The Future of Youth Soccer - Erica Suter

Hey everybody, welcome to the Future of Fitness, where we talk with entrepreneurs, researchers, and practitioners in fitness, wellness, and the health sciences. I'd like to give a big thanks to our sponsors, Level 5 Mentors, helping entrepreneurs achieve the highest levels of freedom in time, money, relationships, health, and purpose. Also, Certified Course Creation, helping entrepreneurs create accredited online certifications that are not only lucrative but highly scalable. Go to levelfivementors.com or certifiedcoursecreation.com and learn more. I am your host, Eric Malzone, and once again, welcome to the future of fitness. Boom. We're live. Erica Studer, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me, Eric. I've been so excited for this. I know we've been waiting a while to talk.

Yeah, well, we've given it a couple runs, technical issues here and there, but everything always works out for the best. Sometimes the longer you wait, the better it gets because your messaging and what you stand for and what you do and your influence, I think, is more critical now than it has when we may have previously recorded. So, you know, I've had the pleasure of you know working with you and collaborating with you over the past few years. I'm just really excited to highlight you to our audience and talk more about who you are and what you do and what you stand for. So, like always, if we can, Erica, let's start with your story. Give us your background and how you got to where you are and what you do now.

Yeah, of course. I've been a strength and conditioning coach for young athletes in Baltimore, Maryland for eight years now. I mainly work with kids who are in elementary, middle, and high school. Of course, some of my college athletes now started with me when they were like 10 years old. So I'm starting to feel myself getting a little older as the years go on. But it's been so amazing to see all of my athletes progress over such a long period of time. And that's really why I do this is to help them develop safely and gradually and to also ensure they they find a joy in fitness and movement and also in their sport.

I love it. How did you get into this role of coaching youth athletes? What's what's the backstory?

It's been a long journey. So I I've been playing soccer since I was five years old, and I love the game. I I loved practicing in my front yard. I love going to practice. I had so much joy every time I was on the field, I was with my team. I had great coaches growing up, and I just grew such a passion for it. And I played in college, I played at Johns Hopkins University. And after I graduated there, I went down to Brazil to volunteer and coach young kids. Because when I graduated, I didn't have a job lined up and I was really unsure of what I wanted to do or how I could even make soccer or coaching a career. So I just decided to leave the country. And when I got back from Brazil, I started to train a few athletes in Baltimore on the side of my regular job. I was working in PR and writing, which I'm also very passionate about. So I saw that I was growing my training business. And after six months of being in PR, I quit and just decided to go all in with coaching kids.

Awesome. What part of Brazil did you go to?

I was living in Rio de Janeiro.

Nice. I think that's what most people think of when they think of Brazil as Rio. Yes. But it's a tremendously large country and not all of it looks like Rio. Yep. It's pretty cool. I I would imagine too, like the Brazilian culture around soccer is very much about fun, gratitude, right? You must have taken some of that away.

Oh yeah, 100%. I was doing a coaching project in a very poor neighborhood, a lot of violence, a lot of drugs, and it was very scary going there initially as an American woman, but I found that the Brazilian people were very accepting of me because I also had a passion for soccer. And soccer is almost like the universal language. And as long as you're you're playing soccer, uh, everyone's grateful, everyone's having fun, and I did feel like I was in a safe place down there, almost safer than Baltimore City.

Yeah. Well, I mean, everyone knows Baltimore City from the wire.

Exactly.

It's like they pay you the best picture.

Yeah, that's not good for our reputation.

Well, let's talk about your experience in Brazil. I mean, my my wife's Brazilian. I I've you know have a foot in that culture, and I think it's it's really interesting. But what were some of the takeaways from from a cultural perspective? The food, the nightlife, the all of that experience. What what did you think?

The main thing I noticed was people were out a lot. And I guess because it Rio is such a compact area and there is soccer courts and fields everywhere, there's soccer on the beach with like full-field goals. So for me, that was a big culture shock because it I live in the middle of Baltimore City, and you don't see that many people out and about playing sports. So that was huge for me, and it was nice to be able to wake up every day and be like, Oh, do you want to go play soccer on the beach? Do you want to go play futsal on the court? So that was that was one thing that I just loved every day living down there. They lived and breathed the sport.

What did you think of futsal?

