Most of us think of Tom Brady as The Golden Boy.

The Patriots leader will go into the history books as one of the top five quarterbacks of all time. A win in Super Bowl XLVI could place him even higher than his childhood hero, Joe Montana, as arguably the best quarterback ever.

There isn’t enough room in this post for Brady’s achievements so just head over to his wikipedia page to get your mind blown.

You would think that Brady was a naturally gifted athlete, blessed by the football gods with spectacular ability, and destined from birth for sports immortality.

But you would be wrong.

Brady has persevered through more obscurity, scorn, and rejection than any other Hall of Famer.

Tom Who?

The beanpole quarterback from San Mateo California began his illustrious career as a backup on a high school team that hadn’t won a single game all season. As Tom Brady Sr. puts it:

“The team didn’t score a touchdown and Tom still wasn’t considered good enough to play one offensive play.”

After a lackluster high school career, he somehow managed to secure a spot on the roster at the University of Michigan. Although seven other quarterbacks were ahead of him, Brady’s attitude was always positive. Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr describes Tom’s memorable determination as a sophomore fighting for a starting spot.

“Tom sat down right in front of me and said, ‘Coach, I’m not going to leave. I’m going to prove to you that I’m the best quarterback.’”

By his senior year, Brady had worked hard and proven that he could lead the team, carrying the Wolverines all the way to an Orange Bowl victory. He earned the nickname the Comeback Kid for winning come from behind games in dramatic fashion. Games that would never have been in question, if only the coaching staff had let Brady continue to play rather than sharing his time with the much heralded, Michigan native – blue chip recruit, Drew Henson. Remember him? We didn’t think so.

Yet, despite Brady’s patient leadership and obvious success, the only thing NFL scouts saw was “a skinny kid with poor build who can’t drive the ball downfield, and gets knocked down easily.”

The waiting continued.

Number 199

That’s where Tom Brady was selected in the 2000 NFL draft.

Round number 6, pick number 199.

How’s that for a confidence booster? As Brady watched six quarterbacks get picked ahead on him, he tearfully recalls wondering if anyone else believed in him as much as he believed in himself.

Reluctantly, New England head coach Bill Belichick decided to take a chance. The young Brady was no longer competing against a home town hero for a playing spot. Now he had to prove himself against an NFL All Pro quarterback in Drew Bledsoe. From an outsider’s perspective, the chances of Brady ever cracking the roster looked slim to none.

For Brady, it was pure motivation. Be patient. Work hard. The time will come.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft recalls vividly his first meeting with Brady. As Tom introduced himself, Kraft remarked that he knew who he was, he was their sixth round draft choice. To which Brady replied, “That’s right. And I’m the best decision, this organization has ever made.”

Brady’s confidence never wavered, even after his rookie season passed without him appearing in a single regular season game. He knew that if someone gave him a chance, he would come through. He just needed to keep waiting for that chance.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long. When Drew Bledsoe got injured in the second game of the 2001 season, the unproven, gangly, sixth round pick was thrust into the starting spot.

His patience paid off. Five months later, Brady became the youngest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl, capturing MVP honors in the process. And the rest is history.

With over 40 NFL records, you’d think Tom Brady doesn’t have anything left to prove.

You would be wrong again

“When I look at myself play I still don’t think I’m very good. I want to be the best quarterback for this team. I want to earn it, every single day. That’s what gets me up every morning.”

It’s pretty remarkable that someone who has reached the height of professional and personal glory (let’s not forget about his supermodel wife and brand new mansion) is still driven to succeed each and every day. Let’s unpack exactly how Brady fostered a lifestyle of perseverance in order to have incredible success.

1. Believe in Yourself

This is the most important and often the most difficult thing to do. After a certain age, we are actually conditioned to stop believing that we can achieve anything we put our minds to and instead settle on the path of least resistance. Don’t do it. Stay focused on your goals and believe in your ability to make it happen. Time and again, despite the circumstances, Brady believed in himself.

2. Find Another True Believer

In Brady’s case the other True Believer was his father, Tom Brady Sr. In an interview after his senior year at university, Brady quipped that his parents had also graduated that year, from the University of Northwest Airlines! Their support for Brady was consistent and strong, particularly during his trying times at Michigan, when he contemplated transferring as a junior. He would not be where he is today without their encouragement. There will be days when your belief in yourself will disappear. Make sure you have someone you can lean on to remind you that you are not struggling alone.

3. Be Ready.

This is where the first two steps come into play. Diligent preparation to figure out exactly how you’re going to reach your goals, along with regular practice to overcome the barriers, will ensure you’re ready when the opportunity presents itself. In high school, university and the NFL, Brady worked tirelessly to improve his strengths and neutralize his weaknesses, patiently waiting for his opportunity to arrive. It always did.

Preparation, Practice and Perseverance

The 3 keys to achieving your goals come down to those three “Ps”.

If you were looking for a magic formula there isn’t one. You don’t need any more time, money or natural ability than you’re currently working with. You just need to be consistent and the results will come.

Work It – Take Action

Read. Check out the article on how Tom Brady still relies on another True Believer—his middle school throwing coach

Write. Sit down and document exactly what it is you believe about yourself. Show it to your True Believer and ask them to add their own thoughts as well. Keep it right alongside the Mission Brief for your goals, as encouragement when times are tough.

Reflect. Research some of your heroes or talk to some people you look up to and find out what things they had to persevere through to make it to where they are today.

In case you were on another planet this week, Tebow pulled off the best performance of his NFL career, leading his underdog Broncos to an upset win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Preparation is paying off.

After you’ve prepared yourself by identifying your motivations, resources and barriers, I won’t lie to you, this next step is going to take some serious work. It’s time to focus on breaking down the barriers standing in your way and building up a new you with a clear focus and a consistent routine.

Breaking Barriers like Brees

As in Drew Brees, one of the hardest working and most dedicated athletes in professional sports.

