See Greg, it's a fancy open what's up? You tell me? Are you? Are you globe trotting? Or are you local?
I am home at the moment.
Okay, And so he's having a which cup of coffee? Is this? Okay?
We went down the wrong pipe?
Okay, brother, I'm all right.
Man.
I got taken a drink.
I was like, I feel like this thermist didn't work. I was expecting a hot drink and it was cold.
Uh. Oh you see, go for it? Take it?
Yeah, clear there there clear clear it out least it didn't go at the camera.
Well but see now if that had been a spit take, then then you and the you and the boss that would have been a h an interesting purchase. You're you're going over to uh best buy and you're checking in with a geek squad.
Excuse me? So what happened? Why are you buying a new computer? Kind of?
Pretty much?
Lens?
Pretty much? Man?
So how is the globe trotting going?
And I know that since we're getting into the college season, high schools are kind of getting into practice as well. Where are things right now with you and the cap and beyond goals?
What's going on?
Everything is good?
Man, all is well, can't complain same old, same old, getting involved with I'm sure high school will probably start at the end of the year, so you have a few more months for that. Obviously, college is all starting right now, which is always great.
Man.
When it comes to you looking at the college experience these days, you got to go through club and pursue it that way. College experience right now, it doesn't seem to matter what level. I mean, it could be Division one, Division two, three, nai whatever. It seems to me like the margins are closing, and so if you choose college as a path that that's cool. You know, it's not something where you know, if you start in your Division one,
that's great. If you start and it's a small college in you know, Nebraska or Wyoming, it doesn't really matter. I think the margins are closing these days when it comes to where you can be the best you that you can be.
Most definitely it's uh, you know, we we want even in our mentorship, we want kids to understand that they should take even tell my own kids, you want kids.
To take soccer as far as it takes them.
Right, there's so many values that they'll continue to learn if you look at you know, corporate hires or major organizations and kids who you know don't have the opportunity to maybe live out their dream of being a professional soccer player, but they can still use an amazing education going to college and and helping them learn values and
things that will help them with everyday life. And uh, you know, the teamwork, the how to deal with adversity, how to get through challenging moments, how to get through obstacles and hurdles. That's those are all things learned within the within sport and what it provides for us. So college can provide so much, so much in that realm as well well.
And at the same time, you mentioned dealing with adversity and all of these obstacles that you would tackle on a daily basis is outside of the athletic field. I mean, it's it's something that even today when you and cap have you know, when you guys decided to start beyond goal, I'm sure and I'm fairly sure that there was a learning curve going in. There's a learning curve even now as you're going. And I think that in stages there's
been learning as you've gone. How much learning have you and and and Michael had when it comes to building beyond goals, hitting separate stages and going Okay, we need to do this, we need to add this.
How much learning have you guys even done today?
We say it all the time, right, I think we speak about it all the time. We learn that there are so many things that we learned from kids. I was actually speaking to to Myke Contie about this last night that the Atlanta Journal Sports Business Journal panel that we that I was invited to last night, which I will say this, I was extremely disappointed they mentioned every professional former athlete there and did not mention Ilanti United or me.
So that was kind of a that was kind of upsetting.
But other than that, you know, as I mentioned that to my Conti last night, just h there are so many cool things that we learn, even as adults from these kids in the ways that they think and the way that they carry themselves, and how we can continue to produce new ideas and build new platforms to help others, right because some kids already, some kids already have it.
Some kids already have certain qualities within their within their personality and the character that they are that that allow them to be role models for others, And I love using examples of those elite personality kids to other kids who may be struggling in those areas.
But I would also imagine that there are elite athletes that young athletes look to that for one reason or another, you might have to steer them away from the certain athletes. You know, you may sit there and think that you know so and so might be a great a great mentor, But the more that you learn about these individuals, you might have to steer away from them.
How much, how many?
How many warning signs do you and Mike give about choosing your mentee, your mentors wisely when you want to grow as a.
