Soccer Talk presented by Kick It Forward

Today we sat down to discuss the recently released substate groups for the boys' side and the girls' side, whose pairings also came out for the coming weeks as we prepare for what is sure to be an exciting state tournament at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines.

It was PACK THE PITCH night in Ankeny as the Ankeny Centennial Jaguars faced off against their crosstown rival, the Ankeny Hawks, and wow, what an atmosphere! 

On a chilly, but still spring evening, we enjoyed the inaugural Waukee derby in Iowa soccer history as the Waukee Warriors battled the Waukee Northwest Wolves at the latter's state-of-the-art stadium.  

On a beautiful evening at Duke Williams Stadium, we took in an entertaining girls game between the East High Scarlets and Waukee Warriors. 

On a chilly, drizzly spring evening, the KIF Game of the Week crew was back at it with a visit to Grubb Stadium to see who had the bigger roar as the Des Moines Christian Lions took on the Polar Bears of Des Moines North. Listen in for our take on the game! ga Check out Gianna Bennett's efforts to raise money for Count the Kicks: https://charity.pledgeit.org/f/5VS9GvlEDo . We want to raise $1000 a...

We've been on a bit of a roll scoring exclusive interviews, and today continues the trend as we welcome new Drake University Men's Head Coach, Pat Flinn to the studio. Pat arrives in Des Moines via Chicago where he honed his craft in the MVC as an assistant with Loyola Chicago and most recently as the head coach at the University of Chicago. The Roswell, Georgia native plied his trade at our favor...

As we ease into the spring and the high school soccer season creeps closer, we thought we would take some time to highlight some of the best Iowa soccer products out there as they prepare for the transition to the college game. Today we are bringing you interviews with four standout high school players that have recently made college commitments. They'll discuss their personal soccer journey, but...

Spring isn't quite here, but high school soccer is just around the corner and we are fired up for it! You know who else is fired up for it? The coaches. When we put it out there to see who wanted to join us for a conversation about the upcoming season, there was such an excellent response that we had to hold two separate rounds of interviews. With input from 1A, 2A and 3A boys and girls coaches, t...

We love soccer - hopefully that much is clear - and as a result, we love other people that also love soccer. Charlie Bales authentically exemplifies this all day, every day. From his humble beginnings being coached by his mother in the YMCA leagues of hardscrabble Cedar Rapids in the early 90s to leading the Des Moines Menace to their second championship of all-time, Charlie's main intent in life...

As you should know, we love firsts here at Kick It Forward and this one pleases us quite a bit. We are proud to provide the exclusive, first podcast interview of our new friend, Dean Johnson, head coach of the Des Moines Menace. Dean comes to us as a Watford, England native and journeyman player and coach. There is no question that he brings a winning mentality and a work ethic to the former Kings...

Times, they are a'changing in the Central Iowa soccer scene. As you know, the Grand View University job is open after the legendary Blair Reid has retired, but also, the head coaching position at Drake University will see a change as well after Gareth Smith stepped down from the post. Interim boss, Kyle Smith, was kind enough to spend some time talking about his soccer journey as a player and now...

As we've come into the new year, changes abound in the Iowa soccer community. In particular, a true legend has retired from the head coaching position at NAIA powerhouse, Grand View University. If there were a godfather of Iowa soccer, Blair Reid would undoubtedly be a part of the conversation. We had an opportunity to sit down with Blair and reminisce about his career and have a great laugh. A ch...

We would be lying to you if we claimed 2021 as anything other than extraordinary for Kick It Forward. While the pandemic era has thrown curve balls to everyone in the world, we found a way to grow, continuing our podcast output and grassroots programming, but also growing our Mini-Pitch Initiative throughout the state of Iowa and to Omaha and Central Falls, Rhode Island. Today's episode provides o...