Let’s talk barriers. Earlier this year, when football fans were sweating bullets at the prospect of not having an NFL season, Brees took matters into his own hands. He organized and paid for team practices when he technically had no team to play for.

Offensive guard Carl Nicks considers Brees’s work ethic as second to none.

“He’s not of this world,” says Nicks. “You’ve got a guy who practices what he preaches. He’s the first one to practice and the last to leave. If you don’t do anything but watch him, you’re going to get better.

Despite the naysayers, the heart and soul of the New Orleans Saints earned his record breaking season by putting in more time Monday through Saturday than any other player in the NFL.

Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey, a physical specimen in his own right, has tried unsuccessfully to outwork the undersized quarterback.

“I cannot beat him here, ” Shockey said. “He’s here very early. I’ve been here every day at about 6 o’clock, and he’s beaten me here.”

Coaching staff and trainers can attest that Brees is always the first one to arrive and the last one to leave. He sets a standard for his teammates, making it clear that the leader works harder than everyone else. His personal motto says it all:

“I will not be denied. I will not fail”

Building a Routine of Excellence

World renowned fitness expert Todd Durkin has trained some of the best NFL players in the game today, including Aaron Rodgers, LaDainian Tomlinson and Reggie Bush. In his eyes though, none of them can compare to Brees when it comes to sheer work ethic and discipline. In an interview posted on Durkin’s website, the trainer explains what sets Brees apart:

“One of the best stories about Drew is the oft-told story about how he came back from major shoulder surgery when everyone doubted whether he would come back at all. Drew never doubted that he would be back in the NFL again after he suffered that devastating injury in 2005. That’s always one of my favorite stories. I guess one of the more recent stories that I can share is when Drew won almost every ESPY award in July and we went out and had a great time afterwards. But of the athletes, there was only one person up the next morning at 7AM and that was Drew Brees. And that’s consummate Drew. I was training him in the gym at 7AM the day after the ESPYs – the morning after there were a lot of parties and hoopla afterwards. But Drew is so disciplined in his approach that despite his busy schedule with appearances, endorsements, community involvement and everything he does, he never lets those things be a distraction. He continues to do what he needs to do to be in the best shape of his life and compete at a world-class level.”

The devastating injury Durkin is referring to was the shoulder separation Brees suffered in the final game of the 2005 season. The damage was so severe that it brought with it a 360-degree torn labrum, a partially torn rotator cuff and capsule damage. Basically, every piece of tissue that allows you to throw. No small obstacle for a professional quarterback.

Needless to say, few people believed he would even play again. Brees on the other hand, set two modest goals for himself.

1. Become the NFL comeback player of the year
2. Win league MVP

Early on in the process, Brees would show up at Durkin’s house in the mornings to practice throwing again. Five yards at a time. Slowly, painfully, and consistently building himself up to be even better than he was before the injury.

Break and Build

Those are the keys to conquering barriers.

Break down the elements of your goals and your perceived barriers into small, manageable, 5-yard chunks of action. Consistently work on those small steps until you’ve reached a milestone. Reward yourself. Then up the ante and keep moving forward to the next level.

Build on your progress with a steady routine that allows you to slowly reach your goal while developing a better, stronger you in the process.

Work It – Take Action

Read. Check out the STACK magazine article on the Rebuilding of Drew Brees. And if you’re feeling really brave, take a stab at his workout routine.

Write.Write down all of the barriers related to your goal on a single sheet of paper. Everything you can think of that is preventing you from getting to where you want to be. Simply writing them out is an important part of breaking them down in pieces you can crush. On a separate sheet of paper write down, in as much detail as you can, the regular (hourly, daily, weekly) actions you will take to defeat those barriers.

Reflect.Talk to a friend, teammate or family member that has overcome some major barriers and listen to their story. Take notes on the specific tactics they used in their own situation and determine if there is anything you can use for your own resolutions.

Oh right, his skills as a quarterback.

It’s ironic that while the top three quarterbacks in the NFL are having historic seasons, the media’s attention is focused on one of the worst passers in the league. For some reason, his faith is a compelling story, even though there are several more accomplished players (e.g. Larry Fitzgerald, Troy Polamalu) who are equally outspoken about their faith.

For me though, the compelling story about Tebow is that he’s not content with having the top selling jersey, while he’s sitting at only 15th in passer rating. He wants to be the best. And he’s motivated to work his tail off in preparation for greatness.

The first step on the road to achieving any goal is preparation: well thought out, systematic preparation.

Most people with a goal in mind spend little or no time on preparation. They jump right into the action without first asking the right questions and being honest with themselves about the answers.

What do I want to achieve?

Why is it important?

How long will it realistically take?

What things will I need to change?

Before you start hitting the gym or cutting the calories, make sure that the critical questions are asked and answered. This will save you hours of precious time, and prevent the disappointment of unmet expectations. Taking the time to reflect will reveal:

- the real motivation behind the goal you’re trying to reach

- the pros and cons of striving to make it happen

- how long will it realistically take

- the list of resources you’ll need

- how your life will change during the process

- what your life will look like after you’ve made it happen

Stats tell us that 46 per cent of people are still on track towards their New Year’s resolutions after six months. So does that mean that more than half of us fail, or that almost half of us succeed? Let your answer be your guide. Are you positive or negative about the prospect of change?

Now is the time to be brutally honest with yourself. Admit that it’s likely going to take a lot of work, and ask yourself: Am I up to the challenge? Am I willing to make the sacrifices necessary to succeed?

To help you through the process, we’re giving you a great resource used by our athletes in the BLU3PRINT Performance program. The Goal Preparation Mission Brief is a step-by-step template that will help you determine exactly what it is you want to achieve and what it will take to get there.

Download it here: Goal Preparation worksheet (PDF) .

Take your time. It’s better to realize that you need more time to get prepared, than to commit halfheartedly and give up before you’ve made any real progress.
If you’ve counted the cost and are still raring to go, next up, Step 2: Conquering Barriers.