Person man, Choosing mentors wisely as a big one we talk about a lot. We definitely want to bring a woman in the future. That is a huge that is a huge talking point within Mike and myself. But but there's so many values that they have to cover. They have to be willing to, they have to be willing to, you know, have a lot of similar thoughts that we have in regard to, most importantly the comfort to work
with kids. Not everybody likes working with kids, that's first and foremost, And there's just so many different values that we hold within I think ourselves that are that are massive, and we don't we want them to obviously, you know, take take the reins and and and do with do with it what they want in regard to maybe personal storytelling, but there is a set curriculum and things that we really like to follow and and kind of creating those conversations.
So it's it's a difficult process finding the right person, uh for for that job. And as we continue to grow, but I think one one that we will hopefully get to uh some point or the other.
Yeah, And you bring up an interesting point because to have a different voice, there's nothing wrong with different voices and different impacts because all of those points of view that you and and Michael may have you bring in another individual. You sit there and go, Okay, that's that's that's a point of view. And that's an angle that I hadn't thought of before. And and and you make a fantastic point about having a female influence when it
comes to being a mentor as well. Literally when you brought it up just now, I'm like, Yeah, that that makes a tremendous amount of sense going forward, that those kinds of voices are equally important, and it's something that in the process of thought, you're like, yeah, why didn't we think about that sooner? But the fact that you now have, I think is just as important as having that realization most.
Definitely, yeah you you you want to continue to build.
In the most positive ways possible.
And Uh, for Mike and I, it's it's we are extremely satisfied with where we are right now.
Obviously want to continue to grow and want to continue.
To add, you know, additional assets.
To to what we are doing.
But I think it takes time. It takes time to come to an understanding of what is needed and what can help the continuous growth and also the right personnel to go along with it.
Does it have to be an athlete? Though, when you when you add men, when you add other mentors as a part of beyond goals in the future, doesn't necessarily have to be an athlete? Can it be a captain of industry? Can it be a CEO? Or you know, does mentoring really have does mentoring really have a jersey? Does it have an ID card?
No, it doesn't, it doesn't because you can be anyone to mentor. I think there there there are so many mentors out there you speak to, whether it.
Be CEOs or CFOs or.
Even everyone I met last night, all of these people had their mentors to kind of guide them through and make them, not make them, but shape them into who they are today. And I think that's an important that's an important path and journey for.
All people who are successful.
There is a lot of credit that needs to be given to those around them, to those who bread that leadership from the very get go. So that's essentially what we're doing. I think I think our platform is unique. I think professional Athlete platform is unique because it was really interesting because I heard a lot of people speak last night and whether it be from a MB or whether it be from you know, just stadiums in general, and they just kept saying, we are in the entertainment business.
We're in the entertainment business. We are in the entertainment business. We're in the entertainment business. And I almost wanted to respond and say, we are the entertainers. We are the show. Right, you guys are in the entainer entertainment business, but we are the show.
You go to.
Cerla, you don't remember you remember the name of Sila, but you you really give your respect. Maybe not towards the people who are in the background right doing setting everything up, you give your respect to the people who are performing. And I think that in regard to even us as professional athletes, it allows us to have I
think even a higher platform. And everything that you say must be said well, and everything that you say must be done well, and and and and you know, given the fact that you are that hole model, and so I think the curtain is open, right you.
You open those.
Curtains to really every every action, decision, thought, emotion. The role that you play within whether it be in your professional environment or even in a public environment, means means that.
Much more because to your certain sole At example, we kind of gravitate toward the person that gets launched out of the cannon. We know, we know, the one that's on the bicycle, that's in the hamster wheel it's going you know, nine thousand an hour, the the the gymnast that can sit there and take the hula hoops and do the complete and total split at ninety feet in the air.
You know, we kind of gravitate toward those folks.
So I would ask you this as the entertainer is in this discussion. How long did it take you to become comfortable knowing your role as the entertainer, but knowing that you had to hold your self to a higher standard and know that you have to be around those folks that share your ideas, share your goals, share your vision, so you're not hanging out with the wrong crowd even as an entertainer and an influence on others. How long did it take you to become comfortable with who you are right now?
