Chris Gordon  
everyone thanks for joining us for another edition of exact club experts. Today we welcome on a very special guest. He's the assistant director of coaching at the Chicago Fire juniors located right in the heart of Chicago. He's a former professional soccer player that came from overseas and is now in the States. Welcome on bill McNab. Coach McNabb talks about what inspired him to get into coaching and his journey into the unit us the process of selecting a new club team and the levels of play. How the club game is different from overseas and involving mental training and twist coach. You can check out the entire conversation at our blog, exact sports comm slash blog or on our social platforms, Instagram or Twitter at exact sports and our Facebook page. Exact soccer. hope y'all enjoy this one. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you guys. All right deal. So let's get right into it. Here. Talk Talk to us a little bit more about your journey into coaching. Obviously, we mentioned that your your playing background is overseas. So tell us what inspired you to get into coaching? And I guess how did you end up in Chicago now with the fire juniors?

Joe McNab
So I'll try to make a brief, brief story have been here for a while, but, you know, coaching for me was really the next best thing to playing and to keep me involved with the game. With clubs that I played for in the US, it was a natural integration to working for those clubs locally with within their own community. So it's kind of thrown out into the communities with that and, you know, decided it was something that I was passionate about and, you know, kept me on the field and, you know, ended up I moved to Atlanta and I was working for youth club. They're called soccer, youth soccer, and then a couple years after work for them My father, brother and I formed our own club called chiefs FC, which is still in Atlanta, my brother runs that. And, you know, goodness Fast Forward 10 plus years and I get married and wife moves up to Chicago with her job and I move it with her and, and my resume and with the fire and fortunate enough, was able to accept a job coaching a couple of teams and moved up to work with the girls program and run up the girls program there and

Joe McNab
yeah, so kind of a quick, quick hair, you

Chris Gordon
know. So it's always, always interesting to see, you know, how coaches kind of get to where they're at, in the present day. So it seems like you've had a few stops along the way and, you know, you've worked with a different variety of clubs, different, different levels, even boys and girls. The next question I had leaned into it is, you know, talk about The process of finding a new club, I mean, you just kind of went through that as a coach, but as a player, talk about the process of finding a new club and how to gauge maybe their level of play and where they stand.

Joe McNab
And I think if, you know to, for me, as a coach kind of just said, going through that process of finding a good base for me and and what matches for me as a coach, and I think it's gonna have some similarities for that as a players, you know, does it match for the player geographically? Are they able to get to to the club that they want to go play for? Does the club match, you know, the individual's core values and what they're looking to get out of the experiences that a club that's, you know, is going to put winning? The priority, they're going to put development at the priority, they're going to have a blend of the two. Is it a neighborhood club is a club that travels a lot, you know, it's all gonna mesh with the individual You know, when I was looking for new clubs from a coaching standpoint, you know, geographically moving here to Chicago had to be able to physically be able to get to the get to the club. Obviously, traffic is quite bad up here. But I think, you know, it really boils down to doing doing some research, you know, you've we've got access to, you know, to do so much research now online, oh, that's changed from back, you know, 1520 years when didn't have as much information out online. So things have really changed for, you know, for players there to be able to do their own research, you know, look to see, your coaches bio should be online, how experienced are the coaches? Do they have contact information, if I'm going to look to move from from a club or mat to a new club, I'm going to want to speak to the coach, see what their thought is of how they want the game to be played, what they're looking for an A player, you know, if they're not open to having those discussions, that Probably tells you as well, are they somebody that I really want to go play for? So, you know, do some research on, you know, players have maybe played for that player, what, you know, they've gone on to play in college, have they for the high schools? You know, try and find out that information, we think we can find out a lot about clubs and coaches more so than we realize, just through a little bit of little bit of research, and I think it'll be worth a while for, for players to, to take a vested interest in not always what, you know, the parents want, obviously, you know, depending on the age of the child, the parents gonna make the decision for them. But once we get into those formative teen teen years, I think their players should be doing that research by themselves.

Chris Gordon
Yeah, that makes sense, especially as you get into high school, there's, you know, you have a lot of a lot of ways to do that. And, you know, there's sometimes different contexts of clubs that you might need to speak to Is there anyone specific Know your clubs you might have the fire being a bigger club, there might be a maybe a recruiting coordinator directors or some someone specific that a player should target, you know to speak to about, you know what, what team they might be able to, they should be playing for one to try out what was that main contact that we should we should be targeting?