Work It – Take Action

Read. Check out the article on how Tim Tebow is preparing to become the next great NFL quarterback.

Write. Download the Goal Preparation worksheet (PDF) .

Reflect. Tell someone close to you, whose opinion you trust, what your resolutions are for the New Year. Ask them some of the questions from the Mission Brief (“What do you think I will need to do to get a tryout in June?”) and see how their answers compare to your own. A different perspective will help make sure that you’re not fooling yourself.

If you’re like most people, when January 1st rolls around you’ll think up a major resolution, force yourself to do something for a few weeks and then give up once you realize that change is hard.

Don’t be like most people.

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to dive into three simple yet critical steps you need to take in order to really conquer your resolutions and change your game in the New Year.

1. Preparation: Learn how to equip yourself with the resources and knowledge you’ll need to make progress (90% of people miss this step entirely which is why the fail. Miserably).

2. Conquering Barriers: Identify the walls –real or imagined– that are standing in the way of your goals and learn how to deal with setbacks before they happen.

3. Perseverance: Everyone falls off at the horse at some point. Expect it. Embrace it. The people who are successful are simply more persistent about getting back on after they hit the dirt. Every. Single. Time.

This series will put you in a position to not only keep your resolutions at the start of the new year, but more importantly, give you the tools to consistently improve over the next 12 months. .

Anything that you want to accomplish, whether it’s losing ten pounds, adding ten points to your scoring average or boosting your GPA by 1.0, we can make it happen.

Let’s do this!

Bridget coming at you from my home sweet home in London Ontario Canada! It feels great to be back home! There is one thing missing though…SNOW! I miss it! I can’t believe I’m going to have a green Christmas, that’s just now Canada!

Anyway enough about me being sad for a green Christmas, I had the amazing opportunity to interview professional soccer player Joanna Lohman. I wanted to interview her after hearing the amazing project she is working on! Her along with her Philadelphia Independence teammate Lianne Sanderson are partners in the amazing project JoLi Academy. They will travel to India in January. But for a better explanation of what these two amazing women will be doing read the interview with Joanna Lohman and if you were touched and inspired like I was please donate or bid on their auction at http://joliacademy.myevent.com/

BL: Thank you again Joanna for taking the time out of your day to answer my questions. First off what are your thoughts on the condition of the WPS right now?

Joanna: The WPS is in a difficult situation at the moment. Since there were issues with Magicjack, the league was forced to make the tough decision to force them out of the WPS, leaving the league with only five teams. US Soccer has given the WPS waivers in the past to hold Division one status but considering this was the third year where it did not satisfy Division one requirements, US Soccer is no longer as lenient. US Soccer will now have to determine how they would like the WPS to continue and in what form. This uncertainty is hard for everyone involved in the league, from the CEO down to the individual player. Speaking from experience, it is hard to make decisions when a situation is so uncertain. There are never any guarantees that the league will survive from one year to the next so you always have to be prepared for the worst, or so to say, have a Plan B. It is a harsh reality of female professional team sports and I think that many players are used to it by now. I think in order for this league to be a long-term success the business plan must be totally revamped. I think this is slowly becoming apparent.

BL: You were very successful at Penn State! Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2000, many awards and nominations and you racked up 41 goals, 37 assists and 114 points! How did you keep the balance of soccer, academics and a social life?

Joanna: Many people assume that it is hard to balance soccer, academics, and a social life. However, I truly believe that playing sports since a young age teaches you the life skills to make this a fairly easy balancing act. When you are passionate about a sport, you learn vital skills that serve you both on and off the field. These essential lessons in focus, determination, leadership, TIME MANAGEMENT, drive, competitiveness, to just name a few, enable one to have better experiences in life. What you learn on the field translates well off of it. I have always believed that giving anything less than your best is sacrificing the gifts we are given. This goes for each aspect of life and pure self-motivation creates this beautiful balance.

BL: Before you settled to go to Penn State were you looking at any other schools? If so, was your decision hard?

Joanna: I took my official visits to the University of Michigan, Duke, University of Virginia, and Penn State. My final decision came down to UVA vs. PSU. It was not easy but since I felt like every school was strong enough academically, I could purely focus on my contribution to the soccer team. At Penn State, I thought I could have the greatest impact on the field and the student life seemed to fit my personality well.

BL: What were you favorite classes?

Joanna: My favorite classes were math and business. Hence the major in business management, and the minor in mathematics. I love the idea of there being a right answer. I love numbers, formulas, spreadsheets, calculators, and equations. I could perform algebra all day. Yes, I am a nerd. There is no greater feeling than finding a solution to a problem.

BL: How was your dorm life, or if you did not live in a dorm, how were your living conditions? Did most of your team live close together?

Joanna: I lived in the dorms my freshman year but then moved off campus with four of my teammates from sophomore year on. This was a very pleasurable experience but I would recommend living with non-teammates because you really get to broaden your spectrum of interaction. While I loved my roommates, I think I would have benefited from reaching out. It is very important to get away from the game sometimes and when you surround yourself with teammates, this becomes a more difficult task to accomplish.

BL: What is your most treasured memory in your whole college experience?

Joanna: My most treasured memory would have to be making it to the Final Four my sophomore year. This is what every college athlete dreams of and works all year towards. It was extremely painful to lose in the semi-finals but it was an experience I will never forget and will always be proud of.

BL: What is on your pre-game playlist?

Joanna: My pre-game play list consists of the latest house tunes. I like a strong powerful beat that gets my heart pumping out of my chest. For instance:
Calvin Harris – “Love in a Hopeless Place”
David Guetta – “When Love Takes Over” and many many more
Lady Gaga – “Marry the Night”
Swedish House Mafia – all their tunes are legit

BL: I have heard many great things about the JoLi Academy. Can you tell the readers and I a little bit about what this great project is and how it came to be?