Man? That is I think we are continuously learning, we are continuously growing, we are continuously maturing in different ways, whether it be through experiences that we have, sometimes decisions that we make. But I think from a very early age I give a lot of credit not only to
my parents, but just people around me. And I think I had great mentors in my life to help me understand the dudes that don't, the rights, the wrongs, the things that are most valuable in life, and you know, things to be grateful for, things to keep you motivated, things to help you and continue to dream towards. I think there's a lot of different values in which I
learned as a very young kid. But I think also just traveling the world and seeing life in different areas and learning about different cultures and seeing that, you know, not everybody's life is exactly the same, Not everybody's life is cookie cut.
You know. I think sometimes as Americans, we we we.
We only are focused on what we have around us, and until you go to other places in the world, you start to realize that there are smaller of things that people are very grateful for. And and you know it's it's has nothing to do with being spoiled, because I know, I know here in.
The States, you know we were, there.
Are families and and and places where people do struggle and struggle quite a bit. But you know, I could go speak to any title one school, yeah, high school or or middle school, and I can ask every kid to raise their hand, and I always do, and I ask how many of them have a console? How many of them have a phone? And ninety nine point ninety.
Nine percent of those kids will raise a hand.
Whether they have a Nintendo Switch or whether they have a PlayStation, or whether they have a phone, or whether they have an Xbox. It doesn't matter if they live, you know, in a in a trailer park, they still have a console. And so you know, I think when you go to different places.
You see life a lot differently.
And I think within my experiences, I think just seeing what other kids had, whether it be in South America or and you know, I mean mostly South America, even playing in Mexico for a long time. It's it's the littlest of things, right, It's the it's it's taking, you know, to an orphanage. They're taking a stuffy right, a stuffed animal that's a high stuffed animal that for you you see a Hallmark or Walgreens or you know, my kid wants to grab one every time at Kroger or whatever.
It's you know, a dollar fifty two bucks for them, that just made their whole year, right, and they're gonna, you know, they're going to carry that stuffed animal and they're going to keep it with them and cherish it because it's probably the only toy that they've ever had.
So I think I learned that from a very young age of just kind of building those values of obviously strive and motivate yourself towards more, but also be be content with with with what with what's in front of you as well at all times, because there's always somebody else that's that's struggling much more than you.
You can be assured.
That when did you can you remember when you realize that for the first time, that yeah, I'm really fortunate. There are others who are not as fortunate, and I should, you know, share my experiences with them. When did you have that first interaction?
Do you remember? Yeah?
I think when I moved to Brazil when I was twelve, and I just remember going there and I was an average American kid, and I just think watching these kids, whether they were coming down to training from the slums and just taking public buses at the age of eleven and twelve to get to training. I think that was the moment to where I started to realize the only
thing that they had, their only escape was soccer. And you know, I could go back home and whether I was successful there or not as a kid, I could go back home and still go to a very decent school and do all these great things that my parents provide.
And for them, these kids were already away from their parents, you know, at that young age, and there was only one thing on their mind, and it was probably to get their parents or their family out of poverty, and that was the grind, and that was the hunger, and that was the you could feel that tension within training, right, everybody was out to They're all great kids, but everybody at the same time was out to kill because you know, these kids are eleven, twelve years old and they're already
fighting thinking about seven eight years from now, Whereas kids here in the States we play soccer. I mean, I teach my kids to play soccer for fun, right, and it's something that's going to teach them so many values and teach them so.
Many different things.
But I think when you start to see in other places, these kids and set are completely different, and I think it gives you just a different perspective about life. And for me, it taught me that hunger. It gave me that hunger as well. I put myself in their shoes.
But then again, I think it also made me take a step back and realize, you know, I am very grateful for not only this opportunity, but just to learn from that, and I think, you know, it kind of helped me shape myself the rest of my life to always give back, to always be a part of kids who maybe in similar environments, and just always try to be involved in the community.
Greg Garza beyond Gals mentering hanging out with us on the Friday free kick as we do here at nine point thirty on Friday morning's Eastern time. In your early relationships that you had with you know, fellow athletes, going from eleven twelve to when you started being a professional athlete, how many of those teenage relationships do you still have today?
