Speaker 1: Time for a soccer down here one B one And
Speaker 1: this one is kind of cool because we get to
Speaker 1: catch up with John hillover at Peachtree FC, because there's
Speaker 1: some really cool stuff going on with peach REFC. So
Speaker 1: it's going to be an education for us all about
Speaker 1: what's going on there, what's going on currently in their calendar,
Speaker 1: and why it's a really cool thing currently on the
Speaker 1: field that they're chasing after in the USA s A.
Speaker 1: John hill Founder, Grand exalted pooh bah, let's see what
Speaker 1: I guess. Let me phrase it this way, John, What
Speaker 1: do you do and what do you not do there
Speaker 1: at Peachtree FC to let folks know what's going on.
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, A little bit of everything, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: playing on the team, managing laundry, coordinating the field space,
Speaker 2: registering players, making sure that you know, pay social media,
Speaker 2: pretty much everything at someone with Peachtree.
Speaker 1: I'm doing it, Grand exalted Poopa, of everything going on
Speaker 1: at Peachtree FC. So reason that we're having you on
Speaker 1: in the immediate sense is what's going on with the
Speaker 1: us A s A. But what I wanted to do
Speaker 1: also does give folks a bit of an education is
Speaker 1: to what's going on with peach Tree FC. How it
Speaker 1: came to be, how you came to have ninety eight
Speaker 1: job titles that you're working on simultaneously. For those that
Speaker 1: don't know the history about Peachtree FC, what's the history lesson?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So we started about five years ago. It started
Speaker 2: as a five a side team. We played at the
Speaker 2: Limberg Station soccer pitch, through soccer in the streets, we
Speaker 2: you know, grew interest in the team, eventually grew to
Speaker 2: seven a side. We were playing at Silverbacks Park doing
Speaker 2: seven a side, and then eventually about four years ago
Speaker 2: grew to being an eleven a side team and since
Speaker 2: then just just been growing every year. We you know,
Speaker 2: currently play in the ADSL. You know, we started as
Speaker 2: one team and got promoted to their first division and
Speaker 2: then this past season we just had our first year
Speaker 2: with two teams playing eleven a side.
Speaker 1: And right now with everything going eleven aside, there's a
Speaker 1: run going on in the usas A regionals. So what
Speaker 1: has this run been like for you guys getting into
Speaker 1: the regionals A and have going on this run that
Speaker 1: you're currently on.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a big learning experience for sure. So
Speaker 2: this is our second year participating. I guess in National
Speaker 2: Amateur Cup process. Last year we took part in the
Speaker 2: Georgia State Cup. We didn't progress from that in the
Speaker 2: first year. This past season we made it to the final,
Speaker 2: unfortunately lost in the final, but earned a qualification into
Speaker 2: the regional tournament. And so we were off in Greensboro,
Speaker 2: North Carolina about a week or so ago, participating in
Speaker 2: the regional tournament, which brought teams from North Carolina, Georgia,
Speaker 2: and Texas all together looking to.
Speaker 3: Qualify for the National Amateur Cup.
Speaker 1: And you you get to that point, what did you
Speaker 1: learn about Peach Street FC, both on and off the
Speaker 1: field with this run that you got into this past season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so definitely learned. You know, there's another level above
Speaker 2: that we need to aspire to.
Speaker 3: You know, there's.
Speaker 2: A difference in what we play in our league format
Speaker 2: versus the State Cup and regionals, where the State Cup, Regionals,
Speaker 2: National Amateur Cup is played in the professional manner in
Speaker 2: terms of once you sum out, that's it. The current
Speaker 2: league we play in you and sub out in the
Speaker 2: first half, comeback in the second half. So fitness doesn't
Speaker 2: have to be as as strong in our current league.
Speaker 2: And so that was definitely a rude awakening of you know,
Speaker 2: being able to compete in ninety degree weather. You've got
Speaker 2: to be able to have some really good fitness. And
Speaker 2: then also just the style of play. You know, when
Speaker 2: you can sub out so often, you can play a
Speaker 2: bit more counter attacking, you know, full sprints for thirty
Speaker 2: minutes and then get a break when it's you know,
Speaker 2: you've got to go for seventy five, you know, closer
Speaker 2: to ninety minutes. Kind of have to be able to
Speaker 2: control the ball and be able to manage you know,
Speaker 2: stamina levels throughout the game.