Joanna: The idea firstly originated due to my brother living in Chennai, India. He works in the US Consulate as a Vice Consul. Lianne and I planned a month-long trip to go see him and to explore a country full of unique experiences. At the time we thought to ourselves why not make a fusion of this trip with our unique soccer backgrounds.

The original idea was called “Indian Vision”. The goal was to share our experience, passion, and knowledge for the game of soccer with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with the intent of evolving and growing the women’s game. Lianne and I both know how hard it can be for women to have the opportunities she and I have had in the world of soccer. Coming from the Western part of the world we have advantages as females that some women in other countries don’t get. One of these advantages has been to play professional soccer for both country and clubs all over the world, from the United States all the way to Spain. What drove us to this idea of “Indian Vision” was the burning desire we had and still have to give back what we have gained from years and years of playing this beautiful fulfilling sport. We have learned qualities such as confidence, drive, ambition, determination, leadership and focus which are essential, not only on the field but also, in the day to day life off the field. We want to share our experience and we want to help by making an impact mainly in developing countries where soccer, especially women’s soccer is minimally supported and under developed. It is with all of these important things in mind that we focused on this mission with the hope and intention of building long lasting relationships and long term positive impact not only with individuals but with whole countries.

At first the aim was to partner with PLAY3R Sport in helping with the training and development of the All Indian Football Federtaion (AIFF), the aim was to do this by having a 4-7 day camp in Goa (India) during the month of January 2012. We will work with the AIFF and the female players to develop their game and help put their team forward in the global standings. Nike will provide gear and the camp will be held in Goa, home of one of the few turf fields in India. The initial camp will be the start of a 4-5 year program that works with the AIFF to assist in their qualification for the 2015 and 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cups. This was all the original idea that came with “Indian Vision”, but things ended up molding and taking a different shape. We originally wanted to work with the Women’s National Team (WNT) and the AIFF but we got introduced to YUWA and we felt that the biggest impact would be made at the grassroots level in one of the worst areas of India, Jharkhand.

Now, JoLi Academy aims to change the trajectory of the lives of young women around the world– through soccer. Their first stop is in India– January 2012. Here JoLi Academy will share its gained experience with the All Indian Football Federation and an incredible NGO, YUWA (www.yuwa-india.org). JoLi Academy intends to supplement the training and development of these young female players by spending 10 days with them in Jharkhand, one of the poorest, least literate and most lawless regions in India. The ultimate goal is to mentor the girls to increase their chances to secure a more hopeful future: English studies, nutritional recommendations, and education opportunities both domestically and internationally.

The JoLi Academy, India 2012, will mark the first time that an NGO is working directly with the Indian Women’s National Team. This historic collaboration will have implications for years to come and will better propel India to seriously make a run at future Women’s World Cups.

JoLi Academy will bring along a two-man film crew to film what will be a short documentary about an all-girls soccer program competing, living, and thriving in rural Jharhkand, India. The Yuwa Girls play soccer with virtually no funding on a borrowed patch of field just like the great players of the world did when they were children – Messi, Rooney, and Marta.

In India’s top source state for human trafficking, teamwork is also a powerful force to combat the three primary causes of a young woman’s vulnerability: few opportunities, gender inequality, and lack of confidence. In Yuwa, a girl gains confidence to challenge the social script of gender inequality, and is introduced to opportunities she might not have dared consider for herself. The idea is to develop an atmosphere in villages which creates a sense of belonging, that builds a girl up, and that makes parents aware of a girl’s rights and value.

BL: Finally, any advice to give to girls in high school going through the recruiting process or looking to become a professional soccer player in their future?

1. Deliberate Practice Makes Perfect:

There is a magic number to becoming great: 10,000 hours. This is the amount of time it takes to become great at any one thing. That is A LOT of time. No one becomes an expert without this magic number, not Warren Buffett, not the Beatles, not Jerry Rice, not Mia Hamm, not Benjamin Franklin, not Picasso… NO ONE.

There is no way around this principle. There are no secret formulas. There is no easy way out. Deliberate practice makes perfect. Deliberate practice. What is it? There are three practice zones: the comfort zone, the learning zone, and the panic zone. In order to be deliberately practicing we must be in our learning zone. We can’t constantly work on things that we already have down pat (comfort zone) and we can’t work on things that are too far out of our reach (panic zone). We must focus on things that we need to improve and find challenging to improve (learning zone) and we must be able to repeat this, over and over.

To conclude, practice early, practice often, and practice deliberately. This is the only path to perfection.

2. The way you do anything is the way you do everything:

As described above, there is no getting around the fact that success takes hard work. No one is catapulted to the top. You must be willing to put in the time and the effort IN PRACTICE to reach your full potential. This is true for everything in life. There are athletes that try to cut corners, cheat, and expect to be handed the glory on a silver platter. If this is ones mentality, then this is how he or she will operate on the whole. Pushing oneself to the point of exhaustion is a learned trait. Extreme concentration is a learned trait and no one possesses a switch to be able to turn this on and off freely.

3. There is never a moment where you are not representing your own personal brand:

As a professional athlete, you have an image. You are looked up to. Young kids dream of doing what you do when they get older. There is no getting around this concept. Whether you get paid millions or thousands, you are a walking, breathing, and living representation of your brand. As we have seen numerous times before (Tiger Woods is the most notorious example) professional athletes are not only judged by their performances on the field but also off. It comes as part of the package that ones actions off the field can have serious effects on their overall brand. It is not just all about hitting the right shots, scoring the goals, and finishing first. It is also about fulfilling your duties as a public figure.

Every athlete, whether they like it or not, has a brand. It is their choice what they make of it. It is said that with power comes responsibility. Although it may be hard to constantly be in the limelight, with it comes a great platform to do good.

These three rules of thumb are my personal creed. I do not just write these words, I live them and I recommend that any professional athlete take what they do and who they are extremely seriously. Because if they don’t, no person will.

