Coach Mac Brings RIFC to the EP Boys and Girls Club!

Rhode Island Football Club (RIFC) is Rhode Island's first professional soccer club. On October 13th, Coach Mac brought her partner Langston Smith, Head Athletic Trainer for RIFC, and two professional soccer players, Aldair Sanchez and Rio Hope-Gund, to the EPBGC. She led a Q&A with the pro athletes for both the Advanced Group and the Intermediate Group swimmers.  The swimmers were encouraged to ask questions too, and they had some great ones! Here are some snippets of the conversation from both the ADV and the INT presentations:

How do you stay motivated during the highs and lows

RESPONSE 1) Staying consistent in all my routines. Easier to say than to do. But I find that when I have the most consistent routines I get the best results.

RESPONSE 2) It's important not to get too high and not to get too low when the highs and lows come. You don’t want to get too used to one feeling because the highs and lows will always come in sports.

How do you handle training fatigue?

RESPONSE 1) I’m pretty sure you’ve all felt that feeling when you don’t want to go to practice. Trust me when I say that happens to us too. I just have to get myself to practice. That feeling goes away when you just go out there and say "let’s just do our best."

RESPONSE 2) Remember that there is always a reason why you’re doing something. Push through because you always realize afterwards that “Wow I needed that today.” Growing up, soccer was an escape for me when I was having a bad day. Once I was on the field I was away from that and I could just focus on soccer. I could be in the moment.

Strength and conditioning - off the field - how does it help on the field?

RESPONSE 1) I remember the first time I really started lifting weights. I looked around me and said these guys are getting faster. And just doing my sport wasn’t working. My dad tied a sandbag to me and said start running! It’s also about keeping your muscles strong and healthy so you don’t get injured in your sport.

RESPONSE 2) Around 14/15 years old I wasn’t focusing on strength training too much but as I got older I noticed that people were stronger and faster so I started doing it. I wish I had focused on good habits when I was your age - focusing on the right movements when the weight was smaller and I was younger so that when I’m older now those good habits would be there.

What makes someone a great teammate?

RESPONSE 1) Just being able to listen to others especially when it’s criticism. The last thing you want is people to stop telling you your mistakes. You won’t catch it but other people will. Take criticism and take feedback.

RESPONSE 2) One of the things that makes a good teammate is to put the team above yourself. Anything you can do to put the team’s success before your own: good communication, cheering them on when they’re in the water. I’ve noticed that when I’m more unselfish I do better too.

Do you ever get nervous?

RESPONSE 1) I get nervous before every game. Playing at the park with my friends…I’m nervous. Once I spend 2-5 mins in the game I get less nervous. Focusing on breathing during warmups helps me calm my heart rate and mind. The same  pregame routine - meal, music, etc - helps me too.

RESPONSE 2) I always tell myself I don’t get nervous but my girlfriend says my hands get sweaty on game day. I listen to the same music on game day and I dance and it completely takes my mind off the game coming up.

Do you have a pump up song and what is it?

RESPONSE 1) I like to listen to rap and hip hop.

RESPONSE 2) Something upbeat.

How did you get into your sport?

RESPONSE 1) Honestly I don’t remember. I just remember kicking the ball around and going to my dad’s Sunday league games and thinking "this is what I want to do."

RESPONSE 2) I grew up playing a lot of sports and I had a twin brother so we were very competitive. Around the age you guys are (high school) my mom said you should choose a sport if you want to take it to the next level and we chose soccer.

Did you know you wanted to be a professional athlete or did that just come?

RESPONSE 1) I always had the dream. As I got closer to the pro level I thought that it might be an option for me. Sophomore year in college it started to become an option.

RESPONSE 2) That was the only thing I wanted honestly. I think I was 13 when my dad said “if you want this let’s get serious” and I said "let’s do it."

When you’re in a bad place what do you do to motivate yourself to push forward?

RESPONSE 1) I look back at my career and my life and I remind myself of all the work that I put in. It reminds me that I belong here and that I’m meant to be here. And that I’ve put in a ton of work. With that comes putting in the new work too.

RESPONSE 2) I look back at old clips and videos and remind myself I’m pretty good. When I get home my dog is waiting for me and I remind myself that I’ve gotten myself and my dog and my girlfriend here. Focusing not only on the sport but also focusing on what else makes me happy - my dog and my family and friends - helps.

Hobbies besides soccer and sports?

RESPONSE 1) Spending time with fiends and family. I game and watch shows - MMA. I’m interested in picking up new hobbies too. I’m from the city and the other day I went fishing with my teammates.