Futsal is great. The craziest thing is the courts down there are all concrete, and there were kids just slide tackling each other, doing bicycle kicks, scraping their knees. Like it was wild, but they they just had no fear. And that was also really interesting because back here we have all these awesome facilities and turf fields, and you go down there and it's just like your friends and the ball and and concrete courts.

Yeah, it's very pure. The last time I was down there, we were walking around, which isn't normally me, uh, you know, around midnight or one, and there's full-fledged games going on, like tons of spectators, drums beating, and it's just a really cool culture that they have there and how it's family-oriented and around sport and around life, and very passionate people, that's for sure. So I'm glad you got that experience, Erica. That's really cool. I'm glad you brought a lot of it back.

Yeah, for sure.

So talk to me about how you, first of all, what are the legs of your business, right? Because you I think you are where a lot of people, a lot of fitness professionals want to be. You know, you have kind of multiple legs to your business. You have freedom in what you do. Talk to us about the qualities of your business, and then I then I want to get into how you got there.

Sure. So right now I'm at the point where I am at capacity with my in-person training. And I would say the same as online. I'm at the point where I'm handling as much as I want to handle within reason, but I'm also able to do other things like I do freelance writing jobs for strength and conditioning sites, which I'm so grateful I can do because writing's a big part of my life, just as much as soccer, and I didn't know I could make a part-time career off of it. So I've been able to fill my mornings with writing, and I also do consulting for high school and college soccer teams across the country, and that just came about in the past year. Kind of unexpectedly, people just reached out to me because they've followed my blog for so many years or my Twitter, and then they've seen the training I do here, and they just ask if I could write programs for them. And so they kind of created the position for me, which I never thought would happen. So it's been really nice to blend in-person, private, and small group training uh at my facility in Baltimore, freelance writing, as well as team consulting and online coaching for individual athletes.

Yeah, and that that makes for a very healthy business too, right? Very bulletproof in many ways.

Yeah, yeah. I know we were just discussing this before we got on, but with the coronavirus going around, it's it's making me realize that I'm really grateful to have my hand in so many different things and not just put all my eggs in the in-person training basket or just be an online influencer. I need to diversify all of my services and really see the opportunity with what I can do with my talents to serve people.

Yeah, that's awesome. I want to give people a realistic timeline on this stuff too, because I think everyone's in a big hurry to grow their business, right? When did you start writing? When did you start your blog?

So it's 2020 now. I started in 2015, so five years ago.

Right. And that's five years of consistent hard work.

Yes, I would say consistently over that time, I put out on average two articles a week for all those years. Some weeks more than others, some weeks I did four articles, but to some extent I was posting every day.

Yeah, that's amazing. And I think the key and functional word there is consistently, because that's where most people fall. And I I reflect on myself too. I mean, I was consistently put out a podcast, but I don't consistently write. But I think if you want to be someone of influence, you know, there's a couple ways to stand out from the crowd now because there's way more content than there ever has been ever before, right? There's content everybody's a content producer, even someone in their kitchen who just wants to complain about whatever is now a content producer, right? But consistency is key and it takes time. So people who are like, if you could speak to someone who's maybe new in the industry and they're six months in, they're like, well, I'm just not getting any traction. What advice do you have for them?

Well, my first question for them would be are they putting out something consistent that they're passionate about? So not everyone loves writing 3,000-word articles as much as me. So you probably don't want to start a blog. And I know there's a lot of pressure to start a blog because everyone else is doing it, but people need to decide what they are good at and what they can host every day. Maybe it's a video compilation of your training or your services. Maybe you're super active on Twitter, maybe it's podcasting like you, Eric. Find something where you can do it every single day and you're not seeing it as an obligation. For me, I write on Saturdays and Sundays like a mad woman on the weekends because I love it and that's what I would rather do. So just find that one thing that that really uh wakes you up and gets you excited.

Yeah, that's great. I mean, you and I have a mutual colleague and friend in Tony Gentlecore. And I love Tony's answer when people say, How how do I become an influencer, right? How do I get people to read my content? He's like, Well, write for 10 years.

Yeah, yep.

And then see what happens. Um, because that seems to be the most effective way to get it done, is just stick to something for a long time. And you know, when I started this show, this podcast in particular, and then you know, my subsequent shows as well, it's always been a five-year plan. Yes. And and I know, you know, there's gonna be ebbs and flows, your audience is gonna go up and down, you're gonna get some great get you're gonna get, you know, it's it's just gonna be, but consistency over time is king because then people know you they can take you seriously. They know that your messaging is consistent, and yeah, that word consistency just just keeps coming up. So I think it's just another great example.