When I first thought back on the season before our last game I had all of these ideas in my head on what to write and post for this blog. But now I’m speechless. That last game got to me a little bit. Although we only have 2 seniors this year I got to know both of them pretty well, in the 3 months I’ve been here.

Hannah is a senior striker who has gotten a few hat tricks in her years here at Tech. She is from Wisconsin, or as we call it, lower Canada! She’s a biology major, which was fun for me because she had a project where she needed to collect 25 bugs and classify them.

For some reason I LOVE bug hunting! Let’s just say you’re welcome Hannah for the ‘A’ you will be getting thanks to me!

Mariam is our other senior. Coming all the way from Venezuela! Mariam and I dressed up together for Halloween this year. She was a coal miner, complete with black paint all over her body and a hard hat. I dressed up as a thug, complete with hat, baggy pants with boxers showing and a fake gun. Mariam has been a blast to hang out with and I wish I still had at least another year with her.

Our team finished with a record of 7 wins 10 losses and 1 tie. It was tough season for us. We played most of our games with only one sub, had 9 freshman and added a brand new coach 2 weeks before preseason.
But we made it through. It was a huge learning experience for me personally and I am sure the whole team would say the same thing.

To give you guys a glimpse at our life off the field, check out the pictures and videos I have posted on my profile. Good thing I always carry my camera with me!

Thanks to everyone who followed along during my freshman season, but don’t worry its not over!
I’m going to keep blogging in the off season to keep everyone up to speed on what the Lady Golden Bears are doing when we’re not on the pitch!

Yours in soccer,
Bridget Leach #1

Bridget: You went to Villanova, what others schools were you talking to and how did you get recruited?

Jill: I was looking at Rutgers University and Villanova. Those were the only two schools that showed interest in me. I got recruited by those two schools because both of the coaches were my previous ODP coaches and club coaches.


Bridget: Was your decision very hard when it came to choosing a school?

Jill: It was really tough to decide. In fact, I thought after my visit to Rutgers that I would end up going there. But once I went to Villanova I was decided. I committed even before I left campus. I loved the team atmosphere and the girls were great.


Bridget: How was your pre-season? What was your favorite or least favorite part?

Jill: Preseason was extremely hard my freshmen year. I learned what real fitness was and what it took to get to the next level. I redshirted my freshmen year and really took the year to adapt to the higher level and speed of play. It was the most important year in my career.


Bridget: You had a lot of success in college soccer! 4th in the nation for save percentage in your senior year, Big East goalkeeper of the year 3 times in a row (a conference first) and 10th in division 1 history for minutes played. How were you so successful and still able to balance school work and your social life?


Jill: The balance between school soccer and social life was a tough one to balance, especially my freshmen year. I learned quickly though because I had to. As a comprehensive science major, essentially a Biology major, I had to learn quick or else the academic side was going to chew me up and spit me out! When I wasn’t on the field I was doing my school work. Social life was on the back burner until after our season was done. Being on a team is enough social life as it is!



Bridget: What were your favorite classes?

Jill: I really enjoyed all my science courses.


Bridget: How was your dorm life, or if you did not live in a dorm, how were your living conditions? Did most of your team live close together?


Jill: At Villanova there really isn’t off campus housing. We all lived in dorms near each other. Villanova is a fairly smaller school so everything was pretty close. I lived with soccer girls my whole career.



Bridget: I am a goalkeeper as well, was there competition at
Villanova for the goalkeeping position?


Jill: There was always a tough group of goalkeepers at Villanova. Villanova has been known for their goalkeepers. We have always had strong GKs in the net. Every GK that I ever played with at VU made the atmosphere really intense and it was a must that you come to train and play hard every day.


Bridget: On the national team how is the competition between you, Barney and Hope? How do you keep your motivation in practice when you are chosen as the third goalkeeper?


Jill: With the US team our GK dynamic is great. We all strive so hard to push not only ourselves but each other. We bring out the best in each other. Even though I am the 3rd keeper it is important for me to still go tor training every day and continually get better. Every day I look as an opportunity to improve my game, learn from the best, and translate that to my game. It’s not about the end result but enjoying the process of becoming the best GK I can be.


Bridget: I read on your U.S. Soccer bio that you want to finish off your career as a forward. What is that situation right now, will we see you as a forward for the US WNT anytime soon? And why do you want to be a forward and not finish off as a goalkeeper?


Jill: That was more or less a joke! I love playing the field in pick up and what not. I think all GKs think that they can be forwards! The only difference is I actually can… haha just kidding!


Bridget: What is your most treasured memory in your whole entire soccer career?


Jill: Being part of the incredible World Cup run that we have is something that I will never be able to forget. That was one of the most amazing things I have ever been a part of. Although I didn’t play a single minute, I still have the experiences that will last a lifetime.


Bridget: Finally, any advice to give to girls in high school going through the recruiting process? And any advice for goalkeepers specifically?


Jill: My advice to GKs is to work hard and enjoy what you do. Goalkeepers have the hardest job in the world I think. You have to be mentally strong, physically strong, and be able to take criticism. We make mistakes, it’s inevitable. The best GKs learn from them, move on, and don’t let them happen again. But at the end of the day just have fun. Smile and have fun, if you are doing that and working as hard as you can you will succeed.



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Playersport: Hey Bridget!

Bridget: Hey, how are you?

Playersport: It’s nice to connect with you again. Your first blog post was an INTRO type post. Are you settling into a routine at school?

Bridget: Yeah it was difficult at first, it was a BIG change but the routine is good now

Playersport: What’s the most difficult adjustment to frosh life so far?

Bridget: Umm I would say just time management. I have soccer, school, study halls, work and my social life. You have to figure out what your main priorities are going to be.

Playersport: Sounds like a real juggling act. If you could go back in time two years give yourself ONE encouragement that would smooth the transition– what would it be?

