Build It

In this chat with Evan, we cover the growth from Sunday League to full-time NISA, creating a youth program to create opportunities to play not just for the sake of a pipeline, and how hard you have to work to get a club established in your community.

Soccer in Minnesota, and the importance of getting your roots in your community.

From tiny acorns come big dreams. Rooted in the heart of their community, LK St Clair come in to 2021 with lofty aspirations. Social media and fan engagement is huge topic of conversation, as is positioning yourself within the community.

This is a chat you won't want to miss.  As part of the Scottish FA's digital team, Michael has a huge potential audience. But he brings that knowledge base and skill set to the  Scottish Football Marketing podcast where he and colleague Chris Samson look at all the different things clubs across the country, of all sizes, are doing to increase their fanbase. Scottish football is more than Rangers a...

Hayward, a town of little more than 2000 inhabitants, has big ideas for their soccer club. Here, we talk growth, plans, rebranding and community engagement. It was a great session, and their development should serve as inspiration to all of us.

In this episode, we are joined by one of the leading lights of US non-league soccer, Chris Kessell. As a listener to this podcast, Chris should really need no introduction to you. A staunch advocate for pro/rel, a massive voice in his regional organizations, and a passionate youth coach to boot, there are many strings to Chris' bow. We had hoped to do justice to this renaissance man, but sadly tim...

We spent 90 minutes or so with Trent Siedenburg of Kirkland Goats from the Pacific NorthWest. Of course we talked coffee, but also sponsorship, job roles, game day experience and a whole bunch of other stuff.  Enjoy! 

The MWPL has spent this prolonged off-season working hard. Clubs both new and historic have been eager to sign up, and whether it has been the reduced price of entry, the reduced travel or the talk of inter-club cooperation in running the league, Andy Hayes has been behind the scenes making the fledgling league a viable concern. We learn how he got involved, what running a league actually involves...

Coach Gecan has been with Dekalb County United since the start, and as such is ideally placed to see how far we have come, and to steer us toward his vision of the future. Mike speaks passionately and honestly about his time before taking the reigns, as well as his hopes for the future of club and country.

A conversation with Adam Thelwell, who has set up Small Goal Soccer and seeks to provide a professional experience for rec players across the country. Adam also runs A Healthy Obsession blog. We talk about both in this wide-ranging, and hugely informative chat.

Mental health is a subject of which so many of us are aware. Today, more than ever, it is a subject that we need to be talking about. And that is exactly what Adam Reakes is trying to get us to do. His fledgling project is called Speak Up FC, and he spent an hour with John and Nik talking about it, his hopes for the future, and how it draws all his plans together.

Listen to Chris Petley and John Hall talk Tallahassee soccer, community-driven soccer, and beer.

Usually we ask our guests the questions. This time round it Josh Ranft from Bateaux FC asking the questions of John and getting some unsolicited advice from Nik. It's our longest yet, and we hope it's useful.

An hour in the company of Fred Matthes, who brings 25 years of experience within US soccer to the table, as he seeks to help clubs of all sizes grow and become embedded within their communities.

Eric Walcott and his friends picked up the pieces of a soccer community that had been left bereft, and set about creating something for everyone. This is his story.

A conversation with potty-mouthed DKCU Director of Operations Morgan Garcia, where we learn about league registrations, table cloths and the importance of scarf design, among other things.

A conversation with Andrew Swanson, chief Dream Realiser of Edgewater Castle, coming out of Chicago's North East (ish) side. We talk about his story, the roots of the club, and his plans to grow from a local rec league to world domination. Or at least matching shoes for the coaching staff.

Battling through technical issues we learn about life in Iowa, the story of soccer in Dubuque, and the many travails of running a club in the current climate.

In this episode we talk with the originator and driving force of Old Bhoys of Indiana. We discuss the highs and the lows of starting and running a non league soccer club in the shadows of one of the biggest names in US soccer outside of MLS. And we delve into why Andy thinks it all ultimately failed.

In the sexiest episode of a podcast since the climax of My Dad Wrote A Porno, John and Nik speak with DKCU Treasurer Brian vanBuren about high-brow money stuff.

The second part of our budget deep dive, where we talk about getting people to part with money.

Part one of God knows how many financially-focused episodes, because that's what the people wanted.

Digging deeper into the setup and startup of the club. Staff, tryouts, players, all of that.

Where, and how, did it all get started?

This is it. Our inaugural podcast. Or at least, a trailer for it.