And one thing I I love what Tony says, and I've he's been my writing role model for many years. And what I've found is sticking to writing for so long, I've gotten so much better at it, and I've found my voice, and I feel way more articulate in my message now, and I'm showing who I am more. So it's sometimes it's not only about getting traction, but it's also about learning who you are. And writing all these articles it has been a personal development journey as well. Right. So that has been an amazing thing that's come with it. It's just an added bonus.

Yeah, right. So it's a really interesting time for youth soccer here in the States. Explain maybe in in your kind of experience and through your lens, you know, over the last 10 years, how how has soccer changed in North America?

Oh my gosh, so much. I mean, just starting with the obvious, it's getting the game itself is becoming more physical, more like fast-paced, way more competitive. There, there are more kids enrolling in soccer than ever before, especially female athletes because our women's team is so good. Yeah, badasses. Yeah, I know. They're they're amazing. But it's just, yeah, it's becoming really competitive. And it's also, I see people finding less joy in it too. And I think there's a lot of pressure on young athletes right now, whether that's from their parents or how competitive the landscape is or comparing themselves on social media. So I think people are under pressure to get that college scholarship or to play professionally. And we're almost forgetting the purpose of youth sports. And I say this because I see this every day. I see this when athletes come into my office crying about a team practice or their coach or being under pressure. Like I see it all the time and I am not making it up. So those are just a couple things I I've noticed in even the past couple years.

Yeah, let's dive into that. I think it's a really meaty topic. I mean, when you talk about kids' sports, and there's there's a lot of attention now, and I'm I'm so happy it is happening that maybe early specialization isn't a great thing. Maybe the pressure on the parents put because it usually comes from the parents, right? I mean, the parents, coaches, who who do you think is putting the most pressure?

I think it's a combination for sure. And I want to be as forgiving as I can with parents because they just there's also so much information for them and they don't know what to follow. So they see a lot of people early specializing, they're forced into early specialization just because year-round sports is becoming a a business. So they have to keep tournaments and leagues and games going and and club fees going. It's not that they're against early specialization. I feel they're just being forced into it organically with the way the system's going. So one thing I like to tell parents to deal with that is to at least ensure that if their kid is playing a single sport, make sure they're doing other activities outside of that. Whether that's just, you know, playing on a rec team or just something way more laid back, or you know, seeing a strength and conditioning coach and just getting a variety of movement and skills that are only going to enhance their primary sport.

And I think sport, you know, sports has been an always been a part of my life since age five. And it plays so much more, it's plays such a huge role in one's life in the developmental years. And I I'm gonna, I'm gonna request this story because you know it, but I I know soccer changed your life, maybe even really put you in a safe direction when it wasn't going that well. Expand on that.

Yeah, I mean, I'm so thankful. I love soccer as much as I did. And I had coaches and role models in my life who made practices fun, they made the sport fun. They were there for me when I felt under pressure or I felt like I was failing. So I all I never had any resentment towards soccer, which which is what I see now with some people. They just don't like going anymore because it's not fun. Um, well, for for most people. But when I was in high school, I was going through uh an abusive relationship and it got to the point where if I didn't end it, I would have gone down a very bad path. I would have stopped playing soccer, I would have lost my identity and and who I was. I don't know if I even would have gone to Johns Hopkins to play, which is the craziest part. But I found that I through those times, I was the happiest when I was on the field. And that's really what pushed me through. And it almost was a distraction with all the bad things going on during that time. And I remember telling my parents, I well, I wasn't gonna play at Hopkins, I actually was going to follow my boyfriend at the time to the college he was going to and not even play soccer at all. And I decided one day, and this was literally the day before early admissions was due for Johns Hopkins. And I walked downstairs, I was in my house, I walked downstairs at like midnight, and my parents are in the kitchen, and I told them, I was like, I am going to play soccer at Johns Hopkins and I'm ending this relationship right now. And they they just like cried, and it was this like it was like this crazy moment, and we it was just relief. It was one of the most life-changing moments ever.

