Speaker 1: Welcome. Hen It's time for another SDH Network one, the
Speaker 1: one on Jason Longshore and I had the chance to
Speaker 1: catch up with Aaron Walker of South Georgia Tormenta this week.
Speaker 1: Aaron is moving into a new phase of his career.
Speaker 1: He re signed with the Statesboro based club as a
Speaker 1: player coach for the twenty twenty five season. Aaron, originally
Speaker 1: from the Metro Atlanta area, was a legend at Oglethorpe University,
Speaker 1: helping them to their first conference title in program history.
Speaker 1: He's played all over the United States. He's played in
Speaker 1: Iceland professionally as well, but he's making a home for
Speaker 1: himself in Statesboro and it's exciting to see him start
Speaker 1: to think about that next step in his career. Our
Speaker 1: conversation started with a look back at the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: four season. Here's Aaron answering my questions about his reflections
Speaker 1: on last season.
Speaker 2: We personally, I enjoyed it a lot.
Speaker 3: We kind of struggled a bit to end the year,
Speaker 3: which which was a little disappointing. But I really enjoyed
Speaker 3: working with Ian last year, getting to know him, his principles,
Speaker 3: the way he wants to run a club. His vision
Speaker 3: is all, it aligns very well with mine and how
Speaker 3: I am as a player and even now, you know,
Speaker 3: trying to be a coach. I enjoyed it for the
Speaker 3: most part as much. States for itself is much different
Speaker 3: than Atlanta. So that's that's a bit of an adjustment,
Speaker 3: but it's a little slower, but it's still nice. It's
Speaker 3: a nice It allows you to focus on your football,
Speaker 3: which I think is a good thing.
Speaker 2: So overall, really nice.
Speaker 3: It'll be good to have a full year to see
Speaker 3: and experience everything, both.
Speaker 2: With the club and off the field.
Speaker 1: So so you guys are underway in preseason this year,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned the coaching side. It's always an interesting
Speaker 1: transition and you're doing the half and half the season
Speaker 1: player assistant coach. You know what went into those discussions
Speaker 1: to join the coaching staff and how has it been
Speaker 1: so far in preseason getting ready to contribute on the
Speaker 1: field but also contributing off the field.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a it's an adjustment, but one that I was,
Speaker 3: you know, prepared for, and I'm excited about. I made
Speaker 3: the decision this off season to start my B license,
Speaker 3: the pro B license course, and kind of going to
Speaker 3: try to use this year. This season as sort of
Speaker 3: that segue period. So I was thinking to myself, you know,
Speaker 3: I'll start the V license. I want to keep playing obviously,
Speaker 3: and see if coaching is for me. I've always, you know,
Speaker 3: thought I would like to be a manager, or it's
Speaker 3: just a manager at.
Speaker 2: A high level.
Speaker 3: And since I've been starting the course and getting more
Speaker 3: involved with it, it's been really enjoyable. So just trying
Speaker 3: to prepare and learn as much as I can as
Speaker 3: I go. Ian and and the staff have been very
Speaker 3: like welcoming, and like I said, their vision all lignes
Speaker 3: a lot with mine and how I see the game
Speaker 3: and how I want players to play and how I
Speaker 3: want to play as a player. So it was it
Speaker 3: was kind of a no brainer with the author day
Speaker 3: throughout me and and it just all made sense and
Speaker 3: in values my opinion, which is something I've said a
Speaker 3: lot around that being in a place.
Speaker 2: Of work where your opinion.
Speaker 3: Is valued is it really really feels good and it
Speaker 3: speaks volumes of those people, and that's kind of a
Speaker 3: place I want to be. So just trying to get
Speaker 3: my legs under me as a from a player perspective,
Speaker 3: and that's still you know, I know how these preseasons go,
Speaker 3: you kind of got to pace yourself and work your
Speaker 3: way through it, and then off the field doing the
Speaker 3: coaching stuff.
Speaker 2: It's been a it's been a fun balance.
Speaker 3: It's obviously a lot and being, you know, having the
Speaker 3: mentality of a player when you're on the field, but
Speaker 3: also you can't just focus on yourself. You gotta be
Speaker 3: thinking about the group and we achieve our objectives and
Speaker 3: I exercise. I mean, it's just it's a lot to
Speaker 3: manage when you're really both, but I'm up for it.
Speaker 2: It's exciting.
Speaker 1: What's been the hardest thing as your career has progressed
Speaker 1: in terms of preseason on the player side and getting
Speaker 1: ready for that upcoming season. You mentioned pacing yourself. What's
Speaker 1: some of the real challenges that players face this time
Speaker 1: of year.
Speaker 2: It's for me personally.
Speaker 3: I I like training and doing stuff like that, so
Speaker 3: it's it's kind of a challenge to stay away from
Speaker 3: training as much as possible as I've gotten older. Now
Speaker 3: it's not extremely hard at this point, but it is difficult.