How many of those folks are you still in touch with or because of you know, things getting in the way, you know, hard to reach them one way or the other.
Do you still have those early relationships.
From kids in Brazil.
Or just just early on, from like eleven to twelve to when you were really on the path to being a professional.
Yeah, yeah, of course.
You know, I still speak to some kids every once in a while. I mean, we're all still very connected within social media. I wouldn't say we have, you know, long conversations, but just to kind of see where everybody is and see how they're doing in life is always great. There's one kid in particular that that's probably a kid that I grew up with my whole entire youth, and we hit it off from the get go. The very first Boston camp in It was in Boston and the
private school, the first under fourteen national team camp. And I believe I wasn't even thirteen yet. I think I was just about.
To turn thirteen. I was still twelve. That was my very first camp.
I actually let my son, My seven year old son won his five e five tournament this this last week on Labor Day, and I let him. He couldn't find his Shin guards. And I have my Shin guards from that camp that I used my whole entire career, all right, So I use those same Shin guards my whole entire career.
Those are championship shing guards right there. Never took them.
And I remember I actually lost those Shin guards Paul Dillon, the QUIP manager from LA and I when I separated my shoulder against Red Bull and I got the red card. PAULI d lost those shing guards man, and I was livid.
Man.
That was my that's my pride and joy.
He ultimately found them and and and sent them back to me. But you know it's uh, I had my I let my seven year old use those shing guards in the five or five and that's the one thing I saw. I said, I don't care if you lose your body today, man, but you will not lose those shing guards.
Man.
Do not take your shing guards off. You have a rest between games, you take your cleats off. You want to leave those darned shing guards in because they've lost like eight pairs already. But that camp, going back to the story that camp, there was a kid from from Pennsylvania and his name is Zeric Valentine. He plays for Minnesota. Now, yeah, right back he was, And it's interesting story. He was on Portland Timbers. Whenever we beat Portland Timbers in the final.
He was on the right, he was playing right right wing back. It was him and him and Aldo Polo were on my side. And and that just goes to show, like, that's probably one of the coolest relationships that I've had with in my career. That we met each other and we hit it off when we were at that age at twelve years old, and and we never fell off. The kind of the map.
He he kind of was in and out of the national team process.
He got released at the under seventeens and kind of finds found his way back in the under twenties, under twenty threes never made it to the full team. But I mean just somebody who was always in and out. His brother was a massive US soccer prospect, was Valentine who won won national championship at Wake Forest back.
In the day.
So it just and and he won national championship with with Akron with Caleb Porter. So you know, just that's a that's a particular guy right there that I think that we still keep in touch and just somebody that uh, you know, I think we got to see each other grow up and have those certain values with each other. He's a great dad, he's a great husband, he's a great father, he's a great guy. And I think we we got to see each other kind of have those
values instilled. I owe a lot to US soccer. Somebody asked me that last night, and you know, what does US soccer mean to you? And I said, man, US soccer is the was my pathway. US soccer was my pathway to success. I never I never missed an age group. I was from that very first Boston camp. I never missed an age group all the way up until the full team. So that was that was my pathway. That was my trajectory. There's very very few of us that that have done that, but but they are the ones
that gave me the opportunity to seek my dreams. So I love that US Soccer is going to be in our background backyard in the next couple of years, and hopefully, I really do hope that I can have some sort some sort of connection with UH with everything that they have, because I am so grateful for everything that they did for me, not.
Only as a kid to instill.
Those values within me, but just to watch me grow up and ultimately ultimately use that pathway as my.
My pathway to success.
So get hydrated here for a second, US Soccer.
If you are listening, and we know that you are, please consult Greg Garza and Michael Parkers when it comes to your future plans at the Arthur M. Blank Training Center going forward once you have been constructed.
Okay, there we go.