Well, yeah. I mean, that's such a staunch fork in the road in your life. Like you can only imagine where you would have gone and the wasted opportunity and talent, right? Yeah. And now, you know, that that point in time has now taken you to a position where you have so much more influence to help people maybe in similar situations or questioning a lot of things in life. Because I I don't I don't envy youth, especially at the preteen teenager level, because there's a lot of shit between social media and pressures and there's just a lot to handle. I I I look back in my my days in that early, like all I had to do was like leave a note and go somewhere for the day and come back for dinner. Right. That was it. If I got bullied, it was because someone said something to my face and we got in a fight, right? It wasn't like this this tormenting, ongoing psychological situation that kids have now. And I think sport is more important now than ever because I I'm 43. I still have you know annual getaways with guys I I I've been I played waterpole with at age 13. You know, that's how important it it was in my life and those relationships and the way we we hold each other up, even to this day when we're all going through tough situations. And that that's something that I think is needed more now than ever is kind of this real, real connection with other people and and people of your own age and things that are know what's going on in your life, right?

Yeah, it's so important. And it's like for me as a coach, I feel with with what I went through, it's my job to ensure kids see soccer or their sessions with me in the gym and escape from the stress at school or with their friends or with you know whatever's going on online, cyberbullying, whatever it may be, when they're at that session we're having fun and we're getting stronger and we're getting better, and everything else outside doesn't matter at that moment.

Yes.

So that's my biggest job right now, and I try to do that every session I have.

Yeah, it's awesome. I mean, we look at, you know, recently Kobe Bryant passing, right? And I remember when he was going through his court case and uh he would he would always like miraculously people like, yeah, I don't know if he's gonna make it back from LA to get to play the game. But he always made it. He always flew and made it to the game, and they would ask him, he's like, Well, this is this is where I'm I feel good. It's around my teammates, this is where I'm happy. It's like I wouldn't miss this for the world. It wasn't because he had contracts to fulfill, right? It wasn't because he had fans to please, it wasn't any of that. It was because that's where he felt the best. And being around his teammates and being in that flow state was just his safe haven, which I found even in front of the eyeballs of millions of people, he felt that that was his safe place. And that that's fascinating to me. And the power of sport is incredible.

Oh, it it it is. And even in in times like now with the coronavirus breaking out, a lot of parents are reaching out to me worried. They're like, Are you still open? Are you still running training sessions? And and even kids, they want to be there because what what else are you going to do in in a time where there's there's chaos and there's panic? You need to do something empowering. And sometimes getting outside and playing and exercising are the best thing you can do for your immune system. Of course, we take our precautions and wash our hands and be hygienic, but people need to to move and and to do something they enjoy. So it's been really interesting to see that happening now and to see that these kids are worried that training's going to end. They want to be there, and that is so important. Yeah.

You know, it's it's interesting too because we we've made um I've uh I've ruffled a couple feathers uh occasionally in because I think the fitness industry, we've made things overcomplicated to increase our feeling of importance. So here's what I mean is to really keep people healthy and happy and fit, you know, relatively fit. And it's more about health, right? Really, let's talk about it. It's health and wellness is the most important things. Fitness is is we can talk there, no one even has a clear definition of what fitness is. You ask a million people, you get a million different answers. But ultimately, you know, we've we devised these really complex systems and you know, hey, you need to follow this Texas method or whatever it is that you need to do to be fit. But really, what people need is playtime. Yeah. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that. They just need to move and they need to have fun. Because if fitness becomes, whatever that term may be worth, if it just becomes another task that you need to achieve throughout the day, we're kind of missing the point. And I think anytime, and it's not just you soccer, but I think you start looking at the adult population, like people who are really happy. I know a lot of people who are super happy, they hate their jobs, but they're in a an adult soccer league or whatever it may be, right? And I think playtime and the joy of just having fun is something that's that's drastically missed nowadays.

Yeah, and I I couldn't agree with you more there. I think people in our industry are so quick to do the fancy first before, of course, mastering the basics, but building a culture and there needs to be some sort of culture in place, whether that's building a community, making it fun, making it enjoyable, that should be first and foremost, and then you can get to the good training. But the training it doesn't need to be anything crazy. It needs to be something simple that someone can stick to for a long period of time.