Speaker 3: So that was definitely some of the.
Speaker 2: On the pitch, learning off the pitch, you know, Coordinating.
Speaker 2: You know, we have a group of about fifty guys
Speaker 2: and we were only able to take about twenty to
Speaker 2: the tournament. You know, everyone has has jobs. It can
Speaker 2: be tough, you know, to call out of work. The
Speaker 2: tournament takes place on a Friday through the Sunday, you know,
Speaker 2: traveling for three days.
Speaker 3: People have family and.
Speaker 2: Makes it you know, difficult to put together. It was
Speaker 2: more than I imagined it was going to be. So coordinating.
Speaker 2: That was definitely you know interesting to see hoving people
Speaker 2: drop out like the day before because work, you know needed,
Speaker 2: and all of a sudden they can't make it. So
Speaker 2: how much coordination goes in was definitely the lesson for
Speaker 2: future years for us well.
Speaker 1: And at the same time, I would imagine also the
Speaker 1: idea of game planning and scouting and all of these
Speaker 1: different things and making sure that, Okay, so if I've
Speaker 1: gotten my fifty and I'm down to my twenty, when
Speaker 1: do we get together? How do we study? Who are
Speaker 1: we studying against? How are we studying who are we
Speaker 1: studying with? How are we all the game planning aspect
Speaker 1: for you as a founder, player manager, master of everything,
Speaker 1: I mean, I imagine that how much sleep did you
Speaker 1: get trying to game plan all this stuff?
Speaker 3: Not much in the build up.
Speaker 2: It felt kind of a relief once we got there,
Speaker 2: because it felt like, Okay, we can get past all
Speaker 2: of the you know, coordination and just focus on being
Speaker 2: here and playing. But in terms of the prepit it
Speaker 2: can be tough too, because it's not only you know.
Speaker 2: This year for us was definitely a difference in terms
Speaker 2: of how we have to play, but also, as you know,
Speaker 2: not all of the teams have you know, posts that
Speaker 2: show this is how they play or anything, and so
Speaker 2: it can be difficult.
Speaker 3: You kind of show up and you know, you know,
Speaker 3: you don't know what to expect.
Speaker 2: Some teams can play differently and you're not really sure
Speaker 2: what you're going to get, and so it makes it
Speaker 2: a little tougher to game plan. Versus if we're playing
Speaker 2: a team that you know, we played twice a year,
Speaker 2: especially at least that second time, we know, you know,
Speaker 2: this is who to look out for, this is how
Speaker 2: they're going to play. These are the things that we
Speaker 2: can adjust to.
Speaker 1: And I know that in the past, your your diversity
Speaker 1: when it comes to all of the different nations that
Speaker 1: come together, has been a part of the DNA there
Speaker 1: at Peachtree FC. For those that may not know about
Speaker 1: roster assembly and the United Nations of Soccer that you
Speaker 1: kind of put together there with Peachtree FC, kind of
Speaker 1: break that down for folks of us.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, you know, it's the world's game, and
Speaker 2: you know, I feel that Atlanta, you know, it has
Speaker 2: such a diverse community here and so that you know,
Speaker 2: combination of the love for soccer and people from diverse
Speaker 2: backgrounds kind of just meshed into what Peachtree is. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think we're over twenty countries at least for sure
Speaker 2: that you know, are represented through those those fifty guys.
Speaker 2: And it's great because you just get to see, you know,
Speaker 2: on the pitch, just different ways of viewing how the
Speaker 2: game should work. But then off the pitch is getting
Speaker 2: to learn about just all these different backgrounds and you know,
Speaker 2: it's almost like getting to do a little bit of
Speaker 2: travel because you get to hear about, you know, different
Speaker 2: food that they like or music that these guys like,
Speaker 2: and you know, really immerse yourself in just you know,
Speaker 2: a global background, which is is really exciting.
Speaker 1: All right, how many of the different countries of origin
Speaker 1: can you name off the top of your head?
Speaker 4: Okay, let's see, uh, Brazil, England, Somalia, Oh, gosh, where else?
Speaker 3: Canada, Jamaica, Eritrea, uh, South Africa in the US A yeah, eight?
Speaker 3: Where else? Gosh, I'm drawing a blank right now.
Speaker 1: Well, as we talk and you remember others, you can
Speaker 1: just go ahead and drop them into the conversation. Donorry about.