Joe McNab
I think the each Club's gonna have their own different, you know, hierarchy and structure and trying to figure out who it is it's gonna be best suited to that, to answer those questions. You know, for us. With the fire juniors, it's going to be the assistant directors or the directors of coaching or assistant coaching, you're going to have a better understanding and the grasp of the you know what teams may be looking for players what levels all those teams are at who the coaches are most likely to be. You know, Coach teams also. Also teams clubs will also work different Whether they post that coaches ahead of tryouts or after tryouts, that's kind of information that the individual is going to want to try to find out. You know, anybody within a leadership role within within their organization should have an idea of, of being able to point the individual player in the right direction, even if it's not in the right contact. So I think the biggest hurdle is getting, you know, getting players and families and knowing that it's okay to reach out to the clubs and ask that, that those questions Who should I speak to, if this if this is the right person or not, you know, go ahead and make the contact initially and then, you know, the club should follow up with with guidance on that. And that's kind of similar to you know, the previous question if the club doesn't want to follow up with guidance of that, you know, with that information, that really the club that we want to go play for if you have an accent, five or six emails before you you get a response, you know, is this really the club that you is going to be the best fit for you. So go ahead and make the initial contact, I probably put more than one person on, on on that contact, just in case it is, is not the correct person and then, you know, should hopefully hear back within a timely fashion

Joe McNab
to get the information that you know you're looking for.

Chris Gordon
Guys. Yeah, that makes that makes a lot of sense. Now with your background being obviously from overseas and kind of have an experience on both sides of of the ball, sort of speak here. Can you tell us a little bit about the differences between you know, soccer in the US, US as opposed to in the UK? And maybe as a player coming from overseas, what should they expect to see differently and, you know, how should they prepare for the change?

Joe McNab
I think the the biggest difference in the way the sports set up is that in the US, it's really it's a really a pay to play game. model the very professionalized model for youth sports, more so than it is in and, you know, in European countries, obviously my background, you know, growing up and playing in the UK where it was very, very cost very much to play the game growing up, that's, that's actually changing now there's there's trading academies and specialized trading coming in a lot younger, younger age in the UK. So it's becoming more like the the American model to a certain degree. But I think that for any young player coming in and families to understand is that you know, the players can and, you know, they'll, the US model they'll get, if they're paying to play, they'll get what their the model is set up to do. And I think that players can thrive in that environment. If they take some of the instruction they receive and take away and actually work on that on their own. It might be the best of both, you know, both kind of scenarios together. You know, I think that any any anybody that's moving from the UK to the to the US should expect that, you know, that's not going to be the same is going to be change. You know, trying to have a European model in an American marketplace is not going to work as it was, it wouldn't necessarily work in the reverse as well. So I think they having an open mind for, you know, whether you're coming from the UK to the US or going from the US to the UK, for young Blair, for anybody that's moving that, you know, just having an open mind that it's not going to be it's not going to be the same. You know, and that was tough for me coming over as a young you know, as a young player. You know, I was in my early 20s when I moved over to to the US and you know, Turning on the TV and I'm wanting to watch, you know, Manchester City and I'm seeing the, you know, New York Giants or, you know, different things like that. So it's kind of things like that have changed over the last few years, but just the culture is it is it is different with the sports and here in the US, there's such a, such a vast market with so many different sports that need to be open minded that, you know, there's a there's a lot more sporting opportunities here in in the US. So, you know, I think they can all we can all work together. And I think that, you know, learning to love other sports and what other sports bring to soccer is is also a benefit.

Chris Gordon
Sure, yeah, that makes sense. A lot of a lot of the athletes that attend our events do play multiple sports, you know, not just at the high school at the club level, but high school as well. So, I think Yeah, that makes sense. keeping an open mind and making sure that you know, you're not closing any doors. You know, as you're aware of At our events, we focus on the mental side of the game. Can you talk a little bit more about how you have incorporated the mental side of of soccer to your, you know, coaching or have, you know, taught some of your coaches that you work with how they incorporate that with within their games?