Yeah, because what happens when you get something simple? People get confident. What happens if people get confident? They engage, right? And that's it. You know, it's not as anything more complicated than that. There's a lot, I mean that you can imply that continuum in anything in life. You know, so I look at I look at soccer now in the United States and in kind of circling back to this because I think it's a really interesting topic. And if you're traveled or even just you know, minimally traveled. Or watch TV, you notice that soccer is a really big deal everywhere else.

Yeah.

Like it's a really big deal. The World Cup is a really big deal. You know, all the different continental divisions, whatever, maybe is a really big deal. I feel like America is just kind of now starting to see the light of you know how popular this thing is, and there's a groundswell behind it. Where do you think this is going? Like how how big do you think soccer's gonna get here?

I think it's going to continue to grow. I mean, obviously the the women's team is paving the way for especially female soccer players. So I think that's going to continue to get bigger. As far as the men's side, I I ri I really don't know. But yeah, it's it's just hard to to tell right now. I mean, I think football is getting a lot of controversy right now with injuries and concussions. So I think if football ever declines, then maybe soccer will rise, but it's it's really hard to tell.

Yeah, well, that's an interesting thing too. I I have a lot of friends with kids at that age where, you know, maybe they want to start playing football and they're hesitant. They're like, well, I don't know if I want to put my boy in football, right? Most of the time it's boys, right? Because there are concussion risks, and there's like, you know, the injury rate in the NFL is 100%. You don't everyone in the NFL gets injured throughout the season. It's 100%, right? That's wild. And it's really cool. I guess now when I'm kind of thinking about it too, is you know, all the major sports in in the United States are all pretty male dominated. I mean, right? I mean, you have maybe tennis is is popular with, you know, in the mainstream uh women's tennis. But women's soccer is astronomical, and I feel like it's really setting the table for women to become dominant spectator sport within the United States as well. Do you see that happening?

Yeah, yeah. I think that there's a lot more awareness around women's sports now and and female empowerment in general. And the there's so many amazing female athletes out there, and they're just so inspiring for younger girls.

Is there a professional route now for women? Like is can can women, and I I apologize for my naivety here, but is there can women grow up and go through college and get into a professional league and actually make a a living?

Yeah, so the women's professional league exists for soccer and it's doing really well. And I think it's only gonna continue to get better. And obviously, college women's soccer is is incredible, so that's still a huge opportunity. And that's really what most young girls want to do, is they want to play in college. I know some who want to go professionally, but usually college is the big end goal for a lot of these kids.

Yeah, in scholarships. I mean, there's a lot of scholarships in female soccer.

There are, but they're becoming a a little bit less now. And I think that's another thing that parents are are misinformed about is that their kids going to get a scholarship. But a lot of these division one teams, especially the big names like UNC, Stanford, Notre Dame, they are very limited uh for how many they can give out. Sometimes it's a couple a year. So I think parents think that college is going to be paid for, but they need to take into account how competitive it is now and how few scholarships each team can hand out and how much money they're willing to give. So that that's another big misconception in youth sports, which is why we we all have to return back to the purpose if this doesn't work out.

Right.

And we have to be realistic.

Yeah, I guess that that shouldn't be the goal. Yeah. I mean, it's it's a happy byproduct if it takes place, but it shouldn't be the goal. But I think that's I mean, it's also a reflection upon the cost of education here in the States. It's a lot. And I'm not sitting here taking a Bernie Sanders standpoint. I'm just being real. Like this is people are walking away from college now at a mid to high level universities with six figures in debt, and scholarships are becoming a really big deal. Anything you can get helps a lot. Cost of college is increasing, scholarships are becoming more and more valuable and probably more scarce just because you go through all the things you said, it's becoming more competitive, right?

Yeah. I would say like if people want to play in college and play at a high level, it go for it. It's it's great to reach high and to have a goal like that. I mean, I love my college experience and I would wish anyone to have that much fun being a student athlete at a university. It was incredible. But people need to know, okay, where do I want to go? Okay, I want to play in college, but what are the steps I'm going to do to get there? And I think that's another thing that people forget is it takes work. It takes so much consistency and just coming back to that conversation, putting in the reps. Like you can't, you can't just get a college scholarship without going to training sessions or doing your skill work on your own. Like you have to work really freaking hard.

Erica, I know you're a great person to ask this question. What do you uh it's one of my favorite questions too? What do you, what do you think is the difference between a trainer and a coach?

