the parents are finally the light comes on with the parent, It's like, okay, I know where Michael Parker's is going with this. Now need I need
to do this. I need to either lay off. I need to be more supportive. I need to be you know this way when it comes to dealing with you know, my my athlete inside my house. When you see a parent respond, I would hope that you know, at least an a peer level adult to adult. That's just as satisfying as it is when you have a you get the men tee to understand as.
Well, Yeah it is. We don't see that as often, and not that it doesn't happen, I just don't see it as much. So but yeah, it is. I mean I think that every now and then we have a
parent say like, hey, thank you for your help. You know, we see it in little Johnny and it's really helped us with our understanding of the game and the journey and all these things because a lot of these parents didn't go through it themselves in any sport, never mind just soccer, and you know, they just want what's best for their kid and sometimes they just get you know, it's easy to have this, Oh this kid's better than my kid on the team, So how do I get
as good as him? And these guys are doing extra training? Should we be doing extra trainings? And like they're paying a lot of money, and I get it, and they want to have their kid have success, because who doesn't
want their kid to have success. But sometimes we do need to back off a little bit and make sure that we're doing what's best for the kid and that the kid wants to do it, and that they're having fun, and that the best eight year old doesn't make the best twelve year old or doesn't make the best sixteen year old. It's not like that all the.
Time because at the bottom the bottom line in the end of the day is you want your mentee. You want that eight or twelve or sixteen year old to enjoy the experience. You want them to grow continually, even if it's growth off the field more than it is on the field. You want them to enjoy what's going on and understand what you're chasing after. And you don't
want them to sour on an athletic experience. You don't want them to sour on the idea of growth, even if it's off the field and has nothing to do with what's going on on soccer, because it's going to be something they're going to face as adults. And if they if they get it, and even if it doesn't help them as an athlete, but they get it and they turn into a fantastic mogul in charge of their
own widget business. And it's the most successful thing in the world that lesson was learned, even if it didn't apply to sports totally.
Absolutely, And that's the biggest thing about you sports.
Right.
It's not to get a college scholarship and turn pro. Right, it's just such a small, small minority. And even though most adults know that, it doesn't stop us from pushing and pushing and pushing and hoping and hoping and hoping. Right, Like my hopes for my kids or to get they're gone, Like I know that already, and so it's like it's not going to happen. They don't have the motivation, they don't have the the skill that's necessary in their sport. And I see that, and that's okay, because I would
just want them to have fun and enjoy it. And they're going to play in high school and it's going to be great for them, and they're gonna have a lot of fun. They're gonna learn a lot. It's going to be really good for their time management and all these things. And that's what we want for society, right to okay, be better than the past, be better than us as parents, and so you know, that's what we're trying to get through for sure, and hopefully these parents
can understand that a little bit. And I get it. U sports is different than it was when we were growing up. There's so much more money and travel and opportunity, and you see the bright lights and it makes it difficult.
Yeah, you're obviously you're drawn to it.
Halftime turning into the second half here with Michael Parkers and the Freddy free kick and are friends at Beyond Goals menering, I want to get into be GTV here a little bit and how much of an adjustment it was. I know that there was a lot of thought that went into the idea of the video aspect of what you're doing there at Beyond Goals.
How much of an adjustment was it.
For you and Greg to do things in a video form outside of just the conversations that you're having virtually with mentees. What was it like to shift and to add BGTV to the whole process.
Yes, Honestly, the biggest change was the technical aspect of it because we had been doing with mentees some video work with them, Right, we had already a little database of video where, hey, if we work with a midfielder and one of the things that they're struggling about is with turning in the midfield, Like we could show them a few videos of Nagby turning in the midfield or you know, any any player out there, and give them some examples and show them, Okay, what are they doing
before they get the ball? What are their movements, how do they check their shoulders, how do they approach the ball? Like all these little things. And honestly, that's super fun for us to talk and go through videos like that because it's just natural for us. So, you know, we had the wherewithal to do it. But now it's it's just a little bit different.
Right.
I'm like got the tripod set up, and I'm like recording my face while I'm talking about the thing on the screen and then putting that together and then okay, then I'm uploading it to a different site so I can put the circles and the arrows and the stuff and so and then adding background music and just all this stuff. So the technical aspect of it was more and a job trying to get used to it and
figure it out. But in a good place now where you know I can crack out ten videos a week and keep this thing moving.
Really ten you get the ten videos a week now.
The goal is seven, But those seven it's not that it's not that each video is like, hey, this is out a midfielder. This one video could go into the midfielder bucket, It could go into the striker book. It going too every bucket, and then there's obviously other ones that know this is just specific to an outside back. So yeah, between seven and ten per week updated into the library.
What's it like to see you grow when you look in the mirror? You sit there and go, man, I didn't know I could do that, And you get to see how you advance in this next stage of your career and how you're helping out the next generation. What's it like to challenge yourself a to do what you and Gregor are doing and then be challenge yourself electronically
and technologically. We sit there and say, okay, I've got to do this, and you have to apply yourself to something that you haven't been able to do or experience.