Speaker 1: It's a good start. But I know, uh so, you
Speaker 1: know you mentioned the idea of widening horizons and understanding
Speaker 1: and appreciating all the different aspects of the game because
Speaker 1: just in in those mentions you're talking about, Uh, several
Speaker 1: different continents, several different approaches, several different levels of the game,
Speaker 1: several different levels of the experience on the global stage
Speaker 1: inside those nations. What's it been like for you and
Speaker 1: the staff to see this this blending together where you
Speaker 1: have this hemisphere and this continent going with the African nations,
Speaker 1: and it's like, okay, well this and this and we
Speaker 1: play this way, and then we play this way, and
Speaker 1: you have this this blending together and this understanding and
Speaker 1: appreciation of all these different ideals. I imagine it's a
Speaker 1: great education once again on and off the field, not
Speaker 1: just in the meals and the conversations in the game,
Speaker 1: but about all the all the other cultures as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's you know, I think what's great is
Speaker 2: that everyone who comes in is open to learning and seeing.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: This is what we try to do is especially with
Speaker 2: the two teams, is you know, we still treat it
Speaker 2: as one club, and so what that means for us
Speaker 2: is that we train together. You know, the expectation is
Speaker 2: any week, you know, a guy from the second team
Speaker 2: might come and play in first team, or maybe a
Speaker 2: guy in the first team is not doing as well,
Speaker 2: he's going to play in the second team, and so
Speaker 2: because of that, you know, we want to have.
Speaker 3: This something that is consistent, and so how we play is,
Speaker 3: you know what we want to keep consistent.
Speaker 2: So that way, you know, it might be a guy's
Speaker 2: first time playing in the first team, but he at
Speaker 2: least has an idea of like, okay, well this is
Speaker 2: what we're trying to do. And so I think that
Speaker 2: that's what's great is that everyone who plays on the
Speaker 2: team is very open to saying like, okay, well this
Speaker 2: is you know, how I like to play, but also
Speaker 2: appreciating this is how as a team we're going to play,
Speaker 2: and so combining those together to help us be successful
Speaker 2: on the pitch.
Speaker 1: John Hill, Master of Everything, over to Peachtree FC, hanging
Speaker 1: out with us for a one B one here over
Speaker 1: on the SDCH network. When you started as a five
Speaker 1: five five team, you're talking about something five years ago,
Speaker 1: and a lot of folks may sit there and say, yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: you know, five years ago, but no, five years ago
Speaker 1: in some aspects is really quick. In some aspects, I'm
Speaker 1: sure that it seems like five years ago. But to
Speaker 1: go from five a side to seven on seven to
Speaker 1: eleven on eleven, from one team to two teams to
Speaker 1: APSL and eighty ASL to US as A and being
Speaker 1: a part of the chasing after championships in alphabet too.
Speaker 1: Does it seem like five years has gone past since
Speaker 1: you started as a five A side?
Speaker 3: At times it does and at times it doesn't.
Speaker 2: There's moments where, you know, even from year to year,
Speaker 2: I go wow, like, you know, just last year we
Speaker 2: didn't have a second team, and now that second team
Speaker 2: got promoted into the first division of ADSL, And then
Speaker 2: you know, to think about that a year ago is
Speaker 2: beyond what I expected to think. I mean five years
Speaker 2: ago and think, oh, we were a five A side
Speaker 2: team and now you know, we've got to play in
Speaker 2: a regional tournament as an eleven side team.
Speaker 3: Definitely not something that was in my mind at that point.
Speaker 3: So yeah, a moment.
Speaker 2: Said it's kind of crazy to think, oh, it's been
Speaker 2: five years and where it started and where it is now.
Speaker 2: And then other times it's like, wow, yeah, this is flown.
Speaker 1: By when it comes to picking leagues and picking paths
Speaker 1: and okay, this is where we want to go, and
Speaker 1: how much thought goes into this process and how much
Speaker 1: thought has gone into the process to figure out what
Speaker 1: your path is going to be. Okay, we're strong enough
Speaker 1: as a five A side, let's go to seven on seven. Okay,
Speaker 1: we're strong enough as a seven on seven. Let's go
Speaker 1: to eleven B eleven. How much thought goes into these
Speaker 1: steps and has gone into these steps about Okay, we
Speaker 1: can expand, we can have more players, we can have
Speaker 1: even more players, we can play eleven to eleven. We
Speaker 1: can go into this league, we can go into this league,
Speaker 1: we can have this tournament, we can have a second team.