Bridget: I would definitely say focus a lot more on school. I always just did enough to get by and I am really regretting it now because I have not yet figured out the best way to study that works for me and university moves so fast you need to have that down.

Playersport: Great tip !! Ok so if you think back before you got to WVU Tech, what were some of the expectations you had about being on scholarship at a US school? How is life at WVU Tech different from what you expected / hoped for?

Bridget: I would say my expectations were what my trainer (Maria DelGuerico) had told me about her experience. Mostly soccer was on my mind so I was excited about the little things like having a athletic trainer now, bigger crowds to watch games, all the gear and how strict my coach and captains would be. I didn’t really think about the school side of it. It has lived up to expectations so far. The criminal justice classes have been harder then expected though, so I am thinking of switch my major.

Playersport: Interesting. Different justice and legal systems in the United States, huh? Is that impacting your decision to switch your major?

Bridget: Yes, very different. I don’t think it is going to help me when I get back so I am switching my major to athletic coaching education and I have actually been thinking about coaching after I finish university maybe NAIA or maybe NCAA. I’M not sure yet.

Playersport: Very cool. You’ve had a bit of a break between blog posts. I heard you had a concussion. Talk a bit about that. What happened? What’s it been like since the concussion? Any affect on your schooling?

Bridget: My defender and one of the other team’s forwards were running side by side with the ball. Once they came in my box, I slid out to get the ball and tripped both of them. Both fell over top of me. My defender hit me in the side of the head with her knee and the forward of the other team landed on my head, which gave me whiplash. I went to the hospital in an ambulance and they diagnosed me with the concussion. I took a whole week off school because I couldn’t focus, couldn’t look at a computer screen, couldn’t read and every time I stood up I would get a little dizzy. Not to mention the painkillers and muscle relaxants making me drowsy.

Playersport: Wow. That’s a lot to handle. How did your professors take the absence from class? How did your team handle your absence from games?

Bridget: The profs were all really good with it except one but my athletic trainer emailed him and worked things out. My team was very supportive and they were also very supportive of our teammate who stepped in the goal. She did a great job.

Playersport: Awesome. So what are you looking forward to the most in the next few weeks?

Bridget: first road trip with the boys team on Friday should be fun. We have not traveled with them yet so it will be good to have some fans in the stands for an away game

Playersport: Nice. We look forward to hearing about the ROAD TRIP !!

Bridget: I’ll try to get a short video as well!

Playersport: Brilliant !! Until next time…

If you want to get the full picture of Waldrum’s achievements, visit his page on the Notre Dame team website.

But first, check out the interview. We did this podcast back in June and are only now getting around to posting it. What can we say, it was a busy summer.

Podcast with Randy Waldrum

Transcript

Playersport: Today I’m here with University of Notre Dame women’s soccer head coach, Randy Waldrum. Randy, how are you doing?

Coach Waldrum: I’m doing great, thank you.

Playersport: We appreciate you sharing your coaching experience with the podcast listeners. One of the questions I’ve asked many coaches and players, and never cease to be amazed by the answer, is—can you describe your earliest memory of connecting with the game?

Coach Waldrum: Wow, you’re taking me way back on this. But I remember it clearly. I can almost remember the day that I got involved with soccer. I was 12 years old and soccer was not anywhere around Dallas, Texas area. The city I lived in (Irving, Texas) was a suburb of Dallas. I can remember going to our local Parks & Recreation Centre. I’d been playing baseball and all the other youth sports but an elderly Swedish there was signing up kids for soccer. His name was Eric Nordstrom. I didn’t know anything about soccer. I just knew that you kicked the ball. I just signed up for it. From the very first practice and this gentleman’s charisma and personality, I immediately fell in love with the game. I was so naïve. I thought we were the only ones in the country playing soccer. Back then, without having soccer on television, and obviously without the internet, you just didn’t know what was going on. Little did I know that all the other communities in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area were playing soccer and it was quite popular. Back then 12 year olds played with 17 year olds because we didn’t have enough numbers to have age groups. So I remember that experience quite well. Eric Nordstrom is probably one of the people who gave me a passion for the game as a young player.

Playersport: That’s amazing. That experience sounds a lot like womens’ soccer. It doesn’t get a lot of attention compared to football, which is probably huge in Texas. Women’s soccer doesn’t get a lot of attention at the pro level. What is like for you to be in a non-revenue sport in the NCAA? Does it feel like you’re in a bubble now too?

Coach Waldrum: Well it’s an ongoing battle. soccer has grown since I’ve been in the women’s game. I took a job at the University of Tulsa, coaching the men and the women. That was my first experience in the women’s game. From then ‘til today, women’s soccer has grown drastically. It’s come so far, not only in the US but around the world. But you’re absolutely right Ingrid in that we’re still that second-tier sport. We’re still not where we want to be.

I’ll give you a couple of quick examples. We’ve had some within our NCAA conference about changing our games from Fridays / Sundays to Thursdays / Sundays so we have more of a rest in between. My comment was that I didn’t want to because we wouldn’t draw a crowd on weeknights. We’ve carved out a niche on Friday nights. What came back was “Well our mens’ team does it.” And I said, “That’s exactly my point.” We’re still trying to grow the women’s game. It is a little bit of a battle. Here at Notre Dame, we understand that we still have to get out in the community. We still have to sign every last autograph. We still have to get our kids out in front of the fans because they’re not going to come like they would’ve for American football. It’s an ongoing process that’s getting better. Clearly we can’t be happy with where it is right now.

Playersport: You deal with a lot of challenges as a coach but you’ve been involved in the grass roots as NSCAA President. That’s a post very few people have held. What was that experience like?