What's it like to challenge yourself now?
Yeah, that's part of growth for sure, right, putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation, taking a risk and seeing, okay, how can we how can we do this right? And so Greg could, Greg and I could, you know, just keep mentoring ourselves and hey, the company's growing and we're doing good stuff, but you know, how can we grow? How can we do more? What else can we do? And so yeah, BGTV came out of that. I think next year our major goal for Q one is to
hire a new mentor. We want it to be a female who's played in college sometime in the past, you know, five, six, seven years, because we get a lot of mentees looking for help as far as that process, and to have someone that went through it more recently than I did would be beneficial. So if you know of anyone John who used to play college soccer and would be willing to work with kids, let us know. But anyway, so that's another growth.
I got somebody in mind.
I'll see one of the busiest folks on the planet we'll see, but we'll see what this individual might think about it.
But yeah, I got an idea, so I will work on that.
I'll work on that offline, as they say, the corporate speak, but yeah.
Sounds good. But yeah, So we want to continue to grow because we know that it's important for a lot of youth female athletes to have a female mentor. And yes, we can absolutely mentor them and we do, but we know a lot of them want another female and so we're going to expand that way and hopefully that'll help the entire business grow. So that'll be the next biggest thing that we take on.
Okay, and by the way, uh for for those that are interested in picking up the gia when it comes to Wicked good sokka. By the way, the final match the Final Matchup T And of course I had to go research this because it is the holiday season and you know, you know me, you know me wanting to wear the gear.
Uh.
The final participant T the Conference Champions TEA and the Final Matchup T have two words attached to them that I know you, as a mogul in training, love to hear.
Sold out. You can't get them anymore unless you print.
More, dang, it's what are we doing.
Your put well put no.
But that that's that means that you're putting out a good product. You're putting out a product that folks want and it's at the same time it's and you can apply that to what you and Greg and everybody's doing there at BEG because of all of the teams and all of the mentees and all.
Of the folks that want your advice.
If you got folks knocking on your door, if you and gregor are sitting there and going, yeah, we need to expand into the video realm and we need to have BGTV.
That means that.
Folks are interested in seeing what you're doing, If folks are interested in what you have to say, and folks are interested in wearing your gear, and then you know, but you can't still buy your beat hat.
Foot T shirt if you want.
That is there, and as is a lot of the wicked good SOCA content that you get. You can get the wicked good SOCCA scoff all those kinds of things that's there, but the final matchup stuff and your conference champion stuff.
That is gone. But that's a good thing.
That's what you want, though, you want that attraction to what you're doing. And I think that with everything that you're having success wise at BGM, that's why you've got the TV aspect, you're looking for new mente's, you're looking for the younger mentors, those kinds of things. I think it's all a part of the I'll say, you know, the Bell curve. I know that you mentioned bring in and of itself is ups and downs and jagged edges.
But I think that you know that there's more of the Bell curve right now, at least for BGM, than that the learning aspect, which we know is going to have jagged edges. You guys are doing good work, for sure.
No, it's it's been a good year and we've had good growth, and we feel good about what we're putting out there, how we're helping kids, and we've gotten good responses from families and stuff. So our renewal rate it's really high. So yeah, overall it's been it's been awesome.
Is there a common message?
Is there a message that has been expressed to mentees more than any other message? Is there, like one common thing that you seem to be emphasizing a lot over other things is there like one big message that seems to be resonating more.
Than others this year. The biggest Yeah.
Because I know that it and I know that obviously the messaging for each mentee, each mente is looking for something different, But I didn't know if there was a commonality of message with the mentees that you and Gregor are talking to that yeah, okay, that this ment he needs help here, and oh that ment he needs the same kind of help, and the third ment he needs is there a pathway? Is there a an aisle in the in the beyond goals men are in grocery store that folks seem to go down more than others.
I think there's two. One is confidence and pressure and dealing with those things and helping them understand that they can coexist, like being nervous doesn't mean you're not confident, and just tips for how to bounce back. So that's
that's always a big one. And then the second one, which I've seen more in the past few months, and it's just kind of the way things are, and it's honestly one that I struggle with a little bit, is when is it time to move on from a team or from a school and when is it time for me to dig in and show some resiliency in grit and you know, battle for my spot and that type of thing, because we see it a lot right now in college athletics, right with the portal, and so it's
we've got a bunch of athletes in college and uh yeah, there's it's it's come up a bunch of times here. I feel like in the fall and every situation is unique and it's a tough one because you know, my gut tells me that you know, you're going to encounter tough situations in life sometimes and you don't want to just run and go to the next place, right you fight through it and show what you're worth. And if you're able to do that, you're going to come out
so much stronger. Then again, I do know that I had that experience in Germany, and I I don't think that I could have ever changed his mind because I literally was on the outs with him and worked hard at training every day and he didn't care and I never dressed and I never was a part of the team at all. And so you don't want to lose years as well, right of Like, yes, I don't think I got worse as a player in Germany, right, But
I didn't. I didn't have fun and I didn't progress my career the way I wanted to in that calendar year, and so that's why I left. And so it's a tough, tough balance and that's but it's come up a lot.