Speaker 1: How much thought has gone into each of these aspects
Speaker 1: when it comes to the systemic growth that you've had
Speaker 1: there at.
Speaker 2: Peach three, Yeah, I think the beginning the five aside
Speaker 2: to seven aside and then the sevens to eleven probably less.
Speaker 2: So there it was just that that people were interested
Speaker 2: in joining. It's like, okay, well now we've got, you know,
Speaker 2: fifteen guys to play five aside. With fifteen guys as
Speaker 2: everyone's going to get barely anytime. So those kind of
Speaker 2: moves up from five to eleven probably not as much.
Speaker 2: I think once we hit the elevens, there was a
Speaker 2: lot more thought behind it. So the first team, you know,
Speaker 2: first year got promoted into Division one of ADSL. Then
Speaker 2: in that second year, we said, okay, we would like
Speaker 2: to eventually have a second team, but we don't want
Speaker 2: to do that if both teams are playing in the
Speaker 2: same division, it we're not allowed to move players between
Speaker 2: the two rosters, and so it kind of defeats the
Speaker 2: purpose of having two teams within a club, whereas if
Speaker 2: they're in the separate divisions, you can move them up
Speaker 2: and down and it just gives you more to you know,
Speaker 2: to work with versus it almost functioning as two separate teams.
Speaker 3: So in that second.
Speaker 2: Year, we actually waited to even look at starting a
Speaker 2: second team until we felt comfortable that we were going
Speaker 2: to remain in Division One. Once we had you know,
Speaker 2: kind of felt okay, yeah, we're going to be okay
Speaker 2: in this division for this season and moving forward into
Speaker 2: next year, that was when we started the process for
Speaker 2: the second team.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: And then we kind of ended up with that same
Speaker 2: thought process this past season, where you know, the second
Speaker 2: team performed above expectations. I did not expect them to
Speaker 2: get promoted when we first started the team in that
Speaker 2: first year, and so as they were you know, ending
Speaker 2: towards the are getting towards the end of the season, and.
Speaker 3: It looked like we were going to be promoted.
Speaker 2: It's like, okay, well now we're back in this issue
Speaker 2: of potentially two teams in the first division, and that
Speaker 2: kind of worked out well with the timing of APSL
Speaker 2: looking to move into Georgia was Okay, this is kind
Speaker 2: of a perfect opportunity for us to keep the club
Speaker 2: aspect but allow both teams to still progress.
Speaker 1: I was going to ask, I know that the alphabet
Speaker 1: soup is out there a lot of these days, what
Speaker 1: was it that attracted you? So that was what attracted
Speaker 1: you to the APSL going into that, going into that league?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so you know, I think what interested us
Speaker 2: in enjoying the A P s L. Actually, before uh starting,
Speaker 2: Peachtree had lived in New York and was playing for
Speaker 2: a team that was part of the Cosmopolitan Soccer League
Speaker 2: New York.
Speaker 3: International f C.
Speaker 2: And uh, you know, they already had it used to
Speaker 2: be called the EPs L Eastern Premiere Soccer League is
Speaker 2: now changed to the A P s L, and uh,
Speaker 2: you know, had seen how it worked there and felt
Speaker 2: that as it was coming down into Georgia, I was like, oh, this,
Speaker 2: this feels right for us.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: What they try to do is is allow it to
Speaker 2: be affordable and accessible, you know, with with Pea Tree
Speaker 2: being run by me it you know, it's not backed
Speaker 2: with with tons of funding where it's like we can
Speaker 2: just you know, take huge risks and go and make
Speaker 2: a team that you know has to to you know,
Speaker 2: bring in so much money to be able to continue
Speaker 2: to run.
Speaker 3: And so I like that aspect.
Speaker 2: The APSL and ADSL are now linked, and so you know,
Speaker 2: basically if our first team were to finish last in APSL,
Speaker 2: we would get relegated back into the ADSL. I like,
Speaker 2: you know, the fact that they're looking to combine with
Speaker 2: leagues that already exist in the area. I definitely am
Speaker 2: a bigger fan of promotion relegation right from bottom all
Speaker 2: the way up to the top. I know it's not
Speaker 2: quite like that here, and so I'd say this is
Speaker 2: probably the closest that has it.