RESPONSE 2) I like going on walks. Around my apt, park, beach. Separating myself from my phone because I could spend all day on that thing if I let myself.  Pretty heavy into golf too. I’m trying to read but haven’t made too many advances in that…

Favorite pregame meal?

RESPONSE 1) I have the exact same thing every time. Chicken, rice, broccoli and maybe a Powerade. One time I had 6 tacos before a game and I played awesome but someone had to take a trip to the bathroom at halftime….I won’t say who.

RESPONSE 2) This year I had pasta with tomato sauce and sausage and peppers and spinach. If I could I’d have a burger but that wouldn’t be a good pregame meal.

Do you think you have the mindset or temperament to coach one day?

RESPONSE 1) I think I could. We have teammates right now that definitely want to coach. I’m not that sure but I think I could coach.

RESPONSE 2) I do too because my dad was the one who coached me so I think I could do it. I don’t think i could handle anything under 10 years old though!

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back and give yourself if you were their age (ADV GROUP)?

RESPONSE 1) Eat more! That fuel helped me grow, and recover. Eat right.

RESPONSE 2) When I was growing up I definitely had confidence issues. I’d tell myself "you’re good enough to do what you’re doing." I’m sure sometimes you get down on yourselves but don’t ever tell yourself you’re not good enough to do what you’re doing.

What role does confidence play in your performance and what do you do when your confidence drops?

RESPONSE 1) At any age and in any sport confidence is important because there are always highs and lows. Be confident in yourself and believe that you are good enough to do what you’re doing. One thing I do is to remind myself that I belong where I am and I remind myself of all the work I’ve put in to get there.

RESPONSE 2) Confidence is pretty big if you want to do what you’re doing. Also making mistakes is important. People confuse mistakes with being bad but making mistakes is all about learning and doing better.

How do you define success?

RESPONSE 1) It can be defined in a lot of ways. For me success as I’ve grown older is just me being better than I was the previous year and previous day. As an athlete we have to remind ourselves that we aren’t comparing ourselves to anyone else. It’s me versus me. Look in the mirror and say am I a better me than I was yesterday? A better athlete and a better version of myself?

RESPONSE 2) For me success is just happiness. Small victories that being you happiness. How happy are you when you’re doing what you love?

Talk about how you commit to the hard work

RESPONSE 1) For me it ties into how much fun you’re having. I have a lot of fun when I’m winning. If practicing more or lifting more brings more wins, that makes me happy. Obviously that’s hard sometimes but working hard means winning more so I do it!

RESPONSE 2) In anything in life to get where you want to be, hard work is necessary. When you work hard and work your butt off year in and year out, the older you get you can look back and remind yourself that you put it all in. That will make you feel better when you have low moments - it’s even rewarding in high moments.

What makes someone a great teammate?

RESPONSE 1) One of the most important things is being a good person and being there when someone needs you. Someone that pushes themselves because that turns into pushing the rest of the team too. Be a competitor. When you come to practice and your teammates see that, it often motivates others. Even if it gets a little spicy when you compete against each other, it makes the team better. Putting the team’s success in front of yourself is key.

RESPONSE 2) Communicating with each other and not being afraid of talking to each other. When you race each other! Try to lift each other up and celebrate each others’ successes.

What is one piece of advice you’d give to yourself when you were their age (INT GROUP)?

RESPONSE 1) This is all to have fun. Obviously, your parents can push you but swimming should be to have fun and make friends and that’s the main part of playing sports at your age. A friend of mine from college knows my teammate here too. You never know how your friendships will come together.

RESPONSE 2) Enjoy the moment. I’m guessing some of you have friends here and it’s important to not get distracted and to enjoy the moment.

Have you ever lost a game but been super proud of how you played?

RESPONSE 1) Definitely. There are a lot of instances of that.

RESPONSE 2) I’ve definitely had games like that. I’ve also had games where I’ve won but not been proud of my effort. It’s a good way to learn about yourself.

If you ever feel like you don’t want to go to practice how do you make yourself go?

RESPONSE 1) It’s one of those things in life that sometimes you get tested but I think back to all the time and hard work that I put it and it helps me motivate that day to get through the hard work. Throughout my whole life sports has been the way to forget about everything else so I remind myself that when I’m there and doing it I’ll feel free and happy.

RESPONSE 2) Trust me - we feel like that as well. Even though we are professionals and love what we do, we have days we don't want to go to practice. Remind yourself why you’re there and try to have as much fun as you can. Remind yourself of another fun time.

As you can probably see from this summary of responses, the athletes provided a lot of wisdom and related to the kids on multiple levels. Thank you to Coach Mac for putting this together and to the RIFC players for taking the time to give back to our community of athletes! It was an inspiring and motivating night at the EP Boys and Girls Club!