Speaker 2: You know. I still enjoy going to the gym, I
Speaker 2: still enjoy running.
Speaker 3: A lot, but as I've gotten older, I've stayed away
Speaker 3: from the ball a little more in the off seasons
Speaker 3: and tried to use the you know, six week period
Speaker 3: of being on the ball to be sharp because of
Speaker 3: how long the seasons are.
Speaker 2: It's it's a good, good haul from February to November,
Speaker 2: so you know, you got to make sure you're you're
Speaker 2: sharp all the way through, and to do that, it's
Speaker 2: kind of a trial and.
Speaker 3: Error process of how much you you burn yourself out early.
Speaker 1: So you've seen the growth of USL League one first
Speaker 1: hand and it really feels like it's in a great
Speaker 1: spot to start to truly explode in the years to come.
Speaker 1: How important is this level in that overall growth of
Speaker 1: US soccer in your mind.
Speaker 3: Massive, it's I mean there's more and more pro players
Speaker 3: trying to players trying to make it in the pro game.
Speaker 3: These these younger players now as you see all over
Speaker 3: the world are getting much more exposure, which is really cool.
Speaker 3: And these these leagues are can be platforms for these
Speaker 3: players to go and get that pro experience that they
Speaker 3: need and then move on to the higher levels. And
Speaker 3: I think that's that's super important. That's that's something that
Speaker 3: wasn't always around when I was growing up. You know,
Speaker 3: it was, it was much seemed much more difficult to
Speaker 3: make it in the pro game.
Speaker 2: There were less clubs, less opportunities.
Speaker 3: As you see obviously, there's clubs popping up all over
Speaker 3: in the USL Championship, USL League One, there's even NISSA
Speaker 3: clubs just everywhere popping up, and there will be more
Speaker 3: to come next.
Speaker 2: Year and more to come the years after that.
Speaker 3: So giving these these younger players the exposure that they
Speaker 3: need to in the experience that they need. I mean,
Speaker 3: you can be a very good player, but playing in
Speaker 3: a game is much different than anything.
Speaker 2: There's no simulation for that.
Speaker 3: So they're getting these games that they need under their
Speaker 3: belt and being able to climb the ladder and go
Speaker 3: over to a europe or wherever that may be. And
Speaker 3: then it also continues to give exposure to the players
Speaker 3: that may be a little bit older who are still
Speaker 3: looking to find that ladder, maybe coming back from injury,
Speaker 3: and there's guys that drop down levels and need to
Speaker 3: come back from injury. They get games and then they
Speaker 3: can bounce back up. So US soccer is heading in
Speaker 3: the right direction. There's a lot of exciting things to
Speaker 3: come in the next couple of years.
Speaker 1: I think you're a prime example of that with what
Speaker 1: you're doing this year with you know, the opportunities for
Speaker 1: players growing and growing and growing is vital, but the
Speaker 1: opportunities for coaches, the opportunities for the referee side of things,
Speaker 1: the front office staff. You know, you've started your coaching
Speaker 1: journey here and this is a great opportunity, just like
Speaker 1: you mentioned as a player, to get that experience. You
Speaker 1: can read all the books, you could take all the courses,
Speaker 1: but getting that hands on experience working with Ian Cameron.
Speaker 1: How important do you think that's going to be to
Speaker 1: jump starting the next phase for you in the game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's I mean, that's the most important part. I mean,
Speaker 3: like you said, you can do all of the all
Speaker 3: the spreadsheets and all of the admin work, and all
Speaker 3: of the planning sessions on your own and diagramming and
Speaker 3: period periodization and all that stuff you can do find
Speaker 3: the scenes on the computer, but being dropped in and
Speaker 3: actually getting first hand live experience, you know, I'll be
Speaker 3: able to run phases of training and sort of be
Speaker 3: able to echo the coaching staff sit in on training
Speaker 3: session planning and game breakdowns and clipping film and all
Speaker 3: that stuff is like it's so useful and I've learned
Speaker 3: even in the first two weeks, just an insane amount
Speaker 3: and it's crazy, like you don't quite realize. I mean,
Speaker 3: I didn't quite realize until I joined this coaching course
Speaker 3: kind of what all.
Speaker 2: Goes into it.
Speaker 3: And for the past two months I've kind of learned
Speaker 3: a good bit. But now, even being first hand, there's
Speaker 3: so many things you have to manage, and it's really exciting.
Speaker 1: There's that balancing act between the technical side of coaching
Speaker 1: and look, it's the same for a player too in
Speaker 1: terms of the technique and the fitness, but then managing
Speaker 1: the people. You know, that's always a challenge as well
Speaker 1: that coaches face. How have your teammates responded to your
Speaker 1: new role.