Speaker 3: You know, even if you were to win the APSL.
Speaker 2: I think they just had their national final. They have
Speaker 2: a tournament that I think if you win it, you
Speaker 2: actually get the option to go and play in in NISA,
Speaker 2: you know, at the professional level, and so it does
Speaker 2: have an option to basically go from starting a grassroots
Speaker 2: team in the ads L all the way up to
Speaker 2: potentially playing at a professional level.
Speaker 1: So and one of the other things that I noticed
Speaker 1: is that as of was it last month, you're also
Speaker 1: a five oh one C three.
Speaker 2: Now yes, yeah, so that was exciting for us to do.
Speaker 2: You know, that's how the club runs is basically is
Speaker 2: a nonprofit anyway, so it made sense for us to
Speaker 2: do it.
Speaker 3: You know, the core of the club is not to
Speaker 3: make money.
Speaker 2: It's to provide a platform for for guys to be
Speaker 2: able to play affordable and accessible soccer at a you know,
Speaker 2: competitive level, and so it kind of made sense for
Speaker 2: that opportunity.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 2: You know, what it does is hopefully encourages you know,
Speaker 2: small businesses to want to partner with us. You know,
Speaker 2: I appreciate that when uh, grassroots soccer clubs are looking
Speaker 2: for sponsorship that there's typically not the kind of return
Speaker 2: on investment you get if you're sponsoring you know, an
Speaker 2: Arsenal or a Liverpool or something like that, and most
Speaker 2: people are doing it just out the good of their heart,
Speaker 2: and so you know, I certainly getting the benefits of
Speaker 2: of sponsoring of five O one C three felt like
Speaker 2: something that might you know, help us be able to
Speaker 2: grow what we're doing on the pitch and off the
Speaker 2: pitch to make it even better than what we currently have.
Speaker 1: Okay, So now that you've made the run in the
Speaker 1: USA SA, this is the question for the fans and
Speaker 1: the followers of peach REFC. So all right, so you
Speaker 1: made the run this year, what are you getting ready
Speaker 1: for for next year? No patients obviously here question.
Speaker 2: So the yeah, that's it's funny, we got we finished
Speaker 2: with that. Tom like, okay, this is this is good.
Speaker 2: We know what we need to work on.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: The plan is, uh, you know, first team will be
Speaker 2: playing a PSL, the second team will be playing in the.
Speaker 3: First division of AD s L.
Speaker 2: The goal is to hopefully bring back some trophies by
Speaker 2: the end of April May next year, and then go
Speaker 2: ahead and do our State Cup run again, hopefully again,
Speaker 2: finish with a trophy one step further this year or
Speaker 2: this upcoming year, and then a better run at regionals.
Speaker 2: You know, I think as we have these learning experiences
Speaker 2: each year, we've grown on it, and so you know,
Speaker 2: next year, I feel confident that we'll be able to
Speaker 2: bring back some trophies but then also go further in
Speaker 2: the tournaments that you know, so far, we haven't made
Speaker 2: it all the way to the end, and we.
Speaker 1: Are looking forward to seeing that growth. For folks that
Speaker 1: want to find out more about what's going on over
Speaker 1: there at Peachtree FC, John, how do they do it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So we have Instagram account for both of our teams.
Speaker 2: It's f C Peachtree for the first team and f
Speaker 2: C Peachtree two for the second team. We have a
Speaker 2: blue Sky account which is FC Peachtree and then we
Speaker 2: also have our website, peachtrefc dot com. And what's great
Speaker 2: about the website is there's a calendar page where everyone
Speaker 2: can see, you know, the schedule for the team and
Speaker 2: when we have games and where they're at.
Speaker 1: As we always will be keeping an eye on step
Speaker 1: with their at PEACHTREFC. John Hill, Founder, player manager, kit washer,
Speaker 1: the guy who flips the light switch on to make
Speaker 1: sure that everyone can see at practice. Great to catch
Speaker 1: up with you, my friend. Fantastic run that you guys
Speaker 1: had there in the U S A s A. And
Speaker 1: obviously we're going to be keeping an eye on the
Speaker 1: growth and fantastic to see what's been going on. Thanks
Speaker 1: for dropping by for a one v one in a
Speaker 1: very very busy time and having one of your personalities
Speaker 1: drop by to catch up with this year.
Speaker 3: Appreciate it. Thank you for having me