Coach Waldrum: I’m glad you asked that because National Soccer Coaches Association of America is a great organization. We have over 30,000 members. It’s an organization made up of high school, youth club, professional, college soccer coaches and referees. I think we’re the largest coaches association of any sport in the world. I got involved six years ago when a good friend of mine, Shellus Heinmann, who is the coach of FC Dallas in MLS, got me involved when he was President. He wanted people on the Board who believed in the same things he did. In politics you want to get as much support, from people who feel the same way as you do, as you possibly can. So I got involved initially to help Shellus, because of my friendship with him. It was a six-year process, going from Secretary to Vice-President, and moving up the ladder every year. Once I got involved I realized how great an organization it was—one that has its fingertips everywhere in the soccer community. We have a Black Soccer Coaches’ Assoc’n. We have a Portuguese Soccer Coaches’ Assoc’n. We oversee all of the youth leagues and the college programming. It’s just something where you’ve got your tentacles in every phase of the game, as well as marketing and sponsorships. I learned so much on the business side of things that it was a really great experience. This past year I finished my last year on the Board as Past President. So I’m now officially off the Board but will continue to stay involved with the NCSAA. It’s a great organization—that has a pretty good working relationship with the Canadian Soccer Association as well.

Playersport: That bodes well for Canada. I understand that Notre Dame women’s soccer loves Canadians so it makes sense that Canada loves Notre Dame.

Coach Waldrum: I thought about that yesterday. The Canadians have been very good for us. We had Candace Chapman, Melissa Tancredi on our 2004 NCAA National Championship team, along with Katie Thorlakson. Ofcourse this year Adrianna Leon scored the game winner in our National Championship. It occurred to me that all four Canadians have had something to do with a goal scored in a National Championship. Chapman was coming off a knee injury the year we won it, in ’04. We were playing her up front just to get her some playing time because she was coming off this injury. She did a really good job for us up there even though we usually played her in the back. She got the game-winning goal in the semi-final against Santa Clara the year we won it. Two days later Katie Thorlakson scored the tying goal. Melissa Tancredi fouled Edus late in the game with five minutes left that gave them a PK against us and our goalkeeper saved it. Then Melissa had a little bit to do with a goal that was almost scored. And this year Adriana scored the game-winner. So all four Canadians have had a huge impact in our National Championship. They’ve all been great players. It’s been so much fun to watch Melissa and Candace with your full team, especially as well as Canada is playing right now. You guys have to be extremely excited about that. I know we are.

Playersport: I’m not even a Canadian citizen, to be honest with you. I feel Canadian but I’m really an American citizen, born in New York. But my heart is definitely with the Canadian women’s program and I’m very proud of the ascension they’ve been going through in the last 12 months. I’m very proud of them and I’m seeing an interesting parallel between Notre Dame’s program and the Canadian National Team program.

There will be a few teams at 2010 FIFA Women’s World Cup that have ascended the ranks of women’s soccer and have something to prove on the world stage. Canada is one of those national sides. Going from ranked #13 in the world to #6 in the last eight months is no small feat. Germany has been playing exceptionally well. The United States are perennial giants. They are always ready for the big tournaments.

The parallel that I’m seeing is that Anson Dorrance and the University of North Carolina Tar Heels have been a consistent force to reckon with. Santa Clara is another strong program. There are other teams that have risen in the last five years and University of Notre Dame is one of them. You are reigning champs. You earned that title every step of the way. What does it take to groom a team to not be worried about their opponents and keep them focused on winning?

Coach Waldrum: That’s a great question. I’ve been here 12 years now and we’ve played in eight Final Fours in the 12 years. There are several things that help your program, whether it’s a national team or collegiate team, or your high school. There are a number of things that have to be in place.

Number one, it always comes down to, whoever is running that program must have a vision for what they want the game to look like. We can call it a philosophy or tactics. As an educator, the coach has to have a vision for what he/she wants the game to look like. That provides an understanding for what kinds of players you need to bring in. What player is going to help you reach that vision? A lot of times coaches get sidetracked or don’t really have a clear vision of what they want the game to look like. Then they’ll go after, what they think is a good player, without giving enough thought to whether that player fits in the long-term picture of what they want their team to look like.

That’s something we’ve done a good job of here at Notre Dame. There’s a certain way I want to play. There’s a certain vision of what I think is a good soccer player and how I want the game to look. Sometimes that means passing on recruiting a national team kid. Instead, we’ll go after a kid that’s on a really good club team but that fits more of the style we want to play. I know she will be a better player for us than the national team player who everyone may rate as a better player. You’ve got to be willing to say, “I’m going to stay true to my guns and go after the players I know are going to play and fit the style I want to play.” Sometimes that’s hard for coaches to do.

The other part of it, with any good team at any level, is that you have to have the players. Players for a national team would be different from the players you recruit for a college team or a team you’d get for a daily training basis. You don’t have the national team together every day, all year-round. For us, we’ve got to find those players that don’t have character issues. They’re going to lead their life the right way when they’re on our campus. They’re going to take care of their academics and all of the other things they have to do as well as play soccer. Those character / personality people are important to us. You’ve got to find that mix to make your program strong.

Once you’ve reached a point where you start achieving some of that success, then your program changes. I’m a big believer in learning how to win. Once you get a point where you’re winning, the standards get set much higher. So for our incoming freshmen, the bar has been set high for a number of years. That’s just the level of expectation we have every time we walk on the field in training. So you’re right, we don’t sit back and worry about what North Carolina is doing or what Portland is doing. We know they’re going to be there in the post-season and do a good job. We just worry about what we’re doing to make our team better and the standards we have to hit to get there.

Joe Paterno, the great Penn State football coach, said something to the effect of, “Success is short-lived. If you don’t build on it, you may lose that winning momentum”. That’s why you see some teams fluctuate so much. He’s saying that the teams who develop excellence are in contention for a championship, year after year. That’s what we strive for. Excellence. We may have one year we win a national championship and then the next year we only make it to the Final Four. But that excellence will prevail because of the standards we set over time.

So those are two of the things that go into building a strong program.