I want to ask about the portal before you go, and because then I know that I think the next time that you and I.
Will see each other will be new year.
When you look at the portal these days in college, basically the quiet part that used to be said is now is now out loud. And you have athletes and student athletes, and it's a lot of cases it's probably more athlete student than it is a student athlete going
to a school. Then if they don't like their situation, they just jet and they go to another school, and then if they don't like that situation, they jet again, jet again, jet again, until they try to find a place where they feel like they can further their career in whatever manner they're looking for. What do you think about the portal and is it how how would you gauge what the portal can be for college athletics these days?
It can be amazing for some athletes who didn't get to where they wanted to went to a JUCO school, went to a D three school, went to a community college, and now have done what they needed to do and want to move on, and now they're in the portal and they're ready to take that next step up. I think that's where it can be tremendous. Unfortunately, I think it's going to get flooded with these players who get accepted into a big school. And it's always been like
this at even when I was there. Right, you have some players towards the bottom of the roster who are part of the one of the best teams at one of the best universe diversities in the country, and they play a role even though that role is not getting them a lot of playing time. And now that player, I feel like, wants to leave because they think that they should be playing somewhere.
And so.
It's changing the landscape a little bit for sure, and I think that it's putting a bigger emphasis on making sure the first time you choose a school that you've done all the research and looked into everything and you're not just like, hey, which team's winning the most games? Or you know who's going to pay me the most money or anything like that, Right, it's it's no what's the best fit for me? That is so important in the coaching style everything, so it makes that very very.
Important, no doubt about it.
It's always great to uh, to see my friend, great to hear your voice and how things are continuing to grow up beyond goals. What's the number one thing on your Christmas? On your Christmas wish list? Are you going to get the pony for Christmas?
I rarely ask for anything, and I actually already have my Christmas gift self picked out, but it's I haven't seen it in like a month, and it's gonna get wrapped and it's gonna be great and I'm gonna be surprised.
And love it.
But it's a new golf bag.
Oh no, okay, So you're happy with your clubs, You're you're happy with what you Oh what do you play?
By the way, who's your manufacturer?
I have Nike clubs John from fifteen years ago, and I told myself until I'm hitting consistently in like the low eighties, I don't need a new clubs. It's not the club.
Yeah, No, it's a I'm a callaway guy. Myself and the boss make sure that I don't get new Calloways. That's for damn sure, considering my play. And if you and I went out on the golf course, it'd probably be an even steven matchup and I would be highly competitive. But yeah, I'm a callaway guy. And yeah, she's like, no, I'm buying you used callaway stuff until you much like you. Hey, you want to shoot in the smid seventies, you work with what you've got.
That's basically how this rolls.
Shop dot Rhode Island FC dot com. You can get pretty much anything and everything. I'm leaning towards the Rhode Island the crest hitch cap myself and where the trucker lid and scarves and things like that for wicked good soccer. But you cannot get Eastern Conference championship gear. And you can't get last Game of the Year gear because it's sold blank out.
That's the weak.
Well, John, if I get my hands on one, I know where to send it, ah, and.
You would be epic and it would be a part of it would be a part.
Of Office HD and it would but hey, look if it's a T shirt. It ain't get worn because it's a piece of history. And I'm gonna have you sign it, and I'm gonna frame it. If it's a scarf, it goes up here with your other one here in the office. I know i'd see. I want to respect history. I am a child of history. I'm a child the gear, and if it's cool, I don't know if I should wear it because then it gets destroyed.
It's like the baseball card and the you know and the see. That's how it is.
Problems, all right, I gotta run have a great holiday season.
We go go away, go talk golf and do things. We'll talk to him by all right. So there's Michael. That's Cap, and so CAP's gonna go and like play
golf and things. So he's out the door. It's always great to see Michael Parkhurst and Greg cars and everything going on, because it's really cool to see how Beyond Goals mentoring is growing and what they meaning Michael and gregor learning as they are growing beyond goals mentoring and mentioned Beyond Goals TV and what they're doing there in a visual sense and how they're learning meaning Greg and Michael, what they're learning about advancing BGM Beyond Goals mentoring and
so we get to catch up with them when they're not traveling the planet. And so I think Michael had a golf game. I think that's what Michael was getting ready to do. And so yeah, because you tell hat was on backwards, he had the gear on.
He was ready to go.
So great to catch up with Cap And like I said, I think the next time at least I will catch up with Michael Parkers, probably going to be after the first of the year.
So it's always good. And that's why I had to ask him about his Christmas