And the reason the reason that I ask about about relationships and past relationships is because we have our we have our base of who we are as individuals, and it comes from those early relationships that that's the first building block that we have in figuring out who we are and who we talk to. And then as we go you go to US Soccer, you become national team players, you become a player overseas. All of these different building blocks work on your foundation as to who you are
as an individual. And that was why I wanted to ask about the early relationships, because that's the those first bricks that get put into the foundation of who you are as a person. And that was why I wanted to ask that particular question because that kind of forms an early relationship mentally about mentees and our ideas and where we're coming from and all those kinds of things.
That's why I wanted to ask that.
For sure, there are so many there are so many implementations from what we use and probably Parky as well from US Soccer.
With our mentees.
Right, the personality and character, to me, I think about it as you know, it's one thing. It's one thing to see these kids and being at the Atlanta in Academy dinner the other night, it's one thing to see these kids represent their city. Right, There's one thing. These kids are the at the pinnacle.
Of their city, right.
And and and just for me to kind of I couldn't have ever fathomed the idea of being their age at twelve years old, younger than them. I represented my country at every single age group, and I think that that is something to just really understand the role model. And I think I think I knew of that at the time, but I think now that I'm retired, it really allows me to understand the the character and the
leadership qualities and everything that goes within. To represent your country is much different than representing your city.
You know.
And I always I remember whenever somebody would ask me what it means like to represent your national team, and for me, it was even at a young age, I had always told them I feel, like I said I and I give the utmost respect and and there is nothing else that I would respect more than our military. Everybody who is in the military, whether it's Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, right all these but I I felt whenever representing your country, I think a lot of us felt that same passion.
Right you are, you are representing your flag everywhere you go, and that's that's uh, that's that's something that I think I take with a lot of pride, and I always kind of use that analogy of kind of you know, wherever these guys go, they always have their flags stitched on their stitch on their arm, you know, and and so I think for us it was very similar. And I think that's that's those the values that I try
to instill within a lot of young kids. And I mean, although I might be speaking from a different platform of representing my country, but with those kids, it's the same values that they need to do to represent the badge that they're they're also representing, and I think that's an important thing.
So then since you opened this door, you've been looking. You've obviously been looking at my notes to talk to you this morning. US Soccer. They've got a couple of friendlies coming up this weekend and the first one is against Canada. And you know, like I said, knowing our notes and knowing where the conversations go, sometimes I don't even know where the conversation is going to go. We open a door and we head to a certain place.
You got a friendly coming up against Canada tomorrow in Kansas City, And before you came on, the questions have been asked of the Canadian national team about the whole drone bit and getting these kinds of alleged unfair advantages. And now you have a national team on the women's side that has been questioned, and you've seen consequences, and it's now been drifting over to the men's side, and you're wondering about consequences unfair advantage. This is what I
wanted to ask. When it comes to unfair advantages. Have you ever been in a situation where anyone in your circle has been tempted to take an unfair advantage or take an extra advantage that really isn't ethically right. And when confronted with that kind of an ethical dilemma that you were that you might have seen, how did you confront that kind of a situation?
Man, I could we could go on all day.
Okay, I'll write this down for next time. Ethical dilemmas with Greg.
Okay, yeah, as uh Look, playing in Copa Lebrettadoris I think for me was like the the definition of unethical behavior to win soccer game, wow, in every way possible, right, whether it be poisoning food, whether it be uh you know, I.
Just like I watched like Argentina and Chile last night. Yeah, it was it was a war. It wasn't even a freaking soccer game. It's the most boring.
I turned it off to watch the US Open. After the first half, I didn't care what's going to happen. I think I saw like seventy five fouls within the first half and like eleven yellow cards. Yeah yeah, And and you know it's like I think back to a couple of birds doors for me, and it was just like, holy crap, man, this is a different world South Americans.
They they will kill, yes for for whatever they represent.
And and so I have a lot of stories whenever I played for two one and couple of Brett's doors. So being being in Brazil, man, so we can we can share those stories next time.
Nice.
So ethical dilemmas do in fact? Uh yeah, okay, So I did write it down ethical dilemmas with dread.
So we got that.
I always tell kids, look and even I tell my own kids, do whatever you can to win.
Just don't cheat there you go right, do whatever you can.