Playersport: It’s interesting to hear you mention the different dynamics of players as people, that contribute to team chemistry and success as a unit. As a coach, and as a person, have you grown in terms of the way you are with players? Have you grown in the way you see the game or handle different situations when you’re winning, or when you’re not winning? There’s so many things that go into being a coach, maybe you can talk a little bit about your own personal growth and temperament and how that becomes part of the mix.

Coach Waldrum: You’re hitting a great question for all coaches out there. I have grown so much in my 28 years of coaching.

I can remember as a young coach, my first coaching job was a high school. I actually had the good fortune to coach the high school that I went to and graduated from, as a player. I had a coach named, Simon Sanchez. He was a very influential coach in my life. He was like a second father to me. He was one of those coaches you would die for—you thought that much of him.

When I took over that high school job, I felt an enormous amount of pressure to win because the program had been successful for so many years. All I cared about was winning. Everything we did was geared towards winning. I took the wins and losses really hard. I was loud. If I didn’t think the officiating was good, I was on the officials. I look back now as I’ve grown and matured as a coach, almost embarrassed of who I was as a young coach. You learn as you get older.

When we go out and recruit at youth tournaments now I’m just amazed when I listen to coaches yell and scream at the kids, or officials. At the end of the day, you learn that all you’re really doing is upsetting your own kids. You’re making them more nervous about the game when you’re constantly yelling and screaming.

My degree is in education. I taught high school and it didn’t take me long, as a young coach, to recognize that teaching has to be done during the week. Game day becomes the player’s day. I may make some changes and some substitutions or I may tweak the shape of our team a little bit. But other than that you’d better have done your job [as a coach] during the week to have players prepared for the game. Soccer is a sport that doesn’t have timeouts where coaches can correct things. The players have to be ready to do it.

But it took me awhile. I’ll be honest, as a young coach, I was temperamental. I was hot-headed. I would get yellow cards. I’d get ejections. It’s one of those things where when people see me now and ask, “How do you sit in the game so calm?” It’s not that I’m calm but I understand that we’ve done our preparation and now it’s the players’ time. So I’ve grown a lot in that area, in terms of coaching maturity. That’s probably the biggest transition.

As a young coach, 28 years ago, there were so many things that I didn’t know. Even though I grew up playing the game— I played a little bit professionally—being a good player doesn’t make you a good coach. There was so much to learn. I look back now on a lot of the things I used to do, fitness-wise for example, where I didn’t truly understand the science behind it. I used to run our players in a way that we really weren’t gaining benefits because I wasn’t incorporating the proper rest. I can remember some of my early teams at University of Tulsa, I thought I was doing such a good job with getting them physically ready. Really what I was doing was injuring them more. I was just fatiguing them. We weren’t building their fitness base. That was due to a lack of knowledge. As the years go on, you acquire more experience and knowledge in those areas. You become a better coach.

As coaches we ask players to commit themselves to everything we’re trying to do, for them to get better every day. I’m a really big believer that coaches should take that same approach. Too many good coaches, and this includes good friends of mine, think their learning stops once they get that head job.

I’m an instructor for our academies with the NSCAA. I teach the license that we have. I’ve done that for 16 years with US Soccer as well. When I get in a room with four or five other staff coaches that are teaching a 10-12 day course for an “A” License, we’re sharing and exchanging ideas. Even though we’re instructing the course, we’re teaching each other behind the scenes as we prepare. I’ve done that and it’s really important.

About five years ago I said to myself, ”I’ve been teaching these courses for 16 years and continuing to educate myself that way—grasping at everything I can, when I can get my hands on it. But I’m going over to use to get my UEFA License.” I took it upon myself. I got all my coaching licenses in the US. I went as high as I can. Then I went to Europe. I didn’t go with anybody. I just packed up, went over and took my UEFA “A” License over in Scotland. That’s about a two-year thing.

It was great. I loved it. After teaching the courses for so many years, and then to become the candidate again with the pressure of passing the exams, it was a great experience for me. I got to work with people like Allistair McCoy, who’s the assistant manager at the Rangers now. He was in the course. David Moyse, the __ coach was one of my instructors. Walter Smith, the Rangers head coach, was there. So I got to be exposed to some really good coaches who were instructing that course. It was good to be back on the other side of the process again.

I think as coaches if we’re going to expect that from our kids, we’ve got to keep learning ourselves. The game has changed and is constantly changing. It’s a different game on the international level right now than it was five years ago. It seems like every World Cup brings something new. That’s why I’m excited about teaching a course over in Germany during the World Cup this summer. The NSCAA will offer a Special Topics course. I’m anxious to see the teams play and witness the new trends in the women’s game.

Playersport: Soccer continues to grow. That’s one of the things I love about sport in general and soccer specifically—continued growth. When we get wrapped up in wins and losses, we neglect the human side of sport. What I love about your Twitter stream is that every now & then you talk about a song you’re listening or you talk about wearing baggy pants. I appreciate the natural way you seem to relate to players. I’m curious, what tunes are you listening to these days?

Coach Waldrum: I don’t have one favorite tune. I listen to all kinds of music. Being from the South I do love country music— which drives a lot of our players crazy—artists like Rascal Flatts and Lady Antebellum. Sometimes I get in a mood to listen to pop music. But I really like to give the girls a hard time about Rap & Hip-Hop. And they like to give me a hard time. So sometimes I’ll come out to practice with my sweatpants pulled down so they sag a little bit. I’ll try to do a little dance and make a total fool of myself in front of ‘em. They get a kick out of that and that’s probably where those tweets came from.

Playersport: Randy I can’t tell you how much I appreciate talking to you and hearing about your life experience as a coach. Hopefully we can do this again sometime.

Coach Waldrum: I really appreciate you having me on. Thank you so much. It’s been great following you [on Twitter] as well. Anybody out there that’s listening that’s not, they need to get on Twitter and follow you. I really love what you do for the game. I should be thank you. I’d be happy to be on, any time. Thanks Ingrid.