Joe McNab
Um, I think the one of the you know, the biggest things

Joe McNab
you know, I see with with with young players is the ability or sometimes maybe the lack of ability to persevere. And I think you know, you guys have seen it with with the what you guys trying to give kids the opportunities to get to the next level with with exact with camps and things like that. And it's those kids that are willing to keep working hard, keep, you know, keep persevering, whether the things are going well for them or not. So From a from a from a training standpoint that also works with, you know, young players and young coaches to understand that, you know, especially in the younger younger years that you know, a team losing a game or struggling in a practice session or an individual having a, you know, a bad few weeks is actually their period of development. That's actually the, that's the best thing that could be happening for them. Even though it may look from the outside, it looks messy. It looks like they're struggling. That's actually the the period of time when they're actually learning the most. And I think we, we sometimes try to pull them out of that too soon without letting them letting a young player or even, you know, a young coach kind of work their way through that process. Because, you know, for anybody to reach the next level, whether it be the next level might be playing for high school, the next level might be playing in college, the next level might be professionally and first to enable them to have that opportunity. of the next level, they need to go through, you know, a process of, you know, have a tough time, have it be a process of adversity for them and actually come out the other side and be a stronger person for that. And I think if we can enable that to be put them in that environment where they are having a tough time, and it's not always easy, but also give them the support to know that, hey, they're going to work through this Keep, keep working hard, keep trying, I think for young players is critical for them to work through that. So, you know, my coaching philosophy is to, you know, not sit there and watch the young kids struggle, but understand them and try to articulate it to you, but this is, this is a good thing for them and especially, you know, having the same conversations with their parents to make sure the parents understand you know, why, why is my son or daughter struggling right now, actually, this is their learning. This is a learning period. This is the struggling because they're learning how to do this skill that they've never done before this activity They've never done before, when they get to the end of that they're going to be a better player. You know, both technically tactically and but then also mentally as they come through that. So patients, you know, patients with that with young players, you know, you guys obviously integrate the, the mentality of playing in a, you know, at the next level and that being a college athlete, or planning college is tough. And if they have easy in their club careers and then go into a tough environment, that's the first time they've experienced that the likelihood of them failing at that level is higher than if they've had a gone through adversity in the year. So we want them to go to the next level and be able to sustain it and not for it just to be, you know, a flash in the pan. So I think they've learned to deal with that. And that's such a, you know, the mental side of the game is such a huge proponent of being an overall You know, complete, you know, athlete, whether it be high school, you know, and college and beyond.

Chris Gordon
Yeah, I agree I totally can relate to, you know, that mentality, I feel like learning to fail is something that at a young age, if you're able to do that, you're better from it. And like you said, getting the parents on board with it is such a key component of that. Because, you know, as we have seen a lot of our parents are pushing players to be the best and be the number one and they're not understanding one, it's not always going their way. That that's really their time development. So yeah, very good points there. And I'm sure a lot of the coaches are better better for understanding that part of it as well. Last question we have, and I'm sure you've heard a lot with your club and have been teaching your clubs and ways of staying in shape during this time of being at home, what are what are some ways both not not just physically but mentally, what are some, some ways our players can, can stay in game shape so that when we're back ready to hit the field, they're ready to go.

Joe McNab
I think we're, we're all now, you know, facing a time that we've never really none of us have been through during our lifetime. So things have evolved very, very quickly, and how to, how to work with the players and you know, with the fire juniors, we've we've worked very hard to kind of engage the players on different levels and whether that be technically tactically socially, you know, working on mental skills and, and also, you know, keeping them engaged, physically inactive. So we're trying to hit all of the the core pillars of the game. Even though be it from from, you know, remotely. We technically we've pad with with the coaching manual which is a platform to. We've used to build our lesson planning and we've actually had with them to use an app they formulate called top trackers. So that engages the kids to do certain skills. So we've worked with that. That's been excellent. We are working with our academy staff and pass we have a department in our, in the, in the fire that's called performance advisories and support services. They're helping with guide our players through some mental skills training that's kind of been filtered down through the coaches that's about to be launched, hopefully this coming week. And then physically, you know, we're trying to engage the players by, you know, being as active as as they can, obviously within a safe environment and, you know, go through certain route, you know, certain activities at home, and then there's been some advice go out to the players on what activities they can do within, you know, confined spaces. There's lots of resources online, you know, right now that you can just, you know, put into a search engine and find lots of different activities to do. And the same same is really been happening as far as keeping coaches engaged as well. How do we keep the coaches game shape and ready? You know, and there's lots of webinars out there that coaches can follow, you know, soccer coaches doing a great job, putting on you know, twice a day, webinars that they're putting out there. The coaching manuals, also got webinars, a lot of our staff and listening to we've had our own virtual meetings and sessions. And it's, you know, it's only time will tell hopefully this, this won't go on for Forever, we'll be able to get out on the fields, some point. But I think it's to stay meant to stay engaged. I think it's really you know, at this point, I think it's really making sure that we maintain an enthusiasm to get back out on the fields. And, and work towards, you know, finding little, little victories within what we're doing, you know, we can be more certified Birdman for a place I'm pointing, I broke my juggling record, you know, little things like that, that they can kind of say, okay, am I getting better? Because, No, nobody can. If anybody says, Oh, well, you can stay. It's easy to stay motivated. I think that's, I think this is a time of diversity and fleet for young players is it can be hard to stay motivated, simply because we don't know what our next game is. We don't know when our next training session. So I think looking at the little victories and setting small, you know, goals, even if it's just for a week To set little goals on the arm, I gonna touch a soccer ball each day today, am I going to, you know, beat my record for a number of push ups I can do in a minute, you know, little little things like that, that players can, you know, look as little victories will hopefully help them stay game shape and then for coaches, you know, it's really being you know, can we become better students of the game? You know, what are we doing to better ourselves in this time? So then when we all get back together, the players are ready.