Speaker 2: Good? They've they've been very accepting.
Speaker 3: Its interesting line because you know you have to you
Speaker 3: have to be you know, it's player first right now
Speaker 3: for me. But it's like you have to be a
Speaker 3: player and have the guys back, but then you also
Speaker 3: have to sit in on the meetings of the staff
Speaker 3: and help plan and stuff and then have have them
Speaker 3: and they have to be echoed. So it's a it's
Speaker 3: an interesting juggling act, but it's it's fun.
Speaker 2: I'm everyone here has been super.
Speaker 3: Accepting of of the role and you know, happy for me,
Speaker 3: and that makes such a big difference. It just obviously
Speaker 3: I was comfortable here last year, which is part of
Speaker 3: the reason why I wanted to come back and tell
Speaker 3: valued but having that again is it's really cool.
Speaker 1: It's exciting to see the growth of everything in statesbro
Speaker 1: a tournament that's one of the great success stories in
Speaker 1: American soccer. You know, you've had a chance now be
Speaker 1: in there for a little while. You've seen the talent
Speaker 1: coming up through the program. Talking about academy kids, you know,
Speaker 1: an area of the country that we might not think
Speaker 1: of when it comes to developing players, but you're seeing
Speaker 1: better and better players come out of that area every season.
Speaker 3: It feels like, yeah, there's a we have a few
Speaker 3: academy kids here now that train with us, and there's
Speaker 3: been a few that have moved on to the higher,
Speaker 3: higher levels. And I believe it was just recently one
Speaker 3: of the guys that played in this academy just made
Speaker 3: his debut for the US it was a.
Speaker 2: Week or two ago and did well.
Speaker 3: So there's a ton of talent around here in the
Speaker 3: Savannah area. That I think can get overlooked. But Georgia
Speaker 3: as a whole obviously has a ton of talent. I
Speaker 3: grew up in north of Atlanta and it's a hotbed.
Speaker 3: So it's cool to see some of these guys get the.
Speaker 2: Notice that they deserve.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it feels like, you know, it feels like the
Speaker 1: South in general has been overlooked in terms of soccer talent.
Speaker 1: Georgia has Atlantic gets some of that hype, and especially
Speaker 1: with Atlanta United, but now it feels like the rest
Speaker 1: of the state is really starting to catch up. How
Speaker 1: do you think the season is looking for Tormento? What
Speaker 1: what are kind of the main focuses for you guys
Speaker 1: in preseason and you get ready to start USL League
Speaker 1: one and amount of months time.
Speaker 2: We feel good about where we are. We are for
Speaker 2: sure right now.
Speaker 3: There's still a lot that needs to be done, a
Speaker 3: lot of building blocks and foundational pieces that we have
Speaker 3: to sort out before we can make bigger steps. But
Speaker 3: that's what preseason is about. It's a slow, slow process.
Speaker 3: We have some very good, you know, exercises, and we
Speaker 3: play the Charleston Battery, who play Tampa Rowdies. We play
Speaker 3: Atlanta United too. This coming weekend, some very good runouts
Speaker 3: for us. That gives us an idea of where we're at,
Speaker 3: but in certainly wanted to be.
Speaker 2: A little bit more dynamic going forward this year.
Speaker 3: We've added quite a few wingers that you know, not
Speaker 3: that we didn't have a lot of talent last year,
Speaker 3: but a little bit quicker, a little bit more dynamic
Speaker 3: pac so that from from the way that we play,
Speaker 3: have a little bit more of an idea how we
Speaker 3: want to how we want to attack, and be a
Speaker 3: little bit more dynamics.
Speaker 2: So we feel good about it. We're excited. Uh after
Speaker 2: this weekend, well, like I said, we'll have a really
Speaker 2: good idea of where we're at.
Speaker 3: We can kind of adjust, but we're seeing a lot
Speaker 3: of the the behavioral things that we needed to see
Speaker 3: early on, which is a huge piece of it, you know,
Speaker 3: the sacrifice, the putting your body on the line, the
Speaker 3: tracking back, the transitional play, being a habit like defensively
Speaker 3: and attacking.
Speaker 2: So the things that we've wanted to see have been there.
Speaker 1: So it's nice good building blocks as you guys get started.
Speaker 1: Hopefully I will have a chance to see you guys
Speaker 1: on Saturday. We'll try to watch that with it Land
Speaker 1: United to the first team for at Land United is
Speaker 1: playing in Bradenton and we're doing a stream of that one,
Speaker 1: but I'll be at the facility, so when it ends,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna trying to walk out. Get an eye on
Speaker 1: how things are going for Tormento this season. Nice, nice,
Speaker 1: looking forward to it. Aaron, thank you so much, best
Speaker 1: of luck in your new role, and thank you for taking.
Speaker 2: Some time boys, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2: Jason