That's a great question. I know what a coach is, and a coach is someone they know the X's and O's. They know how to teach the sport, they they know how to work with young athletes and they they know the physiology of what athletes are going through. And but that that's a given. So coaches know that that's a given and that's something they need to have. That's a requirement. But a coach also understands that they have to bring out the best in their athlete and they have to understand how to talk to the athlete based on who they are or how they're showing up that day, how to motivate them. And that's really the art of coaching. It's something I can't really tell people how to do, but you learn how to work with your athletes the more you do it. But I I truly believe you're either meant for coaching or you're not.

Yeah, I think a lot of it comes down to, and I I think about this question all the time because you know, I've been coaching or been coach basically all my life. Yeah. So, what does it mean to be a coach? And I think when you go from trainer, who's the one I believe who's in the X's and O's, right? The movements, the programming, all that. I think a coach takes a much higher perspective from a higher elevation and looks at things. I also think a great coach has established a very solid philosophy. Yeah. And I think it's it's philosophical, is the difference. I think one of the greatest examples of this is uh Dan John. He is a world-renowned coach, and he is so driven philosophically by everything that he does. Everything starts with his philosophy. And same with you, right? You have this great philosophy. Hey, it needs to be it needs to be filled with joy and fun.

Yeah.

Right. And that guides everything else that you do. Everything else is just kind of, you know, task-oriented. I think that's a critical piece. What do you what do you say?

Yeah, it's it's so important. And just building relationships, that's one thing that I definitely know I'm good at. And I mean, just as an example, at before every session starts or while the kids are warming up, that's my time to catch up with them. Like, how's school going? What are you working on? What what other hobbies are you in right now? And just really getting to know them because some of these kids actually feel like my kids. And I I've known them for many years, and just really building that relationship because once you build the relationship, they they trust you and they look up to you, and then they're more likely to do your programming and believe in what your your X's and O's are. So I can't emphasize enough whether you're a sports coach or a business coach or an entrepreneur in any other industry, build relationships.

Yes, speaking my language, Erica. I love it. Yeah. Um so you know, we as you've grown this thing, and I think a lot of people will look at a lot of fitness professionals, young coaches, they'll look at your what you've built. But you know, the business you built, the the influence that you have, you know, from the multiple, the the content creation to the in-person training to the the coaching the teams, coaching the athletes online, all of this. It seems like it's a very well-built business. What have been the personal challenges for you as you've done this thing over the last five or six years?

Oh man, there's been so many. I think in the first couple years, the biggest one was doubt from other people because they weren't making things happen or they weren't following what they wanted to do. So that was really hard to deal with because it made me wonder well, am I being an idiot here? Am I not allowed to make something out of something I care about? Um, so that was really hard. But for me, the way I got through that was that there is no alternative. There's no alternative to any of this. Like it was I was going all in and there wasn't a plan B. Which which is allowed me to diversify everything and to find ways to create services based on my talents, whether that's coaching or building relationships or consulting or writing. So that's helped a lot. And I mean, just learning business and admin and systems. And Eric, you've helped me so much with that. And I'm so grateful to have the guidance. And I think that's a another important thing here is you can't do this alone. And you have to find mentors and people who are going to help you keep it together.

Yeah, and I I have I've always had those people in my life, whether it be coaches at at a young age to, you know, my dad to mentors that I've hired or I've just found along the way. It's always critical. And I think when people don't really, if if you want people to invest in you, you know, with your services and who you are and what you provide, you have to be willing to invest in yourself. And that's a big thing. It's like it's this kind of energy that needs to continue moving. And you need to go out there and find, you know, the person who you resonate with and be willing to ask for help and leverage their experience because that's that's really critical. And if you're you're talking to me and I'm uh maybe a young trainer, right? And I want to start diversifying, I want to get a couple new online clients. What's your suggestion for me?

Well, definitely have to pump out content because that builds trust with your audience, and you just need to just give your all. And then eventually people are going to want your services. And this could take months, this could take years, and people could just be watching you from afar for a long time, and then they're ready to invest in you because they've seen your body of work, they've seen the results you've produced. So you have to put it out there now. You have to show, not tell what you do. That think that's the biggest thing, whether that's video content or data or testimonials, it's it's huge. It's everything.

Yeah, that's great advice. And you know, speaking of content, I know you have you have a pretty exciting piece of content that's coming out soon. It's probably gonna be out by the time this is released. Tell us about the new book.