Joe McNab
coaches are ready, you know, and

Joe McNab
we're in a good good position to, for coaches to be able to facilitate the players reaching their potential and the players have done what they needed to do. To stay ready to, to also, you know, see see them reach their potential so

Chris Gordon
yeah, absolutely. I think physically I feel like that's, that's the easy part mentally staying motivated and staying in shape. That's the challenge. Not just as a player as a coach, so It sounds like the fire juniors are in good hands with those with those tools to keep them engaged. Well those are those are the main questions I have for you Joe. I do like to end my my interviews with three fun questions so that the players can get to know you a little bit better on the personal level. Um, first question, I feel like you have a leg up on most given your professional background but I'm going to ask it anyway. The coolest or best place you've ever played, or coached soccer wise field

Joe McNab
in this

Joe McNab
so I

Joe McNab
I was fortunate enough to grow up in Manchester City Academy so it's hard to look beyond you know beyond that. But from a really fell in love with my time at Portsmouth FC. The fans are incredible. Come out and watch their I didn't play for involved too much with the first team unfortunately, but come out and watch the academy team play and the reserve team. So I'd say you know, Fratton Park is hard to be,

Joe McNab
you know, on game days, you know, crazy crazy fans. So

Joe McNab
that's a say from Fratton Park in Portsmouth is pretty incredible place and that's, I've got some, you know, pretty deep ties with that with that with that club and

Joe McNab
brings like some good memories. So.

Chris Gordon
Okay, next question. I think I might know, given where you're at your background, but in terms of coaching, would you rather it be 100 degrees or 30 degrees?

Joe McNab
Absolutely. 30 degrees.

Joe McNab
You know, moving up here to Chicago was

Joe McNab
was

Chris Gordon
that's that's my

Joe McNab
background. It's definitely my climate may it's definitely my climate

Joe McNab
the, you know, I was lifting live in Atlanta. 12 years and I just got it got real it gets really hot there and I'd have to go and have to go north for the summer. I'd have to the do that because it would just get too hot so moving to Chicago. I don't mind I don't mind the cold

Chris Gordon
the seven days that I have to spend down there in the summer that's enough for me.

Joe McNab
Yeah, no, no air conditioning for those capsules. Oh my god,

Chris Gordon
we're gonna try to change that. I'm gonna get that this year. Okay, last question. Most famous person in your cell phone

Joe McNab
like to say me but now

Joe McNab
he's most famous person and my cell phone.

Joe McNab
Probably probably my dad actually phone my dad he. He played over 600 professional games and I think access to Manchester City and Tottenham and Brighton in the Premier League. Pro my dad's probably

Joe McNab
the

Joe McNab
biggest one of the most in depth. Now Wikipedia page. I think you

Chris Gordon
have to look that up. I did not know that. But that's the room. That's my first Wikipedia when I get off here.

Joe McNab
Yeah, that's probably my most famous.

Joe McNab
Yeah.

Joe McNab
Yeah, that's

Joe McNab
kind of watching him play growing up was, was what got me into the sport. So a lot to a lot to him for getting me involved. So. And, as I mentioned earlier, my brother dad and I actually ran a club together and Georgia for a number of years. So that was, that was good times. Good times.

Chris Gordon
All right, on. All right, Joe. That's all I have for you. I appreciate you helping me out. appreciate you helping our athletes out and look to get this online soon for everyone to check out.

Joe McNab
Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me.

Chris Gordon
Full time we have for our conversation with folks. Yo McNabb, we appreciate him coming on and giving us more advice on the International Club game and how to stay mentally tough during this time of being at home. Coming up, we will have more conversations with different coaches on how to prepare for our tryouts staying in shape both mentally and physically while being at home and developing our talents for the future seasons. If you would like to ask any questions to our college coaches or club coaches, or want to just check out any more interviews, feel free to check out our Instagram or Twitter pages at exec sports, Facebook at exact soccer and our blog, exact sports comm slash blog. Catch you all again next time on exact club experts.

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