People talk about six degrees of separation, but with the soccer community, especially in Iowa, it's more like two degrees of separation and we love it. So today we fired up the old rolodex and connected with class act, Kyle Zobeck. Zobeck, a Coralville native and journeyman goalkeeper has most recently played with FC Dallas in the MLS, but also spent time with the storied New York Cosmos along th...

Not all results can fall in the weatherman's favor, and today was an example of that for the KIF Crew. After an uncanny amount of amazing weather days for the Game of the Week, plus our producer's silly proclamation last week, we were shocked by the cold temperatures, wind and drizzle that accompanied our most recent Game of the Week between the Drake University women as they hosted the University...

The weatherman has been picking the best fall soccer games for the KIF Crew to attend. This past week, we went out to Cownie Soccer Complex to see the Battle of the Vikings between Grand View University and NAIA's eighth-ranked Missouri Valley College. The beautiful weather was not to upstage the beautiful game, however. Instead, we were treated to a back-and-forth affair that had plenty of action...

It's been awhile since we got out to cover a youth soccer game, so with all of the buzz around the Elite Club National League (ECNL), we decided to see what it was all about. This past weekend, Sporting Iowa hosted Midwest United FC and Liverpool FC, both from Michigan, along with their travel partners Gretna Elite Academy from Nebraska. It was an amazing fall morning at Hidden Valley Soccer Compl...

If you're reading this, you know that the Soccer Talk production team has been a little slow to post our most recent episode. But, like they always say, "better late than never." So time travel back with us to a beautiful fall evening in Indianola where a tale of two halves unfolded between the men's programs of the Simpson Storm and Central Dutch. An entertaining Simpson squad came out strong, re...

This week we are back to The Player's Spotlight, where we feature current players, learn about their soccer journey and get some insight into the modern Iowa player. A probable future Iowa Soccer Legend, Kenzie Roling is currently in her freshman season at the University of Iowa after working her way through youth soccer with some intent. This, of course, makes sense after we learn about her acade...

Fall is here and that means there are Games of the Week to cover! Our producer has been dealing with some technical difficulties so our timing isn't perfectly current, but our enthusiasm for the event hasn't waned. After the Drake Bulldogs started their season off with a loss, they've been on a three game winning streak recently recording wins over St. Thomas University and University of Nebraska-...

Gracing us with his presence once again is Greg Velasquez, co-host of the excellent Scuffed Podcast, which provides all of the in-depth coverage and analysis of the U.S. Men's National Team that you could ever imagine. But why is Greg here? Because it's closing in on the most wonderful time of the year: World Cup Time. World Cup Qualifying in the CONCACAF region begins in earnest this week as the...

Hey gang, it's been awhile, but we needed a little break to replenish our positive disruption fuel ! A few weeks of international soccer (Euros/Gold Cup), lots of Menace Soccer (USL 2 Champs, what?!) and some time on the home front was exactly what the doctor ordered. So we're back, re-energized, and ready to take on the rest of 2021. And what better way to get back into the swing of things than t...

Last week we were a part of history as we did Game of the Week LIVE at Valley Stadium featuring Des Moines United FC vs. Des Moines Menace!! Check out our postgame reaction from the sidelines while players from both teams intermingled with the fans on the field. It was a great day for soccer and no doubt, regardless of the result, the Des Moines soccer community was the real winner. 

After checking out as many games as we could muster at the 2021 Soccer Championships, we recorded our post-game reaction LIVE from next to Field 8 where the Valley-Centennial game had just wrapped up.  Post-recap, we run through a preview of Thursday's impending Semifinal Round with the Titan Tactician. Here are the match-ups: Class 1A Burlington Notre Dame/West Burlington (21-1) vs. Iowa City Reg...

Yesterday we were LIVE at the first round of the IHSAA 2021 Soccer Championships at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines! You can see us in person on our YouTube channel, but if you're a little more the straight audio podcast type, we've got you covered.  We set up the Kick It Forward tent right in the middle of the action between Fields 6, 7 and 8 for the end of the Class 1A games, all of the Clas...