To win if And that's one thing that I think I wish we would learn as Americans. We are too nice. Sometimes we are innocent. I see kids all the time. If I were to play in Brazil, right, and whenever I was a kid, I was my son's age when I moved and there was a ball going out of bounds, I wouldn't run to go get it, you know, I would take my sweet old time to take that throw in. Or if I'm on if I'm on the bench and that ball goes out and I'm warming up, I just kind of lift up.
My foot and let it go through it. Yeah, let it go. It's the other team's ball, or it's our ball. Oh I didn't see it.
Go by men? Yeah?
Yeah, right.
You see pros do that all the time. They will do whatever they can to win. They won't cheat, it's not cheating, but they will they will take it to their limits. Whereas kids, my son, the ball will go out of bounce and we're winning two to one and there's a minute left, and he'll run as quickly as he can and he'll throw the ball in it. And I'm like, dude, just relax, take your time, take a take take sixty seconds, take ninety seconds off the ball. You guys don't play extra time in youth soccer.
Man, So you know.
It's uh, when that ref he sees thirty minutes, he's gonna blow the whistle. He don't care, uh, you know. And so it's I wish I wish we had that. They're just saying we have in Portuguese and I love it. And it's be malicious without malice.
There you go, and so it's, uh.
That's that's that's that's a great that's a great say. You gotta be careful with how you say it.
Be malicious without be malicious without malice is a good saying because you know, you never want to be evil, but if you can do a little something to kind of uh, you know. I always tell kids as defenders, right, if there's a if there's a runner making a run in behind, just step right in front of him as he's making that run.
Just block his trajectory.
Right.
Is that a malicious thing to do? Yeah, it is, but you're not doing any evil. You're not wanting to.
Hurt the guy.
You're just blocking his trajectory so he can't run in behind you. Because if he does run in behind you and that ball goes over, well, guess what, it's your head man, not his.
So yeah, exactly.
So there's little things like that that I think have helped. And I think that even with Minty's sometimes that they're open to it. I usually do it with the older ones I don't speak like that with the kids who are usually under fifteen. If you're over fifteen, then we can have those conversations.
Yes, all right, so the fourth held up the board and we are over. But as always, my friend, great to catch up with you, and so we will discuss ethical dilemmas being too nice and being malicious without malice.
Next time. I wrote it down, my friend go get hydrated, having.
Take care man.
All right, that's great.
That's Friday Free kick with Greg Garzon, and so I have written I have that stuff written down, so for the next time when Greg is with us. When Greg is with us, we have ethical dilemmas with Greg. Like literally, I have it written down. Ethical dilemmas with Greg Garzon the us being too nice or just being too nice in general, and being malicious without malice. All right, So that we've got with Greg and our friends at Beyond Goals mentoring, so reminder. So I'm going to remind myself self.
You got stuff with Greg.
So here all right, So what I'm doing, I'm not throwing this piece of paper away, putting it where the other pieces of paper are. So Greg's notes for next time right there at BG mentoring on the twitters and it is a full conversation with Greg and mil Michael Parkhurst and can't thank them enough when it comes to taking their time on a Friday morning to talk about mentoring and what they're doing it beyond goals and the
importance of topics. And like I said, traditionally I might have a topic or two in mind with Greg and with Parking when they come on, but most of the time it's from their answers where I steer the conversation. Because if there's a talking point that opens the door, then I think that it's a door worth opening, and so then we go through that door. And if they say something else, we'll go through that door, we say
something else, we go through that door. And so literally it is it's almost like a it's almost like a Q and a treasure hunt, because you find answers that you might not have necessarily even thought of when it comes to asking a question or going down a particular pathway.
So like I said, most of the time it.
Might be a question or two that I have locked in, but most of the time it is just learning from them as we go and then kind of seeing where the road leads but once again at BG mentoring on the twitters and also on the board. It is at MF Parkhurst and Greg is on Instagram, but he is not on the two hundred and eighty character apps, so I think it's Gmgarza on the Insta, the Graham or the igs the kids say, and then MF Parkhurst and BG Mentoring on the Twitter