Yeah, the new book, I'm I'm so excited. It's so funny because I I wrote it in like a week. But it's been like months, you know, just designing the the actual book and and packaging it in in a way that's user-friendly. So it's it's a year-round strength and conditioning program for young athletes and teams and coaches purchased because I get so many questions on how to strength train during the season or how to stay healthy with all the soccer going on. How when should we incorporate sprint work? How do we get faster? All these things are in there. And I wanted to give this to my audience so that they they were clear on everything and they can work through it. So it's almost like a year-round workbook with video modules and sets and reps and work to rest time. And it's it's finished, and I'm just kind of waiting to launch it and make sure everything's in place so that it's easy to get and easy to buy. So I'm I'm super excited for it. It's it's one of my favorite bodies of work right now.

Yeah, you say you it took you a week to put it together, but it's literally been the last six years of your life, if not more.

That's true.

So let's not let's not undervalue it. I think it's uh it's it's a lot of value because it's what it's a full year of of training, essentially.

Yeah, a full year. And it's yeah, it it basically is all the work I do with my athletes in in Baltimore, Maryland, if people can't make it out here. And I know there's a lot of you out there.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's I can't even, you know. I look back if someone was selling me back when I went to CrossFit Gym a full year of program design from my gym that I could take and adapt, I'd be like, oh my god, you're saving me so much time. You have no idea. And and you and they probably, you know, there's a good chance maybe they did it better than me anyway. So I th that's a great value. And people are gonna be able to find that on your website, right? Or where where do they go to find that?

Yeah, it will it'll be on my website and um it's ww.ericaSouter.com. Um, if you go to the website, you can opt in and join my email list so you'll be the first to know when it comes out and when the launch sale is going on. So I highly recommend you get on the email list. But yeah, you can you can find on my website, erica suder.com.

Awesome. And you also have a Facebook group, is that correct?

Yes, it's called Total Youth Soccer Fitness. So it's a private community for coaches, parents, young players to discuss methods on youth strength and conditioning for people to share their ideas and discuss fun drills for kids and culture or injury prevention, anything that's youth strength and conditioning is in that group.

Awesome. Lastly, you're very uh active on Twitter, right?

Yes. I always tell people that's where the party's at.

Yeah, I'm not a Twitter guy. Tell me about why Twitter. Like what is it that uh that you love about Twitter?

I don't know what it is, Eric, but for my audience, there are so many coaches and parents on there so eager to learn. And I've had a very positive experience. I think there it's it's more a little bit more professional of a space than Instagram, but that's just been my experience with my specific audience. And yeah, I've I've really enjoyed it. I mean, I've learned a lot from so many youth coaches and problems parents are facing. I'll have a lot of parents tweet at me, hey, can you write a blog on this topic? Can you address it and give solutions? And I absolutely do that for people. And I love when people reach out to me for those things. So Twitter is definitely the place I'm at the most. And my handle is fit soccer queen. So it's super easy to remember.

Yeah, that's great. I would love if people came out and asked me, like, hey, do a podcast on this with this person.

It's so fun. Yeah. That's like a message from someone in like Kansas. They're like, Hey, can you write on year-round strength and conditioning for kids? And I'm like, Yep, here you go. 4,000 words later. Sent it in like two hours. And they're like, wait, what? Like that actually happened.

That's unbelievable.

They're like, Who is this girl? Like, she a robot.

Yeah, exactly. How many Erica's are there? That's awesome. Well, you guys, you everyone heard. So EricaSuter.com, use soccer fitness Facebook group, and then find her on Twitter too. And it's well worth it. A lot of great advice. You give away a lot of amazing things for free and a lot of value in everything you do. So, Erica, thank you so much for coming on. It was a real pleasure. And finally, uh, I'm glad that we finally made this happen.

Thanks so much for having me, Eric. I always enjoy talking with you and hopefully I can come back soon.

Absolutely. Ladies and gentlemen, Erica's do there. Hey, it's your host, Eric Malzone. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Future of Fitness. If you enjoyed it, please do me a huge favor by going to the website and signing up for our newsletter. The website is futurofitness.co. Again, that's featureoffitness.co. We've got some big, big announcements coming down the pipe, and we want you to make sure that you are on top of it. Thank you again. Signing off.